Ana Pilar Cruz has been teaching yoga in Austin, Texas since 2001 and training yoga teachers since 2005 at the 200-hour, 500-hour, and C-IAYT levels in the United States and abroad. A longtime student of Gary Kraftsow, founder of the American Viniyoga Institute, she has devoted over 18 years to this transformative lineage. Her continuing education spans Western and Yogic Anatomy, Injury Prevention, Mantra Chanting, and Tantric Philosophy, with studies alongside luminaries including Leslie Kaminoff, Donna Farhi, Rod Stryker, and Dr. Douglas Brooks. In 2017, Ana Pilar received her C-IAYT designation in recognition of her specialized work in adaptive structural therapeutics, and she brings rare depth and clarity to the teaching of asana, pranayama, and yogic philosophy.
Friday 4:00–5:45pm
Awakening Rudrāṇī: Uḍḍīyāna Bandha, Retention, and Suspension in Āsana and Prāṇāyāma
Explore Uḍḍīyāna Bandha as a refined internal action arising through the intelligent coordination of breath, posture, and attention. Rather than treating bandha as a fixed technique to impose upon the body, we will approach it as a progressive unfolding of awareness shaped by the practitioner’s capacity, sensitivity, and relationship to prāṇa.
Through guided practices in āsana and prāṇāyāma, participants will investigate breath retention and suspension, the relationship between prāṇa and apāna vāyus, and the conditions through which Uḍḍīyāna Bandha may emerge. The alchemy of these two currents generates inner heat, coherence, and clarity at the navel center, awakening Rudrāṇī as an awakened field of transformative intelligence.
The workshop offers a structured and sensitive progression, with attention to preparation, regulation, contraindications, and refined internal perception.
Intensity 7 – Designed for experienced practitioners, yoga teachers, and yoga therapists, this workshop assumes an established foundation in prāṇāyāma, breath awareness, and subtle-body inquiry.
20% Discussion, 50% Asana, 20% Pranayama, 10% Meditation
Saturday 11:15am–12:30pm
Yoga Cikitsā for the Seated Body: Supporting the Low Back and Sacrum 
Prolonged sitting can contribute to stiffness, muscular imbalance, altered movement patterns, and discomfort in the low back, sacrum, hips, and pelvis. Over time, these adaptations may also influence posture, breathing mechanics, circulation, and overall ease of movement.
This workshop applies the principles of Yoga Cikitsā to understanding and addressing the physical and functional effects of the extended sitting associated with work, travel, modern daily life, or a seated meditation practice. Participants will examine how habitual seated postures can affect the musculoskeletal and nervous systems and learn targeted practices that support mobility, stability, strength, and ease.
Through guided movement, breathwork, and therapeutic applications of yoga, we will explore practical tools to release tension, improve postural balance, and support healthy function throughout the low back, sacrum, hips, and pelvis. Participants will leave with adaptable practices that can be incorporated into personal practice, teaching, or therapeutic work.
Intensity 3 – Suitable for yoga practitioners, yoga therapists, teachers, and anyone seeking effective strategies to counter the demands of a sedentary lifestyle.
10% Discussion, 70% Asana, 20% Pranayama
Saturday 7:30–9:30pm
Hṛdaya Granthi: Untying the Knots of the Heart Through Practice, Presence, and Recognition
The Sanskrit word granthi means “knot,” a binding or contraction that limits the free movement of awareness and energy. Hṛdaya Granthi, the “knot of the heart,” points toward the deeply held patterns of identification, attachment, fear, and conditioning that can create a sense of separation from ourselves, others, and life.
Drawing from Yoga Therapy and Tantra, this workshop approaches Hṛdaya Granthi through movement, breathwork, meditation, self-inquiry, and philosophical reflection. Using the three-granthi framework, participants will be invited to consider how these traditional teachings illuminate different dimensions of attachment, resistance, and transformation.
Through practices that cultivate awareness, resilience, and inner spaciousness, we will create conditions in which long-held patterns and unresolved experience may begin to soften and transform. Practice, presence, and recognition become gateways to greater clarity, connection, and wholeness.
Intensity 4 – Suitable for yoga practitioners, yoga teachers, yoga therapists, and anyone interested in the contemplative and transformative potential of yoga.
30% Discussion, 40% Asana, 20% Pranayama, 10% Meditation