Yoga

Sue Staziker BWY Dip.

01728 748409 suestaz@hotmail.com

Class: Monday 1.30 – 3.00 (SMALL GROUP)

Decoy Farm Clinics, Melton, Woodbridge

Yoga originated in India some five thousand years ago, and is a physical and mental discipline that aims to improve both body and mind. Yoga practitioners claim that it increases physical strength, stamina and flexibility as well as enhancing mental clarity and calmness.

How does it work?

Yoga consists of a combination of body postures and breathing exercises. Some branches of yoga also emphasise the benefits of meditation, chanting and visualisation, all of which are intended to reduce stress and anxiety and produce a sense of inner peace and harmony.

What does it involve?

Most beginners attend classes so that they can learn from a properly qualified yoga teacher. Classes (which may be for men or women only, or for a mixed group) usually begin with some very gentle stretching exercises. (Make sure that you wear loose, comfortable clothing.) Once the students have ‘warmed up’ the yoga teacher will take the class through a series of movements and breathing exercises.

Classes usually last for forty to sixty minutes and finish with five or ten minutes of complete relaxation lying on the floor in the ‘corpse position’ – called the savasna. There are many different branches or schools of yoga, and it’s important to choose the branch which suits you best. Ashtanga yoga is sometimes referred to as power yoga, and is very energetic and physically demanding.

Kripalu yoga focuses on postural alignment and the weaving together of breath and movement. Lyengar yoga is a gentle form of yoga which is good for beginners, and people who haven’t exercised for some time. Kundalini yoga focuses on chanting, meditation and visualisation as well as breath control and body postures. Hatha yoga is, probably, the best known and most widely practised form of yoga in the UK. This style focuses on flowing body movements and can be as gentle or as powerful as you choose.

What is it good for?

Yoga is beneficial for people of all ages, from children to people in their 80s and 90s, and all abilities, from athletes to people with illnesses such as arthritis and muscular sclerosis which affect their flexibility and mobility. Yoga is good for the respiratory system and blood oxygenation, aids relaxation, helps to strengthen the spine, increases suppleness and flexibility, and aids mobility.

What are the benefits?

Yoga can be used to reduce and control anxiety, depression and other stressrelated conditions. Studies have shown that it can also help with a number of ailments including high blood pressure, chronic fatigue, headaches and migraine, arthritis, hay fever and asthma, sinusitis, digestive disorders and pain.

What are the side effects and when should it be avoided?

Be sure to choose the branch of yoga that is suitable for your level of fitness. Before the class starts, talk to the teacher and inform them of any health problems you may have – for example, heart problems or neck and back conditions. Never, ever force your body further than it can comfortably go.

This means not paying attention to what other people are doing, but simply allowing your body to move in a way that is comfortable for you. Yoga is not about pushing yourself to your limits; instead it’s about achieving a balance between mind and body. Always make sure that your yoga teacher is fully qualified and, if you have any concerns about your health, check with your own doctor before you start.

What sort of Yoga do you teach?

The vast systems of Yoga, originating from India and the northern regions of Nepal and Tibet, are thousands of years old. Over the course of time yoga has spread throughout the world and now you can find yoga classes virtually everywhere. Yoga practice typically involves physical exercise, regulated breathing, and meditation. Within these three categories of activity there are thousands of methods for the attainment of radiant health, mental clarity and spiritual fulfilment.

My own background lies with a variety of teachers and influences.

I have been practising Yoga for 30 years and teaching for over 25. My early experiences were mostly with teachers in the Iyengar tradition. A precise and physically demanding discipline where there is recognition that each yoga pose, the perseverance to master it and to understand its meaning, is a lesson in life.

Later, I was to study Sivananda Yoga which emphasises the five principles of right exercise (asana), right breathing (pranayama), right relaxation, right thinking, and right diet. It involves the asana (postures) and pranayama (breathing) practices of Hatha Yoga, the devotion of Bhakti Yoga, the meditation of Raja Yoga, and the selfless service of Karma Yoga.

More recently my teaching and personal practice has been influenced by those following in the footsteps of Vanda Scaravelli who worked with Iyengar and T.K.V. Desikachar. Attendance at regular workshops and retreats gives me a wide variety of influences from which I can develop my own teaching style.

I am also a qualified Satvik Energy Therapist and this intensive two year course has given me many additional tools and insights which I use to enhance my personal practice and teaching.

Yoga offers us many practical tools to help us quieten the mind and thus experience the purity and freedom of our inner being. With regular practice we can develop an easeful body, a peaceful mind and a useful life. The many branches of Yoga include:

Hatha Yoga – Focusing on the physical aspects through asana (postures), pranayama (breath control), yogic diet, and deep relaxation.

Raja Yoga – Balancing and controlling the mind through concentration and meditation.

Bhakti Yoga – The path of devotion, by constant love and thought of, and service to a higher principle.

Karma Yoga – The path of action and selfless service. Serving without attachment to the results of the action.

“Serve, Love, Give, Purify, Meditate, Realise” - Swami Sivananda

“Yoga believes in transforming the individual before transforming the world. Whatever change we want to happen outside should happen within. If you walk in peace and express that peace in your very life, others will see you and learn something.” – Swami Satchidananda.

“Yoga is a light which once lit will never dim. The better your practice, the brighter the flame.”- Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar.

Sue Staziker. B.A. P.G.C.E. British Wheel Diploma. suestaz@hotmail.com Tel: 01728748409