Yoga Pilates & Dance

Yoga, Pilates & Dance
To know your own self is Freedom!

Why do yoga?
by John Tunney

The short answer is that yoga makes you feel better. Practicing the postures, breathing exercises and meditation makes you healthier in body, mind and spirit. Yoga lets you tune in, chill out, shape up -- all at the same time.

For many people, that's enough of an answer. But there's more if you're interested.

For starters, yoga is good for what ails you. Specifically, research shows that yoga helps manage or control anxiety, arthritis, asthma, back pain, blood pressure, carpal tunnel syndrome, chronic fatigue, depression, diabetes, epilepsy, headaches, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, stress and other conditions and diseases.

What's more, yoga:

Improves muscle tone, flexibility, strength and stamina
Reduces stress and tension
Boosts self esteem
Improves concentration and creativity
Lowers fat
Improves circulation
Stimulates the immune system
Creates sense of well being and calm.

And that's just the surface stuff. In fact, most of the benefits mentioned above are secondary to yoga's original purpose.

Developed in India, yoga is a spiritual practice that has been evolving for the last 5,000 years or so. The original yogis were reacting, in part, to India's ancient Vedic religion, which emphasized rituals. The yogis wanted a direct spiritual experience -- one on one -- not symbolic ritual. So they developed yoga.

Yoga means "union" in Sanskrit, the classical language of India.

According to the yogis, true happiness, liberation and enlightenment comes from union with the divine consciousness known as Brahman, or with Atman, the transcendent Self. The various yoga practices are a methodology for reaching that goal.
In hatha yoga, for example, postures and breathing exercises help purify the mind, body and spirit so the yogi can attain union.
Pranayama breathing exercises help clear the nadis, or channels, that carry prana the universal life force, allowing prana to flow freely. When the channels are clear and the last block at the base of the spine has been opened, Kundalini rises through the spine, through the central channel called the sushumna-nadi, and joins the crown chakra. According to the tradition, the release of Kundalini leads to enlightenment and union.

If you do yoga will you become enlightened?

Well…you might (of course, it could take a few lifetimes of diligent practice). But then again you might not. But it doesn't really matter because yoga is a process, and there's a lot of good to be had along the way.

What if you don't believe in talk about enlightenment, spirit and the rest of it?

That's okay, too. Yoga doesn't discriminate. Even if you don't believe in the spiritual side of life, you can still do yoga. Whether enlightenment, nadis, prana and Kundalini is literal truth, metaphor or myth is irrelevant. If you do yoga, chances are that you will feel its psycho-physiological effects.

Moreover, the concept of union has a powerful down-to-Earth meaning. Yoga helps us get in touch with our true selves.

Between work, home and all of the demands and stresses in between, it's easy to lose touch with who we are, that core essence with which we were born. Rushing around all day it sometimes feels like the "I" inside is simply the result of the things we do all day -- or the effects those things have on our minds, bodies and spirits

Ever say "I am hungry" or "I am stressed"? We identify with our conditions. It's like "hungry" or "stressed" is a name (Hi. I'm Stressed. What's your name?) As a result, our identities shift with our moods and conditions.

In truth, however, we are not the conditions we experience or things we do. We are not our jobs or the thousands of tasks that make up our jobs. We are not the sensations or emotions we feel. We are not the car we drive or the house we live in. We are not "S/he Who Must Pay Bills." We are not Mr. and Ms. Stressed.

Strip away the emotions, sensations and conditions and somewhere deep down inside you are still there. Strip it all away and you find out who you really are.

The techniques developed by the yogis to transcend also help us strip away the things that try to mis-define us -- the emotions, sensations, desires, achievements and failures of daily life. Through yoga we learn to develop a greater awareness of our physical and psychological states. As a result, we're in a position to better manage our reactions to the thoughts, feelings and responses we have to the various situations we deal with every day.

With greater awareness comes the sensitivity and skill to find and remove the physical and psychological blocks that often keep us from our true selves. We no longer identify with our conditions. Instead of saying, "I am stressed," we begin to say, "I feel stress," or "stress is present." It's a subtle but powerful difference.

Or better yet, we say "I feel anxiety and fear, and that's causing stress and in particular it's causing tension in my neck and shoulder." So we breathe deeply to soothe the anxiety. We review the events that led to the onset of those feelings, and in the process they lose their grip on our nervous system. We intentionally relax our shoulder and neck to prevent the stress and tension from building into a permanent condition.

