What's Special About Yoga?

There are several characteristics about a good yoga class that produce the magical experience of yoga. The instructor facilitates a space for students to do three things in particular:
- to slow down
- to pay attention
- to listen in
Just walking into the yoga center begins the process of calming down. After a few visits walking through the doorway becomes an automatic trigger to take a deep breath and allow the spinning wheels of the mind to start slowing down. Ahh ... we're here! We've come to an oasis. We can give ourselves a respite from our hectic lives. We can finally relax and be totally present with ourselves.
Slowing down and becoming fully present allows us to pay attention to our unique needs as we go through the poses and recharge our batteries. This attention in turn allows us to begin listening in to what is going on underneath the surface activity. During a typical day our attention is directed outside ourselves, focusing on the various demands and projects we're involved in. Tuning into our breath, body, mind, mood and feelings helps us assess our joy in living this day. It's easy to get out of sync with ourselves in the busyness of life, and yoga class affords the time and space to get back in touch with ourselves, to re-align with our highest good, and to check in with our intuition for guidance in making our best decisions.
As we take our place on the yoga mat, slow down, pay attention, and listen in, something magical begins to happen. We experience that we are more than just physical beings. We are living the mystery of being both physical and spiritual at the same time. Something inside expands as we connect to our wholeness. We cultivate compassion and self-acceptance as we appreciate we are a work in progress. Gradually we begin to know the truth of who we are beyond just an intellectual understanding. We connect with our Essence, our real nature of joy and love. At our core, underneath all the layers, that is who we are. As we touch this Essence regularly through yoga, we become more unconditionally loving, which produces a subtle but profound shift in how we see ourselves. We stand in a place of knowing our worth. Over time as we understand ourselves in a new way, we begin to radiate unconditional love to ourselves and others, transforming ourselves and also those whose lives we touch.
If you are new to yoga, you might not know what I am talking about, and need to try it. I invite you to come to a sample class and experience it for yourself! All our instructors create the space for you to fully connect back into yourself, to "re-member" all the parts, to connect into the innate joy and love that is at the core of your being. Come join us and explore being fully yourself!