Yoga
What is yoga?
Yoga is an ancient Indian philosophy that enhances personal growth and well being. Although a systemic philosophical approach, yoga is not a religion, but complementary with most spiritual paths. The physical aspect of Yoga (Hatha Yoga) use poses called "asanas" and focused breathing, requiring concentration and discipline. The result is a greater union of mind, body and spirit. Anyone, regardless or body type, age, experience, or physical abilities, can practice yoga.
What isn’t yoga?
What is alignment-oriented Hatha yoga ?
Hatha Yoga is the practice of physical postures and breathing exercises helping to bring balance into the body and mind. Alignment-oriented Hatha Yoga, as practiced and taught at Body Prayers Yoga, places emphasis on alignment of the body to safely achieve maximum benefit from the postures. Benefits can include physical improvements such as becoming more flexible, stronger and healthier, and preventing, or recovering from injury. Yoga can also provide emotional benefits such as calming, focusing the mind and lifting the spirit.
Alignment-oriented Hatha Yoga is not a fad. It originates in a tradition that is over 5,000 years old, and is becoming accepted by an ever-increasing number of health-oriented medical practitioners and therapists.
Why do yoga?
You weight train to gain strength, jog or do aerobics for a cardiovascular workout, practice tai-chi to develop a sense of balance and harmony, stretch to gain flexibility, and meditate to develop peace of mind and relaxation. Perhaps you are wondering if a form of exercise exists which gives you everything: strength, endurance, balance, flexibility, and relaxation? There is! Yoga, as taught at Body Mind Circle, is the only complete form of bodywork that does it all. Indeed, yoga is more than stretching and relaxation: it is the ultimate mind-body challenge.
Yoga is a tool for gaining body-mind awareness to enhance whatever spiritual/religious beliefs you have. A typical class will leave you felling energized and relaxed. You will work your muscles and will properly align your bones; you will breath deeply, oxygenating the lungs and blood; you will experience true deep relaxation. By bringing awareness to the body, and working the muscles, you are able to more deeply relax than from any other form of exercise. This is why you feel so good after a yoga class, rather than an aerobics class, because you are deepening your awareness of and appreciation for your bodies.
Who should do yoga?
People who have done no physical exercise at all, as well as Olympic athletes, find enormous benefits from the Body Prayers yoga system. The foundation of yoga taught at Body Prayers Yoga Center is careful alignment of your body as you hold the poses. This precision, and the awareness that comes with it, leads to tremendous growth, physically, mentally, and emotionally.
As in all great arts and sciences, to become proficient in yoga requires effort, determination, and practice. But then, the fruit we reap is always in proportion to the seeds we sow and nurture. Thus, if you are looking for a quick fix, an instant cure, a quelling of surface symptoms while the true ailment remains unhealed, you will not find satisfaction in yoga. On the other hand, if you want to keep or regain your health, vitality and vigor; if you want to feel younger and stronger; and if you are looking for a perfectly balanced and complete form of exercise that can be started by anyone over seven years of age, in any condition, and which becomes more challenging as you get more advanced, yoga at Body Mind Circle is your best choice!
