Sunday 16 - Saturday 22 August 2026
Daily 8am - 4.30pm
Experience Ashtanga Yoga as much more than a set sequence of postures. Deepen your understanding of the structure of this unique method and explore the broad perspective of how this system fits into the larger teaching of Yoga.
This course is appropriate for practitioners seeking to deepen their own Ashtanga Yoga practice and for those who are already sharing and teaching the Ashtanga Vinyasa system. Having said that, this is not a complete teacher training. One needs to practice for many years in order to teach. This workshop should be seen as an in-depth look into this particular system.
Ashtanga Yoga is more than practicing a set series of postures in a particular order. Considering the methodology and philosophy that provides the structure of the Ashtanga practice is critical to deepening one’s practice and developing one’s ability to teach. It is from this place that we will dive into the details of practice and explore the context of the Ashtanga Yoga method.
In this intensive, David will share the knowledge he has acquired since 1999 from his practice and studies of the Ashtanga Yoga system. David’s perspective on the practice is informed by multiple trips to Mysore which have led to his authorisation to teach the system by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and R. Sharath Jois.
Topics Covered:
Understand and learn the vinyasa count
Explore the interrelationship of the postures
Practice asana techniques
Practice asana adjustments
Learn Sanskrit pronunciation of asana names
Experience daily mysore style practice
7 Day Ashtanga Yoga Intensive £865 (pay in full or payment plan)
Includes daily Mysore session
Payment Plan
1) Non-refundable deposit: £200 to be paid upon registration to secure a spot on the intensive
2) Instalments: The remaining balance of £665 divided into three instalments:
- 1st instalment £250 - 1 March 2026
- 2nd instalment £215 - 1 May 2026
- 3rd & final instalment £200 - 1 July 2026
Price for 7 Day Ashtanga Yoga Intensive & Mysore WEEK 1 £995
(To book with this discount please email judi@merchantcityyoga.com - remember to include your start time preference for Week 1)
…………………………………………………….
Why we love David at MCY
Judi first practised with David in 2005 and has practised with him every year (bar one!!) since then. He teaches like no-one else we know, making the practice accessible, safe and relevant for everyone. He’s practical and down to earth with the support and guidance he gives all students. In short, he’s the BEST!
…………………………………………………….
About David Keil
David Keil was introduced to yoga in 1989 by his Tai Chi Chuan teacher. Both the Tai Chi and Yoga practice at the age of 17 began his research into his own mind-body connections. His search continued through massage therapy where he discovered many insights and affirmations of what he had been exploring and finding on his own through his practices. One of the most important elements was the specific understanding of the musculoskeletal system and how fascinating, beautiful and amazing the body is on the scientific level and how that directly played into and off of his own understanding of the human body. He was given names and explanations for some of things he had been experiencing and feeling.
As an instructor of Kinesiology (the study of movement and musculoskelatal anatomy) at Miami’s Educating Hands School of Massage from 1999-2003, David developed a fun, informal and informative style of teaching. By repeatedly teaching incoming students who had no prior understanding of anatomy, David was confronted with the problem of making such a complex and beautiful system accessible and understandable to the average person.
David brings his unique style and ability to make things simple to the yoga world. Because of his passion and desire to share the human body with everyone, he delivers this complex and sometimes frustrating topic in a way that is very accessible and understandable to yoga practitioners.
Over the years David has used his skills as a Neuromuscular Therapist to help people reduce their chronic pain patterns. He often brings this information into his workshops where students are regularly uncovering painful patterns or injuries in their bodies.
David was introduced to Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga in 1999, but it was in 2001 that he met John Scott in Penzance, Cornwall, presenting his anatomy workshops for the first time oversees. Two weeks practicing with John was transformational and he realised that he had found his teacher. This began a relationship of both teacher/student as well as a collaborative colleague relationship that continues today.
It was also John who told David to go to Mysore in India the following year, which he did. David arrived in Mysore in 2002 where he studied with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois in the “old” shala. In fact, it was the last year that the old old shala was used for practice. David was authorised in 2004 and returned yearly for extended visits to Mysore with his wife Gretchen Suarez. They are both Authorised Level 2 and grateful for their time in Mysore, meeting Patabhi Jois and studying with R. Sharath, his grandson, over the years.