Yin & Yang    3 Vehicles    Psycho/Spiritual Inquiry

The Insight Yoga Institute offers ten-day residential retreats that help practitioners integrate yoga, Buddhism and spiritual psychology into a skillful practice to balance the body, heart and mind. The program can be enjoyed as individual retreats or as an advanced studies YA 500 hour yoga teacher training. Retreats are offered in CA, NY, France, and Thailand. IYI retreats bring together the dynamic and receptive aspects of yoga, the three schools of Buddhism (Theravada, Zen and Tibetan), and the skillful methods of psycho-dynamic personal and relational work.

At the Insight Yoga Institute we feel that integrating essential teachings and practices from these wisdom traditions amplifies our insights and generates the potential for them to dawn as wisdom, while becoming evident in how we live our lives and benefit others.

Program Description

Insight Yoga involves 4 main aspects of development that are each interdependent. The body (physical and subtle), the heart, the mind, and relationships.

For the body we engage in regular active and receptive (or Yin/Yang) asana practices that are designed to develop and maintain pliancy in the muscles as well as the joints, to increase strength and vitality in all the systems of the body, and to cultivate a sensitivity to and refinement of the energy body- the gateway to an ease of being. Yin yoga is a meditative physical practice that stimulates the balancing of the energetic pathways (meridians) through holding floor poses while Yang yoga involves a slow alignment based movement practice.

For the heart, we engage in awareness practices that hold and help heal the wounded heart. We practice opening to and at times dialoguing with emotional patterns of reactivity, often uncovering hidden insights and gifts that can blossom into genuine self-love and compassion, causing the release of our self constructs and the compensatory strategies of armoring (protecting, shutting down) that naturally follow. This has a direct and lasting impact on our relationship to ourself and others.

Mind Training involves practices of visualization, contemplation, concentration, mindfulness, and open awareness drawing from Yogic, Taoist, and Buddhist teachings.

Learning to maintain a connection to our body, heart and mind when in relationships is probably the most challenging aspect of all. Relational awareness practices foster kindness, deep listening, meaningful exchanges, and learning to appropriately trust and reveal vulnerabilities with others. Practices include generating loving-kindness and compassion, as well as engaging in contemplative dialogues with others on specific subjects.

What is the focus of Insight Yoga? And what is the primary objective of the practice?
Each retreat will be exploring in depth the possibility of living with awareness in an embodied and interpersonal way, learning to meet all the psychological defenses and fears we inevitably collect during the maturation process. We bring together the dynamic and receptive aspects of yoga, the 3 schools of Buddhism (Theravada, Zen and Tibetan), and the skillful methods of psycho-dynamic personal and relational work. We feel both body/mind awareness and healing the psychological wounds of the heart are essential elements for developing a connection with our unfettered ground of being. This is the doorway that enables us to abide more regularly in uncontrived joy, elicit insights into the nature of existence, and most importantly, to be of genuine service to others as a teacher, lover, parent, and/or fellow human being.

Who founded the school and when?
Sarah and Ty Powers in 2010 (Bios on Faculty page).

2012 Schedule

Spring

Feb 24-26. Scott Blossom/Chandra Easton Three day Ayerveda/Chinese Medicine Workshop /Shadow Yoga Marin CA

Feb 28-March 9. Sarah and Ty Powers, Jennifer Welwood, Thanissara, Kittisaro. 10 day retreat Santa Cruz, CA

Summer

June 18-24. Sarah and Ty Powers 5 day silent retreat. Bordeaux, France

July 18-22. B. Alan Wallace/Chandra Easton yoga. Marin, CA

Aug 3-12. Sarah Powers 8 day Teacher Training Retreat. Kripalu, MA

Fall

October 18-28. Ten day retreat with Sarah and Ty Powers, Gregory Kramer. Phoenicia, NY

Winter

Dec 6-16 Ten day retreat with Sarah and Ty Powers, Kittisaro, Thanissara. Koh Samui, Thailand.

