For millennia yoga was inspired by a deep respect for nature. Through our traditions and our modern lifestyles, we can lose our connection to this original spirit of yoga. Any movement practice can potentially become only about the body – yet to understand the body, in each moment, it helps if we do not exclude our relationship with the world.

We have a long history of trying to master and control nature, this can appear in the way we approach movement. So we will explore how connecting to nature, provides the very support we need to let go of the need to control.

If we look again with curiosity and listen, we can re-connect to something beyond our conditioning, this helps update our fixed ways of seeing the world. This process is at the core of what movement can offer us; a connection to what is most essentially human about our existence, and how to evolve our understanding. This is a tangible connection that also relates to the physical, mental and emotional support we get through core support.

Our core is an expression of the way we meet the world.

In this intensive;

– You will explore how even before you begin a movement, your tendency to relate more to ground or space shapes your body, your breath and every move you make. Even your choices, particularly under stress, can be influenced by where you get support. This also means finding out whether your preference of orientation is more to ground or space. So by exploring both options, you can find more support and increase your choices. You can become aware of how you might tend to lose support in challenging situations, and how to find it again.
In a sense, we are also always working with qualities of presence.

Workshop Leo Peppas Madrid 2017

This is not a workshop about arm-balances, but will help you with them.

– You will explore effective ways to support your movement, the clarity of your expressivity and voice.
When the process of movement begins and when we do for example asana, there can sometimes be a tendency to focus either on technique, on moving the body in a certain way, or even primarily on the shape we make. When we do this, we address the body too late. By first addressing the way you orient in the world, you can have a far greater impact, not only on the way you move, but also on every posture. And this is crucial, because your relationship to the world activates your postural support and therefore the coordination of stability and mobility – something you can’t directly control, but that simply ‘happens’.

– On Saturday you will become familiar with all the references for working that you will need, so that means experiencing how perception affects your posture and movement. It will also enable you to see movement quality more clearly in others. This understanding is a basic ground for all movement practice – so even before your first posture or movement, there is a huge opportunity to effect what’s to follow.

– On Sunday you will be applying this understanding and break it down again to its most important elements. You will also experience how this applies to everyday life in things like posture, walking and breathing – One of the most enabling and valuable tools, particularly for sustainability, is to understand how to connect what you do on the mat and asanas to everyday life.

When your practice is relevant to your life, it nourishes and supports you, then your connection to your own inner knowing and intelligence strengthens. Particularly in challenging situations and postures – the way you relate to Ground and Space can help you observe how the root of what is often most limiting, your habits, can be addressed.

In this intensive you may well discover more freedom of choice, and options that were not evident before – it may well be an introduction to a whole new world.

The specifics will depend on the group and Leo takes a lot of freedom to adapt to this. You will work with practical exercises that will inform the way you do every posture, which can also act as a way for you to prepare for your practice and that will empower you meeting the challenges of everyday life. So expect to come away with many new skills, a strengthened capacity to activate support and an understanding that will deepen your practice and the way it connects to your life.
Practitioners of all yoga levels are welcome, this intensive is particularly valuable for teachers. Dancers and practitioners from other related fields such as Pilates, Alexander, Feldenkrais, Mindfulness and Coaching will find this intensive of great value too. It is also a theme that provides great support and clarity for any psychological work.

BIO
Leo Peppas started as an Iyengar Yoga teacher, over the last 30 years he has integrated an understanding of body awareness and movement principles into his teaching and developed a comprehensive approach. His belief that yoga can present a clear link to the path of self discovery and provide a support in everyday life, is core to his teaching method.

“Everything I teach on the mat relates to everyday life”.

Leo is a qualified movement therapist (Body Mind Centering) and Psychosynthesis therapist. He studied Rolfing Movement extensively with Huber Godard and continues to evolve his understanding.

“Leo offers a depth and breadth of experience rare in Yoga teachers today. His commitment to honouring the spirit of Yoga while integrating contemporary knowledge in the field of Somatics makes for potent instruction. Yoga students interested in engaging in authentic practice and study have a precious opportunity in this gifted teacher.»
-Donna Farhi, author of “Yoga Mind, Body & Spirit” and “Bringing Yoga to Life.”
“For me it is the way to meet the world with less effort. And as a teacher it is the way to be authentic for my students.»
-Viktoria Kocsis, yoga teacher, Hungary

“His knowledge in the field and his unique way of teaching make him one of the best teachers to work with and to explore a new approach to yoga and embodied anatomy.»
-Laura Anzuoni, yoga teacher, Italy

“His teaching made a profound shift in my yoga experience. His understanding of yoga is different than of any other teachers I met and studied with and is definitely a gain for any yoga practitioner.”
-Ludmilla Baars, yoga teacher, Slovakia

“Under his guidance and support, students are able to discover tools that can profoundly transform the way in which they practice and teach.”
-Ageliniki Antonopoulou, yoga teacher, Greece

If you are unfamiliar with Leo’s work, check out his album of images about embodied anatomy: www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.667912716557962.1073741831.504756839540218&type=3

Please note: This intensive is not suitable for pregnant women in the final trimester. If you are pregnant, please notify the organiser.

Dates: 4 / 5 November (Saturday & Sunday) 10.00-17.00 (total 12 hours teaching)

Venue: Espacio que Vuela. Calle de Martín de Vargas, 13, Local 1, 28005 Madrid
Booking: Nicanor Fuentetaja
niki@monoyoga.es
Price: €175
Early bird discount €150 (paid in full before 5 September, 2017)
A non-refundable €75 deposit is required to reserve your spot.
Refund policy:
– No refund for cancellation less than 7 days before the event.
– For cancellations at least seven days prior, we charge an administrative 10% fee of the total amount, and the deposit is not refunded.