Doug Swenson

[Guest guest]

Does anyone have experience with, or opinions

about, David's brother Doug Swenson and the ashtanga-ish

yoga he teaches? He is offering a workshop near me,

and I am considering whether to attend. Thanks for

any info.

[Guest guest]

I attended a Doug Swenson workshop several months

back. He teaches with great humor, compassion and

posses wonderful knowledge of the asanas. He calls his

style "soft form". It is a little more graceful than

some others astanga practices. I recall that he said

that watching the weeping willow trees and how they

flowed in the breeze while he use to practice outdoors

in Texas inspired him. I found that while I wouldn't

adapt his personal astanga style to my own practice I

did learn quite a bit and would consider attending

another of his workshops. Hope this helps.<br><br>ishogun

[Guest guest]

Hi Mcstroh. I, too recently attended one of

Doug's workshops and enjoyed it a lot. Unlike David

Swensen's, we never made it through the entire first series.

However, there was a lot of partner work which was

terrific. He also spoke a fair amount about nutrition and

his own raw foods eating. He is a very gentle person,

and comes across as quiet and perhaps a bit shy. But

truly, the partner work was great and if you have a

partner to bring, or have one to practice with, it's

great.

[Guest guest]

I went to a recent workshop with Doug and David

Swenson, and the first thing you should understand is that

what Doug teaches is not Astanga, which was

disjointing to me because I was expecting an astanga

workshop. <br><br>Doug is very knowledgable in Astanga and

more. It seems to me that he incorporates t'ai chi-type

transitions and takes off rough edges to create his own

flowing style. From a demo he did with his brother, you

can see that he is a highly accomplished

yogi.<br><br>He is a very caring and compassionate individual, a

truly gentle soul. He included a lecture on his raw

foods diet. He is passionate about his

practice.<br><br>He also was able to perform the most incredible

adjustments; got me into Mari D for the first time ever, and

with no effort, just lightly touched on a place that

opened me up. But don't go expecting Astanga or you will

be disappointed.

[Guest guest]

> got me into Mari D.... just lightly touched

on a place that opened me up<br><br>What's up with

that?... this has happened to me on several occasions

and<br>totally blew me away. Just being able to just touch on a

spot to create an <br>opening indeed takes a great

depth of knowledge by a teacher. Is there a<br>a name

for this phenomenon?

[Guest guest]

It is an amazing sensation, only a few teachers

are gifted enough to do this (Doug and David, in my

limited experience). <br><br>Because there is no effort

involved it makes me realize that I should be able to do

it myself. Soon...

[Guest guest]

The only teacher I know who has this kind of

"magic touch" is Gwendoline Hunt. Sometimes with just

the lightest touch from her, no apparent force, I've

found myself moving into asanas way beyond where I

thought I could go. <br><br>She isn't as well-known as

she deserves to be. She's from NZ and teaches in

India, and sometimes in Europe, with Lino Miele. I feel

really fortunate to have studied with her. Oh, and she's

practicing advanced series in her seventies.