Yoga Styles
Gentle Yoga and Traditional Yoga -
We offer the best of both worlds!
Styles of Yoga at A Gentle Way
The below three styles of yoga are hard to find at other Centers, or in books or DVD’s. Classes are customized for the level of regular students who attend, and are highly effective without be intimidating. Classes are more relaxing or fun, than work-out yoga.
PINK CLASSES
Relax-Release-Restore-Repair-Renew:
Easiest physically. Slow, therapeutic yoga. Effective stretching, deep breathing, and stress relief. Great for chronic conditions, and students with physical and emotional discomfort.
VERY GENTLE: Most of these classes will stay low to the ground, with no poses on the knees. Focus on: yoga for your back, spine, hips, and central nervous system.
GENTLE MIX: Within 6-weeks you will experience a variety of very gentle lying down, seated, standing, and stomach poses.
GREEN CLASSES
Learn-Experience-Experiment:
A great class for any level student to learn how to customize and modify a variety of yoga poses for their bodies. These classes are interactive and address the common question: Am I doing it right? Workshop-style classes where students ask questions and teachers check each students pose. Each teacher will have their own class plans and themes.
PURPLE CLASSES
Slow-Deep-Delicious – A Gentle Way’s trademarked style!
Most of these classes begin with relaxing, low to the ground poses, moving on to the hands and knees, stomach, seated or standing poses. Classes focus on hips, spine, legs, and inner toning or core strength. Standing and seated poses are joyful and flowing – not strict or sweaty. True body, mind, breath, spirit yoga. Meditation, pranayama and chanting introduced.
BLUE CLASSES
Hatha Mix: A safer way to enter the more common American world of yoga. These classes are for students who can get up and down with ease, and be on their knees or on one leg without pain or injury to the body. Classes will be customized for attendees. Each teacher will have their own style, flow and theme. Great classes to enhance or maintain your movement and fitness level.
BROWN CLASSES
Rock Your Yoga! Get ready for heat inducing Sun Salutations, inversions, and balance poses.
These classes will have faster movement, or more physically challenging asanas. For the-fit-keeping-fit. Some teachers will teach these classes focusing on detail and alignment, others will teach with a sense of joy and exploration, and others will focus on slow, deep stretch and inner focus. Do not feel like you have to keep up with others in the room. A few poses done well will change the body safely – do not overdo. Bring a towel and your own mat – you may sweat!
In yoga, the longer you hold a pose, the deeper it goes into the body and mind to detox and cleanse, becoming therapeutic. By supporting the body with props, we alternately stimulate and relax and body to move towards balance. These long-held prop supported poses, are deep inner work, deep stress relief, and breath work. Many students walk away from this class feeling as though they have just taken a week's vacation. Make sure you can easily do Meditation in Movement Style classes before attending these classes.
Poses like the photo are taught in the Monday 1:30 and 4:00 classes. These classes will combine long holding, prop supported restorative poses with Gentle poses (1:30pm class) or Traditional poses (4:00pm class).
Arriving at least 15 minutes before class time is ESSENTIAL.
Most poses have a prop set-up to assist you in relaxing deeply into poses
for 5-20 minutes at a time.
Restorative Yoga is the yoga of non-doing. It is a core practice underlying the very essence of yoga. Even those with an active dynamic yoga practice will benefit from the inner quietude and deep release of
Restorative Yoga. Restorative Yoga is the practice of entering into yoga postures using an assortment of props: blocks, bolsters, blankets, straps, walls, chairs, tables, eye pillows, the floor, and even another yoga practitioner. Supported and stabilized by various props, one experiences the yoga postures as profoundly relaxing and deeply rejuvenating, invoking a natural state of healing rest, renewal and equanimity. Supported and passive yoga postures allow the body to naturally release, letting go of deeply held tension and stress. The result is a balanced state of being from the inside out.
Restorative Yoga is a life enhancing practice.
All of our PINK and PURPLE classes are a form of Restorative Yoga. Less props are used in some classes, but the same effect is achieved.
CHAIR YOGA - Very gentle yoga designed for seniors, larger bodies, or super-size students who cannot get up and down off the floor. Classes are fun, effective, and stress reducing, with a variety of seated and standing poses. We use a chair or the wall for body strengthening, balance poses, forward bends, down dogs, and more!