Ashtanga Yoga Bandha Workshop
w/ David Keil
Saturday, May 31
12-2 pm
$65
The bandhas can be an elusive aspect of practice. They’re subtle components of the energetic body, which itself can be a challenging concept to grasp. Bandhas can be explored theoretically, energetically, and also physically. What if there were a physical part of bandhas that you could access and you knew what these physical access points were? In the Ashtanga Yoga Bandha Workshop, we’ll work with the physical access of bandhas and relate that to what we understand them to be theoretically and energetically. Looking at the mysterious bandhas from these different points of view will absolutely help you to employ them in your practice. If you can access them, your practice will come from the inside out and be more energetic in nature.
In the Ashtanga Yoga Bandha Workshop, we will first take a broad perspective of what the purpose of yoga asana is and how bandhas fit into it. In order to do this, we will look at the physical aspects of the bandhas as well as access points in the practice. We’ll then explore how breathing relates to creating the energetic fuel for the bandhas. All of this will be employed through practical exercises to have an experience with.
About David
David Keil was introduced to yoga in 1989 by his Tai Chi Chuan teacher. Both the Tai Chi and Yoga practice at the ripe age of 17 began his research into his own mind-body connections. His search continued through massage therapy where he discovered many insights and affirmations of what he had been exploring and finding on his own through his practices. One of the most important elements was the specific understanding of the musculoskeletal system and how fascinating, beautiful, and amazing the body is on the scientific level and how that directly played into and off of his own understanding of the human body. He was given names and explanations for some of the things he had been experiencing and feeling.
As an instructor of Kinesiology (the study of movement and musculoskeletal anatomy) at Miami's Educating Hands School of Massage from 1999-2003, David developed a fun, informal and informative style of teaching. By repeatedly teaching incoming students who had no prior understanding of anatomy, David was confronted with the problem of making such a complex and beautiful system accessible and understandable to the average person.
David brings his unique style and ability to make things simple to the yoga world. Because of his passion and desire to share the human body with everyone, he delivers this complex and sometimes frustrating topic in a way that is very accessible and understandable to yoga practitioners.
Over the years David has used his skills as a Neuromuscular Therapist to help people reduce their chronic pain patterns. He often brings this information into his workshops where students are regularly uncovering painful patterns or injuries in their bodies.
David was introduced to Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga in 1999. But it was in 2001 that he met John Scott in Penzance, UK, presenting his anatomy workshops for the first time overseas. Two weeks practicing with John was transformational and he realized that he had found his teacher. This began a relationship of both teacher/student as well as a collaborative colleague relationship that continues today.
It was also John who told David to go to Mysore, India the following year, which he did. David arrived in Mysore in 2002 where he studied with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois in the “old” shala. In fact, it was the last year that the old shala was used for practice. David was authorized in 2004 and returned yearly for extended visits to Mysore with his wife Gretchen Suarez. They are both Authorized Level 2 and grateful for their time in Mysore, meeting Patabhi Jois and studying with R. Sharath, his grandson, over the years.