If you don’t feel good in your body—if you can’t move forward with ease and not dis-ease—how can you feel good about anything? Yoga… makes us feel good about the bodies we are in. ~ Beth Shaw
Yoga strengthens our life force and makes us stronger from deep inside; it builds life energy, prana, chi. ~ Vinnie Marino, Vinyasa flow teacher who employs music styles ranging from trance to rock
Strengthen the Mind through Meditation The real power of yoga is in meditation, the qualities of the mind behind the action. Bring these meditative qualities into the physical practice, and it becomes meditation in motion. ~ Bryan Kest
Learn to concentrate on your mantra, your sacred words that you recite over and over again. My favorite is, “Let go… just let it go…”
~ David Life, co-creator of Jiva Mukti yoga
Practice pranayama [regulation of the breath] and medita- tion to improve concentration and the power of your mind. The mind creates emotions and thoughts; when the mind is healthy, the body and mind connect. Then you really find your soul essence, your consciousness. ~ Rajashree Choudhury, teacher of Bikram yoga
Experience Oneness with the Spirit For energy to be flowing, you have to be in tune and in bal- ance not only with the nature around you, but [with] some- thing that’s deeper inside you. This energy that’s in you, in me, in plants and animals, is the pure energy, the one life that connects us all. Who you are is an expression of con- sciousness, an expression of God.
~ Kim Eng, Qi Flow yoga teacher and partner of author Eckhart Tolle
Yoga helps you [let go of] attachment to material things and empowers your soul. ~ Rajahshree Choudhury
The essence of yoga is truth and love… willingness to embrace the God that is within, recognizing that we are all connected.
~ Seane Corn, internationally celebrated yoga teacher
Johannes R. Fisslinger is the co-founder of National Yoga Month and founder of Yoga-Recess in Schools. Both initia- tives are coordinated by the Yoga Health Foundation. For information about free local yoga classes and events in September and the new Titans of Yoga DVD, featuring 25 masters of yoga and meditation now available through yoga teachers and studios, visit
YogaMonth.org.
Seane Corn, a yoga superstar featured on magazine covers and
Oprah.com, has been practicing yoga for 23 years and teaching for well over a decade. She has also taken her yoga “off the mat,” inspiring activism and raising funds for programs around the world that serve at-risk youth and AIDS/HIV treat- ment and prevention. Natural Awakenings asked this renowned teacher to share her advice on choosing a style of yoga and creating a home practice.
C
orn observes that personality may initially predispose a student to prefer one style of yoga over another. “For example, the style of yoga I teach is Vinyasa, a fluid form of yoga,” she says. “It tends to draw people who are more athletic and perhaps more goal-oriented or self- competitive—those who prefer a practice that feels more like a workout.” This style of so-called flow yoga can also be very emotionally therapeutic, she adds.
Students who want to try more vigorous yoga styles like Vinyasa or Ashtanga should have a basic understand- ing of how to build yoga asanas (postures), integrate the breath and work with their body’s flexibility. “In my dream world, students would know that there are techniques they need to understand before they approach a more challeng- ing or fluid practice,” says Corn. “That would mean either going to a very beginner-level class or an Iyengar class. For some students, that may feel too slow, but it’s providing the appropriate information that’s going to give them longevity in their practice.” Likewise, she recommends Iyengar if an individual is recovering from an injury.
natural awakenings September 2010 41
SEANE CORN
FINDING A YOGA STYLE AND MAKING IT MEANINGFUL
by Kim Childs
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