Yoga for the Modern Average Person

What is Yoga?

Yoga is a simple philosophy based on proper exercise, strong breath, relaxation, a healthy diet, mindfulness and meditation.

Although Hatha Yoga has only recently come into vogue in the west, it has been developing in India for thousands of years. The word Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit root yuj which means "union." Yogic philosophy seeks to create this union by instilling the harmony evident in nature within the individual.

Yoga is a complete system designed to maintain well-being through focusing on all aspects of health. Yoga provides everything the body needs with poses designed to activate every inch of the practitioner. By touching each muscle and joint, yoga brings a balance of strength, flexibility, relaxation, and stamina without negative impacts. Yoga acts as a synthesis of all the actions of an individual helping to correct habitual movements.

Between work, home and all of the demands and stresses of life, it's easy to lose touch with our true selves. The practice of yoga stimulates awareness and sensitivity in the practitioner so that they can remove the physical or psychological blocks that often keep us from maintaining a healthy life. Through the particular techniques taught in Yoga, we can learn to calm the frenzy and get back in touch with ourselves. Patanjali, one of the great sages of Yoga, said, "Yoga stills the fluctuations of the mind. Then the true self appears."

In each of the classes, students are lead through a routine of postures specially designed to release tension, strengthen muscles and tone the body. These postures help to relax the mind, improve concentration, stimulate circulation and oxygen flow, prevent illness and promote self-introspection

Physical Benefits of Yoga

Improves flexibility
Improves body image
Increases self-confidence
Improves balance and agility
Helps to prevent injuries
Helps to maintain a healthy weight
Improves athletic performance
Channels nervous energy
Increases strength in both small and big muscle groups
Helps to develop self-discipline and poise
Teaches the connection between body and mind
Enhances sensitivity, self-control and enjoyment in sharing
Fuels the imagination and enhances creativity
Releases tension and helps balance emotions
Teaches exercises to do alone or in a group

Yoga improves posture by:
~ Teaching correct breathing to expand the chest.
~ Increasing awareness of tension in the shoulders and neck, and how to release it.
~ Using the internal and external abdominal muscles to help you stand or sit up tall.
~ Emphasizing bending and stretching from the hip sockets rather then the lower back, helping to lengthen the spine, instead of rounding it.
~ Encouraging the practitioner to sit on their sitting bones rather than the lower spine.

Yoga improves self esteem by:
~ Creating good posture which makes us feel better about ourselves.
~ Helping to make the changes in the body take place more smoothly.
~ Improving self-confidence (rather than self-consciousness).
~ Focusing on healthy emotional and physical well being.

Yoga relieves anxiety by:
~ Giving practitioners the tools to learn how to relax.
~ Creating a knowledge of peace.

Yoga relieves growing pains by:
~ Stretching out muscles that might otherwise be tight from intensive growth spurts.
~ Easing the discomfort of regular daily activities.

Yoga changes the practitioner's appearance by:
~ Balancing the glands (and therefore regulating hormones) which can cause blemishes in the complexion.
~ Stabilizing the metabolism to regulate weight gain.
~ Improving circulation, leading to healthier and clearer skin and overall essence.

Wren Doggett is the founder The Lotus Seed Yoga non-profit organization and director of teacher training. She has studied numerous forms of Yoga, healing and meditation over the past twenty years. She lived in Madras, India during the year 1999 - 2000 at an ashram while writing her Master's thesis in poetry. Her travels to teach and attend workshops in India, Malaysia, The Philippines, France, England, Denmark, Mexico and Jamaica have given her a well-rounded knowledge of the many forms of yoga, including Raja (meditation), Bhakti (devotion), Jnana (knowledge/wisdom), Karma (selfless action) and Hatha (physical movement).

Wren teaches Yoga to all ages - from babies to elders. She started teaching classes for teens and children in 2001 with great success in promoting outreach services to at-risk youth via yoga clubs in schools. She is registered as an E-RYT (experienced registered yoga teacher) with the Yoga Alliance, a national accreditation organization for yoga teachers. Wren continues to train with internationally known yoga teachers. Her classes are an eclectic blend of vinyasa yoga taught with love, humor and acceptance, emphasizing breath, alignment and body awareness.