Trulkhor Mural photography, Lukhang, © Thomas Laird, Murals of Tibet, TASCHEN 2018
Tibetan Nejang Yoga Retreat
Five day retreat with Christiana Polites and Liz Sung
Wednesday october 30th - Sunday November 3
Part of Sowa Rigpa Institute’s Sowa Rigpa Yoga Practitioner Program:
Module 1: 100-Day Nejang Yoga Immersion & Teacher Training
Nejang (Tibetan གནས་སྦྱངས་) is a gentle healing yoga practice consisting of twenty four simple physical exercises which use breath work and self-massage to open the channels, balance internal energies, relax the mind, and nourish the inner organs. With roots in the Kalachakra tradition, such exercises have been prescribed by Tibetan physicians for centuries to improve health and vitality and to support spiritual practice. This accessible practice is appropriate for people of all ages, physical conditions, spiritual backgrounds, and levels of experience.
This immersive program will include practical instruction, history and theory, relevant anatomy and physiology, and the opportunity to teach Nejang to others.
Though designed for participants to achieve fluency as a Nejang teacher, anyone is welcome to join this program to enhance their study and practice regardless of whether they plan to teach. Nejang is a great addition to apply to one’s current work as medicine practitioners, health clinicians, bodyworkers, yoga and meditation teachers, and more.
Program Format and Schedule
For Tibetan ngakpa/ma (yogis and yoginis), there is the shag jya ཞག་བརྒྱ། tradition of 100 days of retreat dedicated to specific practices. Following in the yogic tradition, this 100 day program will be dedicated to the practice of Nejang. It will consist of one in-person retreat and weekly online sessions for a total of 100 days.
OCTOBER 30 - NOVEMBER 3 2024
5 day Retreat at Pure Land Farms in Topanga, California
(In-person attendance is required.)
NOVEMBER 10 2024 – FEBRUARY 9, 2025
90-minute weekly online sessions of live group practice, guest speakers, and teaching practice.
Sundays 10am PST Los Angeles | 1pm EST–New York | 7pm CET Rome
Prerequisites:
Must have completed the Foundations of Sowa Rigpa course or equivalent. New students may enroll in the course concurrently. (Link to enroll in new cohort of Foundations of Sowa Rigpa beginning October 2024)
Course Textbook & Required Reading:
Nejang: Tibetan Healing Yoga by Dr. Nida Chenagtsang
(Digital copy included in course tuition. Print book available to purchase online from Sky Press Books or in-person at Pure Land Farms.)
Certification:
Certification by Sowa Rigpa Institute to teach Nejang Yoga will be issued at the end of the program only upon good attendance, successfully passing assessments, and completing requirements.
Christiana Polites received her Bachelor of Arts in the Comparative Study of Religion at Harvard University and has been immersed in Eastern spiritual traditions for over twenty five years, brought onto the path of dharma through her love of yoga in her early teens. She has studied both Tibetan and Chinese Daoist healing arts and received a Masters in Acupuncture from the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon. She has traveled extensively around the world, seeking out authentic living lineages in both the healing and spiritual sciences.
Christiana is the Director of Pure Land Farms and the Sowa Rigpa Institute. She teaches foundational courses on Tibetan Medicine, yoga and rejuvenation and guides retreats and practices in the Yuthok Nyingthig meditation tradition at Pure Land Farms, online and internationally. Editor-in-chief of Sky Press Books, she worked closely on the publication of Nejang: Tibetan Healing Yoga.
Liz Sung is a Yuthok Nyingthig practitioner through her main teacher Dr. Nida Chenagtsang with whom she also studied Tibetan yoga and Sowa Rigpa. Influenced by her Korean upbringing and cultural background of Mahayana Buddhism, Liz first began studying with her first teacher in the Gelug lineage.
Raised in a family of artists and entrepreneurs, Liz has 18+ years of experience in design and branding in New York City, and in 2015 founded a meditation lifestyle brand called SAMAYA in Los Angeles.
Liz is authorized by Dr. Nida to teach Tibetan yoga and certify new teachers for Sowa Rigpa Institute. She is also certified in Hatha yoga, trauma-informed yoga, and meditation.
This program is being offered under the direction of and with special lectures by Dr. Nida Chenagtsang
Born in Amdo, in Northeastern Tibet, Dr. Nida began his early studies of Sowa Rigpa at the local Tibetan medical hospital. Later, he was awarded a scholarship to enter the Lhasa Mentseekhang or Tibetan Medical University, where he completed his degree in 1996, with practical training at the Tibetan Medicine hospitals in Lhasa and Lhoka.
Alongside his medical education, Dr. Nida trained in Vajrayana with teachers from every school of Tibetan Buddhism. In particular, he trained in the Longchen Nyingthig tradition of the Nyingma school with his root guru Ani Ngawang Gyaltsen and in the Dudjom Tersar tradition with Chönyi Rinpoche and Semo Dechen Yudrön. He received complete instruction in the Yuthok Nyingthig lineage, the unique spiritual tradition of Tibetan Medicine, from his teachers Khenpo Tsultrim Gyaltsen and Khenchen Troru Tsenam, and was requested to continue the Yuthok Nyingthig lineage by Jamyang Rinpoche of the Rebkong ngakpa and ngakma community.
A well-known poet in his youth, Dr. Nida later published many articles and books on Sowa Rigpa and the Yuthok Nyingthig tradition in Tibetan and English, which have been translated into several languages. He has extensively researched ancient Tibetan healing methods, and has gained acclaim in East and West for his revival of little-known Tibetan external therapies.
COURSE TEXT
Nejang: Tibetan Self-Healing Yoga by Dr. Nida Chenagtsang available in both print and e-book from Sky Press.
Digitital copy of text will be provided for all participants of this course. Print copies are available from Sky Press or in person at Pure Land Farms.
“What I love about Dr. Nida’s work is that it’s so real, down-to-earth, appropriate, courageous and straightforward. Learning and developing habits based on the self-knowledge inculcated by the practice of Nejang is a big step toward feeling better, more well, more capable, and more free. Start caring for your body as if it were one of the favorite stuffed animals you used to play with and cuddle with as a child! Enjoy this little book on Nejang, Tibet’s gift to you of a basic self-care operating instruction manual!”
- From foreword by Professor Robert Thurman
