What is Yoga?
Most people have heard of it, have some idea what it is but not really know what Yoga is all about. Here is the definition:
“a Hindu spiritual and ascetic discipline, a part of which, including breath control, simple meditation, and the adoption of specific bodily postures, is widely practised for health and relaxation”
To be honest – Yoga is so broad in the way that it can be delivered it is hard to know what it is!
Who Teaches it?
In my opinion, Yoga teachers come from mainly two backgrounds:
Spiritual or Fitness.
Yoga teachers can get qualified in a number of ways. Firstly, the more traditional way takes around two years and normally involves training abroad in a Yoga retreat environment to learn authentic, tradition yoga and all the elements of its practice.
The other way to get qualified is through Fitness Industry courses to those who have attended Yoga for a certain amount of time or who are already working in the Fitness Industry.
You can tell those who have been trained traditional and those who have fitness background in my eyes. Either have no major pros or cons or big difference as both training methods cover all elements of Yoga and its history. I think it is personal preference to if you want a more spiritual or fitness experience.For this reason I recommend trying several styles and instructors.
Either way Yoga is WAY more challenging than people think – including myself.
What are the benefits?
Yoga was one of the last Fitness Concepts I had a go at – which is quite strange considering I have danced my whole life with most of my background in contemporary dance… anyway, I now love it!
Having dance for years then been a fitness instructor for years, attending my first Yoga class KICKED MY ASS! Dam I thought I was strong – oh I got that SOOO wrong!
I found it so challenging but could feel the good straight away. Being a pole instructor has made my body quite imbalanced from hours and hours a week of only demonstrating on one side (even though I make you all do it both sides – I need to practice what I preach!) I could feel Yoga, in time would balance out my body.
Types of Yoga
As mentioned before, there are many different types of Yoga, it is worth trying a few to see which suits you and your fitness goals before your decide if you love or hate it.
I have tried:
Hatha
The most used type of yoga.
All the benefits including relaxation, flexibility and strength
Vinyasa
Flowing through postures and held to bring heat to the body.
Great for calorie burn/weight loss
Power
Isometric poses recruit all the muscles in the body to burn baby burn!
Best for weight loss/strength/tone
Restoritive
Gentle poses held for long times to relax and restore the body.
Good for rehabilitation/stress.
I am yet and wanting to try more styles. I enjoy all of them for different reasons. Yes, they use the same postures, but in different ways for different benefits. So if my body is feeling battered from my job, Hatha or Restorative is beautiful – sheer Bliss!! It i want to feel stronger, feel the burn and really feel my limbs lengthening then Vinyasa is for me.
What are the main benefits
In my opinion, there are many, many benefits.
Some people find Yoga slow and boring. I think the people that feel that way NEED yoga. I am a bit of a stress head, I find it hard to switch off and relax (joys of running your own business I think) but Yoga makes me switch off. Each session starts with relaxation/meditation and also finishes with it to ‘seal’ in the practice, which I agree, it does. You leave feel lengthened, de-stressed, lighter and just very very positive!
Thats the thing I noticed, I was much more positive. Sometimes I would have to drag myself there and would leave feeling elated – focused – positive and very Blissful.
Benefits of Yoga
My Yoga Training
I am due to complete my Yoga Instructor training in July 2015, I have so much to learn and so many more styles to explore which I cannot wait for. My course is run over several weekends and VERY intensive which should be a fantastic experience.
I am starting to feel the effects on my body; feeling more balance in both body and mind, relaxed, being able to challenge my thought pattens, I feel more flexible too! The hardest thing about Yoga for me is – ironically – The breathing! I am RUBBISH at BREATHING! I tend to hold my breath! I am even adding relaxations to my classes where I can as I believe the whole world should meditate and relax! But thats a whole other blog post!
Where will I be teaching?
My Yoga classes will be running in the Nuneaton and Bedworth areas, mainly in the daytime. I will also be running a lunchtime class where new Mums can bring their babies in pushchairs so they can get to class without childcare. My styles will be Vinyasa, Hatha and Post Natal and will be taught initially in six week beginners courses.
Keep an eye on the Bliss Dance and Yoga Bliss Pages for updates on the classes.
www.facebook.com/blissdancefit
www.facebook.com/yogablisswarks
Nameste
Amanda Dawn