Gary Kraftsow has been a pioneer in the transmission of yoga for health, healing and personal transformation for 30 years.

He began his study of yoga in India with T.K.V. Desikachar in 1974 and received a Viniyoga Special Diploma from Viniyoga

International in Paris, France. He is a renowned speaker and teacher of the Viniyoga methodology at many conferences and schools

nationally and internationally. In 1999 he founded American Viniyoga Institute, LLC. Gary has successfully developed protocol for two

National Institute of Health studies: "Evaluating Yoga for Chronic Low Back Pain" and "Yoga Therapy for Generalized Anxiety,

" He is the Director and Senior Teacher of the American Viniyoga Institute; author of two books: YOGA FOR WELLNESS and

YOGA FOR TRANSFORMATION; and author of two educational DVDs: YOGA THERAPY FOR LOW BACK,

SACRUM AND HIPS and YOGA THERAPY FOR UPPER BACK, NECK AND SHOULDERS. 

OPTIMAL HEALTH

Friday: 6pm-8:30pm
Saturday: 12:30-3:30 and 4pm-6pm
Sunday: 12:30pm-3:30pm

All 4 sessions: $185
$220 after April 21st

An $85 non-refundable deposit required for registration.

Participation in all 4 sessions strongly encouraged though single sessions are available:
$65 per session ($75 after April 21st)

The insights of the Ancients from Vedic India have both deep and practical relevance for modern living.

In this event, we will draw on select Upanisadic teachings that provide a means to help us understand ourselves,

and specific Yogic practices that provide a method to help us achieve our highest potential.

Translating these ancient teaching, Gary will lead us through an step-by-step examination of what Optimal Health

means at each dimension of the human system, what are the Yogic practices that the ancients conceived to help us

achieve that goal, and how they can be adapted for our individual practice.

Practices that will be experienced include:

Asana
Pranayama
Chanting
Meditation
Prayer & Ritual

Friday
Introduction to Optimal Health:

The Viniyoga Perspective

Saturday
Structural & Physiological Goals:

In these sessions you will develop structural goals including: skeletal alignment, joint stability, muscular resilience

and functional neuromuscular movement patterns. You will also begin to examine optimal metabolic functioning,

which is the most important of our physiological systems.

Sunday
Mental, Psychological & "Spiritual" Goals:
In this final day you will sharpen your mental goals including: attention, focus, listening, memory.

Explore psychological goals including: emotional stability, self-confidence, self-esteem, tolerance,

compassion, and discrimination. And come to a better understanding of yourself through

"spiritual" goals including: finding joy, finding purpose, and facing death.

In these sessions you will develop structural goals including: skeletal alignment, joint stability, muscular resilience

and functional neuromuscular movement patterns. You will also begin to examine optimal metabolic functioning,

which is the most important of our physiological systems.

VINIYOGA

Viniyoga means to start at the appropriate place for each individual and proceed with appropriate steps in the desired direction.

Viniyoga, in this broad sense of practice and purpose, is thus not so much a “style” as it is a methodology for the cultivation

of practice based upon individual ability and purpose using the many classical tools of Yoga. By extension, public classes are taught

in different ways, for different purposes, for different groups of students and for different stages of our lives. The asana practice can

be characterized by the conscious integration of  breath and movement of the spine. Practice brings a strong, flexible and resilient back

coupled with a long and steady, smooth and subtle breath. Function is stressed over form. Repetition, adaptation and careful attention

to sequencing and breathwork are other key elements. There are no set practices for Viniyoga, but there are core

principles of breath and movement.

One fundamental principle is respecting the individuality of each student. Personal practices may also include pranayama,

meditation, and other classic elements. Personal practices are taught privately. Given the scope of practice, the heritage

of the lineage and the many therapeutic applications, the training requirements for Viniyoga teachers are extensive.

Viniyoga is the Yoga of  Sri. T. Krishnamacharya and was continued by his son, T.K. Desikachar. It is a long and influential

Yoga tradition well known for a broad, deep and individual approach to practice. Through his many famous students,

Krishnamacharya is sometimes said to "have launched the Hatha Yoga renaissance in modern times, which is still

sweeping the world." Gary Kraftsow is world known in this lineage.

ABOUT GARY

Gary Kraftsow has been a pioneer in the transmission of yoga for health, healing and personal transformation for 30 years.

He began his study of yoga in India with T.K.V. Desikachar, in 1974 and received a Viniyoga Special Diploma from Viniyoga

International in Paris, France Gary graduated with a BA, Magna Cum Laude, from Colgate University in 1976, and received his

Masters Degree in Psychology and Religion from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1983. At this time he opened Maui

School of Yoga Therapy. Since then, he has become a renowned speaker and teacher of the Viniyoga methodology at many conferences

and schools nationally and internationally. In 1999 he founded American Viniyoga Institute, LLC. Gary has successfully developed

protocol for two National Institute of Health studies: "Evaluating Yoga for Chronic Low Back Pain" and "Yoga Therapy for Generalized

Anxiety." He is the Director and Senior Teacher of the American Viniyoga Institute, and the author of two books published by Peguin:

Yoga for Wellness and Yoga for Transformation; and author of two educational DVD's to be released by Pranamaya in spring 2007:

Viniyoga Therapy for Low Back, Sacrum and Hips and

Viniyoga Therapy for Upper Back, Neck and Shoulders.

A DAY WITH GARY KRAFTSOW

Giving a written taste of any of these energy-rich conference classes is a challenge, but after spending most of the day with Gary Kraftsow (attending two classes and listening to his erudite offerings to a panel discussion on Saturday), I know whatever I say here will be woefully inadequate. Gary seems to know every word of the Yoga Sutra by heart--in Sanskrit--and gives the most provocative translations into English. He lived in Madras, India for four years, and began studying with T.K.V. Desikichar in the 1970s. He holds a masters degree in religion and psychology and rattles off dozens of stories and teachings of saints, yogis, and philosophers in the course of a class. As founder and director of the American Viniyoga Institute, he also has a wee bit of experience with anatomy and physiology and asana--and designed a protocol for a study recently published in the Annals of Internal Medicine showing that yoga can relieve chronic back pain. Let's just say, Gary is a vessel of yoga knowledge, unlike anything most of us have ever experienced. In "Common Aches and Pains: Upper Back, Neck and Shoulders," he gave us some basic anatomy and physiology lessons that I won't try to recap here. What I loved most of all he said was this: "Think carefully about what you do with the time you have for practice." He asked us what was more important: our hamstrings or our liver? Knowing that most of us are too busy to do it all, he asked: Do we really want to spend so much of our yoga practice stretching our hamstrings? If we're dealing with specific issues--like chronic neck pain, doesn't it make more sense to tailor a short (maybe 15-minute) practice for releasing neck tension and do it a couple of times a day? "Your responsibility is self-investigation," he told us. To heal chronic aches and pains, he suggested that we discover our own dysfunctional neuromuscular movement patterns (the ways we move or hold ourselves--say with our neck craned or our back slumped--that contribute to our discomfort), and see if we can change them. Acknowledging that doctors, physical therapists, yoga teachers and others can help us, he said he finds that the most effective healing comes when we investigate our own issues, rather than relying solely on experts. He offered several poses for releasing tension in the upper back, neck, and shoulder