Winter Solstice Workshop, December 21, 2020 from 19h-21h CET

"When you are fully in the body, the soul appears" (BKS Iyengar)

December 21st is the winter solstice this year -- the longest night of the year. In this deep, dark night as the season turns, we have the opportunity to reflect on all that has passed (and it has been a lot this year), and to release what is no longer called for, needed, or constructive. And this year, exceptionally, the planets align on the solstice in a way that many astrologers say supports our growth into deeper and higher levels of consciousness, serving as a portal of entry into the "Age of Aquarius." This offers a beautiful moment to come together and unite our energies in honour of, and on behalf of the world we wish to live in.

This online workshop is open to everyone, and will include guided meditation, breathing practices, physical yoga postures, deep relaxation, chanting, and time for visioning forward. We will feel and ponder, clarify and reflect, move, breathe and relax into our deepest being and knowing. For those who wish and have the time, we can relax together afterwards, reflect and discuss.

Pre-registration is required. Please contact Ann at shingaiayoga(at)gmail.com. The workshop will be conducted in English. 25€ requested (or you can pay how much you wish, or can).

Photo © Ann Moradian.

2020 has been a most unusual year. The tug-of-war between the old and new paradigms -- our values, beliefs, and ways of living together -- has been blatantly apparent in the political, social and environmental domains. Feeling these shiftings in our own lives, bodies, hearts and minds in one way or another is unavoidable. And at the heart of this massive transition is the question of what it means to be human, how we live together, and what we wish to become. 

In the same way that technology holds many of the solutions we seek, our ancient "wisdom traditions" and our bodies themselves also hold critical information, insight and understandings about what it means to be human, and how to live our lives well together. As the past eras have shown us, tools and knowledge, information and technologies are insufficient in an of themselves. They not only call for, but require even greater insight and understanding about ourselves, and greater care in how we treat one another, and our world. In so many instances the problem is not lack of knowledge or technology, but lack of wisdom in its use. Our metaphors override our own embodied intelligence and we forget that we are not machines, or disembodied minds, but living, breathing organisms, that require and thrive in loving social connection. We start to believe our own stories that we can dominate nature -- and perhaps we can, but it would not be worth it if this were at the cost of the most beautiful aspects of our humanness -- our capacity to care about one another. 

Our yoga practice, and other mindful, embodied practices, help us to dwell in our wholeness, which is complex and ever-shifting. It also helps us to access our own deepest knowing, compassion, and wisdom.