ASHTANGA RETREAT IN PUGLIA
BOOKINGS OPEN SOON: Ashtanga Retreat in Puglia, Italy with Adam
SATURDAY AUGUST 31st TO SEPTEMBER 7TH, 2024
Ashtanga Yoga – Beyond The Blueprint
Adam talks quite freely about the history and modern inception and influences upon the practice of Ashtanga. While appreciating the tradition based on his years spent in Mysore, he is convinced that the practice must be made to work for individuals and not vice versa.
It must make life easier, more comfortable, not harder! There is a way to practice that’s equally dynamic and effective for progress yet safe, gentle, effective, and suited to the uniqueness of each body. Adam’s retreat will show you how to incorporate these principles in this unique setting.
You can expect:
- A friendly and inclusive group with a range of ages and abilities.
- To make new discoveries in your practice
- Delicious and nutritious meals with local ingredients
- To make new friends and engage with a support group.
- To have lots of laughs.
- Time to explore this stunning region of Puglia.
- To return with renewed enthusiasm and energy for your practice.
Weekly Schedule
10.00 am: Brunch
7.00 pm: Dinner
CLASSES
Sunday to Thursday, 7.00 to 9.00 a.m.
Mysore Class
Adam teaches traditionally as he learned and experienced it in Mysore, defined by subtle, inner techniques. Following the sequences as they are in Mysore, adaptations will be given to keep you moving forward. Practitioners will be approached individually and offered a gentle and holistic approach to physical assistance (if you want that). All are welcome to the Mysore class. Adam is happy if you need practice sheets, or he or Theresa will show you the postures.
Friday, 7.00 to 9.00 a.m.
Led Primary
This is a unique led class as it features both the vinyasa count as well as fundamental pointers for each posture. Everyone will be made to feel welcome and safe in participating in this class as options are given so everyone can do the whole series in a way that suits their own bodies. Adam doesn’t believe in stopping people, the ‘perfect’ posture, or, dictating exactly how something should look.
AFTERNOON WORKSHOPS
Sunday, 4.30 to 6.00 pm
Fundamentals of An Effective Practice
The building blocks of the work in asana are deeper than just making shapes. Using asanas from the primary series Adam will show how you can move forward in the series effectively and safely. We will discuss using active as opposed to passive stretches and how to best work with them using right tension to set up with forces structured within the body.
Monday, 4.30 to 6.00 pm
Mobilizing The Shoulder Girdle And The Jump-Back/Thru
A second look at how we can generate more mobility in the scapula area. For, despite the claims that we need more core strength, or the (most unhelpful cliché) more bandha, it’s actually scapula mobility that results in how well we achieve this most elusive linking movement. And everyone can get this movement in varying degrees according to our bodies’ capacity. We all have all the muscles we need; we simply must use them all more effectively in combination with each other. This is something that, whatever level we’re at, we all can work on more, so this workshop aims at giving some effective pointers to unlock our, often hidden, floating potential.
Tuesday, 4.30 to 6.00 pm
Hip Openers for all Levels
It’s often assumed that opening the hips simply means the ability to get the knees to the floor in baddha konasana or achieve mari D. However, this particular opening is only a small part of a much more complex process of hip opening; less to do with the inner thighs than opening the sacrum. It’s no exaggeration to say that the whole practice is based on sacral opening. So, to practice effectively we need to be aware of all that this entails, for it is much more than simple external rotation of the hips.
Thursday, 4.30 to 6.00 pm
The History of Modern Yoga Asana
There is certainly a history of bodily practices recorded in texts that date back well over 1000 years. However, these practices are very different to what we are doing today, leading to the question of the roots of modern asana. In discussing yoga’s trajectory over the 20th Century, we turn to a few trailblazing individuals; Sri Krishnamacharya, Sri Yogendra and Swami Kaivalyananda (all related to a mysterious, possibly, shared guru), to consider their influence on what we are doing today. And, of course, where our tradition of Ashtanga and whether it did come from a Himalayan sage recorded in the equally mysterious Yoga Korunta.
Friday, 4.30 to 6.00 pm
Open Q and A
An open discussion on the workshops and anything else that’s on your mind. A hugely enjoyable finale where Adam always talks honestly about his own background, experiences in practice, and what his practice has evolved to as well as giving his ideas (and often further resource tips), on all the questions you bring to the table.
YOGA IN SALENTO, PUGLIA, ITALY
Yoga in Salento is a yoga retreat centre in Italy immersed in the magical beauty and nature where the sun is strong, the coastline is wild, the sea is crystal clear and the traditional local Pizzica music & dance are contagious.
Set within the working farm of Agricola Samadhi this is a unique organic agritourism and wellness centre. In this charming and peaceful setting, you will experience a way of living and eating where everything revolves around well-being: you can combine your yoga stay with spa time, Ayurveda consultations and treatments, and a wide range of massages.
BOOKINGS ARE TAKEN DIRECTLY BY YOGA IN SALENTO AND WILL BE OPEN SOON
ADAM KEEN
Adam made his first trip to Mysore in 2007, received level 2 authorisation in 2012 and completed the Advanced A sequence of Ashtanga yoga in 2013 with Sharathji. He has been a yoga practitioner since 1999, starting with hatha yoga while studying philosophy at university.
Having taught internationally and spent over ten years running a Mysore program in his native London, Adam’s style is open, non-dogmatic and eclectic while remaining rooted in an appreciation of the tradition as taught in Mysore. He has a unique way of making everyone welcome and meeting students where they are with humour and kindness.
He is a co-founder of Keen on Yoga, an online yoga platform hosting workshops and events, and the host of the Keen on Yoga Podcast and YouTube channels. Adam has interviewed and learned from most of the top Ashtanga teachers and philosophy academics in this capacity, leading to a unique overview of the modern yoga world and teaching approaches.
When not practising yoga, Adam likes to cook – in his earlier years, he was a chef, supporting himself in this profession by cooking in Buddhist and yoga centres whilst studying yoga. This took him to Purple Valley in Goa, where he was employed as the chef by his future wife, Theresa who was Director of the centre at the time.
Still a philosophy student at heart, Adam shares his thoughts and experience daily on social media, where you can find him discussing many of the questions that come to our minds, but we’re often afraid or unsure how to ask. Find him on Instagram @adam_keen_ashtanga