An Autumn Intensive with Caroline Coggins

March 16, 17 & 18

Looking for the path, we are lost in the tall grasses.

The intense heat of summer begins to leave the earth now, and the mild sweetness of autumn arrives. This is the season of nourishing, strengthening and storing. This can only happen, though, when we know we are seasonal people, something generously taught us once we let go to life. There’s also a direction to follow, a course we travel, and when we know that it will decide everything else. But what is this ‘path’?

Zen practice says this:
In search for the Bull.
‘First we search for the Bull, in the pleasure of the world, endlessly push aside tall grasses in search for the bull.
Following unnamed rivers, lost upon the interpenetrating paths of distant mountains,
My strength failing and my vitality exhausted, I cannot find the bull.
I hear only the locusts chirring through the forest at night.’

The bull, of course, was never lost. What need is there to search?  Only because of separation from my true nature I fail to find him. In the confusion of the senses, I lose even his tracks. Far from home, I see many crossroads, but which way is the right one I know not. Greed and fear, good and bad, entangle me.
This is the phase prior to commitment.

The Yoga path speaks of it this way: Sadhana, the spiritual path.
B. K. S. Iyengar (1993: p. 22), in his English translation of and commentary to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, defines sādhana in relation to abhyāsa and kriyā:

Sādhana is a discipline undertaken in the pursuit of a goal. Abhyāsa is repeated practice performed with observation and reflection. Kriyā, or action, also implies perfect execution with study and investigation. Therefore, sādhanā, abhyāsa, and kriyā all mean one and the same thing. A sādhaka, or practitioner, is one who skillfully applies mind and intelligence in practice towards a spiritual goal.

There are many things to learn; firstly, how to reflect, then to ‘practice,’ to commit, and because we have committed and put time aside, we begin to notice, pay close attention, (but lightly) to all that lands in our mental lap.

Come, gather your nuts for storage in the colder months, nourish yourself,  and let go a bit, because all will be well!

Caroline Coggins

Schedule

Friday: 5.00  – 7.00 PM Pranayama
Saturday: 9.30 AM – 12.00 noon Asana Class
Saturday: 1.30 – 3.30 PM Asana Class
Sunday: 10.00 AM – 1.00 PM Asana Class

*Please Note these classes will not run during the intensive:
Friday: 6.00 PM Restorative class
Saturday: 9.45 AM L1 and
Saturday: 11.00 AM L2
Sunday: 8.00 AM Beginners Course

This class’s start time will change:
Sunday: L2 class will start earlier at 8.00 AM.

Cost: $240

March 16, 17 & 18  

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September 21, 22 & 23  

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November 2, 3 & 4 

Registration available soon