About Yoga Practices
What We Teach
Asana
Yoga postures or asana can be therapeutic, vitalising or meditational. They can remove any physical discomfort accumulated during the day and influence the chakras for optimal functioning of the muscles, joints, organs, glands and bodily systems. Asana work to clear any energy blockages that may lead to physical symptoms or illness and enable the body to regain its vital capacity. With regular practice, yoga postures develop strength, flexibility and endurance, and also have a calming effect on the mind.
Spare
Pranayama
Breathing practices or pranayama are an important part of yoga. Prana means vital energy or life-force. Many of us are under stress from the constant demands of modern life, so our breathing patterns become sub-optimal, affecting our entire well-being. Breathing practices form a bridge between the physical and mental bodies, and by consciously tuning into the breath we connect with our life-force. Different breathing techniques have an energising, balancing or calming effect on the nervous system. These techniques can remove energetic blockages for greater health and well-being and help to prepare for meditation.
Meditation
Many of us lead busy lives with multiple demands on our time and mental capacity, which can mean that our bodies and minds can be out of harmony and alignment. Quietening the conscious mind expands our awareness and accesses the deeper layers of the mind to transform unhelpful patterns and release unconscious tensions stored in the physical body. Meditation allows access to the calm aspect of ourselves – the part that never changes – which gradually develops deep and enduring inner peace. Through meditation, we become more aware of the mind and learn to observe its nature, bringing balance back to the mind-body complex. Mediation is also a powerful way to influence physiological processes and emotional reactions.
Yoga Nidra
We are often in a constant state of stress and tension, with our minds externalised and caught up in daily events. Yoga nidra means psychic sleep. Through yoga nidra, we develop the experience of pratyahara, where the mind is gradually withdrawn from the influence of the senses and enters a state between sleep and wakefulness. Our normal state of sleep does not always provide sufficient relaxation and many tensions can remain, perpetuating the feeling of tiredness. Yoga nidra has a profound effect on the nervous and circulatory systems, releasing tensions from the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual bodies. This provides an unparalleled opportunity for the body to rest, recover and rejuvenate.
Mantra
Chanting combines sound, breath and rhythm, which balances the nervous and endocrine systems and has a calming effect on the mind and body. Chanting can cultivate focused attention, improve our mood, increase feelings of relaxation and in turn relieve symptoms of stress, depression and anxiety. Regular practice can awaken our spiritual identity, expand the mind and transcend the senses, merging the finite with the infinite.
Benefits Of Yoga
Did you know…
As well as toning and strengthening the body-mind complex, a regular yoga and meditation practice may help provide relief from a range of conditions and disorders. Many effects occur by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system, which lowers blood pressure and slows the rate of metabolism and respiration, allowing healing to take place. Yoga may have an effect on:
- Heart and circulatory system (hypertension, varicose veins)
- Respiratory system (lung conditions and asthma)
- Digestive system (constipation, diarrhoea, appetite, ulcers, wind)
- Organ function
- Immune system
- Nervous system
- Head region (neck stiffness, headache, thyroid, eyesight)
- Back (backache, sciatica, slipped disc)
- Joint mobility and arthritis
- Skin
- Emotional disorders (anxiety, fatigue, depression)
- Women’s health (menopause, menstruation, reproduction)
- Other (cancer, diabetes, adrenal fatigue, stroke)
- Heart and circulatory system (hypertension, varicose veins)
- Respiratory system (lung conditions and asthma)
- Digestive system (constipation, diarrhoea, appetite, ulcers, wind)
- Organ function
- Immune system
- Nervous system
- Head region (neck stiffness, headache, thyroid, eyesight)
- Back (backache, sciatica, slipped disc)
- Joint mobility and arthritis
- Skin
- Emotional disorders (anxiety, fatigue, depression)
- Women’s health (menopause, menstruation, reproduction)
- Other (cancer, diabetes, adrenal fatigue, stroke)
