What is Urban Sadhu Yoga™?
Urban Sadhu Yoga™ is a method of applying ancient yogic wisdom in a contemporary context. The Urban Sadhu Yoga™ Method is a modern, integrated Yoga method that incorporates many unique aspects of a traditional Yoga sadhana (practice) for the contemporary urban spiritual seeker. The method draws from the ancient yogic wisdom of India – Raja Yoga, Tantra Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Nada Yoga, Jappa Yoga, and Bhakti Yoga – but does not exclude spiritual teachings from other cultures. Spiritual activism is a key component within the Urban Sadhu Method.
While Raja Yoga, also known as Ashtanga Yoga (Eight Limbs of Yoga), does not acknowledge Kundalini shakti, both Tantra Yoga (ritualization through a daily yoga practice) and Hatha Yoga (yoga asana) do. Urban Sadhu Yoga™ utilizes the latter two in order to reach the ultimate goal of Raja Yoga, which is samadhi or union. To help guide the practitioner to the goal of union with the Higher Self, the Urban Sadhu Yoga Method is supported by six pillars, SADHANA, AHIMSA, SVADYAYA, DHYANA, AIKYAM, and DHARMA.
Yoga should bring about harmony within, and that harmony should be expanded externally into the world around us. Yoga makes us better humans, more loving, insightful, grateful, and compassionate toward others. These attributes are useless unless expressed in the outside world around us. Urban Sadhu Yoga™ expresses yoga in the world through spiritual activism focused on key issues such as veganism, environmentalism, and social justice for all beings. ™
EXPLORATIONS OCtober 2021 — The Empty Headedness of it All
PYS 1.39 yathā-abhimata-dhyānāt-vā
Meaning:
The sadhaka (practitioner) should meditate on what is appropriate for them. [The object will differ from sadhaka to sadhaka, depending on the mind’s projections onto the object.]
– Interpretation, Austin Sanderson
When I was growing up I had a great aunt who was a little spacy, and she talked nonstop; she would jump from one subject to the other, without taking a breath. Much of what she talked about was gossip and useless information. My mom used to say she was “empty headed”; I didn’t know how that could be the case because my great aunt was always talking. I always thought if she were truly “empty headed” she would stop all the excessive chatter.
After I became a yoga teacher, over and over again students would tell me after I had taught meditation that they could not empty out their minds for meditation. Their minds, like my great aunt’s, were chattering nonstop. Often a tone of failure is heard in these students’ voices as they express the inability to achieve an empty Zen-like state of mind – a state of being “empty headed.” As their guide in the meditation practice, I often reply to them, “Who told you that you had to have an empty mind? I didn’t tell you that. I asked you to focus your mind on the mantra, so not to get caught up in the chatter of the mind.” Like my great aunt, their minds were filled with excessive chatter and like her they found it easy to be swept away by it.
Gateway Teacher Training Starts Feb. 5 2021
The 75 hour Urban Sadhu Yoga™ Gateway Teacher Training is an introduction into the Urban Sadhu Yoga™ Method. The training consists of 5 units. Each unit (1 weekend) is 15+ hours or 7 1/2 hours each day. This short gateway yoga teacher training is perfect 1.) as a first time yoga teacher training, 2.) for a yoga teacher looking for continuing education or 3.) for someone who is looking to explore the foundations of the Urban Sadhu Yoga™ Method.
The Urban Sadhu Yoga™ 75 hour Teacher Trainings will provide the trainee with a roadmap for incorporating the physical, psychological, and spiritual aspects of yoga into a modern yoga practice and teaching skills. The Urban Sadhu Yoga™ method focuses on a non-dualistic philosophy of interaction with the world, deepening the trainees understanding of the concept of the oneness of all beings, uniting instead of dividing us. This awakens spiritual activism in the trainee and the need to protect those who are most vulnerable in our society including the environment, other animals and the planet we all share. The trainee will also develop teaching skills to confidently achieve those goals within the classroom and outside of the classroom.
The Urban Sadhu Yoga™ 75 hour Teacher Training provides a practical foundational introduction to teaching the Urban Sadhu Yoga™ Method, based around the unique Urban Sadhu Yoga™ Express Class sequence — a scripted set vinyasa.
Listed below are both in person and virtual classes. If you register for a virtual class, you’ll get a link in an email 30 minutes before the start of class.
Online Class Archive
We are also pleased to offer an archive of online classes where you can practice at your own convenience at usyogalive.com . Pricing is $35 per month for unlimited classes. You can cancel at any time..
