Knowledge, Practice, and Healing
Knowledge, Practice, and Healing
Sundays 6:00–7:00am UTC | September–October 2026 | 8 sessions | Live Zoom + recordings
A course of advanced themes from the Yoga Sūtras with Dr. Agi Wittich
For graduates of Threads in Patañjali’s Wisdom — and for committed students ready to go further into the philosophical architecture of the Sūtras.
The first course laid the foundation: the mind, practice and detachment, āsana as a path to samādhi, breath, ethics, and the relationship between seer and seen. This course picks up from there, moving into the mechanics of transformation itself — Kriya Yoga, Īśvara, tapas, the guṇas, the inner limbs from pratyāhāra to samyama, conditioning and its undoing, and the culmination in kaivalya.
Each session pairs original Sanskrit with Iyengar’s commentary and embodied practice, with key terms still carefully explained — so returning students never need to have memorized the first course to keep up.
How This Course Builds on the First
Threads in Patañjali’s Wisdom | Advanced Threads in Patañjali’s Wisdom | |
Focus | Foundations: mind, practice, āsana, breath, ethics, the seer | Mechanics of transformation: action, devotion, discipline, conditioning, powers, liberation |
Entry point | No prior knowledge needed | Builds on the first course’s vocabulary and framework |
Core question | What is yoga, and how do I begin? | How does real change actually happen — and how do I navigate its subtler challenges? |
Themes already covered in the first course — citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ, abhyāsa and vairāgya, āsana as meditation, the kleśas, and viveka — are assumed as shared ground here, not retaught. This course instead opens new territory: Kriya Yoga, Īśvara, tapas, the guṇas, pratyāhāra and samyama, karma and saṃskāras, vibhūtis, and kaivalya.
Course Outline
Session 1 — Kriya Yoga: The Yoga of Action Integrated action for purification — tapas, svādhyāya, īśvara-praṇidhāna as a complete transformative system. Yoga Sūtras II.1–II.2
Session 2 — Īśvara: The Special Puruṣa and Devotion Īśvara as untouched pure consciousness; surrender in a self-reliant world. Yoga Sūtras I.23–I.29
Session 3 — Tapas: The Fire of Discipline Joyful austerity and inner radiance; balancing effort in modern hustle culture. Yoga Sūtras II.1, II.43
Session 4 — The Three Guṇas & Pariṇāma: Qualities and Transformation Sattva, rajas, tamas in citta, body, and practice; tracking habit evolution. Yoga Sūtras II.18; III.9–III.15; IV.13–IV.14
Session 5 — Pratyāhāra & Samyama: The Inner Turn and Integrated Technology Sensory withdrawal and mastery; the gateway to dhāraṇā, dhyāna, and samādhi. Yoga Sūtras II.54–II.55; III.1–III.9
Session 6 — Citta Vikṣepas, Karma, Vāsanās & Saṃskāras Mental obstacles, karmic residues, and breaking recurring patterns with precision. Yoga Sūtras I.30–I.32; II.12–II.14; IV.7–IV.11
Session 7 — Vibhūtis: Powers as Byproducts Vibhūtis as signs of progress, grounded in ethical practice. Yoga Sūtras III.16–III.37; II.30–II.45
Session 8 — Samādhi & Kaivalya: Integrated Freedom and Fruits The difference between samādhi and kaivalya; living freedom and integration. Yoga Sūtras IV.1–IV.34
Each session is supported by recommended readings from Iyengar’s commentaries and contemporary scholarship.
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What You’ll Gain
FAQ
Do I need to have taken the first course?
Yes — this course assumes the foundational vocabulary and themes covered in Threads in Patañjali’s Wisdom. If you haven’t taken it but have equivalent prior study of the Sūtras, reach out and we can discuss fit.
Will sessions be recorded?
Yes, recordings will be available to all participants.
Is this for teachers or practitioners?
Both — anyone with a dedicated Iyengar background and prior Sūtra study will benefit.
I’m Dr. Agi Wittich — a scholar of yoga philosophy and gender, a certified Iyengar Yoga teacher (CIYT), and founder of the Yoga Readers community. My work lives at the intersection of academic rigor and embodied practice, drawn from two decades of teaching and personal study.
I hold a PhD in Comparative Religion from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where my doctoral research examined women-oriented Iyengar Yoga through interviews with senior teachers worldwide, including members of the Iyengar family. My academic work has been published in peer-reviewed journals, and I continue to write, present, and teach at the intersection of Sanskrit textual study and lived practice.
As a teacher, I’ve led therapeutic and trauma-sensitive yoga programs, taught Yoga Sūtra courses for certifying Iyengar teachers, and built Yoga Readers into a global community of over 1,700 practitioners engaged in close reading of classical yoga texts. I bring the same approach to this course: careful textual study, grounded in Iyengar’s embodied teaching, made accessible without ever being diluted.
Agi Wittich is a yoga practitioner since two decades, and is a certified Iyengar Yoga teacher. Wittich studied Sanskrit and Tamil at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, completing a PhD with a focus on Hinduism, Yoga, and Gender. She has published academic papers exploring topics such as Iyengar yoga and women, the effects of Western media on the image of yoga, and an analysis of the Thirumanthiram yoga text.