Welcoming Doug Keller

We are thrilled to welcome Doug Keller back to our community for a weekend of practice, learning, and connection as we explore often overlooked dimensions of yoga that support healthy aging, resilient movement, and emotional well-being. Through a blend of therapeutic asana, fascial-based movement, resistance training, pranayama, mudra, bandha, and meditation, participants will discover new ways to cultivate strength, mobility, balance, and ease in both body and mind. From the feet to the shoulders, from the breath to the gaze, each session reveals how seemingly small actions can profoundly influence posture, movement, nervous system regulation, and mental clarity. Throughout the weekend, you'll gain accessible tools for reducing pain, improving function, deepening your practice, and developing the steadiness, vitality, and equanimity needed to navigate everyday life with greater confidence and ease.

Peace, Breath, and The Power of Mudra — Supporting Your Breath and Meditation Practice
Friday evening, 6 - 8p
‘Mudra’ was, from the beginnings of hatha yoga, central to the practice, and encompassed not just hand gestures, but asana, bandha, drishthi (the gaze of the eyes), and even states of meditation. It is a central support for all aspects of yoga practice, and an essential tool for your yoga.

In this session, we will focus on fundamental mudras of the hands, and their direct connection to your experience of the breath.

You’ll find this to be a surprisingly tangible support for your breath practice, and we’ll explore the link between both the ‘Vayus’ of Prana and mudra in fundamental pranayama practices for calming your nervous system and clarifying your mind.

Mudra is a key support for breath and relaxation, and you’ll find this to be a deeply relaxing and inspiring evening, setting the tone for a very full and satisfying weekend!

Dynamic Alignment for Movement, From the Feet Upward
Saturday early afternoon, 1 - 3p
In this session we’ll introduce a dynamic, fascia-based approach to the therapeutic wisdom of yoga, we’ll lay out basic principles to addressing joint and fascial pain syndromes through the prism of the feet.

Joints and muscles are for movement. Traditional approaches to ‘grounding’ the feet in yoga poses tend to be static, and fall short of addressing the pain syndromes that arise in the feet and ankles — as well as problems in the knees and hips — from movement patterns that can be improved through asana practice.

A more dynamic understanding of how the feet work in movement — including in asana practice — will put a bounce back in your step and give you clues for addressing the most common pain syndromes that arise in the lower body through simple and sweet asana practice.

Grounded, Steady, and Light: Our Center of Calmness in Asana and the Breath
Saturday late afternoon, 3:30 - 5:30p
Our times demand being steady and grounded within ourselves, a quality yoga describes as Apana Vayu – our capacity to self-regulate, stay calm and clear, and paradoxically to become light.

We will focus on hip opening, twists, and some forward bending as a way to focus on the power centered in the lower abdomen.

This center of power is the ‘Dan Tien’ or center of gravity in Tai Chi, and the locus of emotional steadiness and inner strength — Apana Vayu — in yoga, which we access through the firmness of ‘bandha’ and through awareness of breath.

This is the link between asana and breath, and the power of Apana in particular. We can’t get a good, nourishing inhalation without a firm and complete exhalation. After the hip opening and forward bending that introduce us to bandha and breath in asana, we’ll explore the relationship between inhalation and exhalation in pranayama, and the keys to becoming steady and grounded through the breath, and yet energized, clear, and light.

Resistance Is Not Futile: Upper Body Strength and Shoulder Health
Sunday early afternoon, 1 - 3p
This session will focus on upper body health, especially the shoulders, neck, elbows, wrists, and hands. Using resistance bands alongside standing and floor poses, we'll explore the "sutras" of the shoulders—fascial connections that support strength, mobility, and ease of movement.

While yoga props are often used to support flexibility and relaxation, resistance bands offer a safe and effective way to build the upper body strength that becomes increasingly important with age. Through targeted shoulder and core actions, we'll strengthen the muscles that support healthy movement, improve range of motion, and help reduce pain.

We'll also explore the functional connections between the upper and lower body that are essential for natural, efficient movement in daily life. Finally, we'll apply the insights gained through resistance work to deeper poses, including backbends, and experience how greater strength creates greater freedom.

Resistance bands will be provided for in-studio attendees.

The Power of Drishthi: Equanimity in the Breath
Sunday late afternoon, 3:30 - 5:30p
This session explores the powerful connection between the eyes, the breath, and the mind. In yoga, the action of the eyes (drishti) is closely linked to nostril breathing, mental focus, and the balancing of the nadis—the subtle pathways that pranayama seeks to harmonize.

We'll investigate both the practical "how" and the deeper "why" of breathing through the nose, including strategies for working with common obstacles to healthy nasal breathing. Because breathing through the nose is fundamental to both well-being and pranayama practice, understanding these mechanics can have profound benefits.

We'll also explore simple drishti practices for breathwork and meditation, discovering how the eyes can support greater clarity, steadiness, and equanimity. Often overlooked, drishti is an essential aspect of mudra and a powerful tool for regulating the nervous system, calming the mind, and reconnecting with the breath in everyday life.

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 North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. He has been a regular columnist for yoga magazines and produces online courses through Yogaversity and YogaU Online. 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.