Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

Sometimes when you are seeking more clarity, the best move you can make is to hit the pause button and slow down. This week’s classes help you do that with a mix of Hatha and Iyengar practices designed to help you reach a deeper level in your mind, body, and spirit. Sequences vary in each class, with poses held for several breaths instead of flowing breath to movement. Quieter styles of yoga give you the opportunity to savor the feelings that arises in each asana (pose). Hatha yoga is the umbrella under which all physical styles of yoga reside. A Hatha Yoga class combines asanas and pranayama, usually at a slower pace than some other practices like Ashtanga and Vinyasa.

Do you ever get confused with all the labels attached to yoga practices today? There is hatha yoga, kundalini yoga, power yoga, yin yoga, vinyasa yoga, flow yoga, hot yoga— and the list seems to keep growing. For starters, classic hatha yoga is often referred to as the umbrella under which any practice that includes physical postures resides. 'Ha-' is Sanskrit for sun and '-tha' means moon. Thus, hatha yoga is based on creating balance between our masculine qualities—active, hot, sun—and feminine ones—receptive, cool, moon.

In our physical body we experience the world. In our body we make love, hug a friend, fidget, get mad, anxious or stressed. In our body we feel a breeze, swim in the ocean, sing, laugh, dance and cry. In our body we repress emotions, hold tension, hate ourselves and love others. Although our body is the vehicle in which our spirit experiences the world, there continues to be ongoing discussion regarding Western yoga as a purely physical practice, or posture (asana) focused. I feel we need the physical practice to build the strength and flexibility to be able to withstand the nuances and complexities that are life.