Sound in Hatha-yoga Meditation Workshop

Invitation Video

Hatha-yoga is known for its exercises for physical fitness. What is less known for most practitioners today is that Hatha-yoga also has a whole toolkit designed to support meditation.

The medieval texts on Hatha-yoga extol the virtues of sound in meditation. Here, japa or mantra-meditation has a special place. A powerful spiritual practice, Hatha-yoga has designed a number of techniques main purpose of which is to make japa effective. When done correctly, japa is the fast track to samadhi, according to Yoga-sutra.

The mantra used in the meditation does not require enhancement, yet the mind of the practitioner is often distracted. Knowing how the psycho-physical processes affect the mind is helpful, and incorporating basic principles of Hatha-yoga into the meditation can make the formidable task of conquering the mind easier.

In this workshop, we explore three kinds of practical Hatha-yoga kriyas for meditation:

• Asana-kriyas to calm down the nervous system
• Breath-kriyas to calm down the mind
• Mantra-kriyas to gain the spiritual benefits of practicing with sacred sound

The kriyas are executable while seated either on a chair or floor as convenient.

The amount of seats is limited

Language: English

Location: Seminar room

Schedule

• 10.30 - 12.30 Part 1: Theory
• 12.30 - 14.00 Lunch break (vegan meal included in the price)
• 14.00 - 16.00 Part 2: Practice

About Facilitator

Janne Kontala (Jayananda das) has been sharing his knowledge on yoga since 1994. His first contact with yoga was in 1986, when reading a book ignited a life-long interest, which soon developed into a daily practice. Since the early 1990's, Janne has studied in traditional ashrams in India and West. From early on, Janne has been combining in his personal practice the use of sacred sound in yoga in all its forms - svadhyaya, mantra-japa, and kirtanam - with asana and pranayama from the world of Hatha yoga. Considering his personal daily practice his most importance source of inspiration, he has nevertheless combined the more traditional approach to yoga with academic studies in religion, where he holds a PhD from Abo Akademi University in Finland. Besides his PhD Thesis and a number of academic articles on the sociology of religion, Janne has authored the book Inner Yoga (Ferryman Books), and is the co-founder and regular contributor in the yoga-magazine Ananda. Janne holds an accreditation in modern yoga granted by Yoga Alliance (E-RYT 500; YACEP). He recently finished his commentary for Yoga-sutra. Janne trains yoga-teachers since 2005, and specializes in yoga philosophy, meditation, and using pranayama and asana to support meditation.

www.jayananda.info