Yoga

Yoga is a method of balancing and harmonizing body, mind and emotion, and is a tool that allows us to withdraw from the chaotic world and find peace in ourselves. Using the inner strength of the body, yoga teaches us to harness, direct and benefit from this life force.

Yoga means connection or association. A connection between body, soul and everything around us. In order to achieve inner balance and union with everything that is, breathing can be used as a guide. There are many different directions in yoga.

The yoga I practice and teach is dynamic yoga which I call “yoga for all” and “Ashtanga yoga”. A series of continuous physical exercises (asanas) coordinated with breathing, (read more under “Ashtanga yoga”). I emphasize that the participants focus inward on the body and perform yoga at a slow pace adapted to the breath. It is important not to perform or to be the best, but to listen to the body, to be present in one’s own body and the present. The exercises provide strength, mobility, balance and increased body awareness.

Benefits of Yoga

  •     Relaxation of body and mind
  •     Stretches and strengths
  •     Improves joint mobility
  •     Improves flexibility
  •     Improves breathing problems
  •     Strengthens the spine, relieves back pain
  •     Soothing the nervous system
  •     Stimulates the endocrine system
  •     Improvement in digestive problems
  •     Reduces fatigue
  •     Provides energy
  •     Support and assistance for menstrual disorders, menopause and stress-related conditions

About Ashtanga Yoga

Ashtanga Yoga is a physically demanding yoga style, combining breathing, movement and meditation. Ashtanga yoga is basically suitable for anyone who likes to move. Ashtanga Yoga is based on thousands of years of writings and traditions. Sri K. Pattabhi Jois (Guruji) in Mysore, India is the one who developed this yoga tradition and carried on the tradition in modern times. It is an effective and excellent form of exercise, which increases body awareness, dissolves tension, provides strength, agility, energy and a calm mind.

The holistic perspective and its positive effects have made Ashtanga yoga very popular in the West in recent years. In the practice of Ashtanga yoga, the subjective experience is a major focus – in the sense that physical exercises are a means of exploring and developing their potential both physically and mentally.

The training is based on a series (“Primary Series”) consisting of approx. 50 positions / exercises (asanas). The order of positions is carefully composed. Each asana prepares for the next, and if you trust this discipline and practice regularly, you will eventually reap the rewards of your practice. An important feature of Ashtanga yoga is the vinyasa principle. Vinyasa means synchronized breathing and movement system, and contributes to a dynamic flow between each position. Some experience a meditative state of motion.

Upcoming Yoga Courses & Workshops

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Ashtanga Yoga Information

Special breathing technique

A special breathing technique called “Ujjay” (“victorious breath”) is used. In this technique we can hear our own breath as a weak whisper or as in deep sleep. The technique makes it easier to concentrate on the breath and thus coordinate breathing and movement. In addition, oxygen uptake increases and intense internal heat is developed.

The 8 steps of Ashtanga Yoga

Ashtanga Yoga is based on eight levels or steps. These are:

  1.     Yama, which has five underlying levels: Ahimsa (non-violence), Satya (honesty), Asteya (non-stealing), Brahmacharya (continence), Aparigraha (non-desire)
  2.     Niyama, which also has five underlying levels: Saucha (purifying), Santosha (being happy), Tapas (discipline), Swadhyaya (self-searching), Ishwarapranidhana (surrendering)
  3.     Asana – physical positions
  4.     Pranayama – Breathing exercises where you learn to control the vital energy
  5.     Pratyahara – Retract your senses
  6.     Dharana – Concentration
  7.     Dhyana – Meditation
  8.     Samadhi – Bliss / Body and soul become one with everything around us

Philosophy

The yoga philosophy was systematized by Patanjali for about 300 BC and is considered one of the great philosophical systems in India. Yoga is referred to as science, psychology and spiritual tradition. Depending on the point of view, tradition holds all these concepts.

It is important to note that yoga is an applied philosophy – only by practicing Yoga can one make the experience described by philosophy, and one who practices Yoga uses himself as a “laboratory.” According to yogic thinking, man has a divine nature, but it is overshadowed by growing up, experience, thought patterns, – limitations that the mind and the five senses set for the experience of who we are.

