Patricia Brown and Surya Chandra Das teach yoga retreats and meditation retreats

surya Surya-Chandra Das began studying hatha yoga and meditation in 1988 and has taught classes and yoga retreats since 1990. His teaching of yoga asana and pranayama is influenced by his studies with T.K.V. Desikachar in Madras, India,Victor van Kooten, Angela Farmer, a variety of teachers in the Iyengar tradition and the teachings of yin yoga. Studies in Authentic Movement and Continuum Movement have contributed to his interest in exploring the formless contained within the form of yoga postures.

Surya-Chandra is a long-time student of Vipassana meditation and Advaita, the non-dual tradition of Ramana Maharshi, having studied with Ramesh Balsakar, Adyashanti and others.

Surya's teaching is a blend of the various teachings he has experienced and his own explorations. Nondual Awareness or Presence is the foundation of the retreats. Surya is interested in helping participants understand the depth and breadth of Yoga - that it is so much more than performing asanas (postures) and can permeate every aspect of our lives well beyond the retreat. He supports and encourages a student to let go of striving and becoming; to rest in being. The approach is simple and direct, reminding us to relax and let go into the natural presence and spaciousness that we truly are.

p brown Patricia Brown's teaching encourages students to cultivate an intuitive receptivity and openness, honoring the way each person uncovers Truth.

Coming to yoga in my late 20's with health concerns, I had no idea of the spiritual benefits of the practice.Very soon many shifts began to happen from changes in my diet to ending a relationship and leaving my job. I immersed myself in the study and practice and this has been the continued path of my life.

In the early years I studied with many senior Iyengar teachers while also following the inner-body work of Angela Farmer. These experiences laid the groundwork for what has become a life-long embodied exploration of the form (relative) and the formless (absolute) worlds.

As the practice deepened, the breath-focused work of viniyoga and Vipassana meditation opened subtler access to the body/mind. I began to study movement based on inner listening in the form of Jungian based Authentic Movement and the innovative movement work of Continuum with Emilie Conrad, opening to the less technical and more natural way of being in the body.

As the body unraveled patterns of conditioning, the deeper spiritual questions about who I really am and what is life about rose to the surface. The teachings of Ramana Maharishi became available to me thru Neelam, a disciple of Papaji. As a result of this relationship and my long-time practice of yoga and Vipassana meditation, my teaching continues to expand, inviting students to open to the ever-present availability of Truth, to engage patterns of holding and resistance in the process of self-inquiry and to rest in the emerging recognition that there is nothing to do or become: that all is well in this moment just as it is.

Patricia is taking a sabbatical from teaching in 2010.