Yoga
means Union
The union of body, mind and breath.

Asana Yoga is the most common type of yoga practiced in the west.  Asana Yoga is the integration of mind and body through physical activity. Asana Yoga is one of  eight limbs of Ashtanga Yoga, other forms include Pranyama (breath) and Jnana (mental knowledge).

The initial yoga practices brought to the west emphasized the body/mind integration.  In recent decades a Warrior version of Asana Yoga has become more common.  Warrior Yoga is designed for building strength and stamina.  The Warrior Yoga has minimal focus on breath, alignment, or body/mind integration.  The aerobic practice allows little time for the integration and union aspects.  (In keeping timing with the fast paced lifestyle of the west, it sells better).

The practice of Asanas is designed to bring union to the four major aspects of the self.
                The physical body – muscles, joints, nervous system, organs, circulation.
                The mental body - developing focus, stamina, improving brain function.
                The emotional body – balancing, stabilizing and creating union with self.
                The subtle body – purifying and clarifying conscious awareness.

Jnana Yoga consists of training the mind to objectively track the body/emotional symptoms and fields.  To gain discernment between what is real/eternal versus what is habituated patterns of consciousness. The practice involves training the mind,  and distilling  awareness from the habituated fields and  reactive entanglements.  These patterns are referred to as Samsara. The reactive ego identity is habitually lost in reactive patterns and themes.  The habituated patterns moving from one life-time to the next is referred to as Samskara.  Initially one's consciousness is only the Samskara field.  The practice of Jnana Yoga liberates one from these patterns.

Each individual’s life reflects personal evolutionary stages.  Each individual is given the gift of consciousness to cultivate liberation from these habituated states.

The ancient path of Yoga teaches some of the tools to use on this path.

The infant field of Psychotherapy, though very misguided, has created some refined skills and maps to navigate the path.

The budding field of Neuroscience now provides a science of the brains’ neurological patterns. These patterns create the ‘virtual realities’ we live in. This new science offers new understanding of the relationship between the brain, the mind, and conscious awareness.

The Integrated Yoga class will integrate and mentor some of these skills and practices.

Integrated Yoga Class
Sunday. 4:30 - 7:00 pm 
Palo Alto


Cost:  $20 drop in
         



Ice Sculpture by Sally Smith at greenspiritarts.com


Class Videos:
1)     These videos will help to expand/deepen the concepts I am discussing in the classes.

                Gil Hedley: Fascia and stretching: The Fuzz Speech         
                http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FtSP-tkSug

                This is an awesome video regarding the internal fascia of your body and what
                  occurs as we age.  This helps in understanding some of the health benefits of yoga.

2)   Much of what yoga impacts is beneath the skin.  We have to sense it, we can not see it.
                The skill to sense is learned, the same way we were trained to use the part of the brain
                 that reads and writes.  Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroscience  doctor, had a stroke in her
                left hemisphere, and was left fully conscious, but only with a functioning right                           
                 hemisphere.  She has an introductory, 20 minute talk, on Ted talks, ted.com.

                TED Blog | Stroke of insight: Jill Bolte Taylor on TED.com        
                 http://blog.ted.com/2008/03/12/jill_bolte_tayl/

                Her book, My Stroke of Insight, is an excellent read.  You can skim the first half,
                which is more the science of the brain.  The second half she writes about the
                conflict as she recovers her left hemisphere and how it impacts her
                expanded awareness of the right hemisphere.

                This balance and integration is one of the end goals of a yoga and meditation practice.