Weekend with Doug Keller
Dynamic Alignment
with Doug Keller
Sat Oct 17 & Sun Oct 18
Join in-person or online
Can't make it live? Sign up for livestream to access the recordings after.
About the weekend
Modern ideas of asana as a "pose" or "posture" are based on ideas about static posture — and that the benefit of asana lies in "holding" the pose with "good alignment."
An understanding of dynamic alignment is that much of the benefits of yoga practice lie in moving our joints, and that strength and flexibility depend upon healthy joint movement that is learned through asana.
For Sessions 1-3 of this workshop weekend, we'll use resistance bands to explore dynamic alignment. Adding a resistance band to your practice can help you fine-tune joint movement and work across multiple vectors of motion — strengthening and stretching muscles that are otherwise underused or neglected in standard approaches to yoga.
A resistance band will be provided for each participant, and you can take it home with you to add to your practice.
In addition, registrants will receive a high-quality recording from each registered session, so you'll be able to review and practice what you learned in the workshop with recordings after.
Session 1 | Saturday 1:00-3:00pm
Dynamic Alignment and Active Strengthening: From the Feet Upward
This session will introduce dynamic alignment, focusing on poses from the feet through the knees and hips. We'll explore simple, accessible principles for getting all the joints to move well — helping to reduce aches and pains, keep your joints healthy, and increase your strength and flexibility in the lower body, including even your hamstrings.
Strength in the arches of your feet comes from how the bones are moved dynamically. Resistance bands allow us to more effectively activate the muscles in the feet and bring those actions into our asana practice.
Likewise, your knees stay strong and more pain-free when they move properly. We'll use resistance to "wake up" muscles that are important for healthy knee movement but typically underused. The benefits of this approach for overcoming imbalances in your hips will be surprising too!
Session 2 | Saturday 3:30-5:30pm
Hip, Low Back, and Sciatic Pain: The Audacity of Standing Upright
One of the most common kinds of pain that strikes nearly everyone at some point is sciatic pain, which started when human beings insisted on standing upright.
Sciatica is caused by the irritation of the sciatic nerve, the longest nerve in your body. It has many forms and many causes, and there are a number of related types of pain that can accompany it, such as muscle spasms. Sciatica is not a diagnosis of the cause of the irritation, but rather a description of the pain pattern.
In this session, we'll explore the different kinds and causes of sciatic pain, and how to address them simply and successfully through practice.
Even if you haven’t suffered sciatic pain, you’ll find the session incredibly helpful for refining your practice. With more understanding and awareness as you move through postures and your daily life, you may very well stave off ever having to experience sciatica!
Session 3 | Sunday 1:00-3:00pm
Resistance Is Not Futile: Maintaining Upper Body Strength and Shoulder Health
In typical yoga practices, the only resistance we face that strengthens the arms comes from lifting our arms against gravity or making the arms weight-bearing, such as in downward-facing dog or inversions. While these are worthwhile movements and postures, on their own, they are not sufficient for keeping the shoulders healthy and mobile. In fact, they can overwork some muscles that end up stiff, and neglect other muscles necessary for joint health. Adding resistance bands to our practice can help us avoid address these shortcomings.
In this session, we'll start with basic lines of movement using resistance bands, then pair them with standing and floor poses to target shoulder and core engagement. This combination builds strength in the muscles that control shoulder movement, improves range of motion, supports joint health, and can help ease shoulder pain.
Session 4 | Sunday 3:30-5:30pm
Meditation: As Close as Your Breath, Eyes, and Fingertips
In this session, we'll move through accessible yet powerful practices of breath and meditation, derived from hatha yoga and tantric texts. We'll explore focus on the breath (dharana), mudra (hand positioning), and drishti (the gaze and focus of the eyes) to evoke and support meditative states — taking you beyond simply "witnessing" the mind and into an experience of meditation as expanding, calm awareness.
These practices connect with simple pranayama. Most modern teaching of pranayama focuses on the mechanics of breath in the torso — the use of the diaphragm and so on. But the subtlety and power of breath for meditation lies in refining how it flows through the nose and the resonance chambers we usually call the "sinuses." We'll explore this flow simply and subtly, along with its practical health benefits.
This approach casts new light on the "nadis" of yoga — the rivers of vitality and meditation that flow through us with every breath.
About Doug Keller
Doug Keller’s background reflects a lifelong commitment to the vast field of yoga. After receiving degrees in philosophy from Georgetown and Fordham University and teaching philosophy at a college level, he pursued a practical experience of yoga at the ashram Gurudev Siddha Peeth in India — which in turn also led him to the practice of hatha yoga as part of his overall experience of yoga. From years of study, practice and teaching, he has produced widely used and highly respected books on asana, yoga as therapy, pranayama and yoga philosophy, and he teaches hatha yoga workshops and trainings in both North America and Europe. Doug was a regular columnist for Yoga International Magazine for three years, and has also written on therapeutic topics for Yoga Journal. His popularity as a teacher comes from his ability to deepen people’s experience of yoga through clear, simple and direct instructions that are easy to practice and remember. And he does it with lightness and light.
Recordings
All registrants — whether in-person at Circle Yoga or via livestream — will receive high-quality recordings of each registered session. Can't attend the live sessions? Sign up for livestream access to receive the recordings.
Resistance bands
All registrants participating in Sessions 1, 2 and/or 3 at the studio will receive a resistance band when they arrive for the workshop, and they can take their band home for practice. Livestream registrants who sign up by Sunday, October 11 will receive a resistance band by mail.
Fees
Full Weekend Fee for Members: $200
Full Weekend Fee for Non-Members: $220
Single Session Fee for Members: $55
Single Session Fee for Non-Members: $65
Register
Save when you register for all four sessions!
Session 1
Sat Oct 17 | 1:00-3:00 pm
Dynamic Alignment and Active Strengthening: From the Feet Upward
Session 2
Sat Oct 17 | 3:30-5:30 pm
Hip, Low Back, and Sciatic Pain: The Audacity of Standing Upright
Session 3
Sat Oct 17 | 3:30-5:30 pm
Resistance Is Not Futile: Maintaining Upper Body Strength and Shoulder Health
Session 4
Sat Oct 17 | 3:30-5:30 pm
Meditation: As Close as Your Breath, Eyes, and Fingertips
Scholarships
Circle Yoga offers as many partial scholarships as we can support to people who are experiencing financial hardship. Learn more and apply.
Refund Policy
If you need to cancel your registration for any session, submit your request in writing at least one week in advance, and your registration fee will be refunded minus a 20% administrative fee. No refunds will be given for cancellations made less than one week in advance.