Name: 2021-2022 Ashtanga Yoga 12 Month Immersion Program
Start: 2021-09-01T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2022-08-06T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Berkeley, CA, United States

Melanie Green

Email address verified

5 reviews

Sep 1, 2021 - Aug 6, 2022

Group size: 8 - 16

2021-2022 Ashtanga Yoga 12 Month Immersion Program

Berkeley, CA, United States

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Melanie Green

Email address verified

5 reviews

Sep 1, 2021 - Aug 6, 2022

Group size: 8 - 16

Join Melanie Green for a year long Ashtanga Yoga Immersion at the Berkeley Yoga Center. This program will deepen your yoga and meditation practice and understanding of the primary series of Ashtanga Yoga. We will explore the Eight Limbs and yoga philosophy as it relates to social equity and how we take our yoga practice off the mat and into the world. You will gain an understanding of the chakras and how they relate to practice, life, and inner connection. We will also complement the vigor of the Ashtanga practice with monthly Yin practices to give the body a chance to soften, unwind, and decompress.

We will use many modalities including: Pranayama, meditation, the Eight Limbs, anatomy, and Ayurveda over 12 the months. This year's immersion will also include time spent on the study of the Intermediate Series of Ashtanga. Space is limited to ensure individualized attention may be provided.

Sample weekend schedule:

-Friday Mysore practice 9-11 am (optional)
-Saturdays 11:30 am - 5:30 pm
-Sundays 12:00 pm - 4:30 pm

Dates for immersion (potentially subject to change)

2021 Dates:

September (18 & 19)
October (16 & 17)
November (13 & 14)
December – (11th Day Long + self study)

2022 Dates:

January (22 Day Long & 23 Zoom)
February (12 & 13)
March (19& 20)
April (23 & 24)
May (21 & 22)
June, July, Aug TBD

Requirements

All students wanting to attend the 2021-2022 immersion program, must have prior study of the Ashtanga Primary Series.

To be considered for the immersion, you must submit a personal essay. The essay must include:

1. information about your current yoga practice,

2. why you practice,

3. what yoga means to you,

4. how has yoga been transformational in your life,

5. what do you most struggle with in the practice,

6. what you hope to gain from this immersion program,

7. how will you will make time for the immersion in your life

8. If you are not currently a yoga student of Melanie’s, include information about your current Ashtanga practice and who you study with.

Fees and registration

The personal essay and $500 deposit must be sent in to guarantee your spot, as space is limited. Please email Melanie at melyoga@hotmail.com with any inquiries regarding course content, requirements, or space availability.

If you are not accepted into the program, your deposit will be refunded.

Early Bird Cost: $2450 (Paid in 3 payments: Deposit and first payment paid by August 1).

Regular plan: $2600 (Paid in 3 payments: Deposit and first payment paid by September 1).

Extended payment plan: $2800 (Paid in 4 payments).

About the Berkeley Yoga Center

The Berkeley Yoga Center, operating since 1997, brings together fine teachers from a rich background of traditions. We are committed to creating and nourishing a yoga community through a variety of ongoing classes, as well as our special weekend workshops. For those of you who are new to yoga, we offer beginning classes. The Center's beautiful studio has soft-wood floors, plenty of natural light, and a tranquil atmosphere. We are located at 2121 Bonar Street (upper floor), and the access code to the building is *YOGA (*9642). For more information about the center, please visit www.berkeleyyoga.com.

-Immersion Manual
-Study of the philosophical underpinnings of Ashtanga
-Monthly weekend check-in time to build or broaden your Ashtanga community
-Individualized attention for your practice
-The spiritual and physical aspects of yoga
-Time to deepen your understanding of yourself
-Cooperative style learning
-Time to learn the basic understanding of the Eight Limbs from the Yoga Sutras
-Many lessons in asana practice
-The tools to become more self-reliant in your home asana practice
-Lessons in pranayama
-Hands on adjustments
-Individualized instruction and attention based on where you need to grow
-Basic adjustment techniques in the first half of the primary series postures (further adjustments will be provided as time permits)
-Meditation techniques for developing a home meditation practice
-Ongoing support for your progress and stability
-Ayurvedic component with a skilled Ayurvedic practitioner
-Basic Sanskrit knowledge
-Intermediate Series instruction
-Mysore style instruction
-Anatomy lesson

-Accommodations for Immersion Weekends

-Immersion Retreat Accommodations
-Additional reading materials

Early Bird Payment Plan

This is the early bird plan that allows you a discount if the deposit and first payment is made by August 1 2021.

