300/500-Hour program

Since the earliest teachings on yoga, the body-mind is described as having five coverings or casings, called koshas. Like a tree or plant that has progressively more subtle layers from outer bark to pithy interior, the koshas move from outer to inner and from gross to subtle.

In this course we study the anatomical and energetic attributes of each sheath. The first sheath is correlated with food and the outer fascia, the second with breath, the third with thoughts and sensations, and the fourth with the wisdom of the deep fascia. The innermost layer is correlated with the brain and spinal cord and the body of delight.

Through contemplative practice, yoga postures, SATYA (Sensory Awareness for Yoga) and pranayama, we will journey through each stratum, refining and clarifying the subtle body as we go. Layer by layer, we generate greater luminosity and clarity, ultimately yoking to the Source that dwells perpetually in the interior. Each day will include anatomical study, investigation of the wisdom teaching, dynamic and recuperative asana practice, and meditation.

In the earliest yoga practices, the life force in the body is thought to flow through tubules, channels or vessels, in the way that wind or water flows in currents. In yoga, the vayus are “wind channels”, that conduct the flow of nerves, blood, and lymph. Understanding the nature of each vayu is crucial to harmonizing the subtle flow of prana in the body and to establishing health and vitality. Tias will guide students through an in-depth investigation of the five primary winds in the body and through yoga asana, pranayama, and SATYA (Sensory Awareness Training for Yoga) and activate or mitigate the strength of each vayu. We will investigate the structures and the associated physiological functions of each vayu and map out the vayus’ location in the body.

In a process that requires sensitivity and inner listening, we explore the pathways of the muscle, bones and nerves in order to bring greater wakefulness to movement within the vayus. Through dharma study, guided meditation, yoga nidra, somatic awareness and yoga postures this is a transformational week of practice and study. In this intensive we will investigate poems of awakening from the historical Yoga, Taoist, and Zen traditions.

Each day includes seated meditation, chanting and inspirational dharma teaching followed by Sensory Awareness Training (SATYA) involving floor work to unwind the body. We offer both dynamic and restorative yoga practices to balance and heal each vayu.

This intensive explores the potent, alchemical effects that the bandhas have on the yoga body. We aim to demystify the bandhas, identifying them neither as mechanical locks nor esoteric techniques. Rather we will see how the bandhas flow as a natural extension of breathing and spinal motion. We will have time to explore each bandha, so that each week will include practices, meditations, journaling and pranayama to integrate the bandha into daily life. In the biogeometry of the human body the bandhas are like internal gates or portals that direct the flow of vital energy. Through guided meditation, somatic awareness, yoga postures and practices of yogic “soaking” (samadhi), this is a transformational month of practice and study.

The aim of this session is to provide the student with the practical skills and creativity to teach a well organized, clear and inspiring class. We help teachers who are already teaching bring greater depth and variety to their classes. What makes Prajna Yoga unique is how Prajna instructors weave together asana, mindfulness, internal alignment and wisdom. We help teachers develop the skills to teach a class that is not simply a physical workout but a class that is multi-layered. This session provides you with the skills to teach in a way that is physically rewarding, mindful, and spiritually uplifting.

When teaching guided classes, we encourage teachers to command a class through both intensity and gentleness. Considerable time is spent on teacher practicum and for trainees to receive feedback on how to use clear and precise language, to teach through tone of voice and to “hold the space” within a classroom. We provide the foundation for how to integrate anatomical study into the classroom setting, including how to use anatomical images and how to teach living anatomy. In addition, we cover the ways a teacher can integrate sutras, poetry, chant and teachings from the yoga tradition, and buddha dharma into the classroom experience.

There is no greater gift than having a daily home practice. A home practice is like having a life long confidant and friend. But how to grow a personalized self-practice tailored uniquely to you? This course helps establish a home practice ideal for your age, lifestyle, health history, and structural limitations.

