Yoga, Sadhana, and Self-Healing Six-Month Course
Starting October 16, 2007

Register

Thank You for your interest in the Yoga, Sadhana, and Self-Healing Course, offered for the first time anywhere in the West.  At the California College of Ayurveda, we are committed to bringing the healing wisdom of Ayurveda to the West in ways that support your life’s pursuit of healing others while nurturing your own soul’s quest for spiritual expression and expansion. 

This course will help you gain confidence in healing through direct personal experience.  Incorporating a healing lifestyle opens the heart and will prepare you to better facilitate healing in your future patients. 

The five senses are portals or gateways into the body, mind and consciousness. Through them, impressions from our environments are absorbed. When healthy impressions (healthy foods, visual impressions, sounds, smells and touch) are taken in, the body responds by reaching its full potential. When low quality impressions are taken in, the body responds with less than optimum function and becomes susceptible to disease.

What is Sadhana?  Sadhana is a spiritual discipline or path.  This course combines yogic and ayurvedic lifestyle disciplines for spiritual and physical healing. Lifestyle integration will include discussion and practice of:

• Food sadhana (preparing and eating meals together)
• Eyewashes for visual health
• Tongue scraping for digestive health
• Abhyanga (self-massage)
• Neti and Nasya for sinus and mental health
• Basic meditation
• Yoga Nidra (yogic sleep)
• Special healing meditations for the chakras and the energetic body 

All of these practices harmonize the five senses, helping the body to reach its full potential.  You will build your internal strength and resistance through regular routines that calm the body, mind, and spirit. 

This course meets during the first academic year of the CCA curriculum. Times are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 8:00 – 9:30 am.

Tuesdays 
We will have a heart-centered yoga asana class together based on the time-honored traditions of the East.  All levels of students are encouraged to participate with an open mind.

1. Beginning students will be encouraged to create and sustain a daily personal asana practice with a slow introduction of postures and variations. 
2. Intermediate students will be encouraged to go deeper with the postures they already know, and bring greater consistency into their yoga routines.
3. Advanced students will be encouraged to continue a personal yoga practice, and may tailor their practice for greater healing.

Wednesdays
Join the group meditation every Wednesday morning and experience the effects of Pranayama (breath work) on the mind and in meditation practice.  After pranayama, meditation, and a tea break, the facilitator will read a short spiritual text and we will explore the text through discussion.

Thursdays
We will work together to integrate the healing principles and lifestyle of Ayurveda successfully by taking small steps and giving group support.  Each week we will attempt a small lifestyle change or learn guided healing meditations.  Students will be encouraged to journal their experiences for group discussion and support weekly.  We will also discuss basic yogic philosophy and Sanskrit chanting.

The Yoga, Sadhana, and Self-Healing Six-Month Course is purposefully designed so that each student can go deeper in the studies, further in their practices and expand their understanding of their own soul’s journey.  The art of yoga, the spiritual expression of Sadhana and the Self-Healing of Ayurveda culminate in an opportunity for genuine personal transformation.  Please join us as we journey inward and discover the beauty of the world within and around us.

Instructors

Dr. Marc Halpern D.C., C.A.S., P.K.S., is the founder and director of the California College of Ayurveda. An internationally recognized expert in the field of Ayurvedic medicine, Dr. Halpern has trained hundreds of practitioners and thousands of students around the World. After completing his Doctor of Chiropractic training, he completed post-graduate work in Ayurveda, Chinese medicine, herbalism, homeopathy, and holistic case management and was certified as a Holistic Health Care Specialist in 1991. Dr. Halpern undertook further study in Ayurveda with Dr. David Frawley, Dr. Subhash Ranad, and other noted teachers. He has since published articles in Yoga Journal, International Journal of Yoga Therapy, Light on Ayurveda and many other publications. Dr. Halpern is a founding board member of the California Association of Ayurvedic Medicine (C.A.A.M.) and the National Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA). He chaired the National Committee on Ayurvedic Education from its inception until 2005.

Amanda J. Lyon C.A.S., P.K.S., is a Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist and a Pancha Karma Specialist. Currently Ms. Lyon is the California College of Ayurveda's (CCA) Herb Department Director where she also is an Intern Supervisor and teaches the Making Herbal Medicines seminar. In addition, she has studied advanced pulse diagnosis extensively, maintains a private practice in Grass Valley, is a Sivananda Certified Yoga Instructor, and directs CCA's student professional development organization, SAGE.  She has been a featured speaker at the Northern California Women’s Herbal Symposium and at the Sivananda Ashram in Grass Valley.