About Yoga

Welcome!
Here's a bit of information about Yoga followed with a little about me.
Then there's my India travel blog from Sept 2017 with loads of pics of my visit to Rishikesh, the 'Yoga Capital of the World'. Navigate around the chapters by clicking on their titles over at the right.
Many thanks
Namasté
Jacqui :)

Yoga is the perfect antidote to our currently mad and hassly lives. What a strange and difficult world we live in right now, it seems that there’s constantly something to worry about, no wonder so many of us are struggling, I’m really hoping I can help. I want to help you feel well and thrive, rather than just cope, to feel nurtured in a welcoming and supportive environment and feel deeply healthy on all levels. If you suffer from anxiety, panic attacks, mental health problems, including stress, dull low back ache and insomnia then yoga can give you real relief, just like it has done for me. As a teacher I am supportive and uncritical, I love yoga and believe in the transformation it brings, it’s a brilliant antidote to our human problems. My classes are suitable for adults of any gender, they are accessible, with simple but powerful postures gently building strength, as well as breathing exercises and relaxations that will increase your sense of wellbeing and restore your balance & equilibrium. Check out my classes page to book online www.calmayoga.co.uk/classes or send me a quick email if you’d like to join me [email protected].

As well as a clear organised mind Yoga benefits you in many other ways. It leaves you feeling full of energy whilst calm, if practiced regularly it can leave you free of aches and pains. It improves your posture, lengthens your muscles and increases your flexibility making you look slimmer and taller. Yoga raises your awareness of your body, improves your co-ordination and balance and helps you manage stress. It stimulates your immune system, improves your sleep patterns and helps regulate your hormones. Yoga increases muscle tone, improves digestion and aids weight management. Yoga can really make a difference to the quality of your life.

So Yoga helps you keep your life in balance and anyone can practice it. Yoga is not about twisting yourself into complicated knotted up shapes. Doing the most difficult postures is not the goal. Sometimes NOT doing a posture is the yogic thing to do. You do as much or as little as you feel like on the day. Yoga is never a competitive activity; you must work to your own level of ability and comfort. As long as your alignment is not harming your body it is not important whether or not your pose looks graceful. You have to start from where you are!

Hatha Yoga is a simple set of guidelines for a physically and mentally healthy life, developed around 6000 years ago. The regular practice of postures, called asanas, and breathing exercises, called pranayama, makes the body strong, supple and healthy. It has a profound effect on the circulation and on the functioning of the inner organs, glands and nerves, keeping all systems in radiant health and leading to greater energy, better concentration, and hopefully a happier, more fulfilling life. Many common physical ailments can also be improved through the regular practice of yoga, and it is never too late or too early in life to take it up. Anyone can practice yoga.
All the asana/posture based types of Yoga you hear and read about are merely different styles of Hatha Yoga, most of these have come about in the past fifty years or so. The differences are usually about emphasis, such as focusing on strict alignment of the body, co-ordination of breath and movement, holding the postures, or the flow from one posture to another. All of the styles share a common lineage. In fact, the founders of three major styles -- Astanga, Iyengar and Viniyoga -- were all students of Krishnamacharya, a famous teacher at the Yoga Institute at the Mysore Palace in India. With the current fashion for Yoga there are now hundreds of styles and many more are appearing all the time. No style is better than another; it's simply a matter of personal preference.
The asanas/postures are the thing that most western classes concentrate on, this is just one of the eight limbs of Yoga.
The 8 limbs are the eight stages of spiritual development, they are as follows

Yama - 5 ethics relating to others
Niyama - 5 ethics relating to self
Asana - postures
Pranayama - breathing
Pratyahara - withdrawal of senses/control of the senses
Dharana - concentration/mind control
Dyana - effortless meditation/contemplation
Samadhi - super conscious state/ultimate bliss/enlightenment