Courses

 

Summer Remote Program (Jan-Feb) 2025 begins January 6th.

Surya Namaskar Challenge: TOWARDS 81

What you need to know:

• 1 month of scaffolded Sun Salutation summer practice
• regular yoga wherever you are — independent & alongside others
• 6-days per week, building bit-by-bit
• begins Monday January 6th in-person at Temple Park (with a remote option Tuesday January 7th)
• remote check-in Clinic: Wednesday 22 January (via zoom)
• February 6th: attempt from 3 – 81 Surya Namaskars together at Temple Park Studio

Fees: $81

Surya Namaskar might be the golf swing of yoga… given that we do it over and over, and there’s always something to refine and observe. It’s simple but it stays interesting.

It’s the basic set of movements that always precedes a longer practice of asana (poses). It includes most aspects of anatomical movement (except a twist and an inversion), and is therefore a well-rounded, safe and approachable way to prepare the body for other complexities of movement.

A solid surya namaskar in your yoga repertoire trains and prepares the body amazingly well for advanced poses. It develops the hands, the quiet back, moving-from-middle, the intelligent feet, as well as teaching how to relax, widen, breathe and elongate.

And…. it’s an active meditation. This is how it tends to operate when we do it as part of the repetitive mode where, instead of just warming up with surya namaskar, we can also devote a whole practice to its detail and rhythm.

We can remain alert, while also letting drop a certain daily mind, in order to open out onto larger perspectives. In the repetitions, we can rediscover a sense of proportion, even recalling things that made us uneasy and that we didn’t resolve (which might have been activating us behind our own backs…)

Repetitive practice is an open secret for steadiness, insight, taking responsibility and for forgiving ourselves.

Sound dreary? Well…
It’s pretty delightful, actually. When you build a capacity for the repetitions, you then have the strength to do them for longer, to immerse in another kind of body-heart-mind mode and approach your life and the people you love afresh and with more pluck.

It’s not that this is even a New Year’s resolution. It might be one way to work out what to decide about. It’s a container for future decisions, as much as a decision in itself. To commit to some 2025 summer Sun Salutations might help you figure out what matters, what you want, and what falls outside of your control. In this way, it reveals direction and trains backbone, kindness and also contentment (samtosha), a crucial yogic virtue.

The tumble of the festive season can leave us a little washed up on the shores of ‘What Next?’ Towards 81 in 2025 is a lovely thing that you do solo, and wherever you are, and also together, with a bunch of other people. Maybe they are doing suryas in a nearby suburb, or in a cabin somewhere, or at a campsite, among a lot of dust and leaves. On their balcony, or at the dog park. In any case, you will be in good company, and on February 6th (6.45pm), we will close the challenge with an attempt at up to 81 surya namaskars (a remote option will also be provided).

Dates and times are below — for the in-person/remote guidance sessions to work on and check technique for safe and sustainable practice. The surya namaskar series is also able to be modified to accommodate phases of injury, pregnancy etc. We can devise a version that works for your current physical situation.

When you enrol, you’ll receive a calendar to stick on the fridge. You can either provide your snail mail address for this (and you will get a little envelope in the post) or it will be sent electronically.

The calendar helps you map out your days with the gently increasing number of suryas. We’ll start with a maximum 5 per day and increase to a maximum of around 11 or 12 per day. Slowly, and surely, across 30+ days. There is always a Rest Day each week, that you stipulate. Each practice session will also involve a suggested restorative pose, so you can rest and relax after the active aspect. You work in a measured and intentional way; this stays clear of injury.

You’ll only need a yoga mat (and even floorboards or old carpet work fine).

**Term 1 classes (Intermediate & Foundations) will begin in 2025 on Thursday 13 February & Monday 17th February respectively. Stay tuned for a mailout closer to the time.

DATES & TIMES:

• INTRO SESSION: January 6th (MONDAY): Temple Park, 6.45pm (1.5hrs)
• REMOTE RECAP INTRO: January 7th (TUESDAY): via zoom 5.45pm (75 mins)
• CHECK-IN CLINIC (check your technique is safe / address remaining issues): January 22nd (WEDNESDAY): 6pm via zoom (~1hr)
• TOWARDS 81: February 6th (THURSDAY): Temple Park, 6.45pm, sitting, suryas & relaxation (2.5hrs)

FEES: $81

 

---

(… and more events, workshops to come across the year: join our mailing list for upcoming sessions and news.)

COVID safety precautions are in operation at the studio at Temple Park, Brunswick, Victoria. BYO own mat/blanket, water/bottle, and please do not attend if you are unwell. Masks are worn when required by current restrictions. We thank you in advance.

 

Fees due 2 days prior to term beginning.
Enrolment is for the whole term.
For planned missed classes, please mention dates in your request-to-enrol email, and $24 deducted per planned missed class. A new fee will be quoted on this basis.
For COVID-related absences, a credit class or refund will be arranged.
For financial hardship, please enquire about term scholarships.
Yoga Teacher Discount (with Yoga Australia or equivalent membership): 15% off.

If the teacher is ill, the class will move to zoom. Please check the email with which you enrolled to get updates.

 

---

 

PLEASE JOIN OUR MAILING LIST BELOW OR CONTACT US TO COME ALONG

 

 

We look forward to breathing, moving, resting and training the body’s courage and clarity with you.

 

 

Please email for a prompt reply, or leave a phone number in your email, and we will call you. You may join at any time in a series, but are requested to commit for the remainder of the series, following a trial class.

 

(New students may join at any point in a term for the remainder of the term. Email us to inquire.)

Sign up is for the entire course. If you know of an advance clash with any class, please inform when you email so that the fee schedule may be adjusted. Each planned missed class deducts $24 from the course fee overall.

***

Classes are held TEMPLE PARK SENIOR CITIZENS’ CENTRE, Brunswick.