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: Working with Uḍḍīyāna Bandha, Retention & Suspension in Āsana and Prāṇāyāma
This workshop explores Uḍḍīyāna Bandha as a refined internal action arising from the intelligent coordination of breath, posture, and attention — approached not as a fixed technique, but as a progressive unfolding of awareness shaped by your own capacity and the subtle dynamics of prāṇa. We’ll work with the interplay of prāṇa and apāna vāyus, whose alchemy generates increasing inner heat, coherence, and clarity at the navel center. Expect a structured yet sensitive approach emphasizing preparation, regulation, and refined internal perception
Intensity 7 – Experienced practitioners, teachers, and yoga therapists with a foundation in breathwork and subtle-body inquiry
20% Discussion, 50% Asana, 20% Pranayama, 10% Meditation
Saturday 11:15am–12:30pm
Yoga Cikitsā for the Low Back and Sacrum: Alleviating the Effects of Sitting in the Modern World 
Modern lifestyles often require prolonged sitting, contributing to stiffness, weakness, altered movement patterns, and discomfort in the low back, sacrum, hips, and pelvis. This yoga therapy workshop explores how extended seated postures influence the musculoskeletal and nervous systems, and how targeted practices can restore mobility, stability, strength, and ease. Through movement, breathwork, and therapeutic applications of yoga, we’ll examine practical tools for relieving tension, improving postural balance, and supporting long-term spinal and sacral health.
Intensity 3 – Yoga practitioners, therapists, teachers, and anyone countering a sedentary lifestyle
10% Discussion, 70% Asana, 20% Pranayama
Saturday 7:30–9:30pm
Yoga Cikitsā for the Low Back and Sacrum: Alleviating the Effects of Sitting in the Modern World
In the yogic tradition, Hṛdaya Granthi — the “knot of the heart” — refers to the physical, emotional, and perceptual patterns that limit our ability to experience ourselves and life fully, formed through habit, conditioning, attachment, fear, and unresolved experience. This workshop explores the three granthis (Brāhma, Viṣṇu, and Rudra) through the lens of Yoga Therapy and Tantra, integrating movement, breath, meditation, self-inquiry, and philosophical reflection to cultivate the awareness that allows long-held patterns to soften and transform.
Intensity 4 – Yoga practitioners and therapists interested in the healing potential of yoga
30% Discussion, 40% Asana, 20% Pranayama, 10% Meditation