This immersion lays the foundation for you to build a consistent home practice weaving together meditation/contemplation, somatic movement, and yoga posture. To design a home practice, we take into consideration your Ayurvedic constitution, fatigue and stress levels, and diet. A rewarding practice is one that stays fresh and innovative, combining both dynamic and restorative practices. In this course we help you design a practice that will continue to evolve as you grow, age, and change through all transitions in your life. For teachers of yoga (and meditation), we believe that a home practice is a necessary ingredient for honing your skills as a teacher.

In yoga and Ayurveda, marma points are vital acupressure points located on the surface of the body that connect to the energetic circuitry of nerve and blood. In this course we detail the 21 most important marma points that can be directly stimulated through yoga postures. Via pressure point therapy, we activate the flow of prana at each marma point to improve circulation through the skin, fascia and organs. We study the anatomical location of each point, comparing and contrasting the marma points of Ayurveda to the acupuncture points used in Chinese Medicine. We provide pressure point release in yoga postures, through direct stimulation using bolsters, blocks, the floor and belts. In dyads, we use restorative poses such as supta baddha konasana, savasana, and leg-up-the-wall pose combined with manual pressure point release. Each day, when practicing alone, we cover ways to impart direct stimulation on the points using small physio-balls. This course is deeply rejuvenating while providing the essential knowledge to use pressure point stimulation in any therapeutic context in order to heal the subtle body.

In such times of extraordinary stress, change, and uncertainty, how do we keep our balance—physically, mentally and emotionally? How do we find ways of responding with wisdom and care to the challenges and demands around and within us? As a way of building on and extending your yoga training, Prajna Yoga’s Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course offers skillful means of working with patterns of thought, emotions, and stress reactivity that are no longer serving you, or are, perhaps, causing harm.

The crux of our investigation in MBSR is straightforward: we seek to minimize harm and maximize human flourishing. We welcome you to join us in exploring the ancient wisdom and modern scientific understanding of how we can meet the difficulties arising, without and within, in ways that foster our own capacities for sanity, clarity, and joyful freedom.

Instructor: Janet Curry

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Designed by Tias Little after 30 years of education, practice, study, and research, SATYA is a somatic practice that builds mindfulness through movement.

SATYA (Sensory Awareness Training for Yoga Attunement) is Prajna Yoga’s therapeutic, “yin” style practice. We practice fine articulated movement on the floor in a flowing fashion, synthesizing breath with movement. The exercises are non-weight bearing and involve sliding, gliding, and circular movements to reduce myo-fascial holding in the body. When done on the floor, the breath and movement together enables myofascial release without strain. All movements are done slowly, in isolation, and without force. The SATYA movements replenish the body by increasing circulation (the flow of prana) throughout all the tissues of the body. SATYA acts as a “prana pump” to oxygenate the bloodstream and irrigate, or “soak” the tissues.

Read more about the SATYA program here

Participate in a Silent Retreat with Tias and Surya online or at the Prajna Temple in Santa Fe. Each retreat has varying hours and topics that are covered.

This course is an in-depth training on how to address structural imbalances in the body. Through anatomical study, demonstration, pose modification, prop work, and SATYA we address common muscular-skeletal strain patterns. Each day includes practice sessions, meditation, postural clinics, and small group discussion to learn to sequence and modify postural movements for low back pain, shoulder restriction, scoliosis, and much more.

In this course, Tias and Surya share their combined 50 years of study, practice, and teaching on how to design classes that are dynamic, playful, enlightening, and creative. Known for their integrity, authenticity, and wisdom, Tias and Surya share the art of teaching that has made them so successful and real over the years. You will learn not only how to weave a class together, but how to stand in a leadership role within your community. You will learn to find the best descriptive language to facilitate opening in a posture. Tias and Surya coach on how to articulate actions in the pose when teaching. This course of study also includes how to further “adjust” postures by guiding students in the creative use of props, furniture or wall space in order to help students experience ease and grace in their structure.

