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Victoria Austin
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BIOGRAPHY:
Shosan Victoria Austin began practicing both Zen and Yoga in 1971. In the Soto Zen tradition, she is entrusted as a Dharma heir in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki, an international priest of the Soto School, and a Dharma teacher at San Francisco Zen Center. She trained in the U.S., in India, and in Japan. In the Iyengar tradition, she is certified as a Level 3 teacher. She is a teaching member of Yoga Alliance, International Association of Yoga Therapists, and several national and international associations for ordained Buddhists.
In addition to supporting the yogic needs of an international group of meditation practitioners, Victoria teaches public yoga classes at San Francisco Zen Center and online; pranayama, ethics, and teacher education at the Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco; and serves as an assessor of the next generation of Iyengar yoga teachers.
Victoria trains regularly with senior Iyengar yoga and Zen teachers, and in other modalities that support inclusion, trauma sensitivity, accessibility, and the right use of power. For over 50 years, Victoria’s practice goal has been to wake up in a way that benefits beings. Her teaching goal is to transmit these compassionate forms with faith, gratitude and appropriate response: meditation as a yogic path, and Yoga as a path of awareness. The developmental format for this week’s Sessions was developed in conversations with B.K.S. Iyengar.
Victoria recognizes that her home teaching platform is built on the ancestral land of the Ohlone people, whose ancestry and place are transmitted in their blood and bones. We can learn about the traditional stewards of our land through local records, ancient sites and nearby descendants. May our studies and our lives express the compassion that recognizes where, how, and with whom we walk our path.
Notes for People Attending Victoria’s Sessions Victoria is offering a set of sessions on: PRANAYAMA AND MEDITATION: A Developmental Transmission For Our Times
What is, and what might be our response to some of the traumatic circumstances of our times? Though yogis and meditators have always addressed the perennial human suffering of sickness, old age and death, we now face a perfect storm of such conditions: What kind of world do we want to give and to receive? How do we uncover our inmost intention, and access the universal energy and specific tools to help us realize it? How do we live in oneness, being and inspiring peace? This seven-class series will build a progressive understanding of pranayama and meditation, our tools to meet the human condition from a deathless, painless, effortless place—and to bring the fruits of our practice back into the world. Over 50 years ago at age 18, I began daily practice of Zen Buddhism and Iyengar yoga after a near-death experience opened my sense of response to the suffering of my parents’ Holocaust survival. These formations had blocked me from understanding how the path was already at my feet to be walked with appreciation—beginning, middle, and end. With gratitude to the teachers who transmitted these practices, we will focus on one of their teachings each day. Each class will include a short practice suitable for everyone, a brief discussion, and a developmental practice for more experienced students. Modifications and alternatives will be offered to meet a variety of experience levels, abilities, and needs.
Note: Although this is a set of seven successive and developmental sessions, it is not necessary to attend them all. Life, after all, consists of us constantly stepping into and of each others’ lives, which flow along, regardless.
Although this is a set of seven successive and developmental sessions, it is not necessary to attend them all. Life, after all, consists of us constantly stepping into and of each others’ lives, which flow along, regardless.
List of Victoria’s Iyengar Sessions
Title:
B.K.S. Iyengar’s Savasana: the Art of Relaxation
Type:
Sat Brahma Mild
Length:
1.0 hour(s)
Description:
PRANAYAMA: Today we will explore this in reclining pranayamas for daily practice.
:We will work with the Iyengars’ transmission on how to sensitively develop uprightness, openness and depth by refining our approach to posture and breathing. From the foundation of an accessible 10-minute practice, each day we will progressively build our study of more complex techniques, grounded in harmonious connection of body, heart, and mind. Adaptations will be offered to provide appropriate trauma sensitivity, safety and challenge for a wide variety of needs.
Notes:
Prerequisite: Six months experience in yoga, or permission of the instructor. Please inform the instructor at the beginning of class if you have any special needs.
Although Victoria is presenting a set of seven successive and developmental Sessions, it is not necessary to attend them all. Life, after all, consists of us constantly stepping into and of each others’ lives, which flow along, regardless Please also see the “Notes for People Attending Victoria’s Sessions” in her Bio for further information.
Title:
Geeta Iyengar’s Ayurvedic Nourishments in Practice
Type:
Sat Brahma Mild
Length:
1.0 hour(s)
Description:
PRANAYAMA: Today we will explore this in reclining and seated pranayamas.
:We will work with the Iyengars’ transmission on how to sensitively develop uprightness, openness and depth by refining our approach to posture and breathing. From the foundation of an accessible 10-minute practice, each day we will progressively build our study of more complex techniques, grounded in harmonious connection of body, heart, and mind. Adaptations will be offered to provide appropriate trauma sensitivity, safety and challenge for a wide variety of needs.
Notes:
Prerequisite: Six months experience in yoga, or permission of the instructor. Please inform the instructor at the beginning of class if you have any special needs.
Although Victoria is presenting a set of seven successive and developmental Sessions, it is not necessary to attend them all. Life, after all, consists of us constantly stepping into and of each others’ lives, which flow along, regardless Please also see the “Notes for People Attending Victoria’s Sessions” in her Bio for further information.
