Yoga Fascia 201
Because it is self-organizing, fascia provides an Intelligence Awareness Map (IAM) to cultivate an openness in the body that cultures the mind. Explore the IAM in 12 Monthly Fundamental Yoga Asanas.
Access deeper engagement of the inner body with alignment-style instruction, based on the Iyengar tradition. When fascia is aligned in the body there is less stress. Our body structure, metabolism and nervous system function with greater ease and efficiency due to the opening of “prana” moving throughout the body Alignment of the fascia is a function of the mind, body, spirit and heart joining to support you with the most meaningful contributions you have to make in this life.
Tuesday 6:00-7:00pm
Yoga & Pranayama
What frees the breath to move naturally, without effort, is also what frees the mind. Insightful attention gives focus to systems that sustain natural breath – fascia, 4 diaphragms, craniosacral, sensation awareness and inversions. Begin with 40 minutes of yoga followed by 15 minutes of pranayama. Learn the anatomy of pranayama – positioning of skin, muscles, bone, and fascia.
Thursday 6:00-7:00pm
This is La Jolla’s mecca for body, mind and soul. If you haven’t gone, go! Try their classes and instructors for at least a month. 8EW is not flashy, it is EXTRAORDINARY.
– Olga K.
What will my first Yoga session be like?
You’ll first be asked to fill out a simple intake form. Your yoga instructor will greet you and check in for personal needs. Come dressed in comfortable workout clothing that hugs the body. Be sure to pace yourself, move into a resting pose when needed, and communicate with your instructor.
Will I get individual attention?
At Eight Elements our class size is limited so we can give you the personal attention needed to reach goals easily, quickly and safely.
How many times a week should I do Yoga? Yoga La Jolla
Consistent attendance (1, 2 or 3 x/wk) is the most important aspect of developing deep flexibility and a calm mind.
What about Yoga and spirituality?
Yoga was primarily developed to bring spirit into the body through the practice of 8 Limbs (ashta = 8, anga = limbs). This is one of the meanings of “8 Elements”. Western practices often don’t address the 8 Limbs, we believe, because of the diversity of beliefs in spirit in the West. The asanas, the 3rdlimb or element, means “postures”, or poses. The postures are designed to clear the distraction of body tension. Through proper alignment, the body is prepared to allow the mind to settle deeply inside. The tissues and cells become permeated with breath that is like a refined mist energizing the entire body. This settled lightness is our natural state of being.
Yoga History & Philosophy
The word yoga means yolk, union, or Link. The rich history of yoga began more than five thousand years ago as an oral tradition. Outlawed by the city-states because of the astonishing power it was believed to transmit, yoga was practiced in secrecy. The tradition was handed down individually from master to student underground, often in the privacy of a sacred cave.
Body Alignment
Aspirations for a better body often draws people to do yoga at first. Unmatched inner strength, deep flexibility, improved posture and poise are all rewards of disciplined efforts to achieve the perfect pose. But what compels one to continue is something deeper.
At its core, yoga is stillness that brings peace where chaos exists. Erich Shiffmann, international master yoga instructor and co-star of the Yoga Mind and Body video, says it best: “Stillness is like a perfectly centered top, spinning so fast it appears motionless … Stillness is not the absence or negation of energy, life or movement. Stillness is dynamic. It is unconflicted movement, life in harmony with itself, skill in action … Our lives are more like a top in a somewhat wild, erratic and chaotic spin”. We are not chaotic because we are spinning too fast, but because we are not centered. Proper body alignment promotes the release of body tension that allows for centeredness.
Mental Harmony
The postures – called asanas – together with focused concentration, create a framework of drawing one’s energy in toward the center of the spinning top. Subtle body adjustments, created both physically and mentally, release surges of energy (prana) in the body and mind, not by increasing it, but by releasing the constriction that is blocking its flow. Because of this, enthusiasts of yoga report a sense of harmony that is deeply internal and unaffected external conditions.
8 Benefits
1) Yoga is balance.
2) Yoga is flexibility.
3) Yoga is postural strength.
4) Yoga is alignment.
5) Yoga creates a sense of inner lightness.
6) Yoga is simplicity.
7) Yoga is wholeness.
8) Yoga is union.