Ashtanga United Goa - One-Month Ashtanga Yoga Intensive

Overview

This four-week collaborative gathering is dedicated to the depth, intelligence and evolving understanding of the Ashtanga Yoga tradition as a healing and therapeutic practice. Held in a vibrant yet grounding atmosphere, the retreat brings together two experienced teachers, Scott Johnson and Petri Räisänen, for a month of sincere practice, thoughtful study and shared inquiry. They will be joined by additional guest teachers, widening the learning experience and offering varied perspectives within the tradition.

Teaching approach

Teaching honours the individual: each practitioner is met where they are, with careful attention to the realities of the body, age and personal history with the practice. The approach is steady, kind and deeply respectful of yoga as a lifelong path of learning, healing and refinement. This retreat emphasises Ashtanga as therapeutic yoga and somatic practice, blending tradition with individualised care.

Program structure

• Each week explores a different dimension of the tradition.
• Participants may join for a single week or immerse themselves in the full four-week journey.
• Practitioners of all levels are welcome to attend, whether seeking Mysore-style practice, guided sessions, mindful movement or study of breath and meditation.

About The Teachers

Petri Räisänen

Petri Räisänen is an internationally respected Ashtanga yoga teacher. He began practising Ashtanga in 1989 and teaching in 1991. Petri is co-owner and director of Ashtanga Yoga Helsinki (established 1997) and lives in Helsinki with his wife Wambui Njuguna-Räisänen and their sons Sesam and Sumu. A regular practitioner in Mysore, India since 1996, he received teacher authorisation from K. Pattabhi Jois and R. Sharath Rangaswamy (Jois) in 2001. Petri has studied with many senior Ashtanga teachers including Derek Ireland, Radha Warrell, Lino Miele, Gwendoline Hunt, Eddie Stern, R. Sharath Jois and K. Pattabhi Jois. He focuses on integrating healing and therapy with yoga, meeting each student’s individual needs and guiding them through steady progress. Petri’s friendly, relaxed manner and intuitive perception create an open, energetic and meditative atmosphere. His teaching invites experience of the wholeness of the practice and aims toward deep concentration (pratyahara) and meditation (dhyana).

Petri has written two books on Ashtanga Yoga: Ashtanga Yoga – In the Tradition of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois (first published in Swedish in 2005; English 2013) and the intermediate series book Nadi Shodhana (Finnish 2008; English 2017). Both books draw on interviews with K. Pattabhi Jois and R. Sharath Jois and illustrate the Primary and Intermediate series practices, benefits and tradition as taught in Mysore, India.

• Since 1990 Petri has also studied the Finnish folk-healing tradition Jäsenkorjaus (bone-setting), energy healing and cupping.
• He has trained in Swedish massage, naturopathy, natural cosmetics, Reiki, reflexology and Hawaiian (Kahuna) shamanism - broad bodywork knowledge he integrates into his Ashtanga teaching.

Scott Johnson

Scott Johnson has practised yoga since 1999 and is co-founder and director of Stillpoint Yoga London, established in 2009. Stillpoint is one of only two dedicated Ashtanga Yoga self-practice spaces in London. Scott has taught Mysore-style Ashtanga since 2004 and has taught at Stillpoint since it opened. Introduced to Ashtanga by John Scott in 2002, Scott studied with him for over fifteen years. He is authorised to teach the Primary and Intermediate series by Manju Jois and shares a deep connection to pranayama and Vedic chanting. Scott also completed extensive mindfulness training under Cathy Mae Keralse at Clear Mind International, gaining a level 3 certificate in Mindfulness and Compassion in 2015.

Scott teaches with encouragement, insight and integrity, combining Ashtanga yoga and mindfulness in a rich, nurturing environment. He emphasises movement and mindfulness as a single, holistic approach to discovering personal patterns and bringing contemplative practice from the mat into daily life. Scott is also a poet and creator of Stillpoints: A Podcast with Scott Johnson, and the People Of Yoga YouTube films, where he engages in inspiring conversations with people whose lives have been changed by yoga and contemplative practice.