¿Qué es el Yoga Clásico?

Opciones.  El mundo moderno está saturado de opciones.  Hace un par de décadas, bastaba con pedir un café con leche.  Hoy debemos elegir entre latte machiatto, capuccino, cortado, cafe au lait, espresso con panna, etc.  Lo mismo sucede con el yoga.  Existe hoy día docenas de estilos y sub-estilos, algunos de tan reciente invención que la tinta con que se registraron aún está húmeda.

El yoga clásico busca re-descubrir el yoga tradicional, alejándose de las interpretaciones modernas para destilar la esencia de esta antiquísima ciencia.  En el camino nos encontramos con algo fundamentalmente práctico: un conjunto de métodos para mejorar nuestra calidad de vida, un menú de herramientas para hacer frente a los retos cotidianos.

La manera relajada y sosegada en que se realizan los ejercicios hace este sistema apto para aquellos que nunca antes han conocido el yoga; mientras que la forma profunda y exhaustiva en la que se considera el ser humano, tiene mucho que ofrecer a los más experimentados.

El nombre de “clásico” se deriva de las posturas que enfatiza este estilo: las posturas clásicas.  Existen millones de poses (8,400,000 según algunos textos antiguos); el yoga clásico subraya la práctica de las posturas que se consideran más efectivas desde el punto de vista holístico; teniendo en cuenta no sólo los músculos y articulaciones, no sólo los tejidos y órganos internos, sino todo el cuerpo.

Pero al acercarnos a este estilo de yoga, pronto nos damos cuenta de que se trata de más que sólo posturas y ejercicios físicos.  Una sesión de yoga clásico incluye ejercicios de respiración, técnicas de relajación profunda, métodos meditativos y de concentración, y varias otras herramientas que, complementándose recíprocamente, contribuyen al desarrollo integral de la persona.

Nuestras clases de yoga clásico en español tratan de ser lo suficientemente amplias y profundas para permitirte explorar y descubrir todas las facetas de este completo y efectivo sistema.  Lee más en nuestra página Yoga en Español.

Honouring your limits and restoring balance: A new restorative yoga class, and a guest teacher!

This Thursday, Natalie Kakon joins us as a guest teacher in our community class: “Unwind and release; allow your stress to slip away by yoking to a feeling of infinite space within the body. Learn how to expand your chest and lengthen your spine with the support of blocks, blankets and chairs. Bring your body back to its individual balance while connecting to a deep sense of relaxation. Join us for a restorative, yin practice.”

 

What?:  Restorative Yoga with Natalie Kakon

Where?:    At the English Yoga Berlin studio

When?:    Thursday, November 7, from 15h45 till 17h15

How much?:   Donation based/pay what you can

 

Our weekly Restorative Yoga class with Juli happens every Sunday evening at 18h in our Kreuzberg yoga studio.

 

 

 

Why Restorative Yoga?

In our everyday lives, we are often encouraged to push further, achieve more, do more, be more social, be more productive, fill our days with activities and take on more work. It is easy to lose sight of our own capacities, our own limits, and we can push ourselves beyond them without nurturing the support structure that we need to maintain a healthy balance, inviting stress, anxiety, injuries or illness. A restorative yoga practice (as well as yoga nidra and other practices that focus on relaxation) can help to rejuvenate the body and mind after pushing too far, thereby fostering balance. Once we know our limits and have nurtured them we can then gently (and with support) test the waters and play at the edges.

Expanding our limits (and moving beyond our comfort zone) can cause great rewards such as opening our minds to new concepts, becoming more flexible or physically strong, and strengthening our empathy towards other people. But it’s not possible to find balance if all we feel is stress, low energy and burn out. Restorative yoga activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for nurturing our bodies and restoring them to health. When we are in a rushed and high-energy state, our bodies activate the ‘sympathetic nervous system,’ which is responsible for releasing certain chemicals to keep us going, so that we can react quickly and do more within a shorter period of time – a state of fight-or-flight. These chemicals can linger in the body until the parasympathetic nervous system kicks in to counter them. And we can remain in this state long after the specific things that have caused us anxiety or stress have ended. This is why we sometimes feel that ‘relaxing’ (meeting friends, watching TV, reading a book) cannot rejuvenate us. We may have trouble sleeping or have anxious dreams, which only perpetuate the feeling of urgency, stress, and low energy.

What is Restorative Yoga?

The only way to counter these effects in our body is with complete and total concentrated relaxation. Activities that remove distractions, such as meditation, sitting by a fire, or going for a solitary walk can help. Yoga Nidra and Restorative Yoga are specifically designed to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, so that the body and mind can restore to balance. Restorative Yoga is based on the Iyengar tradition of using props to support the body during poses.

Some of these poses were adapted by Judith Lasater for a restorative practice, so that deep relaxation could occur by holding positions longer (up to 15 minutes) with the support of bolsters, blocks, chairs, pillows and blankets. The body is positioned in such a way that it is totally supported, without the need to either stretch the muscles or use their power. A restorative pose should be very very comfortable and relaxing so that the muscles of the body can decompress, and the mind can completely unwind, fostering the release of chemicals from the parasympathetic nervous system. A restorative yoga class may contain some gentle flow or Hatha poses before moving into the longer-held restorative poses.