Yoga gives us control of ourselves. It helps cut through the layers of mis-identities that arise in response to our actions, experiences and feelings. It calms the frenzy, clears the clutter and allows us to get back in touch with ourselves.

Yoga is union with self. Or, as Patanjali, one of the great yoga sages, said:

Yogashcittavrittinirodhah (Yoga stills the fluctuations of the mind).
Tada drashthuh svarupe' vasthanam (Then the true self appears.)

However, yoga is not about self-absorption. Yoga is about being in the world. Although most books, videos and websites focus on yoga postures, breathing and meditation, the tradition also emphasizes love, compassion, knowledge and right action as paths toward union.

Whether you pursue yoga as a spiritual path or for its psycho-physiological benefits, yoga is a methodology for developing a deeper experience of your self and the world.

And it makes you feel really good.

Private tuition: ZAR450 (75 min)

2 people class; ZAR300 each (75 min)

MAT PILATES

with Mariamne Wulfsohn

Pilates technique is the development of powerful strength in the abdominals, spinal flexibility, and precise alignment of the body.

One learns to use the body and gravity for resistance to develop superior strength and flexibility.

Students will learn how to lengthen, strengthen and tone the whole body, whilst increasing flexibility, coordination and improving posture.

Regular attendance will:

* Improve core strength & support

* Improve spinal articulation

* Increase flexibility & strength

* Re-educate your workout with body-mind intelligence

* Realign & improve your posture

Mariamne Wulfsohn is a certified Feldenkrais Practitioner, Dance Educator, Bodyworker and Flower Essence Therapist. Her extensive background and experience has led her to teach Yoga, Mat Pilates, Dance and Bodywork since 1992.

Private one to one Class; ZAR400 (60 min)

Group of two Class; ZAR250 each (60 min)

Dance

Dance is one of the best sources of exercise for the human form. Not only do we use the whole body to express ourselves when we dance, we also tap into a learning mode (whilst getting great cardio, fat burning, or both)...one can have so much fun, and its a great work out!

On top of that, its fantastic for the brain and nervous system and personal development. I find that it elavates the spirit like no other form of exercise. It's so much more than exercise. There is nothing more joyful than to dance. Every physical element dances with life force. When we dance, we connect with our inner-being, great Spirit, the Source of all life. It can be so spiritually uplifting (on top of being the best form of exercise).

Everyone can Dance, even wheel chair bound people, people with disabilities. Where there is life, there is Dance!

Dance, in all its forms- offers many skills, from self-expression, non-verbal communications with others such as- physical contact with others in a safe environment, spacial awareness, balance, strength, co-ordination, flexibility and so much more.

I can't imagine life without Dance! All animals, birds and insects also Dance. The importance of Dance in our community is down played.
Having worked in schools with children, Dance has noticeably changed social skills and attitudes within very short periods. Children pick up dance very quickly and learn to get over frustrations and insecurities. The children built confidence, team work, and improved their self-image noticeably.

Anyone can Dance. Dance is not limited to able bodied persons. I have worked with handicapped persons, special needs, both children, adults and seniors.

Private and group Classes in Cape Town. My training background is Contemporary Dance (Modern), which has many 'styles' and expression. I also teach Hip Hop/Jazz, Release Style, Contact, and Improvisation (my personal favorite).

In early days I trained in Ballet, Jazz and tap. My university and professional training was often in Release based Dance, Humphrey, Graham, Lemon and Contact Improvisation. An influence of Alexander and Feldenkrais tecniques are at the core of my instruction.

I like to teach class with a combination of styles, depending on the students strengths, needs and interest.

A brief History in Contemporary Dance: -In the early 1900s European and American dancers started to rebel against the rigid constraints of Classical Ballet. Shedding the authoritarian controls surrounding classical ballet technique, costume, and shoes, these early modern dance pioneers focused on creative self-expression rather than on technical virtuosity. Modern dance is a more relaxed, free style of dance in which choreographers use emotions and moods to design their own steps, in contrast to ballet's structured code of steps. It has a deliberate use of gravity, whereas ballet is rigid in its technique. Because of the common history, the two forms (classical ballet and modern) share a similar terminology and structure. Modern dance is a term that applies to a variety of different disciplines, all with subtly different techniques, that responded to the imperialism of ballet through varying, culturally specific catalytic factors.

Contact Mariamne: shamanessence@gmail.com 021 4343357 for group class rates