What is Yoga?
Yoga is not boring or for people with woolen socks. That was the perception 20 years ago. Now it is a fashion to do yoga. It’s on tv, facebook, but what is yoga and is it something for you?
After a busy day at work, yoga can help you relax. In addition, doing yoga in the morning can also be an excellent start of your day full of energy and with a clear mind. Yoga helps to be aware of yourself, to reflect and be a better person. Therefore, you can be in the midst of hectic life but act out of peacefulness and balanced mind. Yoga, Mindfulness and Meditation are closely related and complementary. At Livingroomyoga you can do yoga, mindfulness and meditation. Teacher Josien Suntjens has trained a long time in India with well respected teacher and close to its original source. So where is yoga coming from?
Where is yoga coming from?
The word yoga is derived from the Sanskrit word “Yug” and means connection. Hence it is all about the connection between body and mind. Patanjali already wrote about yoga 200 years before Christ. He defined yoga in Sanskrit as “citta vrtti nirodaha”. This can be translated as yoga makes all misconceptions and distractions of thoughts disappear. Yoga was introduced to the U.S. and Europe by well respected teachers like Pattabhi Jois and Iyengar. Yoga teacher Josien Suntjens has studied in India with the daughter of Pattabhi Jois and has done the Iyengar Teacher Training with Nanda Peek in the Netherlands.
What do you learn in Yoga?
During a yoga class you will do different yoga poses. These are called Asana’s in Sanskrit. Also the breath is very important. Breathing exercises are called Pranayama in Sanskrit. A class usually starts with focussing on the breath and the body in order to leave the day for what it is and focus on the practice. Then you will do different yoga postures. Some poses will feel more comfortable than others. You will get to know your body and mind by doing these different postures. Yet, you will also encounter limitations in practising yoga and minfdulness and learn how to deal with these. The class ends with a deep relaxation in which the body can restore and store all things which were learnt during the class.
Prejudices about yoga
Yoga is not goal oriented and you don’t need to be flexible. Yet, it will help you to become more flexible though in body and mind. Is yoga boring? It is important that you do the style of yoga which suits you. And that you like the style of your yoga teacher. Is yoga only about relaxing? The different postures and the awareness of the breath will make you feel relaxed. But you will also become aware of tension, pain and responses of the body. And of thoughts and feelings.