Kquvien's Yoga Karavan goes to Dehlonega Spa Resort

Kquvien Photo by Holly Sasnett

Kquvien lives her yoga heart and soul. When she shares her practice with you, you get caught up in the yoke of her wheel and it takes you places you never thought you'd go.

Origami Swan by Kquvien
Photo by Holly Sasnett

It is no wonder why Kquvien has a Karavan of folks that include all types: from doctors, lawyers, and nuclear engineers to writers, musicians, and photographers all dedicated to following her path as she discovers the vast world of yoga. Her summer retreat put like minds together doing what we love in a place that took us away from it all:  

Dehlonega Spa Resort by Lee Barrineau

Friday evening the resort welcome came from a gentle woman whose name escapes me, but her kind heart left quite an impression. She delivered the resort offerings and regulations with earthy compassion and ended it by adding assurance to the group to feel free to walk around safely at any hour. Following the welcome, Kquvien quickly engaged us in the back leg of our standing poses. Standing poses in Iyengar Yoga are designed to open, strengthen and purify our nervous system to bring sharper awareness to our karmindryia's, our organs of actions: the arms and legs. Each pose is a confine, Kquvien explains, from which we can discover more about ourselves like if we take our inner eye off of what is behind us, we lose the foundation for what we are building.

Kquvien Demo Photo by Holly Sasnett

During the class, we merged with the peace of the mountain and slowly let go of our attachments to the city. All levels of students attended and were taken care of accordingly. Kquvien approaches yoga teaching in the same way that she approaches her own practice. She teaches with a plan of no plan to allow and honor those who are present and not force an agenda. Though taking charge, she enables the group energy to mold the class so something bigger can happen. What happened is the classes and the entire retreat took the shape of exactly what we needed. 

Chiara and Laura Photo by Rhonda

As the days passed too quickly, we found ourselves becoming closer. Being mat-to-mat practicing Iyengar Yoga at Stillwater Yoga on a weekly basis and some of us a daily basis for many years, our mistakes, anxieties, fears, anger, exhaustion, and frustration are all exposed. For that reason, friendships born from the mat feel deeper -- more compassionate, more patient, and more joyful.

Reflections Photo by Lee Barrineau

The retreat gave us an opportunity to witness our energetic link in nature. Each evening passed with more heartfelt conversation or a unified silence in awe as the crickets, frogs, and ducks performed their serenade and the fireflies danced over the water.

Morning View by Rhonda

Our mornings began in silence on the porch watching the mountain mist move up to the sky and lift us from our slumber. Prānāyāma was set to begin at 7 am. The first morning, we arrived in the studio early and waited for the hour with our chest lifted in a restorative pose of our choosing. Kquvien had us build a high throne that easily placed us in correct alignment to sit, along with a supine setup at the ready. The practice focused on awareness of alignment, an exploration of the rechaka or exhalation, and a glimpse of pratyhārā through the sanmukhi mudra (san or six openings, where the eyes, ears, and nose are covered to bring the attention inward).The second morning, we practiced outdoors overlooking our beautiful mountain view. On the fortunate request of a student/CDC doctor, we explored some mudrās (gestures) and bandhas, (binds) which are physical locks that hold or direct the prānic (lifegiving) energy. 

Sutra Study Photo by Lee Barrineau

Our Sutra study in the afternoon was taught in an organic way as well. We reviewed Patanjali's Sutras 1:12-1:14, beginning with abhyāsa-vairāgyābhyam tannirodhah, which states that the way to stilling the fluctuations of the mind is through practice and detachment and ending with Sutra 1:14 sa tu dīrghakāla nairantarya satkārāsevito srdha bhūmih,   steadfast, uninterrupted practice over a long period of time. The question came up: How can we have uninterrupted practice? The answer came through the door later that afternoon as if Patanjali himself sent it to us special delivery in the form of a puppy dog open for love. After as many hugs and ear scratches as she could get, the rest of us went into Sālamba Śīrṣāsāna. We stood on our heads. The puppy stayed.  She wasn't an interruption. She became a part of our practice.

Kquvien has been reading Mircea Eliade's book Yoga: Immortality and Freedom and said he described the purpose of Tapas (disciplined practice) as making us more fit to endure the dualities (read detach, acclimate, accommodate rigidly or subtly depending on the moment)--endure the qualities or states of being or gunas: rajas (firey), tamas (inert), sattva (harmonious). 

Front Porch Friends by Rhonda

Later a student mentioned, that BKS Iyengar spoke in Light on Life about doing our āsanas from the heart, and not the head. Mircea Eliade adds in his book Yoga: Immortality and Freedom about being led by our thoughts by not thinking. Allowing the movement of chatter in our head to run our lives prevents us from acting from our heart. As we discussed more, the lesson presented itself as if from the ethers and because of its universal applications it was received and readily absorbed. Our higher mind is in the heart center, the seat of the divine, not the chitta vrittis  acts of our brain.

Our entire Sutra lesson rolled up like well-used yoga mat with Sutra 3.35 hrdyye cittasamvit, which Iyengar translates: "By saṁayama (concentration, meditation, absorption) on the region of the heart, the yogi acquires a thorough knowledge of the contents and tendencies of consciousness." 

The weekend gave us a delicious taste of that. Our connection to Kquvien, to the practice of Iyengar Yoga, to each other, and to the singularity of energy that animates us all seemed to foster a kind of concentration, meditation, and absorption that created a natural parinama, a transformation born of our unified desire to be open to receive it.  
Thank you, Kquvien

Group Photo by Holly

Group Photo by Henry

Namaste.

Special thanks goes to Kathy Koenigsberg for organizing it all and bringing her sparkle to the group.