Yoga and myth
Yoga and myth
Monday, August 26 – Thursday, August 29
Residential Seminar at Lakazeza, Gulf of Corinth – Greece
“It is not man who needs to be cured, but the images of his memory,
because the way we tell and imagine our story,
influences the course of our life“
J. Hilmann
In an enchanting and evocative natural setting, suspended between forest and sea, far from the world’s clamor, lulled by the scent of thyme and the song of cicadas: an opportunity to immerse ourselves intensely and actively in yoga and meditation practices, without giving up moments of sweet idleness, swims in the pristine bay, or simply relaxing in the pine forest with a book or nourishing silence. We’ll be pampered by delicious and authentic cuisine that inspires sweet and light moments of conviviality. It’s hard not to believe in the soul at Lakazeza when evening falls and infinite stars open up above.
Guiding and inspiring our practices will be a reinterpretation of certain Greek myths through a symbolic and archetypal lens.
Ariadne, Perseus, Antigone, Prometheus, and others will accompany us on this journey, revealing unexplored possibilities within ourselves, offering new—perhaps more attentive and wondrous—perspectives on the mat. They will evoke adventurous and inherently heroic plunges into our inner space. The goal, as always, is to know, and then to know better, more deeply. And perhaps to re-cognize our own myth, the one we enact through living, in order to honor and heal it.
The juxtaposition of yoga and classical mythology might seem unusual, but it finds significant grounding in the work of James Hillman and, subsequently, Selene Calloni Williams. This approach offers a way to bridge East and West by reinterpreting stories and narratives whose poetic power (from the Greek verb poieîn, meaning “to make,” “to produce,” and “to create”) speaks to an originating time—not a “past” time, but one eternally present in our lived experience.
As Selene Calloni Williams asserts: “Each of us enacts a myth on the stage of life, and each of us finds resolution, redemption, and liberation when we ‘see’ the myth we are living. By initiating a dialogue with our own daemon, we become co-creators of our destiny, ceasing to be its victim. One who knows the imaginal language of myth is the master of things.“
Recounting myths, when done without a moralistic lens, provides an opportunity for awareness and the awakening of our imaginative power. Tracing back to the “first time” something manifested allows us to transcend our limited, ego-centric vision that often makes us feel like victims, and instead, universalize our own story. The myth of Ariadne and Minos helps us decipher the experience of betrayal (both perpetrating and enduring it). The myth of Antigone sheds light on the deeper reasons behind our failures and victimhood. Prometheus speaks to our relationship with power, Cassandra to fear, and Perseus to lightness and surrender. Limits and obstacles become resources for experiencing new degrees of freedom. And from every limit, in every hero’s journey, we tap into new “superpowers”: gifts, qualities, and possibilities we had forgotten we possess.
“The archetype isn’t a concept, but a plastic energy. […] Things are shadows of their names; names bind them to the archetype that informs them. […] Archetypes are thus unifying patterns charged with emotional and symbolic energy: meaningful meanings. Meditation is the process by which we extract their archetypal meaning from things: a slow, thrilling, absorbed process…”.
E. Zolla
Who Am I?
My path leads me to integrate diverse experiences (my project’s name, Sarangi, fittingly means “a thousand colors”). These range from traditional Hatha yoga, practiced and studied in India, to Tantric yoga of the non-dual Kashmiri Shaivism tradition. I also draw from meditation techniques of Theravada and Zen Buddhism, including Vipassana and Anapanasati, as well as principles of Japanese Aesthetics and animistic Shintoism. I qualified as a Forest Therapy Guide under the tutelage of Selene Calloni Williams, who, along with Noburu Okuda Do, synthesized a series of meditative and ritual practices inspired by Japanese aesthetic philosophy and Hillman’s imaginal thought.
Schedule
The days will feature two group practices daily, one in the morning and one in the late afternoon: Hatha flow, meditation, and moments for discussion and sharing. Optional individual sessions will be available throughout the day. During free time, you can reach the beach in just 6 minutes on foot, enjoy snorkeling in the bay’s crystal-clear waters, or relax in hammocks within the pine forest.
The seminar is open to all levels of practice. A good state of health is required.
A Heads-Up for City Dwellers and Tech Addicts. Just so you know, at Lakazeza, there’s no Wi-Fi and internet is only available on the beach. You won’t find any bars or discos here. Our water usage and consumption in general are all about sustainability. Instead, you’ll have plenty of books to browse, the constant symphony of cicadas and crickets, hammocks perfect for meditation, communal spaces to connect and share, kittens to cuddle, and breathtaking starry nights. This isn’t a place to simply consume experiences, but rather an experience to truly immerse yourself in and rediscover yourself.
How to get to Lakazeza?
A high-speed train from Athens (which you can reach with low-cost flights from Turin and Milan) connects to Corinth and the Isthmus in about an hour, with departures every hour. From Corinth, you can then take a bus or taxi to your destination.
Alternatively, we can arrange group shuttles from Athens Airport, which takes approximately 1.5 hours.
Arrival on the first day is requested between 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM. Departure on the last day is scheduled around 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM.
The program and details are available by writing privately to martabecco@gmail.com
Read an excerpt from Shinrin Yoku – Selene Calloni Williams, Noburu Okuda Do
The sessions, courses, seminars, retreats, and materials offered by Sarangi are for inner exploration, problem-solving, and personal growth. They are not a substitute for the work of doctors or psychotherapists, as their purpose is not to consider, treat, or resolve medical or health-related conditions or symptoms.