Title:
Prashant Iyengar’s Gate to Kriya Practice
Type:
Sat Brahma Mild
Length:
1.0 hour(s)
Description:
PRANAYAMA: Today we will explore this in inner aspects of seated pranayama...
:We will work with the Iyengars’ transmission on how to sensitively develop uprightness, openness and depth by refining our approach to posture and breathing. From the foundation of an accessible 10-minute practice, each day we will progressively build our study of more complex techniques, grounded in harmonious connection of body, heart, and mind. Adaptations will be offered to provide appropriate trauma sensitivity, safety and challenge for a wide variety of needs.
Notes:
Prerequisite: Six months experience in yoga, or permission of the instructor. Please inform the instructor at the beginning of class if you have any special needs.
Although Victoria is presenting a set of seven successive and developmental Sessions, it is not necessary to attend them all. Life, after all, consists of us constantly stepping into and of each others’ lives, which flow along, regardless Please also see the “Notes for People Attending Victoria’s Sessions” in her Bio for further information.
Title:
B.K.S. Iyengar’s Teachings of Depth in Practice
Type:
Sat Brahma Mild
Length:
1.0 hour(s)
Description:
PRANAYAMA: Today we will explore this in inner and sensory aspects of seated pranayama.
:We will work with the Iyengars’ transmission on how to sensitively develop uprightness, openness and depth by refining our approach to posture and breathing. From the foundation of an accessible 10-minute practice, each day we will progressively build our study of more complex techniques, grounded in harmonious connection of body, heart, and mind. Adaptations will be offered to provide appropriate trauma sensitivity, safety and challenge for a wide variety of needs.
Notes:
Prerequisite: Six months experience in yoga, or permission of the instructor. Please inform the instructor at the beginning of class if you have any special needs.
Although Victoria is presenting a set of seven successive and developmental Sessions, it is not necessary to attend them all. Life, after all, consists of us constantly stepping into and of each others’ lives, which flow along, regardless Please also see the “Notes for People Attending Victoria’s Sessions” in her Bio for further information.
Title:
B.K.S. Iyengar’s Types of Meditation
Type:
Sat Brahma Mild
Length:
1.0 hour(s)
Description:
PRANAYAMA: Today we will explore this through inner refinement and sense withdrawal in seated pranayama
:We will work with the Iyengars’ transmission on how to sensitively develop uprightness, openness and depth by refining our approach to posture and breathing. From the foundation of an accessible 10-minute practice, each day we will progressively build our study of more complex techniques, grounded in harmonious connection of body, heart, and mind. Adaptations will be offered to provide appropriate trauma sensitivity, safety and challenge for a wide variety of needs.
Notes:
Prerequisite: Six months experience in yoga, or permission of the instructor. Please inform the instructor at the beginning of class if you have any special needs.
Although Victoria is presenting a set of seven successive and developmental Sessions, it is not necessary to attend them all. Life, after all, consists of us constantly stepping into and of each others’ lives, which flow along, regardless Please also see the “Notes for People Attending Victoria’s Sessions” in her Bio for further information.
List of Victoria’s Open Weekend Sessions
Title:
The Buddha’s Concentration and Insight
Type:
[C] The Divine Is Within / Contemplative Spirituality
Level:
All Levels
Length:
1.0 hour(s)
Description:
MEDITATION: Today we will explore objective aspects of contemplation and meditation.
We can approach meditation in two directions: from the outside in through the kosas, and from the inside out from universal presence. These sessions will focus on building physical and mental stability, addressing obstacles, and uniting heart and mind in objective and subjective modes. We will study how to appreciate the human condition as a gift of, by, and to all beings great and small, throughout the entirety of space and time, for us to realize peace.
Notes:
Prerequisite: Six months experience in yoga, or permission of the instructor. Please inform the instructor at the beginning of class if you have any special needs.
Although Victoria is presenting a set of seven successive and developmental Sessions, it is not necessary to attend them all. Life, after all, consists of us constantly stepping into and of each others’ lives, which flow along, regardless Please also see the “Notes for People Attending Victoria’s Sessions” in her Bio for further information.
Title:
Transmission: To Us and From Us: Dhyana, Chan’na, Zen
Type:
[C] The Divine Is Within / Contemplative Spirituality
Level:
All Levels
Length:
1.0 hour(s)
Description:
MEDITATION: Today we will explore non-objective aspects of matured meditation and freedom.
We can approach meditation in two directions: from the outside in through the kosas, and from the inside out from universal presence. These sessions will focus on building physical and mental stability, addressing obstacles, and uniting heart and mind in objective and subjective modes. We will study how to appreciate the human condition as a gift of, by, and to all beings great and small, throughout the entirety of space and time, for us to realize peace.
Notes:
Prerequisite: Six months experience in yoga, or permission of the instructor. Please inform the instructor at the beginning of class if you have any special needs.
Although Victoria is presenting a set of seven successive and developmental Sessions, it is not necessary to attend them all. Life, after all, consists of us constantly stepping into and of each others’ lives, which flow along, regardless Please also see the “Notes for People Attending Victoria’s Sessions” in her Bio for further information.
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Victoria Austin
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