Patañjali’s Yoga SÅ«tra is a treasure for yoga students and teachers of all levels.  The text is meant to become a lifelong companion, as its wisdom unfolds gradually with repeated study. 

Yoga is a darÅ›ana, meaning that it draws inspiration from the Vedas and addresses such fundamental questions as the meaning of life, the meaning and origin of suffering and how we should live.  The text dates from at least 1800 hundred years ago, yet it is fresh and illuminating today.  It is timeless.  The practice of yoga is much older still, having been passed down by oral tradition for hundreds of years, and possibly millennia, prior to this most authoritative text of Patañjali’s.

The text is written in sÅ«tra form, which means that it is succinct, expressing the essence of the subject without ambiguity; its ideas deal with our experience and are universally applicable.  These characteristics are appropriate to the presentation of a darÅ›ana.  Yet it needs to be discovered with the help of a guide.

In this workshop, we will explore the main ideas of the first two pāda and delve into their practical application using examples from our lives.  We will learn to chant many of the sÅ«tra in their original Sanskrit.  Our sessions will include practice of āsana, prāá¹Â‡Äyāma, meditation, lecture and discussion.


Dolphi Wertenbaker MD, physician, yoga therapist and yoga teacher trainer in the tradition of Krishnamacharya, is a long-time personal student of TKV Desikachar, to whom she owes everything.  She studied intensively with Mr. Desikachar in Chennai.  Witnessing his work with patients inspired her to study medicine and pursue a life-long dream of combining medicine and yoga.  Co-Founder of Viniyoga America in 1986, she has taught therapeutic yoga since 1985, was an adjunct professor at Columbia University for 14 years, and has taught in numerous yoga teacher trainings since 2007.  She is a co-founder and core faculty member of YATNA (Yoga As Therapy North America) and has developed the curriculum for its yoga therapist training.  Students find Dolphi’s teaching engaging and enlightening.