I teach hatha yoga which is the main type of yoga taught in the West. This yoga focuses on:
- Asana (the physical postures)
- Pranayama (breathing exercises)
- Pratyahara (focusing inwards – relaxation techniques)
In a typical class we start with about 5 minutes to get comfortable on the mat. We settle the body and the breath and prepare to focus on our practice.
We move on to warming up the body ready for the asana. Most of the class is taken up by the physical postures. I focus on good alignment and gently stretching the body. I teach the posture at a fairly basic level, but then give options to progress the posture if the student is ready. It’s up to each student to listen to their body and proceed at the right level. The postures are practiced lying, sitting and standing.
We practice simple breathing exercises to expand and lengthen the breath. These practices also help clear the mind, lower blood pressure and heart rate to encourage the body to relax.
We finish the session with about 15 minutes of relaxation. I use various simple techniques to encourage the student to allow the body to release physical tension (the asana practice does most of this) and then encourage the mind to settle.
All three classes have similar content. The intermediate class assumes some knowledge of yoga, rather than being physically more demanding.