$2,450

Deposit: $500

Past Trip

Regular Payment Plan

This is the regular plan that requests the deposit at time of booking and first payment to be made by September 1, 2021.

$2,600

Deposit: $500

Past Trip

Extended Payment Plan

This plan allows you to pay for the immersion over four payments.

$2,850

Deposit: $500

Past Trip

Sara Custom Package

This is a custom plan that requests the deposit at time of booking and first payment to be made by July 1, 2021. Payments will be made in the amount of $82 per month

$2,025

Deposit: $800

Past Trip

Yoga & Equity
Yoga & Equity
September 2021
We will begin this immersion with a dive into the Eight Limbs through the lens of social equity and how we can take these ideas into the world and off our mat. How do we as yogis become anti-racists? How do we study the Eight Limbs of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga as written in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras to be applicable today? We will begin with the first two limbs: Yamas and Niyamas. We will prepare by reading Sutras Book 2:29 - 2:40. We will discuss their tradition, as well as present day examples of how they show up on and off the yoga mat.
Read more
Introduction to Ayurveda
Introduction to Ayurveda
October 2021
Explore Ayurveda, a sister science of yoga in this weekend workshop with Jessie Holland. Ayurveda literally translates to the ‘knowledge of life’. This traditional system of healing emphasizes each person's uniqueness. You will participate in an interactive lecture style introduction to the basic traditions of Ayurveda and learn about the doshas, or "constitutions" and the simple principles to help tune into your own individual dosha. You will also learn tools to live harmoniously with the environment around you and gain a basic understanding of your unique imbalances, as well as ways to help move into Winter with your optimal state of health and well-being intact.
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Ayurvedic Cleanse
Ayurvedic Cleanse
October 2021
This month Immersion participants are encouraged to participate in a cleanse for the body, mind and spirit using the basic Ayurveda kitchari diet. This simple diet, with the use of digestive herbs, digestive tea, abhyanga massage, and ghee will help your body cleanse out the toxins stored in your fat cells, eliminate toxins from daily intake of caffeine, sugar, refined foods, alcohol, etc. It will also help clean your small intestine, eliminate inflammation in the body, boost your immune system, and help reset your digestion and taste buds.
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Primary Series Indepth Study
Primary Series Indepth Study
November 2021
We will spend an entire day going through the Primary Series pose by pose. You will have the chance to learn by hands-on adjustments, teaching one another, watching each others' practice, and committing the practice to memory. The end result will be increased confidence and a foundation for your practice from beginning to end.
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Eight Limbs of Ashtanga: Asana & Pranayama
Eight Limbs of Ashtanga: Asana & Pranayama
November 2021
We will continue our discussion of the Eight Limbs. We will continue seeing how these limbs are applicable to social equity. Students will prepare for this workshop by reading Sutras 2:46 - 2:53 about asana and pranayama. We will delve into what asana is and is not. In addition students will learn different pranayama practices.
Read more
Practice
Practice
December 2021
This month's immersion will be dedicated to practice: in the studio, at home, on the mat, off the mat. We will explore how the practice can be sustained during difficult times, busy times and in the world. We will have a discussion about what Guruji meant when he said, "99% practice; 1% theory," and "Do your practice; all is coming."
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Basic Sanskrit
Basic Sanskrit
January 2022
This Immersion workshop will consist of instruction and discussion on basic Sanskrit pronunciation for terms as they relate to Yoga. You will also get a review of the Ashtanga chants and Primary Series poses - how to pronounce and what the words translate to in English.
Read more
Exploration of Intermediate Sereis of Ashtanga Yoga
Exploration of Intermediate Sereis of Ashtanga Yoga
January 2022
After all of the work over the past six months focusing on the Primary Series and all of its forward bending, you are ready to begin exploring the Intermediate Series of Ashtanga Yoga, also called Second Series or Nadi Sodhana (Nerve/Chanel Cleansing). This series opens with 40 yoga asanas, many of which focus on backward-bending asanas. Our spine is the house for our nerve center and this series means to awaken the spine. This workshop will take a playful approach offering many modifications to make the practice friendly to all.
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Eight Limbs of Ashtanga: Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana & Samadhi
Eight Limbs of Ashtanga: Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana & Samadhi
February 2021
We will finish our discussion of the Eight Limbs with study of the more elusive limbs, the last four. Students will prepare for this workshop by reading Sutras 2:54 - 3:11 about pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi. Students will have a chance to talk about the ways they are able to understand these limbs through asana practice on the mat and daily life off the mat.
Read more

