ashtanga yoga David Williams workshops

[Guest guest]

I agree with you completely. I too attended one of his workshops and I

"absorbed" all his "secrets" and teachings with practicing ashtanga

yoga. I liked his stile so much that I'm inviting him to my studio

this year to give one of his workshops here in Slovenia, Europe.

 

If anyone is interested please go to

http://www.suryasaktiyoga.com/workshop.html to get details. 4 day

workshop will be from 1 to 4 July 2004 in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Europe

and will cost 150 EUR. Accommodations are quite inexpensive as well

and if I get enough people, we will get discounts on lodging. If you

are interested please contact me at jana

 

thanks,

jana

 

 

 

 

On Thursday, January 22, 2004, at 08:34 PM, ImpliedPresence wrote:

> What follows is my account from memory and notes I took; please don't

> take

> it as "the gospel according to David Williams," because it's not.

> It's from

> my perception and memory, and because someone asked for info, I

> thought I'd

> share what I can.

>

> I've been to two David Williams workshops in the past two years, and I

> enjoyed them both. He comes from a perspective of having been one of

> the

> first two (the other being Norman Allen) westerners to learn from

> Jois. He

> also has the perspective of having "lived the yoga" for the past 30

> years,

> the last 12 or so in which he didn't teach classes; he just did his

> yoga,

> swam in the ocean and did some bodywork on the side. During that

> time, he

> thought a lot about ashtanga, including his disappointments in people

> learning ashtanga and getting hurt. That's partly what prompted him to

> "come out of hiding" (so to speak) and to teach what he has learned.

>

> For example: he has a "fix" for the Primary Series sequence... ie.,

> because

> the Primary Series is full of forward bends, he thinks it's more

> balanced

> when you add breaths to up dog in the vinyasas (ie., he has you

> breathe 5

> breaths in each up dog in each vinyasa). Also, as he was first

> taught, he

> only teaches vinyasas between each asana, not between each side of each

> asana. It's not that he thinks it's "wrong" to do vinyasa between

> each side

> (right/left) of each asana, but that it's not necessary, especially

> when

> first teaching someone the series.

>

> David Williams also does not focus on form/alignment. He suggests

> that, by

> practicing every day, one will gradually improve your alignment

> naturally.

> He's "not picky" about where yogis put their hands, etc., either...

> It's

> not that there are no "rules"/guidelines, but he doesn't focus on that

> part

> of one's practice.

>

> For me, his breath count was a bit fast (eg., in utthita hasta

> pandanghustasana, I was on breath #2, and he was counting #5), but

> again,

> for beginners, perhaps it fit better... although I still consider

> myself a

> beginner, too.... and the rate at which people breathe varies greatly.

>

> A couple more things: David Williams does not adjust people. He

> thinks

> it's too easy to hurt someone that way, and he has many students who

> have

> learned the Primary and Intermediate Series from him without him

> touching

> them during their practices. David doesn't think it's "wrong" to

> adjust

> people, but he chooses not to and doesn't think it's necessary, and

> he's

> heard of many instances when people were severely hurt by teachers'

> adjustments.

>

> At the first workshop (2+years ago), on the day of doing the

> Intermediate

> Series, we went through most of the postures, and those people who

> could not

> do the asanas that occur later on in the series, just stopped and

> watched.

> At the second workshop, we stopped at leg-behind-the-head pose. David

> said

> he didn't think it was necessary to go on because of the varied levels

> of

> people at the workshop. Also, I think we were running short on time.

>

> David teaches nauli kriya at his workshops (ie., a standing abdominal

> exercise in which one lifts/lowers one's abdomen repeatedly, and then

> rolls

> the abdomen side to side repeatedly; it was written up in Yoga Journal

> some

> time this past year), and I find this exercise extremely helpful.

> After two

> years of practicing it, it's not only helped my yoga tremendously, but

> it

> has helped my singing, too.

>

> I enjoyed both workshops immensely. Hearing David Williams'

> perspectives

> and his history with ashtanga was really interesting.

>

> If you're looking for someone who has regularly & recently trained with

> Jois, however, David Williams is not this person. While I cannot say

> that

> David has been to India since the last workshop I attended (last

> August), up

> until then, he had not been there in recent years.

>

> I found his workshops very valuable and enjoyable. He's very open and

> helpful, too, and will answer emails as well.

>

>

>

>> Message: 9

> Wed, 21 Jan 2004 10:20:59 +0000

> Prima <primafacie

> Re: Arturo - Vinyasa & David Williams

>

> Hi Arturo ­ slightly off-topic, but I notice you said you attended a

> workshop with David Williams. He¹s coming to the UK for the first

> time in

> years and years and I¹m thinking about attending. Would you recommend

> it?

> I ask as I¹ve been having serious trouble getting any opinions on David

> Williams due to the fact that he does far less workshops than most of

> the

> top teachers around the globe.

>

> How does he compare to the other ashtangi¹s you¹ve studied with?

>

> Thanks - p

>

>

>

>

>

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