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CLASSICAL HATHA YOGA: Gentle Yoga for Every Body
by Debbie Spencer Joyous, MA, MA, LPC
Have you been talking about attending a Classical Hatha Yoga class, but were unsure about what you were getting “involved in”? Classical HathaYoga has been available in the Pikes Peak Region for over 25 years. I took my first gentle yoga class in Colorado Springs in 1976. I was immediately "addicted" to this unique method of improved health and fitness. After a year of study with two well-trained teachers, I enrolled in a Classical Hatha Yoga Teacher Certification course. I have been offering gentle Classical Yoga classes in Colorado Springs since 1977.
Being an active participant in the "yoga scene" during the past twenty five years of yoga evolution in our city has taught me a lot. The last few years has seen a tremendous influx of different styles and kinds of yoga. I frequently talk with people interested in taking yoga who are confused about what style of yoga they should take, what book to buy, what tape, CD, video, or DVD they should purchase. This holiday season our local stores featured packaged yoga mats, straps, blocks, and introductory yoga videos so beginners can learn yoga at home. I have two responses to this. First, I am thrilled that those of us who have taught yoga for so long have helped to usher yoga into mainstream America (along with help from the Hollywood stars who have credited yoga with keeping them fit and healthy!). Second, I am appalled that these companies think that folks can learn yoga by buying a mat, a strap, a foam block, and an introductory video to use at home! Yoga
is best learned in a class with a trained instructor!
I recommend that students shop around, by phone, to ask questions and gather information about what each different kind of yoga has to offer. Prospective yoga students should ask what kind of training and teacher certification instructors have. One of the most disconcerting results of the current" Yoga Boom" is that there are people teaching yoga who are not certified instructors.
Some questions to ask prospective yoga instructors:
1. How does your style of yoga different from other styles of yoga?
2. Do I need to purchase special equipment, clothing for this style of yoga?
3. What certification and training do you have? How many years have each of you been teaching? What kinds of on-going training do your instructors participate in to keep their yoga training current?
4. How does this style of yoga accommodate my age, injuries, and level of existing fitness?
5. Are you willing to give me the names and phone numbers of 2 or 3 beginning students who have studied with you for awhile?
6. When I practice at home do I need to have special equipment or a speicifc room temperature for this style of yoga?
7. Does this style of yoga entail hands-on adjustment of my body to get me into the poses? If so, can you explain that process to me?
8. What is the average age of the beginning students taking this style of yoga?
9. Are any of your beginning students dealing with/in the process of healing old injuries or recovering from surgeries, car accidents
10. What kinds of injuries result from this style of yoga?
11. Does this style of yoga include different kinds of breathing techniques, relaxation and/or meditation? If so, can you tell me more about that?
12. What do you have available to assist me in my home practice (handouts, books, videos, CD's, etc.)
13. Am I allowed to leave the class if/when I need to? (There are some styles of yoga that do not allow students to leave the class until class is over.)
Classical Hatha Yoga is truly "Yoga for Every Body". There are several things about Classical Style or "gentle" yoga that make it so popular and enduring. I'm convinced that gentle yoga is the style that, once students commit to it, they can practice safely for the rest of their lives! As "Aging Baby Boomers" move into their retirement years, they are even more eager to find the "fountain of youth" that will keep them flexible, strong, and healthy for their remaining years. I tell my students that keeping their spinal columns flexible and strong IS the fountain of youth they are looking for. The yoga poses that work the spine are some of the finest and most effective poses yoga has to offer! Gentle yoga also provides an injury-free opportunity to improve strength, balance, and flexibility for the entire body. Gentle yoga classes are a haven for those who are recovering from injuries, surgeries, and car accidents. Over the years, many chiropractors and medical doctors have been referring their patients to gentle yoga to assist them to full recovery. In gentle yoga, students are NOT adjusted into positions. In Classical Hatha Yoga, students are guided verbally and given visual models of what the various stages of a pose looks like. Then students are trusted to move at their own pace and in their own way into the pose on their own. It may take students weeks or even months for a student to achieve a pose. But they achieve the pose on their own, safely, while they develop their own sense of their body and its changing levels of flexibility and strength (depending on stress level, etc.) Students in gentle Classical Style yoga never move into pain or strain. They learn to explore their "best working stretch" and to honor at all times what their bodies have to say to them. Gentle yoga has no competition among the students in a class and students honor the process of their own improvement. The results in gentle yoga are lasting because students never move beyond their comfort zone in any pose. There are never sore muscles which result in loss of flexibility.
Classical Style Yoga will instruct students in several gentle breathing techniques, a variety of relaxation techniques, and class always ends with a deep relaxation. Meditation techniques are not introduced until a student moves to the Continuing level. Classical Style Yoga includes a variety of different yoga poses because this style of yoga draws from hundreds of ancient yoga poses and their variations. During a semester of classes students will be introduced to many different gentle poses so there is not a problem with boredom with the same old routine. Instructors work individually with students who are healing from physical injuries or surgeries so that students avoid certain poses until they are ready for them.
Classical Hatha Yoga does not require any props or special room temperatures or equipment. Students of this yoga style are encouraged to attend class once a week and to practice at home. Classical instructors provide handouts about the poses and guide students in developing their own home practices. Students are taught how to apply their gentle yoga to special circumstances such as when they are traveling, how to take short stretching breaks while driving long distances, or "desk-top yoga" to use while sitting at a computer for long periods of time.
The word "yoga" comes from the sanskrit word "yug" which means to yoke or join together the body, the mind, and the spirit. Yoga is between 4,000 and 6,000 years old. Practicing yoga does impact the physical body, the mind and the emotions, and the spirit. Some styles of yoga can stimulate the flow of energy in the body very rapidly. Because Gentle Yoga allows students to progress at their own pace, they assimilate the physical, mental/emotional, and spiritual benefits of yoga gradually. Our modern goal of Gentle Yoga is to make it practical and useful for "Every Body" so that we can each develop a safe method of fitness for body, mind, and spirit that will last a lifetime.
I encourage you to start off the New Year by making some phone calls to educate yourself about which style of yoga would be best for you and by attending some yoga classes. For those of you that are looking for a gentle style of yoga that will last you a lifetime, I invite you to attend Classical Hatha Yoga classes.
Debbie is a native of Colorado Springs, a Licensed Professional Counselor, and an elementary school counselor. She is author of Do Yoga: A Beginning Classical Hatha Yoga Manual. |
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