Anusara
Anusara, meaning “ flowing with grace” , is a modern day Hatha yoga style practice, using a series of yogic postures focusing strongly on alignment, heart, and breath. Designed for students of all levels, Anusara yoga embraces 260 postures all categorized into three types: Attitude, Alignment, and Action. Many Anusara yoga teachers teach in the vinyasa flow style with holding some (key) poses for a longer time. A flow practice helps to connect you to your breath and the breath serves as a guide in your asana practice.
Ashtanga
Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga incorporates a sequence of postures by linking movement with breath, resulting in purification of the body and mind. In this class you can expect to practice Sun Salutations, standing postures, inversions, and seated postures. Encouraged to practice daily, the student first learns the primary series, followed by the intermediate and advanced series.The student progresses to the next series once the postures of the current level have been mastered. This class is great if you are looking for a challenge, love structure, and are interested in yogic traditions and principles.
Hatha
In a Hatha yoga class, you can expect to perform a series of physical postures (asana) and breathing techniques (pranayama), practiced more slowly than a Vinyasa flow or Ashtanga class. The ancient practice of Hatha Yoga, translating to “force, exertion”, aims to create balance in the body and mind as well as uniting the opposing qualities we all possess such as masculine and feminine. The translation of Hatha is important as it indicates right away that the student must apply effort in order to advance in their practice. If you enjoy a good workout but wouldn’t mind fewer vinyasas, give one of our Hatha Yoga classes a try!
Iyengar
Iyengar Yoga, one of the most practiced types of yoga in the world, is a style of yoga that emphasises precision, alignment, and breath control. This practice is great for all levels as you will begin to build strength and flexibility while learning the subtleties of alignment in each posture, often using props. Iyengar Yoga was created in the 1960’s by B.K.S Iyengar, a world renown yogi and author of “Light on Yoga” which has served as a guide for yoga practitioners all over the world. If you are interested in learning alignment and creative use of props, this is the class for you. If you are looking for a faster paced flowing style class, head over to one of our Hatha, Ashtanga, Jivamukti, Vinyasa, or Anusara classes.
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Jivamukti
Jivamukti Yoga is a path to enlightenment through compassion for all beings. The practice of asana becomes more than mere physical exercise to keep one’s body fit or to increase strength or flexibility; it becomes a way to improve one’s relationship to all others and thus lead to enlightenment – the dissolution of the sense of separateness, the realization of the oneness of being, the discovery of lasting happiness.
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Kids Yoga
Getting children started in Yoga and mindfulness at an young age has a number of benefits including increased flexibility, coordination, a sense of calmness and the ability to focus .The teacher might use props and stories that can be applied on and off the mat as they begin to learn the foundations of the practice and the ability to find their own inner stillness, self compassion, confidence, and sense of achievement, one tree pose at a time!
Kundalini
Often described as “yoga for householders”, this practice can fit into anyone’s schedule and is suitable for all levels, including those who have never practiced yoga before. Kundalini Yoga is a devotional practice ( Bhakti Yoga), created by Yogi Bhajan, that focuses on breath and yogic postures, along with chanting, meditation, singing, and other techniques aimed to awaken and expand an individual’s consciousness, increase mental clarity, balance the chakras , and reach a state of inner peace and enlightenment. Each class consists of a different kriyas, or set of postures, designed for specific purposes such as immune health, opening of the heart, or nurturing creativity. If you are interested in a powerful spiritual practice, Kundalini is for you. If you’re interested in a faster paced physical practice, you may want to head over to one of our Hatha, Ashtanga, Jivamukti, Vinyasa, or Anusara classes.
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Meditation
Meditation is an ancient practice in which the student uses one or many techniques such as mindfulness, sacred idol or candle gazing , mantra repetition, or prayer beads to reach a state of mental clarity, enlightenment, or self realization. There are many different techniques and many different reasons people practice meditation but some of the common effects of a consistent meditation practice could include stress relief, increased awareness, sense of calm, increased compassion, ability to focus, increased sense perception, and releasing of attachments or addictions, to name a few.
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Prenatal
Prenatal Yoga focuses on postures and breath work specifically beneficial for pregnant women. Practicing yoga ( with your doctors approval of course ) can help strengthen the muscles, endurance and flexibility needed to carry a baby and for child birth. Practicing yoga while pregnant can help improve sleep, decrease back pain, nausea, headaches, increase lung strength, and circulation.
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Restorative
Restorative yoga is a practice that is meant to “restore” your body to a place of equilibrium. Using props to ensure comfortability and support in the postures, the student approaches the practice with the intention of using the least amount of physical force or effort possible so that total relaxation is achieved. Each pose is held for a longer period of time so that the muscles have time to ease their grip from the skeletal system, releasing tension in the body and the mind. This approach activates the parasympathetic nervous system, the “rest and digest”, as the breath slows and deepens the mind quiets, promoting inner stillness and peace. This practice is considered particularly beneficial for those suffering from anxiety, insomnia, or other stress-related conditions.
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Sound Healing
Sound Healing is a practice that uses certain aspects of music such as vibrations, vocals, and/or a variety of instruments to guide the receiver of the healing to a place of deep relaxation and equilibrium. Sound healing, which has been used across many cultures for thousands of years, is the understanding that all forms of matter vibrate at different frequencies. There are many things we come into contact with on a daily basis that can cause our own vibrations to be out of tune, eventually causing imbalance and dis-ease in the energetic (subtle body) and physical body. Sound healing is said to have many benefits such as easing joint pain, muscular aches, returning the body back to its natural frequency, promoting a sense of well being, easing anxiety, and promoting healthy sleep habits.
Stretch
Stretch to open the body safely using yogic postures , props, and breath work. This class complements all levels of practitioners as it increases body and breath awareness, eases aches and pains, improves posture and flexibility, relieves stress and increases overall sense of well being. This practice is great for all levels of experience.
Vinyasa
Vinyasa, meaning in Sanskrit “to place in a special way”, is one of the most popular styles of yoga practiced in the west today. Vinyasa Yoga is linking the postures with the flow of the breath, consciously using the breath as your guide. This kind of practice, often called a “flow”, offers a creative sequence of postures that allows the student to find a deeper mind, body, and breath connection while moving through the sequence, usually for the length of one breath per posture. Vinyasa classes can be slower paced or dynamic and challenging and a great option for beginners and seasoned practitioners alike. Modifications for challenging postures are given by the teacher to help the student grow, wherever they are in their practice.
Yin
From the Taoist tradition, Yin Yoga is designed to target the meridians or energetic channels of the body to regulate and increase flow of energy ( prana or Qi ). The teacher will guide you through a series of postures, holding each one for as long as 5 minutes using props and breath work, targeting fascia and the deep connective tissues of the body. Practicing Yin Yoga reduces stress and anxiety, improves circulation, and improves joint mobility and joint integrity.