Ashtanga Intensive in Wroclaw

October 24 - 27, 2026

Hosted by Dharma Yoga

This workshop will function to show how modern Ashtanga yoga can be understood and made to work for any individual and your strengths and limitations in a most practical sense. The aim is that you will leave feeling reinspired for your practice knowing how to make it work for your own body. You will also gain a deeper understanding of the context of how the practice developed which also makes a difference as to how we understand it.

SATURDAY

08.00 – 10.00:  Ashtanga Led & Self Practice Combined

Adam will lead the class through the first part of primary and standing asana, after which you will move on to self-practice following the Ashtanga sequence at whatever level you are at. All physical levels are welcome, and you are free to follow from printed sheets. It’s a fun way into self-led practice.

10.30 – 12.00: Breathing Basics

The diaphragm, when connected to most effectively through a certain application of bandha, is what makes the breath in yoga unique.  The result is not only a liberating effect on the deep muscles of the back, but, most importantly, the ability to put oneself into the sympathetic or parasympathetic nervous system at will. This is not the technique of ujjayi which tends to encourage a mistaken breathing in the throat.

12.00 – 12.30: Break

12.30 – 14.00: Mobility v Flexibility in Yoga

Yoga is often assumed to be about flexibility; however, it should be more about mobility. Flexibility is what happens when you stretch outwards most superficially. Overstretching your ligaments and tendons, soon enough this is only destabilizing to the body. In contrast, mobility is a way of moving muscles in effective relationship with each other. It develops range of motion while also cultivating a strong and stable body. Find out how the difference of approach feels most pragmatically in the basic asanas and see if you can recognize the difference between the two approaches to a stretch.

SUNDAY

08.00 – 10.00:  Mysore Self-Practice

This practice is based on individual exploration, kindness, and fun. 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 new directions for you to follow if you wish.  All are welcome to the Mysore class. Adam is happy if you need practice sheets, but you should have memorised at least the sun salutations A and B and some of the standing sequence.

10.30 – 12.00: Jump Back & Jump Through for Everybody

Everyone can all do a version of this movement. And it doesn’t mean we need to ‘fly’ – although we may (or may not). There are unique benefits of this movement for both the scapula as well as the digestion. It’s simply a question of breaking the component movements down then into ‘bite sized’ chunks, so that everyone can effectively worked with it. You might feel your arms are too short or your tummy too big, but you’d be surprised how a few tips for this can change the whole experience for you, taking you from frustration and confusion to grasping what you need to do to keep developing these somewhat elusive movements.

12.00 – 12.30: Break

12.30 – 14.00: Modern Yoga Development in the 20^th Century.

Whether we like it or not, modern yoga practice is, indeed, modern. On the other hand, it does have deep roots. They’re just not literally traceable from what we do now back 2000 years. But this doesn’t mean they aren’t still the foundational principles of what we’re doing now. Find out how key yoga teachers of the early 20^th century; Krishnamacharya, Yogendra, Yogananada, Vivekananda to name a few, interpreted the ancient practice of yoga to fit into the modern context.

TWO DAY INTENSTIVE

This time spent together will allow us to cover the often-missed fundamentals for a practitioner as well as a teacher. These are how to include Intermediate into practice to balance primary, how Krishnamacharya’s technique of ‘vinyasa’ means a lot more than counting, how to give and receive safe and effective physical assists. Expect to leave remotivated and reinspired having seen ashtanga from a wider context and perspective.

MONDAY

7.00 – 9.00: Mysore Self-Practice

This practice is based on individual exploration, kindness, and fun. 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 new directions for you to follow if you wish.  All are welcome to the Mysore class. Adam is happy if you need practice sheets, but you should have memorised at least the sun salutations A and B and some of the standing sequence.

9.30 – 11.00: Session 1 Safe and effective physical assistance

Whether you’re a teacher or a student, learning how to assist others helps you understand what you’re doing in your own practice. This doesn’t mean ‘adjustments’; pushing bodies further than they can naturally go, rather, a way of helping and individual, safely and non-intrusively, to connect more deeply and effectively to their own unique body as it is. Come and find out how we can use ‘physical assistance’ rather than adjustments to affect a more potent change than the outmoded ‘adjustment’.

11.15 – 12.30: Session 2 Safe and effective physical assistance

12.45 – 14.00: The Evolution of Mysore Ashtanga Yoga

When the first Westerners arrived in Mysore, the way they were taught was not the same as we are today. Indeed, there have been some important changes over the last 50 years. Ashtanga yoga as we know it has always been evolving. This is not only a really interesting seminar as we look back on the early teachers up to the modern day, but also liberating for one’s own practice as we realise that there was never only one way to practice ashtanga yoga.

TUESDAY

7.00 – 9.00: Mysore Self-Practice

This practice is based on individual exploration, kindness, and fun. 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 new directions for you to follow if you wish.  All are welcome to the Mysore class. Adam is happy if you need practice sheets, but you should have memorised at least the sun salutations A and B and some of the standing sequence.

9.30 – 11.00: Intermediate Series for All

The early students who learnt ashtanga learnt in Mysore, learnt Primary along with Intermediate as one series ­– they didn’t even know there were two series until later. The two series appear to have always gone together. They were never meant to be treated as a progression, rather they balance and complement each other; the Primary series being based on flexion and the exhale breath, the Intermediate series extension and the inhale breath. Come and find your version of the Intermediate, using ‘placeholders’ where necessary so you can enjoy practicing this series along with your Primary to great overall benefit.

11.15 – 12.30: Vinyasa and What It Really Means

It doesn’t mean a certain count, nor does it stand for the jump through/back movement. Yet, it is the bedrock of modern asana providing two things: getting into your flow along with grasping the relation of the breathing pattern (meaning the diaphragm) in this. We will both look at some tricky and overlooked vinyasa movements as well as further unpick the principle itself.

12.45 – 14.00: How to Create and Teach Short Practices for All Levels

Not all of us have the time, energy, or, even, motivation, to do our whole practice every day. But we still want to do a practice. However, it’s hard to how to structure a shorter practice that’s effective. So, here, we shall consider the fundamental principles of how to do so. Simple idea that, once grasped, will give you the sense of confidence to experiment with using the short practice format as and when you need or want to.

Bookings are taken and managed by Anna at Dharma Yoga, click the button below for more info.