NEW TO YOGA

Developing Your Yoga Practice

• Check with your doctor before beginning a yoga or any other exercise routine, especially if you are pregnant, have had recent surgery, or suffer from any chronic medical conditions.
  
  
• If your schedule allows, it may be helpful to practice at the same time and place everyday to be able to accurately gauge your progress.
  
  
• For women, many yoga books and teachers state to avoid inverted poses during menstruation. This advice is not accepted by all yoga practitioners, however, as some think it is basically an old yoga "wives tale". Click this link from the Yoga Journal for more on the pros and cons of this issue.
  
  
• While there are many different kinds of gear you can buy for yoga, the only piece of equipment that is universally recommended is a nonslip mat, also called a sticky mat. The non stick feature helps keep your feet in proper position for the standing poses. A mat that also has thick cushioning is good for comfort during the poses where you need to lie down, especially if the place where you practice has a hard floor.
  
  
• If you are practicing first thing in the morning, remember you muscles are going to be tighter than they are later on in the day, so go easy at first. Work your way into the more strenuous poses. Muscles tend to be stiffer in the morning. If you practice one day in the morning and the next in the evening, trying to gauge your progress may be like comparing apples and oranges, since your flexibility starting points will have varied.

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"You cannot do yoga. Yoga is your natural state. What you can do are yoga exercises, which may reveal to you where you are resisting your natural state. "

Sharon Gannon

DAILY YOGA PRACTICE

Tips for a disciplined daily yoga practice

• Make a commitment to practice yoga!
  
• Practice at the same time every day!

What time is the best time to practice?  For me it is first thing in the morning as I am most likely to do it and keep up with it.  Then I can enjoy the benefits all day.  Everybody is different though,  if it works better for you in the evening,  that’s fine.

5 am is a good time! It seems to work for most people.  Between 5am and 7am the time is yours to meditate, to do yoga, to inquire into your beliefs, to set yourself up for the day so you can be clear and present to life as it unfolds.

• Have a plan!

When you don't have a plan your daily habits take over and again it is going to be very difficult to bring something “new” into your daily routine.  So plan your time,  plan what you are going to do during that time.  When you don’t,  before you know it you’re checking your email at 5am in the morning instead of practicing yoga!

• Find a Yoga Buddy!

For that extra motivation and camaraderie.

• Find a Yoga Class and Teacher that suits you!

This one might take you on a journey but once you find a class and teacher that suits you, you are on your way to deepening your practice, along with guidance and support, not to mention improving your health and well-being. A few more perks to joining a class are the friends you make and following through with your commitment to practice on a regular basis.


Om Shanti shanti shanti

"Yoga, an ancient but perfect science, deals with the evolution of humanity. This evolution includes all aspects of one's being, from bodily health to self realization. Yoga means union - the union of body with consciousness and consciousness with the soul. Yoga cultivates the ways of maintaining a balanced attitude in day to day life and endows skill in the performance of one's actions."
B.K.S. Iyengar

YOGA STYLES:
Traditional Hatha
Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan
Purna Yoga - Making Yoga complete
Vinyasa Flow
​Yin Yoga

Yoga refers to a traditional physical and mental form of activity that originated in India 5,000 years ago. Made up of physical poses and movements, breathing techniques and meditation, yoga can be a form of relaxation, exercise or spiritual strengthening.

Hatha Yoga - classes have an emphasis on traditional Hatha Yoga with a focus on breathing, mindfulness and relaxation. 

Kundalini Yoga - as taught by Yogi Bhajan® is also known as the Yoga of Awareness; its focus is on self-awareness and delivering an experience of your highest consciousness. The technology of Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan® is a science of the mind and body, to elevate the spirit, which has no boundaries, no discrimination. Therefore it is for everyone, universal and nondenominational. 
 
In the ancient tradition that is yoga, Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan® is a householder path; that is, it has always been practiced by those with families and jobs as opposed to a renunciate’s path of celibacy and removal from society, which was the usual path of a yogi.

Purna Yoga -  represents a holistic approach to yoga integrating not just the physical postures but also philosophy, meditation, pranayama breath control and the yogic personal and social code of ethics, the Yamas and Niyamas from the 8 limbs of Yoga. The postural instruction is alignment focused. Sequences range from gentle restorative to dynamic vinyasa. Blocks, belts and bolsters are available to be used to support and modify postures safely 

Vinyasa Flow - During this class you will experience the benefits of a flowing yoga practice, creating heat in the body, melting away stress, tension and encouraging a state of flow through engaging the breath and harmonizing breath, mind and movement. You will be introduced to Sun Salutations, a flowing sequence of poses building strength, endurance, invigorating the body and calming and uplifting the mind.

Yin Yoga - is a slow-paced style of yoga with postures or asanas that are held for comparatively long periods of time--five minutes or longer per pose is typical.

All Yoga benefits the entire immune system, cardiovascular and endocrine systems by flushing away toxins from the body, utilising fresh oxygen and increasing life-force energy.

The classes are designed for those new to yoga or for students that enjoy the structure of a beginners class and want to go back to basics! 
A minimal level of fitness is required.

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