By Courtney Zenner, RYT-200 and MFA candidate
Surya Little is the senior teacher who co-founded Prajna Yoga with her husband, Tias Little. Surya’s teaching foundation includes diverse influences: abundant experience in classical Astanga and Iyengar yoga, including four years of training in India; a complementary background in Five Element theory and Taoist Qigong; cultivation of an exquisite, sacred home temple space; and her devotion to the nutrition and mindbody health of her students and her family.
At the end of a recent retreat, I recall Surya telling participants: “if you send an email to our Prajna office, chances are I will see it.” Surya does indeed keep her eyes on most everything Prajna, from the way a student pulls a bolster under their sacrum or raises their left ribs during a supine movement, to the type of vegetable oil that dresses a spring arugula salad served on a retreat day, to the Japanese pine incense burning in the Prajna Temple that does not irritate sensitive lungs.
In the vedic Laghunyāsah chant, the third line of sanskrit begins, sūryo me caksusi śritah: light is taken in through the eyes. Surya is not only the eyes of Prajna from a teaching standpoint and functional standpoint: she herself is a teacher whose light radiates. Her name literally refers to the sun, but also, I have seen firsthand Surya’s fire that keeps the engine of Prajna Yoga school running. As a Seva (work-study) volunteer at my first in-person retreat, Surya’s attention to the contemplative energy flow and beauty of the Prajna Temple space was clear to me. She was always the first one to arrive and the last one to leave. I sensed that her and Tias’ combined aesthetic decisions are oriented toward highlighting deeper Dharmic truths of yoga and Buddhist philosophy and practice.
As a senior yoga teacher and nutritional consultant, Surya’s decades of study and teaching Taoist Qigong, Iyengar, and Astanga shine through in the studio. Her physical cues are precise and hands-on adjustments are strong. Tias has said before that Surya’s direction and drive have that masculine/yang quality that is energetic and ambitious. She does exhibit those essential qualities, but upon meeting her you would agree that she leads equally with feminine/yin qualities of warmth and compassion. She is a fearless guide for physical practice, and her light presence also allows a student’s own strengths to come forward.
Surya will co-teach Prajna’s women’s retreat with fellow yoga teacher Elena Brower at Santa Fe’s Prajna Temple this coming October 25-27. I imagine Surya now where I first met her, in the beautiful community kitchen at Prajna temple, which she designed to cook nutritious macrobiotic meals for Prajna students. (As an aside, if you have not visited for an in-person immersion, perhaps you will one day experience the joyful and absolutely delicious meals prepared there!)
I recall one morning at Prajna’s first in-person SATYA training when I went to the temple kitchen for a cup of tea before class. I opened the sliding door and found Surya at the south-facing window, chanting an invocation and offering incense to prepare the space for the day. A thread of smoke unwound in early sunlight; she paused as I stepped inside. “No, please continue. It’s lovely!” I said. May Surya continue teaching, nurturing the light in all students, far into the future!
