So...What IS Yoga?

Yoga is a mind body discipline that originated in India more than 5,000 years ago. Hatha Yoga, practiced in the West, focuses on physical postures or exercises called “asanas”, breathing exercises called “pranayama” and meditation. These components of yoga bring the body, mind and spirit together in harmony.

As individuals have become more aware of yoga’s benefits, it has gained respect as a valuable method for managing stress and improving health and well-being.

Credit: LocalFitness.com.au
Via WikiMedia.com

Many physicians now recommend yoga practice to patients with back pain, cardiovascular conditions, arthritis, depression, and other chronic conditions.

In the Yoga tradition a central theme is “everything is joined or yoked together.” A student of Hatha Yoga will benefit from connecting mind, spirit and body as physical postures, breathing techniques and meditation are practiced.

The benefits of yoga for health and fitness have long been reported by many students of yoga, and now scientific research is confirming many specific benefits of a regular yoga practice.

Letting Go

(Previously published in the Aug, 2011 Newsletter)

By Photos Public Domain [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

In life, we have much to be grateful for:  good health, abundance, love of family and friends, shelter and so much more.  Sometimes on our life’s path, we encounter an obstacle—a difficulty or change—and we react by holding on.  In reality, quite often it is best to let go.  In the yogic tradition, this is the practice of pratyahara, which is the withdrawal of the senses, and pranayama or breath.
I have used the following poem in class to assist us in our practice and to help with releasing that which we cannot control.  It is an anonymous poem called Letting Go.
 Namaste,
Debbie
Letting GoTo let go doesn’t mean to stop caring;
It means I can’t do it for someone else.
To let go is not to cut myself off…
It’s the realization that I can’t control another…
To let go is not to enable,
but to allow learning from natural consequences.
To let go is to admit powerlessness,
which means the outcome is not in my hands.
To let go is not to try and change or blame another.
I can only change myself.
To let go is not to care for, but to care about.
To let go is not to fix, but to be supportive.
To let go is not to judge,
but to allow another to be a human being.
To let go is not to be in the middle arranging all the outcomes,
but to allow others to affect their own outcomes.
To let go is not to be protective,
it is to permit another to face reality.
To let go is not to deny, but to accept.
To let go is not to nag, scold, or argue,
but to search out my own shortcomings and correct them.
To let go is not to adjust everything to my desires,
but to take each day as it comes and cherish the moment.
To let go is not to criticize and regulate anyone,
but to try to become what I dream I can be.
To let go is not to regret the past,
but to grow and live for the future.
To let go is to fear less and love more.

Instructor Toby Boring: strength & flexibility

Toby, a certified vinyasa yoga teacher through the Ashville Yoga Center, has been practicing yoga for fifteen years (seven of those with Debbie Harvley), consisting of group classes and his own personal practice at home.
Toby grew up on a dairy farm in Tennessee, but currently resides in Greenwood, teaching yoga at Mat Works since his retirement in 2011.  Yes, he is a serious Clemson fan, in case you see his orange yoga mat and wonder!
His favorite thing about yoga is how it changes. He came in for the exercise, and ended up learning more about the breathing and balance poses. "They require strength and flexibility." Toby remarked. "You wouldn't think they would, but they do."
Any advice for the rest of us? "Get on the mat and just do it," he says.
And his favorite pose? "Triangle, because it requires strength, balance, and flexibility. A little bit of everything," he says.