By learning to master the mind and senses, a Yogi seeks to discover his innermost nature. Our innermost nature is imagined as pure consciousness, and it can neither age nor die. It is identical with the universal consciousness of the Brahman world universe or God.

The yogic path can involve major psychological, emotional and identity changes.

The History of Ashtanga Yoga

Ashtanga yoga is probably a very old system, but in modern times can be traced back to Mysore in southern India where a great yogi named Sri T. Krishnamcharya taught it to his pupil Sri Pattabhi Jois. It was not until the 1960s that the technique became known in the West when Sri Pattabhi Jois began teaching a group of Western students. These spread Ashtanga yoga to its students in the US, Australia and Europe.

Since then, Ashtanga yoga with its powerful and dynamic style has gained immense popularity. Recently, a number of similar techniques have emerged that have found their way to yoga schools as well as gyms.

Traditional Ashtanga yoga is still taught by Sri Pattabhi Joi’s successor and grandson Sharat Jois in Mysore, and by many of his students around the world. Sri Pattabhi Jois left the world in 2009.

The Method

The most important characteristic of Ashtanga yoga is the vinyasa principle. Vinyasa means synchronized breathing and movement system. Each movement has its associated inhalation or exhalation. Emphasis is placed on flow and balance. For example, breathe in, raise your arms, put your palms together and look up at your thumbs – exhale bend forward, lower your arms and place your hands on the floor. This was vinyasa # 1 and # 2 in Surya Namaskar, which is the first exercise in the Ashtanga system. In many ways, the vinyasa system resembles a choreographed dance where the breath forms the rhythm that the movements follow.

The purpose of vinyasa is to make you hot and sweaty. This has a cleansing effect on the body. The sweat secretes waste and the blood flows freely to all muscles and joints. The breath brings fresh oxygen to the cells of the body and removes stiffness and tension. The order of positions is carefully composed. Together, they form a sequence that gradually opens the body and develops strength, balance and concentration. In addition, the exercises have therapeutic effects on internal organs. There are six different sequences or series in Ashtanga. You must master all the exercises in a series before you can move on to the next one. The first series is called “Yoga Therapy” and consists of exercises that improve the balance of the skeleton. By strengthening large muscle groups in the abdomen / back and stretching “hamstrings” and hip joints, we can achieve a better relationship between strength and flexibility.

This type of yoga is suitable for those who like to move. There is no assumption that you are particularly soft, but the more often you practice the better results: as you memorize the series by yourself, you can practice them on your own at home: it is better to exercise 15 minutes each day than to do a “skipper roof” now and then. The most important thing is that you concentrate on your breath and your inner focus. Eventually you will notice that you relax even in the demanding physical exercises and that you get more energy.

Mantra's

Opening mantra

Om
Vande Gurunam charanaravinde
Sandarshita svatmasukavabodhe
Nishreyase jangalikayamane
Samsara halahala mohashantyai
Abahu Purushakaram
Shankhacakrsi dharinam
Sahasra sirasam svetam
Pranamami patanjalim
Om

Oversettelse:

Om
I pray to the lotus feet of the supreme guru
who teaches knowledge, awakening the great happiness of the self revealed
who acts like the jungle physician.
able to remove the delusion from the poison
of conditioned existence.
To Patanjali, an incarnation of Adisesa,
white in color with a thousand radiant heads,
(in this form as the divine serpent Ananta), human in form below the shoulders
holding the sword of discrimination, a wheel of fire representing infinite time, and the conch, representing divine sound, to him
I prostrate.
Om

Finishing mantra

Om
Swasthi-praja bhyah pari pala yantam
Nya-yena margena mahi-mahishaha
Go-bramanebhyaha.shubamastu-nityam
Lokaa-samastha sukhino-bhavanthu
Om shantih shantih shantih
Om

Oversettelse:

Om
May prosperity be glorified –
may administrators rule the world with law and justice.
may all things that are sacred be protected.
and may people of the world be happy and prosperous.
Om peace peace peace
Om