Breathing the Body: A Yoga and Zen Retreat June 13, 2010

Awaken the energy of the body-mind within constant flow of breath, and create a calm awakening of inner vibrancy.

Rather than trying to tie yourself into knots, yoga is a practice of unwinding and finding freedom in your true nature. In Vinyasa Flow Yoga, we honor the body's inherent dynamism by moving fluidly from pose to pose in synchronized rhythm with the breath. "Playing the edge," we explore the dynamics of effort and ease, strength and calm, control and surrender, movement and stillness.

Mark Stephens has taught and practiced yoga since the early 1990’s. The author of Teaching Yoga: Essential Foundation & Techniques, he received Yoga Journal's Karma Yoga Award for his service in creating Yoga Inside Foundation, bringing yoga into prisons, treatment centers and schools across the U.S.

Kodo Linda Galijan was ordained by Sojun Mel Weitsman in 2004. She is licensed as a clinical psychologist, and has practiced yoga for 20 years. She lives at City Center, where she is currently Program Director.

The Baths and Hot Springs
Tassajara’s hand-crafted Japanese-style bathhouse is clothing-optional, and has separate sides for men and women, with co-ed bathing on the men’s side in the evenings. Each side has a tiled indoor hot plunge, an outdoor plunge, steam room, communal showers, and a private bath. There are decks for sunning and yoga, with steps leading down into the creek

About Tassajara Zen Mountain Center:
Nestled deep in a mountain valley, Tassajara is located inland from the Big Sur coast in a remote part of the Ventana Wilderness. For centuries, the native Esselen people have visited here as a place of healing and renewal, and a hot springs resort was built in the 1800s. In 1967, Shunryu Suzuki Roshi and the San Francisco Zen Center established a monastic community at Tassajara, making it the oldest Zen training monastery outside Asia.

Over the years, a rich Zen-inspired culture of living mindfully with the earth and each other has developed at Tassajara. In the winter, Tassajara closes its gates and turns inward, as residents engage in intensive Zen training. During the summer months, our attention turns to welcoming and serving our guests. We warmly invite you to come and refresh yourselves in this very special place.

Tassajara Zen Mountain Center is part of the San Francisco Zen Center, which also includes Beginner's Mind Temple (City Center) in San Francisco and Green Gulch Farm in Marin County, California.

San Francisco Zen Center is a nonprofit organization, and we gratefully accept your donations. You may add a donation directly to your reservation, or please contact us for more information.

Official Website: http://www.sfzc.org/tassajara