Mindfulness during asana is a shift of intention from achieving a pose to a deep listening to the body with nonjudgmental awareness. This involves awareness of sensations arising in the body, tension held in the tissues, the movement of the breath, and thoughts and emotions arising in the mind. The body is embraced as a vehicle of insight into what is arising in each moment. The asana practice can remain dynamic and even demanding while fostering the skills of steady awareness. By practicing this way, we slow down the stress response and develop new neural pathways of resilience, equanimity, and compassion.
Djuna Devereaux, E-RYT
Guest Teacher, Movement Teacher
Djuna Devereaux has more than two decades of experience teaching the integration of yoga and Buddhist Dharma. At Spirit Rock, she teaches on retreat and leads the Dharma and Yoga Teacher Trainings. She supports her primary Dharma teachers, Thanissara and Kittisaro, as a core teacher and Board Chair for Sacred Mountain Sangha. Djuna is also faculty for Prajna Yoga, offering events internationally, and is a certified yoga therapist and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner in private practice.
Djuna weaves asana training, with somatic movement, biomechanics, and the wisdom of the Buddha Dharma, into her offerings. Her sessions are intelligently crafted to cultivate embodied awareness, strength, and mobility, while supporting the body’s innate capacity to heal. As a long-time Dharma practitioner, she approaches the asanas as vehicles of insight, inviting us to awaken to present moment experience through the intelligence of the body.
Djuna Devereaux's Upcoming Programs
Training | On-Land | Dharma Institute
May 2024 - June 2025 | 3 Retreats (two residential, one non-residential hybrid)
Dharma Yoga Mindfulness Training
175 CE Units by Yoga Alliance. This yearlong Dharma and Yoga certificate program integrates Buddhist wisdom teachings and meditation practice with āsana, prāṇāyāma, and somatic movement. In the teaching of Yoga and embodied meditation, Dharma and Yoga are interwoven as one path to awakening. The training includes silent retreat, community connection, and structured support for deepening your personal practice. Our approach is centered on accessible and trauma-informed practices that nourish belonging and provide systematic grounding in the essential practices of these two great traditions.
Commuter Spaces Also Available!
Retreat | On-Land
November 22 - November 30, 2024 | Friday - Saturday | 8 nights
Reclamation of the Sacred: Journey into Refuge, Presence, and Love
In helping us to deepen our refuge and reconnect with what is most precious and sacred in this life, this retreat draws from teachings and practices that open us to the heart of compassion. Informed by a synthesis of Theravāda Buddhism as transmitted through the Thai Forest Tradition and the teachings of Ajahn Chah, and Mahāyāna practices and teachings around Quan Yin’s compassionate Bodhisattva Path, this retreat includes devotional practices, Dharma talks, meditation instructions, Yoga sessions, and meetings with teachers.
