Joy Denis, DO, MOST.  Osteopath & Yoga Teacher

We all have different reasons to come to a yoga class, for some it is because they are looking for a new type of exercise, some wants to experience the meditative effect from it, some have just been dragged along by a caring friend, some got the schedule wrong, some want a good stretch, some want to understand how a physical practice is affecting your mind and therefore your life. 

It would be lying to say that I first came onto the mat to experience what yoga is really about, 

I was actually looking for a form of unwinding to get rid of tensions that could have built up in my body. But I got hooked, I did not know why but I just wanted to practice more and regularly, I started to feel the benefits, in my body, in my mind. It might sounds cheesy, but yoga changed the way I approach life. 

Asana and Pranayama are 2 of the 8 limbs of yoga practice. 

Asana which are the poses and the physical part of the yoga practice is teaching us some fundamentals of life: first understanding our body, becoming aware of some tissues (muscles, fascia, joints etc) that we often dismiss, learning where our body is in space (proprioception awareness), accepting uncomfortable situations and getting into the habit to breath through discomfort (you then learn that everything passes, that getting back to the breath will help you focus, what can change you change, what you can't, you accept) 

Pranayama techniques are exercises to control the breath and to strengthen our respiratory system therefore during classes, we always intend to connect with our breath and try to understand the yogic breath.