If yoga is a new adventure for you, or if you've been contemplating taking a class, I want you to know a few things right off the bat:
1. You CAN do yoga
2. If you have a body, any shape at all, you CAN do yoga
3. If you are breathing, you CAN do yoga
4. If you are completely inflexible, you CAN do yoga
5. If you have a disability, amputation, ANY impairment at all, you CAN do yoga
6. If you are in a wheelchair, a bed, or an airplane seat....you CAN do yoga
So are we good now? Do you catch my drift? You CAN do it! I promise you. And if you run into a roadblock, I want you to reach out to me and I'll be happy to share a solution-because there is always a solution. Trust me, accessible yoga isn't a special kind of yoga, it IS YOGA. It is for all people, of all ages, of all abilities.
Now there are different kinds of yoga that I teach, and while they might sounds foreign, you would recognize some of the "poses" as "yoga" I'm sure.
Vinyasa
This is the fiery one. The heat builder. It's breath-linked-movement and it probably has the most identifiable poses if you're a yoga newbie. You've seen the warrior 2 pose and that is part of a vinyasa class, for sure. This type of yoga is deeply invigorating and builds heat throughout the body, while opening you up for greater flexibility.
Yin
Think of Yin as Vinyasa's cooler sister...really it's a cool practice, the moon practice, meant to calm and release. Yin is a Chinese philosophy based on the body's meridian system. Imagine your body was covered in pathways, like streets on a map. The energy of the body needs to flow freely to keep health within the body...if there is an energetic blockage? Dis-ease will show up. Physical symptoms will begin to manifest...and the way we free that blocked energy is by coming into a position, holding the position for a length of time, and resolving to remain still. We use the breath and the mind to slowly relax the body and create harmony once again. You might have an emotional reaction or notice tears in the eyes after this class...especially depending on what meridian we are focused on. It's all also practiced on the floor, and is very gentle.
Meditation
Really, in any practice, we are in meditation....and in every meditation, we are in yoga...whether it is in stillness or in movement. If I can make it very simple, meditation is the practice of becoming the observer. When I guide you in practice, I'm really only reminding you of your true nature. I'm reminding you that you are not your thoughts. You are not your physical body. You are not the race car in your head at night that keeps you awake. YOU are the part of you that is eternal. The mantra of "soham" which means "I am that" reminds us of our true nature. THAT is the part of you which is eternal. The part that lives forever, and is not bound by this body, these thoughts, or this earth. You might know it as your spirit. The universe. Whatever speaks to you.
Regardless of your physical body, whatever emotional state you are in at the moment...YOU CAN DO YOGA. It's not for OTHER people, it's for you. Trust me. Your body and mind cannot ask for what it has never experienced. Come to class.
See you then!