What I learned at the Subtle Yoga Golden Ratio Retreat (it’s simpler than you think!)
On March 22nd and 23rd, I got the opportunity to attend the Golden Ratio Yoga Retreat in Asheville, North Carolina facilitated by Kristine Kaoverii Weber of Subtle Yoga. The group also met on Sunday the 24th but I was not able to attend.
The focus of the workshop was pranayama. One thing I learned from the workshop that will stick with me: in the ancient Yoga Sutras, Patanjali describes pranayama as long, slow breathing. This is what we worked on over the weekend. When it comes to faster breathing techniques such as kapalabhati (breath of fire), these are actually hatha yoga Kriyas. Good to know!
We did a yoga and pranayama practice on Friday night, and two practices on Saturday. On Friday night, we got acquainted with our breath. We found the 1:1 ratio that is most comfortable for us while coming in and out of asanas. I found that my ratio is 6:6. We then worked on lengthening our exhale by starting with our ratio and adding beats to the exhale while coming in and out of the poses. Some of us reached a 1:2 ratio (for me, that would be 6 inhale, 12 exhale). Kristine also taught us that it’s always good to back out of the ratio slowly to return to 1:1 before moving on.
Kristine taught us that the first thing that Patanjali writes regarding pranayama in the Yoga Sutras is to lengthen the exhale. I loved this, as for years I have been teaching my students a practice for lengthening the exhale out of The Breathing Book by Donna Farhi.
On Saturday, we worked with more specific pranayama practices: Analoma Krama and Viloma Krama. Kristine taught us that krama means “proper order”, or a sequence in its proper order. This applies to both Analoma and Viloma Krama. In Analoma Krama, the inhale is segmented into 2-3 parts, along with the asana. In Viloma Krama, the exhale is segmented into 2-3 parts with the asana.
This might seem confusing, however Kristine’s guidance helped me to get comfortable with the Krama practices. That said, what I learned as a teacher from the Golden Ratio Retreat is a whole lot simpler!
As a teacher, what I am taking away from this workshop is the importance of teaching students how to be aware of their breath patterns through the practice of yoga. Kristine shared research with us that found that just paying attention to our breathing engages the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest). Parasympathetic nervous system activity is something that we all need more of in our frenetic culture. So, I concluded that if the only thing that someone learns from me is how to be aware of their breath, that that is enough. That can contribute to nervous system healing and balancing, which is what I aim to provide in my yoga teaching.
It doesn’t have to be complicated! So, for now I will save the Krama practices for my own personal practice, and focus on increasing breath awareness in my students!
To schedule a free consultation or initial yoga coaching session with me, please visit the Scheduling page of my website. For more information about other Subtle Yoga retreats, workshops, and courses with Kristine Kaoverii Weber (there are so many good ones!), feel free to visit www.subtleyoga.com. Namaste!
