What is Ayurveda Yoga and the Benefits of Practicing Yoga

What is Yoga?

The word Yoga, derived from Sanskrit and can be translated in English as, to join, connect and unite. It’s a tool for mind-body connection.

Yoga helps us to unite our inner-self with a higher-self and helps us to realize the Truth, through physical Yoga poses (Yoga Asana), breathwork (Pranayama), soundwork (Mantra), meditation (Dhyana), and Yogic wisdom/philosophy (Yamas & Niyamas).

Why practice Yoga?

Practicing yoga will not only improves physical fitness but also improve mental and spiritual wellbeing. Through regular practice, Yoga will bring balance to your mind, body & soul.

The Benefits of Yoga

I always encourage people to start Yoga not just for the physical benefits but for their overall health & wellbeing, as Yoga can help maintain and improve your mental wellbeing.

Akhanda Yoga Approach

I’m trained to teach Akhanda Yoga, designed by Himalayan Master Yogrishi Vishvketu.

In the West, many people practice Yoga as a purely physical practice.

Akhanda means whole, complete and indivisible. Akhanda Yoga includes missing elements that many modern Yoga classes fail to include.

The Akhanda Yoga approach emphasizes a balanced class including a full repertoire of Yoga techniques. All Akhanda Yoga classes are structured systematically yet artfully to align the physical, energetic, mental/emotional and intuitive self through the five elements of practice and the five energetic principles.

The Five Elements of Akhanda Yoga

1. Movement (Asana): Every class is balanced, meaning that we make sure we stretch every direction of the spine which includes forward bends, backbends, side bends, twists, balance, and inversions.

2. Breathwork (Pranayama): We practice Pranayama that is beneficial to the theme of the class to maxmize the benefit of Asana.

3. Soundwork (Mantra): We chant mantra specific to the theme throughout the class to maxmize the benefit of Asana.

4: Meditation (Dhyana): We start and end every class with a short meditation specific to the theme.

5. Yogic Wisdom: Every class has a theme taken from Yoga philosophy.  You will learn a specific topic and how you can integrate this on and off the mat.

Ayurveda Yoga

Ayurveda is the traditional natural healing system of India going back over 5,000 years. It is also a philosophy.

The word ‘Ayurveda’ is made up of two Sanskrit words: ‘Ayu’ means life and ‘Veda’ means knowledge. Therefore Ayurveda is often translated as ‘Art of Living’ or the ‘Science of Life’.

Yoga and Ayurveda share the same origin and are considered sister sciences.

Every individual is made of a combination of five elements, Air, Ether, Fire, Water and Earth and these elements combine in the human body to form three Doshas –Vata, Pitta and Kapha.

Doshas are the energies believed to circulate in the body that make up every individual, which perform different physiological functions in the body. The differing portions of these doshas determine individual characteristics and physical constitution.

Each individual has all three Doshas but usually one or more of the three Doshas is predominant. When these Doshas are imbalanced, it is believed to cause particular physical and mental disorders.

Ayurveda Yoga is a type of Akhanda Yoga designed specifically to balance the Doshas and five elements.

Take my Dosha quiz and discover your Dosha (your Ayurvedic mind-body type) and then explore my Yoga videos below, which are all designed to balance your unique Dosha!