Under the Cosmic Banyan is a six-part storytelling series that explores the beating heart of the yoga tradition through its most enduring stories and teachings. Gathering each week beneath the shade of ancient oral tradition, we journey through tales not as distant texts, but as intimate maps of love, struggle, transcendance, and transformation.
Across six evenings, we’ll enter the cosmic dance of Śiva and Pārvatī, where asceticism meets desire and union and reshapes the universe. The epic arcs of the Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata will unfold as moral laboratories—testing duty, loyalty, grief, and grace amid impossible choices. And through the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, we’ll encounter bhakti as a lived, embodied practice: sung, wept, danced, and remembered. We’ll linger in the playful and radical devotion of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, where love itself becomes a path to liberation.
This series is for seekers, storytellers, and lovers of wisdom traditions—no prior knowledge required. Come listen, reflect, and reconnect with yoga not just as a discipline of the body or mind, but as a lineage of stories meant to be lived.
This course will be taught by Premananda Vilasa Das, aka Prema, who is a teacher of yoga philosophy, holds a PhD in History, and is a Dharmic Residential Minister at Georgetown University.
Format: 4-week workshop; no class on Memorial
day, May 25
Description: A solid foundation builds a strong
yoga practice.
In this four-week journey with Jen, you will:
- Learn how to do basic yoga asanas (postures) with safe
alignment.
- Explore principles of pranayama (breathing) that enrich your
practice while steadying your mind and emotions.
- Get a taste of meditation and other aspects of yoga that deepen
self-knowledge and help you maneuver through these challenging
times.
This module can be taken as a standalone immersion or as credit toward BYDC’s 300HR certification. RYS300 - 25 Hours.
Art of Sequencing: Creating Dynamic, Fluid Mandala Flows
Mandalas are circular, fluid, dynamic sequences that help break down old neurological patterns in both the mind and body. These sequences use repetition and directionality to re-pattern movement, develop new coordination, and build communication between the right and left sides of the brain by requiring practitioners to cross the midline.
This 25-hour advanced sequencing module explores the healing potential of circular movement. When we don’t regularly cross the midline, the left and right hemispheres of the brain tend to work in isolation. Mandala flows engage both hemispheres through midline crossing, stimulating the cerebral cortex and strengthening neural pathways that coordinate movement, balance, and learning.
We live in a linear society—but circular movement shifts our perspective. It helps us experience the body and space not from a straight path, but from a 360-degree awareness.
As you train your body and mind in these new movement patterns and learn to guide others through circular sequencing, you’ll discover a powerful, transformative breakthrough—one that is just as playful as it is profound.
After graduating from University College London (UCL), S.B. Keshava Swami embraced monastic life at the age of twenty-one—a journey he has continued for more than two decades. With over twenty-five years of study in ancient Sanskrit wisdom texts, he has authored more than ten books and developed over fifty educational courses. His work empowers audiences to apply timeless insights to elevate relationships, uncover purpose, overcome inner obstacles, and cultivate holistic well-being.
Keshava Swami’s online teachings and social media presence have introduced tens of thousands to the depth and practicality of Eastern wisdom. He has founded multiple educational initiatives, including Wisdom That Breathes, an online community designed to inspire a new generation of conscious changemakers. In 2025–26, he completed a full-time Monastic Fellowship at Harvard Divinity School, advancing his research in Vedic theology.
Summer school is back - but, this
time, we're learning to fly! Have you been wanting to learn crow,
headstand, flying pigeon, or some other arm balance or inversion?
Or do you struggle with practicing these shapes and want to learn
the secret to flying them consistently?
Join Jill Laptosky for a 6-week Yogi Flight Method workshop series
that will teach you how to use the body you have today to learn
these amazing shapes and more. Each week, Jill will breakdown a
different family of arm balances and inversions, explain the key
mechanics you need to know to fly them, warmup the body
strategically, and provide time for personalized coaching to leave
you feeling more confident in your yoga practice.
Your Weekly Journey*:
Week 1: Intro & Crow (Crow, One-Legged Crow)
Week 2: Revolved Arm Balances (Side Crow, Revolved Hurdler’s Pose,
Fallen Angel)
Week 3: Open Leg Arm Balances (Eight Angle, Hurdler’s Pose,
Firefly)
Week 4: Open Hip Arm Balances (Flying Pigeon, Grasshopper)
Week 5: Headstand (Bound, Tripod) and Chinstand
Week 6: Handstand and Forearm Stand
*Poses to be explored include, but are not limited to, those
described above. Other fun surprise shapes and transitions may be
added if time allows. Schedule subject to change. While
possible to book individual sessions, please note that each session
builds on one-another and its recommended to take the entire
series.
About your workshop facilitator:
Jill has been teaching physical movement since 2017, is a
registered Yoga Teacher, and certified group fitness instructor. In
addition, Jill has 100 hours of specialized yoga training in arm
balances and inversions by the Yogi Flight School and is one of the
few yoga teachers in the world certified to teach the Yogi Flight
Method.