What's New at Jungleyoga...

Jungleyoga is Randall O'Leary's combination of yoga postures, breaths, Tantric philosophy and humor with an eye on transformation! Teacher Trainings are offered in Thailand in June 2010. I travel from place to place, bringing yoga and things India all around the world. There are many things here at Jungleyoga website, both reverential and humorous, and many pages to explore. You can explore the links above, or click on some of the newer pages down below... Have fun!! Thanks for visiting!!

Welcome to Jungleyoga News and Info Section

You can check below for news up upcoming trainings, workshops or classes, plus keep up with my wanderings about the planet, new stuff on the site or other bits and sundry!

The next Jungleyoga Teacher Training Intensive scheduled for 27 June- 23 July, 2010 at Blooming Lotus, Haad Yuan, Phangan, Thailand!

Sorry it has been so long since i wrote on this site, i have been very busy with my yearly Teacher Training Program here in Thailand. Amazingly, the training has come and gone already. It seemed to fly by! We were in such deep immersion that we did not notice the weeks passing with such speed. Things even seemed to get faster as time went on! But more of that in a moment...

Description of the Thailand Jungleyoga Intensive and Training 2010

I will attempt to give you some details on what we did during the training, just so you have an idea of the kind of work and play that we do. The training was scheduled for 28 days (4 weeks) from half moon to half moon. I like to plan the training to follow the moon cycles, because cycles are an important theme in the work of the Tantric yoga. Thus, a lunar month gives a nice sense of beginning, middle and end to the training.

In proper Jungleyoga style, we actually had to delay the start of the course of a few days due to a massive gay wedding here on the bay of some of our dear friends. It was our first lesson in yoga: flexibility. Everyone then had a chance to settle in to their bungalows and new lives before the course began.

Once we got the wedding behind us, the training began in earnest on the 10th of January. Straight away, i knew it was going to be a wonderful group of yogis and yoginis, and i was right. Everyone was engaged and involved in the course from the first day and continued to be right up to the end. We all faced some challenges both within and without as the course progressed, but we knew it was leading us to deeper places.

The Jungleyoga Training is designed to be a solid foundation of practice and understanding for any yogini or yogi. It begins at the essential and simple first steps of yoga and builds day by day to a crescendo of intensity and back down the other side. We used the metaphor and symbolism of the mountain to represent our journey to the heights of yoga (the top of the mountain) and back down the other side. Symbols are an important part of the yogi journey; they help the seeker to frame the work in a way that helps one to go beyond the individual and into the mythic.

Step by step we wound our way up the mountain of yoga towards the summit, stopping along the way to admire the view and look out towards the vastness of the universe. The first week built up the understandings and experiences of the spinal shapes (backbends, forward bends, twists, laterals and the neutral spine postures) and built the breath rhythms called 'swara cycles'. Upon these foundations, the rest of the yoga is built and developed.

Every afternoon we discussed and explored the ideas behind the mornining's practices. If we worked on a certain theme (such as backbends) in the morning, in the afternoon we looked at alignments, anatomy, breath and energetics of the poses. This approach helped up to frame the later work of the yoga, which is built upon the simple beginnings of spine and breath. Gradually the understanding of the methods and tools of yoga took shape.

One thing i really tried to emphasize was that there is really no such thing as a 'teacher training'. All too often, people learn techniques of yoga without understanding their effects or proper uses. It is impossible to learn how to teach if a person does not have direct experience of the practices. I avoided the teaching of 'formulas' and concentrated on clarity and creative understanding. Without a first-hand knowledge of yoga, a person will never be able to teach others properly. Thus, we concentrated largely on knowing the yoga in our own bodies and how these practices affect us. Only then can a person really transmit the yoga knowledge to others. The first and primary goal was to become yogis and yoginis, not to become teachers, even if some people go on to run classes (which many do).

In the second week, we looked deeper at the philosophical ideas under the yoga practices, as well as the alignments and variations of the postures. Three fundamental aspects of the physical work helped to clarify the nature of the asanas and how to use them. We looked more closely at variations and then started to build and understand sequences in the practice. Yoga is much more effective if the postures and breaths are put together in an order which aids in the deepening sought by yoga. So we understood how we can prepare the physical body and energy body to safely and deeply approach the intermediate and advanced practices.

