Yoga Style & Philosophy

Basically, in the West, Yoga is the practice of poses, breath & mediation with many recent teachers putting a personal stamp on what that means.

My “personal stamp” originates from the word Hatha with “Ha” representing the Sun & “tha” representing the Moon. Many of the poses we practice demonstrate this beautiful union of polar opposites. In the Archer pose we reach out with one arm & pull back with the other or in the twists we can rotate the shoulders in one direction & take the head & neck in the opposite direction.

However, while learning to embrace these opposing but complimentary energies, it may feel like we take a few steps forward in our practice & then a few steps backward. Of course when we are moving forward everything feels easy & delightful & other times we feel unsettled & unbalanced. It is important to hold this wavering back & forth as not only necessary but to enfold both states when they occur in high regard. As our practice continues to awaken us into consciousness we may begin to see how similar this expansion & contraction really is. With enough persistence & patience we begin to settle into the golden path of yoga which leads us towards an increasingly balanced life with much inner peace on the mat as well as off.

Even though the practice of yoga rests on an extensive philosophic body of principles, it is also very practical with its approach to breathing more deeply & fully. The use of the breath is an essential part of good practice to keep the mind focused & present. We enter the pose with the breath, sit in the pose with the breath & leave the pose with the breath. In this way poses that at first may be challenging soon begin to feel like coming home to the wisdom of the Body.

This ancient art is over 5000 years old & is time proven to not only, strengthen & tone the whole body but helps to create a powerful ability to live in this world with ease & well being.