Berkshire Yoga Festival 2026

We all have the recurring experience of frustration and suffering - from different causes, and at different levels of intensity - throughout our daily lives. In response to this recurring experience, we seek to release suffering and find fulfillment outwardly and, as a result, become entangled in what the Ancients called the ‘world of name and form’. This misguided seeking perpetuates the recurrence of unresolved issues, frustrations, tension, and suffering that we all experience throughout our lives.

Deep methods of Inner Practice evolved in the tradition of Tantric Laya Yoga through which we can break this recurring cycle, realize our true nature, actualize our innate potentials and, ultimately, become free. These methods of practice relied on complex symbol systems.

In this series of three classes, we will explore two of the most important symbol systems, the methods of practice evolved to work with them and, finally, how to integrate these symbols and methods into our personal practice.

In this first 90-minute session of the series, we will
- Explore the cakra symbol system as a “microcosmic” map that reveals both our dysfunctional patterns and our innate untapped potentials.
- Introduce the methods of Bhūta Śuddhi and Cakra Sādhana
- Work with these methods in a practice focused on the Anāhata Cakra

This gently contemplative session asks: what would happen if we brought consent into the heart of our yoga? Is there a way to be together, side by side, and cherish our uniqueness, our differences, and even our brokenness together? If we pause to notice the moment in which we decide to say either ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the practice, what might we achieve, on the mat, off the mat, and in the world?
These surprisingly profound enquiries will be explored through quiet movement, a little optional pair work, and a nourishing yoga nidra together. Suitable for anyone ready to think a little deeper about what it is we’re doing, alone and together, on the mat.

Take time to pause, reset, and improve your sleep. This experiential workshop blends neuroscience, mindfulness, and practical tools to show why sleep matters and how to harness it for healing, resilience, and overall wellbeing. Leave with strategies you can use immediately to sleep better and feel more at ease each day.

Using gentle movement and relaxation techniques, we’ll explore:
-The Neuroscience of Sleep: Understand how sleep supports resilience, emotional regulation, memory, and overall wellbeing.
-Mindfulness Practices to Cultivate Ease: Learn how compassion, interoception, and moment-to-moment awareness can calm the nervous system and prepare your body for restorative sleep.
-Practical Sleep Strategies: Evidence-based routines, environmental adjustments, and behavior changes to address sleep challenges.
-Hands-On Practice: Experience techniques you can use immediately to improve rest and recovery.

Led by Becky Acabchuk, PhD, neuroscientist and sleep specialist with experience teaching high-performance teams, this workshop will leave you grounded, informed, and empowered to optimize your sleep and enhance your daily energy, focus, and wellbeing. What to Bring: A journal and pen.

A remarkable experience is one that unfolds a thoughtfully connected journey. Learn how to create and facilitate purposeful, transformational offerings — whether through a public practice, workshop, event or retreat.
In this session, learn the inner workings of The Sky Path, a curated arc designed to guide students through a connected experience. Discover how to meet your students where they are upon entry, invite them to explore and deepen their awareness, provide a supportive container for immersion, and integrate the teachings in a way that allows them to depart having shifted even the slightest bit into a transformed state.
Learn the art of intentional curation and how to create experiences that foster connection, expansion, and lasting impact.
This session weaves perspective, experiential practice (guided meditation, breathwork, and light movement), instruction, and shared conversation into a lived experience of intentional curation. The learning unfolds as embodied clarity, inviting you to sense how a connected container is formed and to recognize your own capacity to create one with purpose and care.

We all have the recurring experience of frustration and suffering - from different causes, and at different levels of intensity - throughout our daily lives. In response to this recurring experience, we seek to release suffering and find fulfillment outwardly and, as a result, become entangled in what the Ancients called the ‘world of name and form’. This misguided seeking perpetuates the recurrence of unresolved issues, frustrations, tension, and suffering that we all experience throughout our lives.

Deep methods of Inner Practice evolved in the tradition of Tantric Laya Yoga through which we can break this recurring cycle, realize our true nature, actualize our innate potentials and, ultimately, become free. These methods of practice relied on complex symbol systems.

In this series of three classes, we will explore two of the most important symbol systems, the methods of practice evolved to work with them and, finally, how to integrate these symbols and methods into our personal practice.

In the second session of the series, we will
- Explore the symbolism of the Vedic Gods and Goddesses as “macrocosmic map” that reveals what the Ancients called our Divine Human Potentials.
- Introduce the methods of Devatā Yoga
- Work with this methods in a practice focused on the Mahā Lakṣmī

Sage Rountree, author of The Athlete’s Guide to Yoga, will teach you routines you can practice immediately before, during, and after your workouts to help keep your body balanced and your mind present. We’ll learn all the details of five specific routines, none of which will take you more than 10 minutes, but all of which will help you avoid injury, recover faster, and continue running well. You’ll leave feeling confident about incorporating yoga in your training—or with a fun lesson plan to teach in your own classes. Appropriate for athletes of all levels of sport and yoga experience.

This workshop is for festival-goers who feel the spark of teaching—or who want to deepen the way they show up in any room they enter. Abby blends nervous system awareness, self-trust, voice, and presence to help participants step out of their heads and into their bodies. You’ll explore teaching as leadership: how to hold space with confidence, speak from authenticity, and embody who you are rather than imitate someone else.
Rooted in the philosophy behind Radiance Yoga’s signature classes—known for being packed week after week—this session offers a behind-the-scenes look at what truly creates magnetic, impactful experiences. It’s not about choreography or cues alone; it’s about energy, clarity, and connection.
Designed for both aspiring and current teachers, this workshop is experiential and transformational. Participants will move, reflect, and reconnect with their own inner authority. You’ll leave feeling grounded, capable, and inspired, thinking: “I want to be in rooms like this more often. I’m ready to grow into my voice and share this energy.”

This session is a sample of the movement practices Leslie and Lauri lead during their innovative week-long cadaver dissection workshops.  The intent is to provide an experiential embodiment of the insights gained in the day’s lab.

Exclusively for BYF, Leslie and Lauri have agreed to share some of their private dissection footage from several of their labs, so that participants can get a taste of the experience of lab attendees.

In this session you will have an opportunity integrate the revealed fascial planes, musculoskeletal continuities, organic relations and internal breath movements with guided movement, visualization and tactile feedback. Time will also be devoted to interactive exchange and Q&A.

Notice: The viewing of dissected human cadaver imagery is an integral part of this session