Another of my essential focus' was on the sustainability of good yoga practice. I want to teach a yoga with can be done throughout the whole of one's life, with a minimum of injury and trauma. This requires an intelligent and careful approach, because a person must try to create and practice a yoga which is appropriate for themselves. There is no set series or formula in Jungleyoga, only a set of guidelines and ideas with can guide us towards the right work for ourselves. By knowing these ideas which lay behind the practices, we can continue to practice for our whole lives.

By the third week, things had built up in intensity and everyone was practicing well and deeply. Everyone's postures started to look very good in both shape and general feeling, and people has learned how to change the work to suit their own bodies and needs. Some people did more intense work and some needed to learn how to do less. Our yoga must be appropriate for ourselves if we are to grow and transform! Each student began to understand how to adjust the yoga to suit themselves and make their own bodies happy.

Evenings we had Baba Marco (a swiss yogi from the mountains) leading classes that explored mantra, sound and music. He led kirtans and bhajans, pranayama and mantra-based asana practices which gave us yet another insight into how yoga can be practiced. Thanks very much to Marco for sharing his beautiful practices with us!

At the end of the week we always had 'reggae fridays', which were more casual and fun, due to the fact that friday was the end of the week and we needed to let loose a bit! So on Fridays we were less serious and played reggae music during the class to help us develop the easy, happy feelings! Tuesdays were traditionally days for intense and difficult practices, such as backbending or core strengthening. I actually structure the course around various lines and patterns, and the different energetic of the day of the week is one of them. The cycles are all around us!

After building up the basic understanding of the asanas and the physical body, we then went deeper, into the energetic body. While maintaining a good and solid physical practice, we worked to support the pranayama (breath cycles) and build its intensity. There are so many different types of pranayama, we only had time to do a few (maybe 15-20 different kinds). Remember there are literally millions of different pranayama cycles.

Developing the energy body, as opposed to only the physical, made the practices much more intense. I feel that once we got to the deeper work of the breath and energy body, all of us entered a phase of transformation. One really cannot do good pranayama without experiencing some shifts and internal movements. The breath-work is and continues to be what captures my interest more than anything else in the yoga, and i have found it to be the most direct pathway to the inner knowledge and transformation.

After developing the knowledge of the body and the knowledge of the breath, we went yet deeper. There are many very powerful lessons in the yoga and by the last week we were using breath, body and mind to explore some of the most profound aspects of life. Yoga is not a physical practice, it is spiritual! We went deeper into what Tantra is and how it can aid us in our journey; we developed a connection with some of the more intense aspects of existence, namely food, sex and death (the essential energies of Tantra). However, instead of working directly with them, we employed symbols and aspects of the yoga to explore our relationship with these essential aspects of life. Amazing!!

In the last week we also looked at the chakras and their energies and amazingly, the bandha practice slotted in perfectly with the chakras! So we worked on the final aspects of the physical work (the energy locks called bandhas), we worked on the final aspects of the breath work (kumbhakas) and made our way up the spine to the home of the infinite soul in the top of the head!

Really, i found the training amazing and so interesting! I continue to be captured and spell-bound by this yoga and its infinite possibilities and i feel the students felt the same. I think we cracked open the narrow box of modern yoga (on the mat, in the box) and brought it into the mythical, universal realm. I am pleased by it all!

I will publish some pictures and slide shows when i get time, and the testimonials from 2010 students along with plans for future!! A million thanks to all the students who did the course and shared their beautiful minds and hearts! And thanks to the lovely Nola who assisted with adjustments and one-on-one teaching! And to Marco who added his mantra knowledge and great vibes! OM Thanks as well to Lily of the Blooming Lotus who did a great job to maintain the space and spirit of the lotus! Love!

Feb 14, 2010, Haad Tien beach, Thailand

If you are looking for a training program and cannot attend June-July in Thailand or January 2011, I reccommend the School of Sacred Arts program in Bali., which starts April 6 at the Yoga Barn... Click here for details...

Book News:

The long-discussed book/manual/guide is still in the works! Things just take longer when you are doing yoga 6-8 hours per day! But by mid-spring time it should be sorted! Thanks again to Lucy for all her work!

Up and Coming Non-Jungleyoga Events:

Bali Teacher Training by School of Sacred Arts

Building a Dhuni in Swizerland