In Yoga and Ayurveda, the body is made from seven primary tissues called dhatus. The term dhatu means to hold or support and the seven—plasma, blood, muscle, fat, bone, nerve, and reproductive fluid—are the building blocks for the entire body. In this course we discover how all yoga practices from meditation to asana, and from diet to pranayama serve to enhance the function of these essential seven tissues.

Yogic Nutrition and Somatic Healing
We begin by exploring the ground substance of rasa, the progenitor of all 7 tissues. We include a day on nutritional and dietary health for building the blood. We use select yoga practices and somatic movements to generate optimal health in the muscle, fat, bone, and nervous system. Lastly, we will see how the reproductive system is not limited to procreation, but in yoga is the most vital tissue in the body to support radiant health and immunity (ojas).

Ayurveda Dosha
In this course we take time to review your dosha (physical body type) in order to determine what kind of diet and movement practice is ideal for you. Learn how by boosting your individual dhatu, you can generate more vitality in your overall constitution.

The chakras evoke mystery, an artistic imagination and connection to the subtle body. For each of us, the chakras are unique centers of physical and psychic energy. In this specialized course we cover the anatomical structures that correspond to each chakra beginning with the tailbone and leading to the crown of the head. You will learn the muscular-skeletal, organic, and glandular association within each chakra. This course details these vital energy centers along the vertebral column that houses nerve bundles thought to be “small brains.”

In addition we investigate the emotional and spiritual quality of each chakra. We investigate ways to strengthen each chakra as well as the causes of deterioration within each chakra. Learn the energetic and emotional vitality that pertains to each vital energy center.

While it is valuable to stretch and strengthen the musculoskeletal system in yoga, the health of the organs brings radiant vitality to the entire body. In this course we utilize postures, pranayama, meditation and dietary regulation to support the health of the internal organs.

We focus on generating the flow of prana (blood and lymph) through each organ to support motility (inherent motion) and metabolic exchange. We review the anatomical position and function of each organ and practice SATYA (Sensory Awareness Training for Yoga) to slide, squeeze, wring, drain, and flush fluids through each organ.

Many people suffer from stagnation in the viscera due to excess sitting, dietary imbalances and repressed emotion. This can lead to sluggishness, fatigue, stagnation, and the unwanted growth of tumors and cysts. In each day of this course, we practice active postures such as twists, back-arches and inversions and do restorative postures to reduce inflammation.

The organs are highly sensitive, highly responsive structures given their soft-bodied walls and compartments. Thus we will take into consideration not only the physiological make up of each organ but also the psychological and emotional characteristics of the liver, kidney, lung, and large intestine.

Surya will present information on the alchemy of yoga and food to heal the internal organs. From both Ayurveda and Oriental Medicine, we study the meridians and key acupressure points associated with each organ. In this unique course, you will gain a new approach to practice, healing your organic body for longevity and vitality.

Yoga Nidra guides us to the liminal space between waking and sleep. This practice is deeply nourishing, revitalizing the central nervous system, the organs and glands. Participate in a Yoga Nidra course with Tias and Surya online or at the Prajna Temple in Santa Fe. Each Yoga Nidra course has varying hours and topics that are covered.

Current research shows that trauma is pervasive today, woven into the very fabric of human culture. Trauma may be due to circumstances in this lifetime, or inherited from previous generations. We are witnessing a global acceleration of the traumatic experience.

As yoga practitioners we must ask, what is trauma and how does it affect the body-mind? How can stretching, breathing, meditation, sound, and visualization practice help break the grip of traumatic holding?

In this course we investigate the impact of trauma on the mind and body and how anxiety and stress become embedded in the body’s soft tissues. While the historical yoga teachings do not point directly to trauma, they refer to obstacles, afflictions, and “poisons” that impair progress on the path. We will examine contemporary research in psychology, dreamwork, neurology, and somatic-emotional processing in order to provide you with the tools necessary to address trauma in your community and for your students and clientele.