What is Yoga?

Yoga is a journey, not a destination.

Yoga originated in India several centuries ago as a system of psychological and physical practices. These practices created greater health, mental awareness, and balance in practitioners of yoga. As yoga evolved, many different types emerged. I am trained in the Yogafit style which is a vinyasa style of hatha yoga. The Yogafit style incorporates safety measures from the fitness world to allow for a safer yoga practice.

Yoga comes from the Sanskrit word yuj, which means "yoke" or "union". Hatha yoga is the union of opposites through physical practices. Hatha literally translates to "force" or "physical". Ha represents the masculine, solar or energizing qualities and Tha represents the feminine, lunar and relaxing aspects.

My yoga sessions are conducted in the vinyasa style, which links several poses together. This effectively work all parts of the body, creating strength, flexibility, endurance and balance. We begin with a warm-up phase and progress to balance, strength and deep stretching exercises. The session ends with relaxation and meditation to help us integrate our practice with our lives off the mat.

Benefits of Yoga

• Reduces the body's response to stress
• Improves flexibility, strength, endurance and balance
• Improves body alignment
• Improves respiration
• Decreases resting blood pressure
• Helps regulate blood sugar levels
• Directs blood and oxygen to the internal organs
• Improves energy flow which in turn reduces pain and fatigue
• Unifies body, mind and spirit