ROOTS & BRANCHES OF YOGA: A SCHOLAR & YOGI TEACH & DEBATE

What are the oldest poses and which ones were made up yesterday? Was the Buddha a yogi? Where did yoga originate? When and how did yoga reach the US? Is our received information romanticized alternative fact? How should we navigate conflicting histories of yoga? How can we strike a balance between tradition and innovation?

Explore these questions and more in a whirlwind tour of texts, teachers, and traditions from 5000 B.C.E. to the ever-changing modern moment. You will gain new ways to think through the (mis/dis)information and fake news about yoga and other personal and community histories.

*Includes a 4500-year timeline and a list of recommended books, articles, videos, and films on the topic. You may wish to bring a journal. RYTs earn CEUs.

RARE OPPORTUNITY! This class is co-taught by TWO yoga historians from vastly different backgrounds.

University Scholar, Marcy Braverman Goldstein, Ph.D. and Tantric Yogi, Ramesh Bjonnes, author and workshop leader

Marcy Braverman Goldstein, Ph.D. received doctoral training at University of California, Santa Barbara and in India, and has taught at UNC Charlotte, Davidson College, and The Stan Greenspon Center for Peace and Social Justice at Queens University of Charlotte. As founder of Sanskrit Revolution, Marcy teaches Sanskrit, yogic speech, history, and philosophy at studios and festivals nationally. Drawing from her academic background and 25 years of practicing yoga, she creates classes that illuminate the language and culture of yoga, deepen people’s knowledge, and inspire personal growth. sanskritrevolution.com

Ramesh Bjonnes was born in Norway and lived for nearly three years in India and Nepal learning directly from the masters of Tantric yoga. Bjonnes is co-founder of the Prama Institute (pramainstitute.org), a holistic retreat center outside Asheville, NC. He has written extensively on Tantra, yoga, culture and sustainability, and his articles have appeared in books and numerous magazines and newspapers in Europe and the US. He wrote the books, Sacred Body, Sacred Spirit: A Personal Guide to the Wisdom of Yoga and Tantra and Tantra: The Yoga of Love and Awakening. He lives in an eco-village near Marshall, Madison County. Ramesh teaches the Yoga Sutras, the history of yoga and meditation to yoga teacher trainings.

Opportunity for purchasing books signed by the author.

$45 | $50 at the door