WHAT IS HATHA YOGA?

Hatha Yoga is what most yoga teachers in North American are practicing. Hatha is a sanskrit word which basically describes the physical posture work, which is actually just a small aspect of the whole study of yoga. You may have heard people discussing different styles of yoga (Ashtanga, Kripalu, Iyengar, Sivananda, Bikram, etc). All these styles are based on a basic set of physical postures, which are call asanas. My training was done at Still Point Yoga Retreat in beautiful Northport, Ontario. My teacher received his training in hatha yoga from the Sivananda school of yoga. Both Sivananda and Still Point are variations of hatha yoga.

Some styles of yoga are more vigorous than others. What I am teaching at Aware Yoga is not Ashtanga, Bikram (hot yoga) or Power Yoga. In this class you'll learn the traditional yoga postures and work at them with instruction to whatever is your ability. Options and deeper versions of all poses will be demonstrated so that everyone is able to work at their own level.

Hatha yoga is also a physical form of meditation. Each class will start with a short segment of quiet, where we will learn to bring our awareness to the present moment in order to gain the most benefit from the yoga practice. Throughout your class you will be learning to focus on how exactly your body feels, how your breath is working, and what your mind is doing. Each class will also end in sivasana; a resting pose where we will explore quieting the business of our minds, the first step towards developing a meditation practice.