Yoga

By integrating the best of movement, energetic and consciousness based healing techniques with the best practices in western medicine, we bring you the state of the art in integrative medicine.

What is yoga?

History

Yoga originated in ancient India and is one of the longest surviving philosophical systems in the world. Some scholars have estimated that yoga is as old as 5,000 years; artifacts detailing yoga postures have been found in India from over 3000 B.C.  Many different interpretations of the word yoga have been handed down over time.  One of them is to unite or come together.  Another related meaning is “to tie the strands of the mind together.”

Thus, the practice of yoga brings us into unity with ourselves by giving us the tools to direct our thoughts toward our practice or another task before we start and while we do it.  This focus brings our body, mind and spirit together to accomplish what we intend.   From this explanation, we can see that the practice of yoga can bring us not only greater flexibility and strength, but can assist us in accomplishing all of our life goals. 

A further meaning of the word yoga is to attain what was previously unattainable.  Imagine there is something that you are unable to do today that is important for you to be able to do.  With the tools of yoga, we can find the means to set the intent and bring that desire into action, whether it is recovering from surgery and getting back to life with greater vitality and health than before, becoming a more effective manager at work, or cutting a couple of strokes off your golf game. 

Hatha Yoga is a system of yoga developed by Yogi Swatmarama in the 15th century in India.  When most people think of yoga, they are usually thinking of Hatha Yoga,  a practice involving postures (asanas), breathing (pranayama), and meditation.  Hatha Yoga consists of nearly 200 physical postures, movements, and breathing techniques designed to tune the body to its optimal health.  Yoga philosophy believes the breath to be of primary importance in health, as the breath is the largest source of prana, or life force.  Hatha yoga utilizes pranayama, which literally means the science or control of breathing.

The word Hatha is derived from the two Sanskrit words “ha”, which means sun, and “ha”, which means moon.  Hatha Yoga unites the two opposite energies, where ha represents the active masculine energy and tha represents the passive female energy.  In the Medicine Yoga practice, you will practice with both of these energies present to build strength while cultivating flexibility and fluidity.  In the Medicine Yoga packages, you will learn both the Sun and Moon Salutations, which embody these principles.