The classes we do at English Yoga Berlin incorporate a gentle flow, along with some chair-supported Hatha poses (beneficial for those needing to strengthen their bones and joints because of Osteoporosis or Arthritis). Our community class guest teacher, Natalie Kakon, will incorporate some Yin poses in her class. Yin poses use gravity to help open up the body to deeper stretches, encouraging more flexibility. Yin yoga is about finding the edge of your limit and breathing through it to open up a little more space. This particular combination of restorative and yin poses can be very juicy, as it can support the return to balance as well as gently push the edges all in one class!

Coming Out of Yoga Nidra

Elegance and Shadows by Fern

Yoga Nidra is a powerful technique, evolved by Swami Satyananda Saraswati from ancient tantric scriptures. To those who have practiced it, Yoga Nidra is experienced as a deep relaxation. But, although this method induces complete physical, mental and emotional relaxation, it is much more than that.

In the Tantric tradition, Yoga Nidra is viewed as a Pratyahara method; a way to turn our awareness away from the external impressions. During the process, our consciousness is constantly moved through images, symbols, states, and different parts of ourselves. In this way we are led to fully and consciously experience these internal objects, making the mind more flexible and able to deal with impressions.

But due to the deep state of relaxation and meditation in which the mind is plunged during Yoga Nidra, it is important that we come out gradually from the practice. Passing too suddenly from the deep state to waking consciousness could temporarily jolt the mind and produce unpleasant feelings of irritation or even headaches.

Most of your Berlin yoga classes include some Yoga Nidra at the end of each practice. We feel that this is a great way to end a class filled with active asanas, breathing and other meditative techniques. But it is very important to closely follow the instructions for ending the practice; gradually moving the awareness outwards and opening to the sense stimuli. We recommend listening to the sounds, feeling the tact of the floor or clothes against your skin and opening your eyes very slowly before you look around. Before you do anything else, it’s good to experience your surroundings: the room, sounds, light, people, objects; everything around you, as a whole. This will ensure that you receive the maximum benefits from the practice and are able to transition back into the rest of your day.

Eight Steps of Classical Yoga Part 2

 

strengthen your ability to concentrate at english yoga berlin

The different parts of the practice of yoga are indeed dynamic. As we discussed in Eight Steps of Classical Yoga Part 1, your yoga practice can adjust to your needs and your experience level. Each part is at your disposal whenever you need to manage your health, deal with some aspect of your daily-life, overcome some limitation, or go deeper in working with yourself. The following are steps 5-8 of a classical yoga practice.

 

Step 5: Develop a calmer attitude towards your outer and inner environments.

How can we become independent from mental disturbances? How can we learn to achieve a more tolerant outlook towards ourselves and others? How can we learn to accept that which we cannot change? Through Pratyahara, you discover that there are actual things you can do, systematic practices that offer you the possibility to act from your own center, even in adverse conditions. Based on a precise knowledge of how the mind works, these methods teach us to work with the mind, rather than fight it.

 

Step 6: Learn to return to the relaxed state throughout your daily life.

To be relaxed is not simply to be momentarily free from conscious worry. True relaxation requires something more than just flopping on a sofa and listening to chill-out music. It is a measurable state that has a profound healing and reinvigorating effect. The practice of Yoga Nidra, opens a door into deep states of relaxation that will benefit you long after you do it. And, perhaps more importantly, this guided method trains you to let go of tensions at will, whenever you need to, in the midst of daily activity.

 

Step 7: Strengthen your ability to concentrate.

Many people have already experienced that concentration is something that can be trained. After you have released tensions and become more calm and clear, concentration will be easier. But yoga also offers specific methods that enable us to strengthen this ability and to become concentrated whenever we need to be. Through the practice of intense concentration (Tratak), you learn that concentration involves no strain or effort, but that it is a relaxed state in which your attention remains easily fixed on an inner or outer object of your choice.

 

Step 8: Increase your awareness and get closer to yourself.

To be aware and present is to experience life fully. This becomes possible through your work with meditation. There are as many meditation methods as there are temperaments, and they are available for any degree of experience or personal preference. Many traditions use the breath or the body as meditation objects, others employ elaborate rituals to occupy the mind. One meditation technique doesn’t need to exclude another, but can be complementary to it. Through persistent practice, you become conscious of what hinders you, you become more fully yourself.

 

The only way to truly discover the methods of yoga, and their effects, is through their regular practice. Yoga touches you deeply, but it does so without rush. It follows the natural processes of your body and mind, so that all change is harmonious. By small measures, your practice prompts you to continue to use these methods according to your own situation and the way you live. Our yoga classes in Berlin are taught with the understanding that your exploration should always continue at our own personal pace.

Confused About Yoga Nidra: a Personal Story

Blue door to yoga in kreuzbergFifteen years ago I moved back to Greece for a two year stay. I had been practicing Hatha Yoga in England and wanted to continue, so I joined the nearest studio to my house that I could find.

