Yoga is a 5,000 year old way of being. The essence of yoga is a spiritual path that connects mind, body, and spirit with the divine. Yoga touches all facets of life, from social conduct to food and health, to meditation and prayer. What we have come to know as yoga in the west is, in fact, asana and pranayama - two of the eight limbs found in Pantanjali’s yoga sutras.

Asana, or posture provides the physical aspect of a yoga practice. It will

• benefit the muscular, skeletal, and nervous system
• improve mental focus and clarity
• increase balance and coordination
• challenge strength and flexibility
• detoxify the body and mind

Pranayama is breath control. Prana means energy or life force. Through various breathing techniques, one may

• strengthen the heart and lungs
• increase breath capacity
• stimulate the internal organs
• improve circulation
• calm a busy mind

The vast repertoire of postures belong to Hatha yoga - “ha” means sun and “tha” means moon. Over the centuries, approaches to Hatha yoga have evolved - Iyengar, Ashtanga, Kripalu, Bikram, and Anusara are just a few of the styles that have emerged, each emphasizing the aspects of practice believed most important by their founding teacher.

All of these styles are similar in that they place a great deal of emphasis on muscular engagement and proper alignment to protect the body from injury. All forms of Hatha yoga energize and support the flow of prana through the body.

A quiet style of Hatha yoga has also evolved. Known as Yin or Insight yoga, this type of practice is part yoga therapy, part meditation. Long held postures are used to stimulate joint tissues and release deep tension. These postures are not strenuous ones; they cannot be, for to stress the joint and connective tissues of the body the muscles must relax. Yin yoga also benefits the internal organs; specific postures are chosen to simultaneously stretch the joints and stimulate the meridians that effect the liver and gall bladder, kidneys and urinary bladder, stomach and spleen, as well as the intestines, heart and lungs.

All styles of yoga traditionally begin and end with meditation as a means to strengthen the mind/body connection.