Yoga
Emphasizing careful alignment of the joints to protect and improve mobility but also to restrain and absorb the mind
Emphasizing careful alignment of the joints to protect and improve mobility but also to restrain and absorb the mind
Use the ideas expressed here as a starting point for experimentation and reflection within the structure of your home practice.
Use the ideas expressed here as a starting point for experimentation and reflection within the structure of your home practice.
Up-Coming Classes with Jane
Beginning Yoga (level 1) on-going Mondays 10-11:30
Continuing Yoga (level 2) on-going Fridays 10am-11:30am
All classes held at Jewel Yoga Center
Pre-register at https://www.jewelyogapdx.com/schedule-of-yoga-classes or show up and pay at class.
You can start any time.
About Me
When I began practicing yoga more than thirty years ago, it changed my life. My body certainly improved, but more surprising was the rapid improvement in my emotional balance. However imperfectly, I have followed the path of yoga since then.
I have been teaching yoga in the Iyengar tradition for more than twenty-five years. I emphasize careful alignment of the joints to protect and improve mobility but also to restrain and absorb the mind. I use asana practice as a laboratory to experiment with ideas presented in Patanjali’s sutras in order to create a practice that fosters adventure, joy, and reverence. I enjoy working with all types of students–beginners to advanced, athletes to those with significant physical challenges.
I have taught Adaptive Yoga for people with multiple sclerosis and other chronic problems and have participated in research projects with Oregon Health Sciences University and Kaiser. I was a contributing author to studies published in Neurology and The International Journal of Yoga Therapy. I owned and managed First Street Yoga in Newberg, Oregon for many years before moving back to Portland.
Many thanks to my primary teacher, Julie Lawrence, and to Patricia Walden and John Schumacher, and the many other senior Iyengar teachers I’ve gotten to study with over the years. I’m grateful to Eric Small for his guidance with the MS classes. The art and science of yoga has been tended through the millennia by the work of individuals. Their writing, teaching, and stewardship carried the torch of knowledge from its origin in Southeast Asia all the way to me. I am still struck with wonder at my fortune. I gratefully acknowledge my debt to these people and to the peaceful cultures that have allowed practice to flourish. I will do my best to maintain and pass on those precious gifts.
What is hatha yoga?
Hatha yoga refers to the physical practices of yoga. These consist of asana (literally seat) which are the physical postures and pranayama (breath management) which are breathing techniques designed to affect prana, or the lifeforce, in the individual
Who was Pantajali?
FAQ’s
Why hatha yoga?
The word comes from the roots ha, meaning sun, and tha, meaning moon. Action and Reflection. When we practice hatha yoga we use postures to balance our physical and mental powers. Hatha is will-power – not pushing something through, but achieving goals with grace and effectiveness by yoking together the clarity of our intelligence with our physical power.
No one really knows,
but they took on the job of organizing and recording existing beliefs about yoga. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras were compiled about 2,500 years ago. People have been studying and commenting on them ever since. This Sanskrit work contains approximately 200 sutras, terse aphorisms describing the path of yoga, its pitfalls, and its results. The yoga sutras are relatively accessible and pragmatic. They are an invaluable guide to yoga practice and to living well.
Why home practice?
Instruction, whether in class or online, is necessary for learning the poses and helping students avoid pitfalls. We all have blind spots, and teachers help us understand them. But ultimately, yoga practice should be as unique as the individual student. Hatha yoga is like a language used to communicate between the different parts of the self. Just like learning any language, it’s often helpful to memorize dialogue, but to have conversations of any significance you’ll have to find your own voice. Home practice may be as brief as ten minutes a day to start. Whatever works.
