
Vijnana Yoga: Classes ‘continues the yogic tradition of Sri Krishnamacharya and his students BKS Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois. The yogic concept of vijnana– understanding from inside – expresses the spirit of our practice and guiding principles.’ O. Sen Gupta
- ‘Just Sitting’ Meditation – in a comfortable and stable seated position, the spine effortlessly erect, we practice to actively observe what arises and over time concentration intensifies into meditation.
- Pranayama is the control of Prana the life force through controlling the breath. Various breathing techniques are explored and practiced. By observing the breath quietly, we connect to it and are then able to direct it at will. The breath and mind are intricately connected.
- Vayu Practice are certain breathing exercises focused on certain areas that run along the axis of the body. “They bring a quiet alertness to the mind, enhance the way we breathe, and create a vertical center. The beauty of this practice lies in its simplicity.” – Orit Sen-Gupta. The Vayus are are also aligned with the energy centres the Chakras and the endocrine system the glands.
- Joint releasing exercises provide many benefits. On the physical plane they give suppleness in the areas of the joints, and remove the hardness of the muscles. Performing them also improves the process of lubrication, revitalising the tissues, improving nutrition and elimination of stale air from the joints. Beginning from the toes we work upwards moving and releasing the air within the major joints systematically focusing on them as we perform them.
- Asana Practice, guided by the seven principles to refine and deepen the poses, each class we work on one of the various groups of poses ie standing postures, hand balances, forward bends, twists, backbends, inverted postures and sitting postures etc, and finish with Savasana, relaxing pose.
Seven Principles, Relaxing the body, quieting the mind, intent, rooting, connecting, breathing and expanding. Mastery of these comes with time and practice.
Every first Sunday of every month: Chanting of the Patanjali Yoga Sutras, call and response by Dr M.A. Jayashree: https://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Sutrani-Maharshi-Patanjali-Jayashree/dp/B0064ZCH4C. Translation pdf Chip Hartranft: https://dailycupofyoga.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/the-yoga-sutra-of-patanjali-sanskrit-english.pdf
Critical Alignment Yoga: Classes are based on:
‘Building a strong, flexible practice through intelligent sequencing and mindful movement’ Gert van Leeuwen
Critical Alignment Yoga is the mobilization of the spine, restoring balance to the entire body. When the spine moves freely, it can work with gravity and release tension during active movements. When the arms, shoulders, pelvis and legs are well connected to the spine, no tension builds up in the body during passive and active postures.
Vertebrae come into free connection with each other through relaxation, which allows each vertebra to regain its freedom of movement. This activates the deeper muscle layers – the postural muscles. These small muscles connect vertebrae to each other and to the ribs, and keep the spine stable and mobile. The postural muscles are the strongest muscles in our body, which never exhaust. On the contrary, they provide the body with energy.
Without free movement in the spine, the body will use the superficial muscles called the movement muscles to keep our posture in balance for long periods of time. However, these muscles are designed for short-term activity. Constant strain causes fatigue and acidification, which gradually makes our body stiffer and limits the pleasure of movement.
Critical Alignment Yoga was developed by Gert van Leeuwen from Amsterdam. And its starting point is: the focus on the movement of the skeleton and a deeper insight into both body tension and body relaxation. A winged statement by Gert van Leeuwen is: ‘we continue to the bone!’
The use of aids in the lessons, such as an upper back strip, the rolled up felt mat, the back bend arch, the shoulder stand block. These tools are used to provide support to the body on the one hand and to get deeper into a position on the other hand, which restores the relationship between the movement and posture muscles.
- Meditative attitude and insight towards a higher consciousness. Beginning with ‘just sitting’, or laying over a rubber strip, or another prop.
- Breathing, Pranayama, using the breath to connect your mind with your body. Various pranayama techniques will be taught overtime, as well as Kriyas, the cleansing techniques.
- Warm up and preparation of basic yogic postures using various supportive props
- Asana Practice, and building up to more complex and advanced postures. Lastly we return the spine to a neutral, erect position, ending the class with a couple of inversions such as shoulder stand, hand stand, head stand, or their variations, which lead to deeper stabilisation of the postural muscles, and an increase in higher consciousness – the union of the mental and physical – yoga.
- Savasana, the corpse pose