Soft. Radiant. Strong. Yoga.
Health care through conscious Self-care.
Students learn The framework for a healing Yoga practice
The 5 Koshas - 5 Layers of Well-Being
Through a wide range of assessment tools and Yoga techniques students learn to facilitate balance at physical, energetic, psycho-emotional, intuitive and spiritual levels. We bring into balance the physical body systems (annamayakosha), the areas we are stuck energetically (pranamayakosha), habits or self talk, and emotional reactions (manomayakosha), the core belief systems behind our actions (vijnanamayakosha), and possibly discover the peace of knowing ourselves better (anandamayakosha.)
We lower the stress response in the body, coming back to a state of rest and digest, up-regulating the parasympathetic nervous system. This ease created within ourselves allows a retreat from the demands of modern life- and creates stress-resiliency; allowing us to ride the waves of life in better health.
The 8 Limbs of Yoga - Making Your Connections
Integrative Yoga Therapy (IYT) continues the tradition of using the tools described by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras (threads of wisdom). This includes guidelines for living with peace in relationship with ourselves and others first (yamas/niyamas). We learn where we might unclutter our lives through non-harming, contentment, truthfulness, generosity, and a commitment to health, practicing surrender, and self awareness as a foundation for better health.
With consideration of health conditions, IYT classes may include body positioning for the accessibility of the practitioner (asana). somatic movements for warming and comfort in the body. In addition, subtle body awareness (mudra, chakra), breath awareness (pranayama), interoception (pratyahara), concentration (dharana), meditation (dhyana), (and samadhi for advanced practitioners) are for each to explore on their path to wholeness.
The Kleshas - Understanding Stress and Health
The deep roots of stress can be described by the timeless notions of the kleshas- (dvesha) the ways we try to avoid feeling our discomforts, (ragas) seeking to fill a void by short term pleasures, (avidya) forgetting we can look to the stillness within ourselves for relief from stress, (asmita) grasping for control of the uncontrollable, and (abhinivesa) fighting against the inevitable truth that life is in constant change. We see this stress show up as worry about the future, ruminating about the past, and unable to be present in our body.
An IYT yoga and meditation class creates a bridge to feeling better through acceptance, contentment, compassion, and realization that we can let go of the struggle that binds us to our pain.
training includes an intro to Ayurvedic Yoga retreat
India's Ancient Science of Life and Health
Through the ancient science of life called ayurveda, students will be given introductory training on how our health is directly linked to our environment, our natural constitution (personality/temperament), daily routine, and foods that we eat!