Ashtanga Workshop in Barcelona
Ashtanga Workshop in Barcelona at Ashtanga Yoga Gracia
Sept 27th – 29th, 2024
Hosted and bookings taken by Veronica Fernandez
Ashtanga Yoga Upside Down
This workshop will inspire you and renew your enthusiasm for the Ashtanga practice. Adam teaches techniques that are unique and will truly transform how you work within the asanas.
He goes back to the original spirit of fun, inclusiveness, and individual-oriented yoga that the first students found in Mysore and challenges the notion of what is traditional. Adam’s teachings are based on his experience of completing the Advanced A series with Sharathji in Mysore, as well as having deep connections and hours of conversations with the most renowned teachers of the lineage.
He shares his knowledge of asana clearly so all levels will benefit and find enjoyment in Ashtanga. Everyone is welcome, we are an inclusive and open space.
FRIDAY
18.30 to 20.30 Led Class
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 bodies. Adam doesn’t believe in stopping people, the ‘perfect’ posture, or, dictating exactly how something should look.
SATURDAY
8.00 to 10.00: Mysore
Adam gives yoga assistance in a safe and non-intrusive way. He does not believe in forcing people into postures, rather, he uses verbal and light physical touch to open up new directions for the individual to follow as they wish. This practice is based on individual exploration, kindness, and fun. It is not an exam or military exercise. All are welcome to the Mysore class. Adam is happy if you need practice sheets, or he or Theresa will show you the postures.
11.00 – 12.30: Fundamental Openings
There are a relatively small number of fundamental movements that yoga asana requires we grasp to progress. However, these openings are subtle; and not necessarily straightforward to understand at body level.
From the basic standing postures where they’re first presented in their most simple form, they get increasingly complicated. Therefore, we shall look at these postures, consider them in detail, and find they translate into a deeper understanding of what’s going on in various problem postures further on down the line.
13.00 – 14.00: Yoga Chat & Q+A
We will discuss together the roots of modern asana and then how this relates and intertwines with the roots of Ashtanga yoga. Then, how the tradition of Ashtanga yoga has evolved to get to where it is today.
SUNDAY
8.00 am - 10 am: Mysore
As above
11.00 – 12.30: Common Injuries, How to Prevent Them and/or Heal From Them
Moving imbalanced bodies trying to restore balance, we’re bound at some point to encounter setbacks. On the other hand, there are ways to safeguard against this as much as possible, and then, methods to deal with the setbacks so they are least obstructive to our progression.
Here we shall discuss common possible practice injuries, such as knees, lower back, and shoulders, as well as other less common complaints like wrists, ankles, and neck, so that we take every measure to protect against them, whilst also offering options of how to keep practising, whilst also healing, from injury to one of the above areas.
ABOUT ADAM
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.
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
