Yoga of Awareness Overview

Everything in the universe vibrates in wave-like patterns: sound waves, light waves, radio waves, ocean waves, seismic waves, heat waves, brain waves, muscles including heart-beats move in waves.

Yoga is the art of riding the waves of life skillfully, of finding our balance and keeping our poise amidst the tumult of life's ever-changing challenges. Riding the waves in this way depends on greater awareness.

Yoga of Awareness is about becoming more aware in our daily life. This innovative 8 week course can be tailored to focus awareness for a variety of purposes. In three recent studies, for example, breast cancer patients and fibromyalgia patients took the Yoga of Awareness program to help them better cope with illness-related symptoms (see Research link). In a similar manner, Yoga of Awareness can be adapted to address common concerns of groups with other health conditions (such as multiple sclerosis, low back pain, or depression) or likewise modified for healthy individuals with a focus on every-day challenges (such as maintaining a happy relationship with one's lifelong partner, relieving stress or becoming better parents).

Yoga of Awareness is based on the ancient discipline of yoga as it has been practiced in India for thousands of years. During recent years, as the physical exercises of yoga (asana) have become popularized in Western countries, the term "yoga" in common usage has largely become synonymous with this single aspect of the fuller discipline. In actuality, yoga comprises a wide variety of self-care and healing practices including meditation (dhyana), breathing exercises (pranayama), study of pertinent topics (swadhyaya), and participant meetings and interchange (satsanga). Here is a description of the program structure.

Yoga of Awareness incorporates knowledge and experience gained by teachers trained in traditional schools of yoga, especially Kripalu Yoga in the case if Kimberly Carson, and Siddha Yoga in the case of Jim Carson. The program is designed to systematically integrate a wide spectrum of yogic tenets and techniques. Traditional topics are explored, such as the principles of simple being (sat), awareness (chit), love (ananda), acceptance (tapas), and skill in action (karmasu kaushalam). Also contemporary topics are considered, such as the nature of mind/body stress reactivity, and how yoga may have beneficial effects on stress-related problems. This exploration is complimented by group discussions about what students are learning from their day-to-day yoga practice.