WHAT IS HATHA YOGA?

Hatha Yoga is one of the eight limbs of yoga.  It is familiar to most Westerners as the the physical practice of the yogic postures, asanas, and the use of breathwork, pranayama, to revitalize the body. The practice of yoga is much more than postures. 

Ha meaning Sun and Tha meaning Moon, Hatha Yoga is a union of the Sun and Moon, the Yin and Yang, the male and female within the individual, the dualistic enegeries of the body.  Yoga is practiced to bring balance to the body, mind, and soul.   

There are many styles or methods of Hatha Yoga, for example, Classical Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, Iyengar yoga, Kripalu Yoga, and Kundalini Yoga, just to name a few. 

Jeanette's studies and teachings are rooted in both the Iyengar and Kripalu styles of Hatha Yoga. 

Iyengar Yoga is named after B.K.S. Iyengar of Poona, Maharasthra, India, a student of Krishnamacharya.  His yoga focuses on asanas done with precision and alignment.  He encourages the use of props to aid in finding meditation in each posture, which teaches the body how the pose is supposed to feel deep within the body.

Kripalu Yoga is named for the Indian master, Swami Kripalvananda, however was established by Yogi Amrit Desai, former head of the Kripalu Yoga Association in western Massachusetts.  This method is generally known as a more gentle style of Hatha Yoga.  This style places an emphasis on incorporating other limbs of yoga in order to compliment the physical practice, such as Raja Yoga or meditation. 

"When relaxation of effort and steadiness of body is created, the resulting pleasurable sensations of being in stillness and contentment of the final posture prevades all levels of psychology, physiology, and consciousness.  It is this benefit that makes yoga unique."

-- Mukunda Stiles, Structural Yoga Therapy, 2000.

BENEFITS OF YOGA

There are so many, where to begin...

It makes you feel better.  Your daily struggles, large and small, melt away during the time you spend doing yoga.

Physical Benefits

Flexibility: Stretching your body becoming more flexible, creating greater range of motion in muscles, freeing the joints. Yoga helps keep you mobile.

Strength: Moving in and out of poses slowly, supporting your own body, buidling strength in your core, as well as strengthening your extremities. Yoga keeps you internally and externally fit. 

Muscle tone: Increasing muscle tone as you gain strenghth and flexibility. Yoga helps shape the body.

Better Breathing: Increasing lung capacity, focusing attention on the breath (Pranayama) and teaching us how to inhale and exhale more deeply and fully.  The breath also has the ability to calm the central nervous system and clear the mind. Yoga oxygenates the body.

Pain Prevention: Increasing flexibility and strength helps prevent the causes of back and other pain, improving alighment and posture helps avoid future injuries .

          Mental Benefits

Mental Calmness: Concentrating intently on the body in the postures brings a sense of presence to the mind. Introducing meditation techniques relaxes, balances, and integrates the body and the mind. Yoga helps a person to feel new clarity.

Stress Management: Relieving stress through physical activity is well documented, restoring a sense of balance helps bring new perspectives into one's life, being in the moment helps you learn not to dwell in past and not to become anxious about the future.

Body Awareness: Increasing awareness of the body will increase your level of comfort in your own skin improving posture and self-confidence.