Yoga at Your Place Yoga Class Schedule Registration and cancellation policies
When I began studying yoga in 1986, the yoga scene was quite different than it is now. Although there were a number of yoga classes in Chicago even then, it had not exploded into the enormous presence it now has. When I read the Yoga Journal, it was not filled with people doing extreme arm balances; instead, most of the time the focus was on pretty basic postures. Although I learned a few arm balances, the emphasis in my classes combined the physical aspects of yoga with the metaphysical and did not require mastering the most complex and difficult postures.
I was taught to build a practice based on moving through postures that opened and/or strengthened each of the seven major chakras, starting with first and moving on up. The point of practice was not so much physical fitness (although that is always a benefit) as aligning the chakras and freeing kundalini to flow and connect you with the higher realms. That's a very simplified version of it, but the point is that yoga practice was about a lot more than seeing how much you can sweat or whether you can achieve the hardest postures.
Instead of teaching many levels, I teach a Basic Yoga or a Seated Yoga class for complete beginners and then I offer an ongoing class that is okay for new and experienced students. My teacher's classes worked that way and I like the way you build a practice, coming back to basic postures often and yet learning new ones regularly. I also like to teach the one in which all postures are done seated in chairs, which works very well for people with limited flexibility or who have not exercised in a while and translates very well to an office setting.
As the emphasis on making yoga an aerobic activity has grown, I have heard more and more people talking about being injured in yoga classes. In both my five years of classes with Bill Hunt and the teacher training at the Temple of Kriya Yoga I was taught that a good yoga teacher should help each student to find the best way to do the postures so as to avoid injury. I'm distressed that the rate of injury has gone up and that so many people are learning yoga without being taught the deep roots that give it heart and meaning.
I feel that my mission is to provide classes in which people receive the metaphysical as well as the physical benefits of yoga and practice without injury. My ongoing class lets students continue working to build a practice. My beginning classes are very basic and emphasize learning to practice at your own level. Or take a Sun Salutation clinic that offers people who want a little more challenge an opportunity to learn the various postures of the Sun Salutation well enough to be able to practice it with ease and safety.
Yoga Classes: At Full Circle Massage. see yoga schedule
For registration form or to ask questions: yogaleigh@earthlink.net
Check in regularly for dates of classes and clinics. I also offer private yoga classes in your home. For 1-5 people, it's $35/hour: Yoga at Your Place E-mail for more info: yogaleigh@earthlink.com Order music CD's for yoga: Yoga Music
