In Patanjali’s 8 Limbs of Yoga, the fifth limb, pratyahara, is often defined as ‘a withdrawal of the senses’. With it’s central location it could also be considered the “bridge limb” – the point where the outer can become inner (and vice versa). With the practice of pratyahara you can cultivate a more intimate relationship to your experience of sensation. (Note: the root word of sensation, along with sensory, sensitive, and sensual, is ‘sense’.)
A less common translation of the word pratyahara ‘to recover our senses’.

In this workshop, asana, meditation, and chocolate are the vehicles which we use to cultivate that recovery of our senses – that sensitivity that we often lose when when we get caught up in the rapid pace of our lives. We will also explore SATYA, a school of somatic movement techniques developed by Tias Little, to further heighten that awareness. Our eyes, nose, mouth, tongue, heart, and whole body will be opened so that we are free to truly take in the delicate subtleties in the different varieties of movement…and, of course, chocolate!

Chocolate is used as a means of directing the our attention inward, and not at all as a gimick. Chocolate (Cacao) is one of the most complex foods on the planet, more than twice as complex as wine in it’s flavor notes! These days the world of chocolate is exploding with innovative new (and established) chocolate makers committed to using the highest quality & flavor cacao beans from around the world. Up until now much of what was known as “chocolate” were really mostly products filled with sugar, dairy, and many other unsavory additives to create the “chocolate flavor”.

Fine chocolate can teach us how to slow down and really taste, savor, and enjoy our present moment experiences, whatever they may be! Combining chocolate tasting with the mindful movement and meditation allows attendees to go deeply inward, becoming more attuned to the smell, texture, tastes of the chocolate and of the infinite subtle physical sensations of their bodies.



Jyl Kutsche has been teaching yoga since 2003 and is a Senior Instructor of Prajna Yoga and has studied with Tias & Surya Little since 2003. She has received both her 200 hr & 500 hr certifications through their school; and she is one of the first graduates of the SATYA (Somatic Awareness Training for Yoga Attunement) training, which draws heaving from the work of Moshe Feldenkrais and Thomas Hanna in a way that has been modified to illuminate an asana practice.

Currently dividing her time between the United States and Peru, Jyl leads workshops and retreats around the world. She brings an interdisciplinary approach to her teaching, combining form & flow with therapeutic somatic movement and applied neurology in the trainings, retreats & workshops she leads.

She is a Licensed Massage Therapist who is currently studying Visionary Craniosacral Work with Hugh Milne, Visceral Manipulation, and Applied Neurology. And she is passionate about using plants and food as medicine. Her exploration of cacao as plant medicine has turned a lifetime chocolate addiction into a profound part of her life's journey. For the past decade, she has been able to make a long-time dream a reality through her work with cacao farmers and indigenous healers in Peru and Central America. www.jylmarieyoga.com

$35 energy exchange