ABOUT
Prajna Yoga
Join us on a journey through the pathways to embody flexibility, wisdom, and radical kindness.
About Prajna
Our dream was always to have a school for yoga and the internal arts with a contemplative yet dynamic feel. So we established Prajna Yoga in 2004. Prajna is an amazing word suggesting ancient wisdom and ever present awareness– an embodied presence so badly needed in our world today. Too, prajna is the animating force that permeates every cell and tissue of your body. A journey through Prajna Yoga takes you to your center and into the very heart of your being.
Prajna Yoga makes its home in the foothills of Santa Fe, New Mexico, at the founders’ home, where they have lived since 1997. Nestled in the majestic high desert landscape in northern New Mexico, the Prajna Yoga temple is 10 minutes outside the enchanting city of Santa Fe. Constructed entirely from natural, ecological materials, the mud temple walls literally “breathe.” It evolved from sacred architecture in the vastu design, a living structure that is a powerful and inspiring setting for your yoga practice.
Tias Little
A gifted orator, Tias brings metaphor and imagination to his classes. He weaves together poetic language, embodied wisdom and subtle body awareness in all his classes.
More than simply a guide for how to do yoga postures, Tias draws from his extensive background in bodywork, meditation, dreamwork, the subtle body and mythology to create a rich and inspiring practice. Tias synthesizes years of study in classical yoga, Sanskrit, Buddhist studies, somatic practices and anatomy in his dynamic and original style. He began studying Iyengar Yoga in 1984 and lived in Mysore, India in 1989 studying Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga with Pattabhi Jois. His teaching includes precision of alignment, anatomical detail and meditative awareness. He is the founder of SATYA, Somatic Awareness Training for Yoga, a somatic practice that complements yoga.
Tias is a long time student of the meditative arts and Buddhist studies beginning with Vipassana and continuing in Tibetan Buddhism and Zen. Tias earned a Master’s degree in Eastern Philosophy from St. John’s College in Santa Fe. Tias Little makes his home under the big skies of Santa Fe New Mexico where he co-directs Prajna Yoga with his wife Surya.
Tias is the author of five books, The Thread of Breath, Meditations on a Dewdrop, Yoga of the Subtle Body, Practice is the Path (Shambhala Publications), and In the Space Between: The Poetry of Embodiment. He is the founder of SATYA, Sensory Awareness Training for Yoga, a somatic practice that complements yoga.
Surya Little
Intuitive and inspiring, Surya specializes in women’s health, nutrition and therapeutic yoga and brings compassion to the teaching of yoga.
Her classes are dynamic and lighthearted as she cultivates a strong mental and physical practice with students. Surya specializes in yoga for the different phases of a woman’s journey, offering private yoga sessions and nutritional consultations.
Always with an eye for beauty, Surya’s healing touch includes skin care, diet, lifestyle, and interior design. Her yoga is informed by the Five Element theory of Qi Gong within the Taoist tradition. Her tap root in yoga training is in Iyengar and Ashtanga vinyasa. She began her practice of Iyengar Yoga with Karin Stephan and Aadil Palkhivala and continues to study with Patricia Walden.
She has studied nutrition, and constitutional healing at the Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Within the Prajna Yoga curricula, Surya teaches meal preparation using medicinal whole foods based in the Japanese macrobiotic diet. Together with Tias Little, Surya is the founder of Prajna Yoga in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The Knot of Eternity
We chose the ancient Knot of Eternity—part Tibetan, part Celtic—that represents the way we are all inter-connected. For us the Knot of Eternity suggests the interweave of the heart- mind of all beings. The sacred knot is one of the eight symbols that express veneration for the teachings of the Buddha.
Honoring Lineage
We take to heart the teachings that have been handed down to us and so express gratitude to our teachers and traditions.
Prajna Yoga has many different influences via a variety of lineages. Our teaching is a direct expression of the many devoted masters and practitioners who precede us on this path. Like a bead on a mala, our work is linked to a long history of meditative practices. Thus we are part of a living, breathing dynamic tradition. We celebrate the traditions that have inspired us and given use the opportunity to express the magical alchemy of the meditative arts.
Iyengar Yoga
Tias began studying Iyengar Yoga in the early 1980s after his mother began practicing Iyengar Yoga in 1978 under the guidance of Silva Mehta (who wrote The Iyengar Way) in London, England. A comprehensive and intricate system of practice, Iyengar Yoga provides critical detail on internal alignment. Tias and Surya continue to reap the benefits of Iyengar’s work. They share and study regularly with many teachers who are in the Iyengar system or who have been influenced by the work of BKS Iyengar and his family. At Prajna Yoga, we always recommend students to study and learn from the profound work of Iyengar.
Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga
Pattabhi Jois and Iyengar were students of T. Krishnamacharya in South India. Both Tias and Surya spent time in Mysore during the 1990s studying directly with Pattabhi Jois. However fate would have it that they did not cross paths until they met in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1997. Tias and Surya found Pattabhi Jois’ vitality to be phenomenal, even into his eighties. He was like a lion. The dynamic flow of Ashtanga Yoga has an alchemical effect on the body, as it rapidly realigns the body. While Prajna Yoga does not practice and teach the Ashtanga any more, we integrate elements of its dynamic system into our work. Both Tias and Surya provide hand-on assists in class influenced by the Ashtanga Vinyasa practice.
Tibetan Buddhism
Much of our training in the Buddha-dharma stems from the teaching of Tsoknyi Rinpoche. A brilliant scholar and meditation master, he was born into a family of renowned Dzogchen masters in Tibet. He set up his North American home in Crestone, Colorado and Tias and Surya began to do meditation retreats with his sangha there in 2005. Tsoknyi Rinpoche’s teaching is brilliant and playful and provides clear insight into the nature of mind.
Zen
Tias’s Zen influence is from the Chinese traditions of Chan Buddhism, which later evolved into the Zen teachings of Japan. Tias has studied with a number of brilliant Zen teachers including Roshi Henry Shukman, at the Mountain Cloud Zen Center. Starting in the mid-nineties, Tias was a student of Roshi Joan Halifax and later Roshi Joan Sutherland. Tias’ Zen training includes in-depth koan study—working with sayings and poems that help clarify the spontaneity and clarity of “Big Mind.”