When I arrived for my first class, the teacher told me that this type of yoga was called Yoga Nidra but didn’t really explain what that meant. At this point in my yoga journey, I understood that there were many types of yoga. I had heard that the main differences had to do with the way the sun salutation is taught in different schools. But this didn’t bother me as it seemed a pretty small deviation.

Little did I know that Yoga Nidra meant that more than half of the class was to be spent in “shavasana” practicing relaxation! Every time the teacher would say it was time to go into the dead man’s pose I would think to myself, “already?.. but we hardy did any yoga!”. I hadn’t understood that practicing the relaxation was “doing the yoga”. It was the mind doing the yoga rather than the body.

Concious deep sleep yoga in Berlin

As soon as she would start talking, my mind would slip to another place. It felt as if I was not there at all but I could not tell you where I had gone either. It wasn’t that I was thinking of thousands of thoughts, on the contrary, I couldn’t remember a single thought! But I also knew that I had not been present since I couldn’t remember anything the teacher had said. It was a very strange experience. When I asked her if I should be concerned about this phenomenon, she told me not to worry because my subconscious had registered it all. But I wasn’t convinced.

I guess what was even stranger is that I kept on going back every week, for a year! Each time not able to grasp a single word my teacher had said!

It wasn’t until years later, while reading a book about Yoga Nidra, that I realized that during this period of my life I had started having my first lucid dreams. This means I was able to realize that I was dreaming while I was dreaming and could, as a result, be in control of my dream. Although this is not the objective of Yoga Nidra and a practitioner should not waste energy trying to achieve this state, the book said that it was a side effect that comes from practicing this kind of yoga.

yoga nidra dreamingWhen I made this realization it became obvious to me that this course had not been a waste of my time. My subconscious had actually registered everything after all! I started wondering: if lucid dreaming, (which I consider to be a beautiful and empowering experience) is only a side effect of yoga Nidra, then how powerful can the direct effects of yoga Nidra be?!

 

Without further thought, I returned to my mat and started practicing again.

If you are interested in trying out this enlightening style of yoga, join English Yoga Berlin in our Kreuzberg Yoga studio on Tuesday nights at 8pm.

The Beauty of Detachment

There are many views on the concept of “detachment”. Some people believe that learning
detachment is useless because life should be lived to its fullest. Others believe that practicing
the art of detachment is dangerous because if nothing affects us we cannot rid the world of its
many injustices. Others believe that detachment is a source of strength and inner peace.

Pratyahara, the yogic word for detachment, has often been badly misunderstood. Yes, we
should live life vividly and enjoy it. Yes, we should speak out against injustice and take
action. But there is also strength in learning how to practice proper detachment which can
help us all to live better lives.

Exif_JPEG_PICTURE
Imagine you are looking at a painting about life. Imagine that you are standing so close to
the painting that your nose is practically touching the painting. All you can see are a couple
of colors and shapes. You are too close to be able to look at the whole picture, to even know
what the painting is about. You are too attached to what is happening right there in front of
your nose and are incapable to see further. Now say you decide that you want to back up
from all the vivid colors and non- understandable shapes and so you distance yourself to about
a kilometer away. You look at the painting again but you are so far away that you can only
see a fleck of something. Once again you cannot know what the painting is about. And this
is where appropriate detachment comes in. You need to find the appropriate distance, not too
close and not too far, to be able to truly appreciate what the painting is.

This same idea is valid for our lives. We need to cultivate the appropriate detachment to be
able to see what our life is about. We can’t be too involved or too distant. By finding just the
right distance, we can see what piece of the puzzle is missing and where to place it. This way
we can live life vividly but without being blind to the problems of it. This way we can rely on
our inner strength to change what needs changing.

Pratyahara is an important step of Raja Yoga. In our English yoga classes in Berlin, we learn
detachment through observing our bodies and respecting the limits our bodies set. We also
learn this through the practice of Tratak, or candle gazing. But mostly we learn it through
the practice of Yoga Nidra. Exercises such as counting your breaths backwards without
interfering with its rhythm are perfect ways to learn detachment.

New Yoga in Kreuzberg class schedule – starting from September 18th, 2012

 Every Tuesday:

  • 16.00 – 17.30 Vinyasa Flow in English with MegYoga classes in Kreuzberg
  • 18.00 – 19-30 Hatha Yoga in English with Pinelopi
  • 20.00 – 21.30 Yoga Nidra in English with Pinelopi

 

Every Thursday:

  •  8.30 – 9.45   Vinyasa Flow in English with Meg
  •  10.15 – 11.45 Hatha Yoga in English with Pinelopi
  • 12.15 – 13.45 Advanced Hatha yoga with Pinelopi
  •  16.00 – 17.30 Vinyasa Flow  in English with Meg
  • 18.00 – 19.30 Hatha Yoga in English with Pinelopi
  • 20.00 – 21.30 Hatha Yoga in English with Pinelopi

All classes will take place in the Gemeinschaftsraum(x-kinderkino) on Görlitzerstr. 39, 10997 Kreuzberg Berlin


Click here to sign up for Yoga in Kreuzberg classes :
http://www.doodle.com/wxe8a87p6qsyz7vk