 

2013 Schedule

Spring

February 16-20 Marin, CA

February 28-March 10 Sonoma,CA

Summer

May 21-30 Bordeaux, France

June 30-July 5 Bordeaux, France

July 5-7 Bordeaux, France

July 25-29 Marin, CA

Aug 17-24 Marin, CA

Fall

October 17-27 Ten day retreat. Phoenicia NY

Winter

Dec 5-15 Ten day retreat. Koh Samui, Thailand

What are the major influences in the creation of the Insight Yoga Institute?
From the yoga lineages the influences are the physical and subtle body teachings in the Hatha Yoga Pradapika, the postural integration teachings of Iyengar Yoga, the grace and flow connected to breath of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, the personalized breath based slow flow of Viniyoga, the long floor poses that nourish the energy body of Yin Yoga, the teachings of inner yogas in Tibetan Buddhism, and the energy gathering practices of Qi Gong.

From the Buddhist schools, the emphasis is on The Eight Fold Path of early Buddhism from Theravadin teachings, the emphasis on compassion as represented by The Bodhisattva vow and enlightened living in the teachings of the 6 Paramitas of the Mahayana path, and the skillful means and wisdom teachings of Vajrayana Buddhism.

From the psychological world both the teachings of Buddhist Psychology (Abhidharma), as well as western psycho-synthesis models (Spiritual Psychology) that relate to the possibility of healing our individual emotional wounds, and discovering and dispelling our compensatory strategies of armoring (defensiveness), while identifying and working with our limiting self constructs (fixed ideas about who we are), as well as the recognition of our universal essential nature, what buddhism calls our un-contrived openness and clarity.

Who are the yoga teachers at the Insight Yoga Institute?
Sarah Powers, Paul and Suzee Grilley, Scott Blossom, Chandra Easton, (see Faculty page)

Who are the other esteemed teachers?

Renowned Buddhist teachers Thanissara, Kittisaro, Norman Fischer, Gregory Kramer, and Stephen and Martine Batchelor.  The spiritual psychology teachers are John and Jennifer Welwood.

Do you certify Insight Yoga teachers? What does certification entail?

In order to be endorsed to teach Insight Yoga, we ask that you complete our entire 500 hour program (*See note below for Yoga Alliance 500 hour certification): all residential retreats, daily meditation practice, monthly readings and writings, regular check ins with your assigned mentor, and upon completion we ask you to send us an hour long video of one of your classes for review.

NOTE: *If you interested in Yoga Alliance certification we have additional intensives for you to complete to comply with their 500-hour certification process. We do not however focus on teaching you how to teach yoga in this program, but how to integrate yoga with buddhism and spiritual psychology.

Choose among these courses to add up to 500 hours for Yoga Alliance Certification

Year 1

8 Day Teacher Training with Sarah 60 hours (See sarahpowers.com schedule page for dates)

3 Days with Scott Blossom and Chandra California 21 hours

10-Day Spring Retreat California 100 hours

5 days with B. Alan Wallace California 35 hours

5 Day Summer Retreat France 40 Hours

10 Day Fall Retreat New York 100 Hours

10 Day Winter Retreat Thailand 100 Hours

Year 2

10-Day Spring Retreat California 100 hours

5 days with Paul and Suzee Grilley California 35 hours

5-Day Summer Retreat France 40 hours

10-Day Fall Retreat New York 100 hours

10-Day Winter Retreat Thailand 100 hours

5 days with Lama Tsultrim Allione California 35 hours

Please note again that this program does not teach you how to teach yoga and you do not have to be a yoga teacher to apply. If you are interested in learning the basics of teaching yoga we recommend you take Tias Little’s 200 hour program before joining the Insight Yoga Institute. If you are not a yoga teacher, but would like to be exposed to yoga sequences that you can begin implementing at home while developing your Buddhist and psychological practices, you are welcome to apply.

What makes the Insight Yoga Institute unique (that is, different from other styles/schools of yoga)?

The skillful integration of genuine paths of Yoga with all three major lineages of Buddhism and training in graduate level Spiritual Psychology. Teachers at the Insight Yoga Institute are dedicated to introspection, self-inquiry, and living with awareness in the body, heart and mind. Through a dedication to daily practice and regular personal retreats, one becomes more of a refuge for oneself. Developing the ability to respond, rather than react, allows us to become more compassionate and intimate with the inevitable changes of life (sickness, old age, death, loss, pain), and to more authentically share that quality with others.