Yoga Classes at SweetLeaf Compassion Center!

Hatha Yoga is best for beginners or people with some physical problems that may limit their movements. Hatha is a gentle form of yoga. The practitioners incorporate yogic breathing, meditation and gentle stretching techniques with the assistance of a certified instructor. These exercises are designed to have a salutary effect on posture, flexibility, and strength. Hatha is the most popular yogic style taught in the United States and benefits even advanced yogis because of the stretching poses involved.

Vinyasa Yoga is best for people that have some yogic experience and have learned basic poses used in hatha yoga. Vinyasa classes are a series of poses combined with breath that give you a gentle yet powerful workout. Most yoga poses have many variations, allowing the practitioner to choose the variation best suited to their skill level. This makes a vinyasa class challenging no matter the skill level of the practitioner. Often, the Sun Salutation is used as a basis for the series of poses in a vinyasa class. The class combines standing and sitting poses, along with stretching poses.

Hatha/Vinyasa Blend is good for all skill levels and combines both hatha and vinyasa styles of yoga.

Kundalini Yoga is an approachable form of yoga for all skill levels. Kundalini yoga focuses on activating dormant spiritual power that is within you. Literally meaning “she who is coiled,” kundalini refers to an energy force in the body that lies inactive at the base of the spine but can be awakened. Often compared to a sleeping snake, when awakened it is said to ravel up through the chakras to the crown of the head where it can effect spiritual changes such as enlightenment, and even, according to some, physical changes in the body, such as the ability to control previously involuntary bodily function. It is the energy of self-actualization. SCC’s kundalini yoga class is followed by an hour of guided meditation with Tibetan Singing Bowls. Come for both or just one! It’s an amazing way to start your Saturday.

Power Yoga is not for beginners. SCC’s power yoga class is an intense hour of yoga that leads you through a series of poses mixed in with strength training moves that will build your core strength, stamina and focus. It is an extremely effective way to build muscle strength and endurance.

Yoga has been around for close to 5,000 years. Yoga encompasses more than just poses and exercise, stretching and focus. It can be seen as a lifestyle, including diet, breath, exercise, thought, meditation and relaxation. Taking a yoga class is a way to start incorporating yogic breathing and stretching into your lifestyle.

Yoga was originally practiced to make the body healthy so a person could practice meditation for extended periods of time with the intent of reaching enlightenment, or to essentially overcome the shortcomings of the mind. As we know, if the body is out of balance, the mind follows and vice versa. Yoga helps both the body and the mind, bringing them into balance and strengthening each individually.

Yoga is a combination of physical movements, meditation and breathing techniques that have been studied and practiced for thousands of years and are proven to heal and transform. Yoga moves prana (also known as chi, or life force) through the body. Prana is linked with the breath, which is why pranayama (translated as breath control) is integral to the practice. One can survive for days without food and water, mere minutes without breath. Breath is life. By learning how to work with the breath, yogis can influence their bodies’ responses. Specifically, slowing the breath can activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which is how the body returns to homeostasis after a stress-inducing event. Yoga quite clearly and specifically reduces stress!
Basic hatha yoga is best for beginners or clients with many injuries or illnesses. This work begins to balance the body and mind through the use of movement (asana), pranayama (breath control), and guided meditation. Hatha teaches people how to listen to their bodies and begin to develop a sense of empowerment.

Please view our calendar to see our yoga schedule. Classes are by donation only with a suggested donation of $8.  With only 6 spots per class, space is limited so save your place now!