Focus the mind, tune into the breath.
Central to our approach to yoga is the development of the mind/body connection. This connection along with the practice of focusing the mind and tuning into the breath allows us to find a greater sense of wellbeing – physically, mentally and emotionally. Yoga provides us the tools: the physical postures bring vitality and tension release; meditation gives us a moment of stillness providing stress release and mental clarity; and the breath is at the core of both.
Yoga comes from the Sanskrit root word Yuj which means to join or unite. Using the breath, we unite body and mind together. The focus on breath allows the body to decrease anxiety and stress and improves metal focus and clarity. The yoga postures themselves bring a greater sense of awareness and self-acceptance to our bodies. Uniting these practices, our approach to yoga extends beyond the practice and begins to affect your daily life.
“Advanced Yoga is not advanced Asana (postures) it is advanced awareness.”
Yoga is also about achieving balance. We use the postures to physically find balance in the body – lengthening, stretching, contracting, strengthening, and softening. This balance helps to improve health and wellness. When done with intensity and heightened sense of awareness yoga is also a valuable tool for your overall fitness.
Advancing in yoga is about building awareness in the body. Without awareness, even challenging postures may seem easy. Forcing postures goes against the core of what yoga is. When we grow our ability to look within the body and really feel what is happening, form will improve and the student will understand how to work with their body instead of against it.
We encourage our practitioners to honor the body – radical self-acceptance. The body is constantly changing, and the challenge is to meet the body wherever it may be each day. All of our classes offer modifications to help participants adapt the practice to meet their needs. Some days this may mean adding or decreasing intensity by modifying a posture. If a practitioner has a specific need (recovering from an injury or the inability to move to the floor easily) a private session may be beneficial to help the student understand their specific needs.
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