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Saturday, July 4, 2009

Dear Friend:

I've been teaching yoga for nearly 17 years now. And right from the start I saw how difficult it was for my students to learn, pronounce, and use the Sanskrit names of the yoga poses they were practicing with me week in and week out--even after years of practice!

You have probably struggled, too, or you know a fellow yogi who has.

Out of frustration, many of my most accomplished students gave up.

When you give up on Sanskrit, you give up on a tool that enriches your whole yoga experience. When you give up on Sanskrit, you give up the keys that unlock a greater understanding of the practice of yoga.

When you give up on Sanskrit, you resign yourself to being left out of a  vibrant yoga community that,  like any other community, has its own  language.

So I sat down and applied what I learned from teaching hatha yoga to develop a workshop that helps yogis learn and remember the Sanskrit names of yoga poses. It's all based on experience. That's why it's called Experience Sanskrit.

After you've been a part of Experience Sanskrit you'll find it hard to forget the Sanskrit names of yoga poses.

Why? Because Experience Sanskrit is more like a series of party games than a class at your local college or job-related training.

At the Experience Sanskrit workshop we'll be playfully and enjoyably participating in activities that provide you with VIVID EXPERIENCES. These experiences make the Sanskrit names of the poses more memorable than any book you can ever read.

You won't need to study or prepare or listen to tapes (although those might help). All you'll need to do is PARTICIPATE. Once we break the ice, we'll be doing things like singing, telling stories, playing games, and, of course, doing yoga! We'll even tell a Sanskrit joke or two.

I’ll also provide you with the background information you need to grasp the size of the task at hand. We'll consider over 100 well-known yoga poses.

Here's a key: you only need to master a dozen Sanskrit word roots to gain real functional access to the names of more than half of those 100 poses! We'll tell you which word roots you should focus on first and why. Then... we'll do it.

Here's what you get when you participate in Experience Sanskrit:

• You'll learn the stories BEHIND the yoga poses. The stories are rich with detail that make strong associations in your mind.
• You'll experience naming all of your body parts and using those names, too.
• You'll practice and use Sanskrit math. Counting will never be the same. You'll find out that Sanskrit numbers are not very different from the numbers you already know.
• We'll sort out the confusion between the "common name" of a pose and it's Sanskrit name.
• You'll learn why Sanskrit isn't a dead language at all.
• We'll work out all of the problem pairs, those Sanskrit words that sound almost alike, but they aren't. Mixing them up makes a BIG difference!

You'll leave with a 100+ page companion guide that you'll use as a reference for years to come. I know you'll use it because students come to me and to tell me that they still refer back to it years later.

Here's what a recent Experience Sanskrit participant said:

"When signing up for your class I thought, Oh sure, we're going to learn in four hours what I have been struggling with for 10 years...but you know what, I'm teaching it in class this week and the students love it so far. I've started with anatomy and using poses that use those words. Thanks for spending all these years putting together your thoughts and ideas. It's working."

Here's a special note to teachers: You know that every significant endeavor has its own language. Professionals know the language of their profession!

Would you feel good taking your car to a mechanic who referred to your tire as "that round black rubber thing that spins when the car is moving"? I don't think so.

So, if you're tired of referring to poses by their descriptions rather than their names, join us for this fun and unforgettable workshop. You'll soon be able to communicate more effectively with your colleagues and your students. We'll even give you a letter documenting your participation, if you are accumulating hours toward your RYT.

Our Experience Sanskrit workshop is coming to you at the following locations:

Sunday, October 19th, 2008
Annapolis, MD    Golden Heart Yoga

But if that's too far for you to travel, call me or send me an email so we can set up a workshop in your area. My phone number is (573) 680-6737. You can email me at experienceyoga@gmail.com.

Namaste,

Kevin Perry

p.s., 4 hours seems like a long time. But it's not. Most Experience Sanskrit participants end this workshop asking for more. They always want to know, "When will you teach this again?", and "When is the follow-up class for the poses we didn't cover?"

p.p.s., Will you please forward an email on to someone else you know who might benefit from this workshop? They’ll be glad you did.

p.p.p.s., If you can’t come to this workshop but would like to know about future events, please call or email me today. Thank you!