Bound to Flourish
100hr Yoga Immersion Study Programme​

Yoga Philosophy Syllabus
with Maitreya Larios

Module 1 
  • What is Yoga? – The Yoga Kaleidoscope an Introduction to Yoga History, Theory, and Practice
  • Common (mis)conceptions – Overview of definitions from different scriptures and time periods
  • Yoga beyond āsana
  • What is yoga for you? Developing studentship (brahmācarya and svādhyāya)
  • Sensible issues around the practice of yoga, and how can we all be more self-reflective and conscious of our practice and honor the teachings

Module 2/3
  •  The Early History of Yoga / Part 1
  •  Origins of  Haṭha Yoga
  •  Chronology in broad strokes: Vedas, Vedānta, Sāṃkhya, ascetic practices and Tantra/Śaivism
  •  Tantra and Medieval Haṭhayoga / Nāth Yogīs and other ascetic traditions
  •  Householder yogīs and yoginīs
  •  An ocean of wisdom: overview of the textual traditions of yoga including the basics on major yogic texts Yogasūtras,   Bhagavadgītā, Upaniṣads, Haṭhapradīpikā, 
  • How do we read, study and practice scriptural texts. (Yogasūtras of Patañjali and Jñāneśvar's Gītā as our texts) Self-Reflection Tools on assimilating the teachings on texts and relationship/embodiment of Haṭha Yoga Practice

Module 4
  • History of Yoga/ Tradition Part 2
  • Yoga in the West – a modern history of yoga going global (from Vivekananda onwards)
  • The Rise of Modern Postural Yoga – the Mysore lineage 
  • Navigating the other modern lineages and their characteristics
  • The academic world of Yoga Studies – Rediscovering Yoga through research
  • Knowledge vs Information: integrating the practice of yoga into your daily life

Module 5
  • The Yogasūtra of Patañjali / The Stilling of the Mind
  • Overview of the the text: a brief history of the text and its prominence in the Yoga world today
  • Who was the Yogasūtra written for? Who was Patañjali? Historical figure? Semi-divine serpent? Recent debates over the authorship of the Yogasūtra
  • The relationship between Yoga and Sāṅkhya philosophy (tattvas and three guṇas)
  • The Yogasūtra relation to Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism
  • Philosophical dualism vs non-dualism
  • The nature and cause of human suffering
  • The nature and psychology of the human mind
  • Aṣṭāṅgayoga, the “The Eight Auxiliaries of Yoga”
  • Yoga ethics: the Yamas and Niyamas
  • The role of Āsana or Posture within Classical Yoga
  • The function of Prāṇāyāma
  • The centrality of meditation and concentration practice: Samādhi and Kaivalya
  •  How does the Yogasūtra relate to modern yoga practice?
  •  How can I study this scripture further and incorporate it into my practice?

Module 6
  • The Bhagavadgītā and the Jñāneśvarī / The Soundtrack of our lives
  • Overview of the the text: a brief history of the text and its importance as a spiritual text
  • The context: The Bhagavadgītā within the Mahābhārata
  • The conversation: saṃvāda The meaning of Dharma, Karma and Saṃsāra The different yogas in the Bhagavadgītā
  • The commentaries and different traditions of interpretation
  • Karmayoga, the Yoga of Action, Jñānayoga, Yoga of Knowledge, Bhaktiyoga, the Devotion 
  • The Jñāneśvarī and his author in medieval Maharashtra
  • The relationship between Sāṅkhya, Yoga, and Vedānta
  •  Kṛṣna and the nature of God