Yoga & Equity

September 2021

We will begin this immersion with a dive into the Eight Limbs through the lens of social equity and how we can take these ideas into the world and off our mat. How do we as yogis become anti-racists? How do we study the Eight Limbs of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga as written in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras to be applicable today? We will begin with the first two limbs: Yamas and Niyamas. We will prepare by reading Sutras Book 2:29 - 2:40. We will discuss their tradition, as well as present day examples of how they show up on and off the yoga mat.

5 reviews

Melanie Green, MA, NC, ERYT is a yoga teacher, director, and co-owner of the Berkeley Yoga Center. She has been practicing yoga for over 25 years and teaching since 2000. Melanie makes yoga accessible to all. While encouraging students to focus on their breath, drishti, and sensations, she teaches her students to deepen their practice as they honor their bodies. She values the spiritual aspects of yoga integrated with the asanas. Melanie's main teacher over the last decade has been Dena Kingburg. She has studied with her in the US as well as at Dena's home studio in Byron Bay, Australia. She also was blessed to practice with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and study with him and for that, she is forever grateful. Melanie focuses as much on the profound inner lessons of yoga: attention to the breath, letting go of thoughts and ego and perseverance through practice, as she does on the physicality of the poses. This process has been informed by Melanie's own experience with scoliosis - which is how her journey of yoga began. In each class, the student is invited to let go and have fun. Melanie's yoga background includes extensive study in Ashtanga. She has also trained in Iyengar, Pre/Postnatal and Vipassna Meditation. Her daily practice informs her teaching and gives her an abundance of experience from which to teach others. Melanie always finds ways to integrate lessons from her own yoga practice into her daily life with her children and wife. Melanie has also taught yoga to children for over a decade at many local elementary schools. Currently she teaches yoga to the Berkeley High Mountain Biking Team, students at Jefferson Elementary and Thousand Oaks Elementary. Melanie is trained in holistic nutrition and often leads cleanses and helps clients improve their health and wellness through food. The immersion will include a nutrition component. In addition to her regularly scheduled classes, Melanie also offers private instruction and workshops. For more information about Melanie and to see her full teaching schedule, please go to www.melyoga.com.

Absolustely the best! Love you Melanie!!!

By Marsha M for Meditation & Yoga Retreat on Feb 14, 2023

I had a truly needed relaxing and rejuvenating time. The natural setting is beautiful, the accommodations superb and the food was fabulous. Having Melanie as a guide is always the best. My only comment would be to have less food next time to eliminate any food waste. Thank you so much.

By Deborah C for Meditation & Yoga Retreat on Feb 12, 2023

Hi Debbie - Thank you for your review. Luckily NONE of the food gets wasted as everyone takes leftovers home and enjoys the rest of the food. : )

By Melanie Green on Feb 14, 2023

Melanie, our yoga teacher, and the Bell Valley Retreat Center staff collaborated to provide a safe space for our yoga community and a rejuvenating retreat for mind, body. and spirit.

By Marsha M for Ashtanga Yoga Retreat on Feb 02, 2022

So glad I got to come, even for a short time. It’s inspiring to spend time with you and our yoga family.

By Marsha M for Ashtanga Yoga Retreat on Feb 04, 2020

I had a fabulous weekend, tremendous yoga classes, wonderful food, (although next year, maybe less volume of food would be better.) Love all the down time and the ability to get to know people. I love the retreat always. Thank you for making this possible for all of us.