What is yoga?

Yoga’s ancient system of targeted work on the body, mind, and breath has shown countless benefits for thousands of years. This practice is about so much more than what we see and experience on the mat; it is a lifelong study that will bring you closer and closer to your most authentic self. The YOU deep inside who is able to move through life with a sense of ease and peace, with the alignment that brings forth inner knowing and trust to every situation that presents itself. Committing to a yoga practice will provide you physical strength and flexibility, mental calm and clarity, and energetic awareness that you can carry with you wherever you go.

Most importantly, a yoga practice meets you where you are, whatever the circumstance. It invites you to come home to yourself. Once the physical practice is behind you, you are left with the practice of knowing yourself better; a daily reminder of your own strength, and the journey it took to be here, now.

Ayurveda and yoga were created with the intention of practicing both on a regular, ongoing basis. This looks different than what we are used to in western culture; treating yoga as a workout for the physical body, and food as something that either has to satisfy a desire or sustain us because we are short on time. When approached with an open mind and open heart, you’ll find that as you begin eating for your dominant doṣa (the primary blend of elements that make up the main portion of your constitution), you’ll also begin paying closer attention to your body and what it needs. In Ayurveda, we tend more to the physical and mental layers of who you are, whereas with yoga, we tend to the energetic and spiritual layers. While both affect all of the kośas (the layers of who we are, including the physical, mental, energetic, wisdom, and bliss layers we all hold within), incorporating one will naturally encourage you to lean into the other. Ayurveda works best when you are willing to treat your body with a deeper level of respect through movement, breathwork, and the incorporation of stillness on a daily basis.

A yoga practice takes us beyond who we see, and into who we are. It’s time to know yourself, well.