Yoga focuses on improving your physical, mental and spiritual well being through a combination of poses, meditation and breathing exercises. Physically, yoga increases your strength, balance and flexibility. It improves circulation and helps to prevent and relieve physical ailments. Mentally, yoga calms your mind and relieves stress. It improves your attention span and concentration. Spiritually, the wholeness that you achieve from harmonizing your body, mind and soul brings you inner peace. The word “yoga” is derived from the Sanskrit word “yuj”, which means “to join” or “to unify”; hence, the goal of yoga is to unite mind, body and soul. Yoga originated in India more than 5,000 years ago. Today there are many different types and traditions of yoga and there have been many changes over the years. Hatha yoga is the physical practice of yoga and it is the one most commonly practiced in the western world. The goal, as with all traditions of yoga, is to achieve union of the mind, body and spirit. With Hatha Yoga, this is done through physical actions. The different practices of Hatha Yoga range from quite physically demanding postures and movements to relaxing, gentle stretches. Everyone can practice yoga, regardless of age or fitness level. Yoga can be modified to meet the needs of all. There is no competition. It is truly meant to be your own personal journey. Encouraging the participant to improve their self-awareness and take care of their body to achieve or maintain a healthy body. It is not about ignoring the body and pushing past its limits and into pain. It is about listening to the body and challenging it while respecting its limits. A typical yoga class consists of breath work (pranayama), physical poses (asanas) and relaxation (savasana). The physical poses can be all or some of the following: seated poses, standing poses, balancing poses, forward bends, back extensions, inversions, spinal twists and relaxation poses. Instead of repeating the same exercise over and over, possibly targeting only one specific area of the body, yoga use poses and counter poses to balance the entire body. It also involves the mind, the physical postures are approached with concentration and awareness and the attention is always brought back to the breath. This keeps the participant in the “here and now” and again, creates that link or union of mind, body and soul, working towards that sense of wholeness and tranquility. “Yoga for You Inc.” is a yoga studio where classes are available on Mondays-Fridays. To learn more about the types of classes we offer, check out the Class Descriptions. See schedule for class times and pricing. |