Adi-Yoga

“The Adi Yoga Immersion provided a means for growth in personal practice that was not available to me through traditional yoga courses.” -Candrabhuti B.

Adi: primordial, source, first, original
Yoga: union, method, path

What is Adi-Yoga?
Adi-Yoga is a comprehensive system of Hatha Yoga. It is called “Adi,” which in Sanskrit means primordial or source, because it is Yoga in its original form as it was practiced and transmitted by the Himalayan masters of the tradition.

The Sanskrit word “Yoga” in Adi-Yoga has three meanings. First, the word yoga means union or joining together. This refers to the Yogic view that when the world of opposites is unified in your experience of self and Universe, a bliss that is your true Nature is revealed.

Yoga teaches that the suffering you experience is due to being bounced between the poles of pleasure and pain, desiring and rejecting, happiness and sadness, control and out-of-control, etc. By practicing the path of yoga (its second meaning is “path”) dualities are resolved and the inherent, uncreated and non-dual bliss and freedom of your true nature is discovered. Classical, authentic Hatha Yoga as presented in the Adi-Yoga system is a complete path of spiritual cultivation. It has been practiced since before the Upanishads were written and the Buddha was born.

The third relevant definition of yoga is “technique or method.” Adi-Yoga has an incredible amount of techniques available for the practitioner to work with. In the traditional practice of Hatha Yoga it is considered very important for you, the student, to find the right combination of methods that is appropriate for your capacity, competency, and emotional-mental disposition (adhikara, bhumikara, svabhava in Sanskrit). Adi-Yoga has what are considered “outer” and “inner” methods of practice.

How is Adi-Yoga Taught?
Adi-Yoga is learned in a group course called a “gate.” Each level of Adi-Yoga has a gate immersion, where you are introduced to the techniques and concepts of that level enabling you to practice solo or with others afterwards in a group class of the proper Gate.

The emphasis is on personal practice in Adi-Yoga and group classes are used to refresh and inspire you as well as for you to enjoy the larger energy of community generated when Adi-Yogins practice One-to-one instruction is also available and will allow you and your Adi-Yoga instructor to fine tune what you learn and pace it appropriately for you. This is the way yoga has been taught for thousands of years and Adi-Yoga wants to preserve this important aspect of learning yoga.

When Can I Take an Adi-Yoga Course?
Check our weekly Adi-Yoga schedule for group classes, or our workshop schedule for upcoming Adi-Yoga immersions.

To read more about Adi-Yoga please see The Definition of Adi-Yoga by Dharmanidhi Sarasvati.