Yoga Rocks

“Let go into the mystery. Let yourself go. When you open up your heart you get everything you need."
Van Morrison, The Mystery

"Let your soul be your pilot. Let your soul guide you. He'll guide you well."
Sting, Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot

Anusara Yoga®

Anusara Yoga is the primary influence on our practice at Yoga Within Reach. Anusara (a-nu-sar-a), means "flowing with Grace," "going with the flow," "following your heart." It is a powerful hatha yoga system founded by John Friend in 1997, which has become one of the most popular and fastest growing yoga styles in the world. The practice of Anusara Yoga integrates an alignment based methodology; an awareness of balancing the energetic flow throughout the body; and a heart-oriented, spiritually inspiring philosophy in the performance of the yoga postures. Balanced action and proper alignment, together with positive, life-affirming virtues, not only bring refinement and precision to each pose, allowing you to safely deepen your practice and therapeutically create healing within, but also empower you to achieve your full potential and increase your self-esteem.

The basic intention for practicing yoga itself is to reconnect with your innate sense of goodness and the essence of your true nature and express yourself from that place in an effort to add more beauty, love and goodness to the world. The Tantric philosophy underlying Anusara Yoga is epitomized by a "celebration of the heart," which first looks for the good in all people and all things. You do not try to "fix" or "correct" your alignment under the assumption that it is "bad" or "wrong". In a playful, creative, and light-hearted manner, you try to enhance and reveal the beauty and magnificence already present in your yoga poses. The physical body is not something to overcome in pursuit of some greater spiritual enlightenment. Nor is it an illusion or some mistake of perception on your part. The body is real and tangible. It should be celebrated in all of its physical manifestation. Moreover, the goal is not to seek freedom FROM the body, but rather to find it IN the body, WITH the body and AS the body.

 

The poses in Anusara Yoga are considered "heart-oriented," meaning that they are expressed from the "inside-out." You are encouraged to be aware of all parts of yourself, the light and the dark, the full rainbow of sensation, perception, emotion and thought. By looking inside yourself and opening your heart to the present moment without prejudging it, you can then decide whether something is life enhancing or not. It is from this place that you can then respond in ways that are more life affirming. By reconnecting to the essence of your true nature and the divine qualities already present within, you can build self-esteem and further empower yourself to choose to act in ways that celebrate the essence of life, spirit and your heart.

 

The foundation of the Anusara Yoga system is based upon the three "A’s" – Attitude, Alignment and Action. Of utmost importance is the Attitude that you bring to your practice. Infusing every pose with a meaningful intention and a desire to "open to grace," (i.e. to open to the promise and possibility that the beauty and divine qualities already inherent inside you will be revealed), allows the practice to transcend mere physical exercise and be a reflection of your own heart. By tempering your focused intention and self-effort with a softening of your outer boundaries, (i.e. releasing your identification with the limited concept of yourself), you can open up to something bigger, a greater energy source within, and begin to realize your full potential.

 

Alignment refers to the proper placement of the body in a pose. It encompasses not only the proper placement of the muscles, bones and internal organs in relation to the outer body, but also coordination between the inner and outer body, i.e. aligning the breath, as well as your Attitude and intention, so as to complement the physical form of the pose. Harmoniously aligning your body, breath and mind and creating dynamic symmetry of the pose as a whole allows for the greatest opportunity for transformation.

Action refers to the physical manifestation of your Attitude and intention in a pose. The goal is to achieve balanced action by way of an equal flow of muscular and organic energy throughout the body. Balanced action, coupled with proper alignment, results in the most desirable, beneficial and optimal state of the body for it to function properly and effectively. In short, you use Action to express your Attitude through the Alignment of the body.

Incorporating a concise set of alignment principles called the Universal Principles of Alignment™, along with other alignment principles including, Spirals and Loops, which bring refinement and precision to each pose, the practice of Anusara Yoga allows you to achieve greater freedom and harmony as well as relief from pain and suffering in the physical body.

For more information about Anusara Yoga, please visit www.anusara.com. Portions of the information above were obtained from the Anusara Yoga website and The Anusara Yoga Teacher Training Manual by John Friend.

 

Anusara Yoga is a combination of:

  • A celebration of the heart
  • The art of inner body awareness
  • The science of universal principles of alignment


The Foundation of Anusara Yoga - The 3 A's:

  • Attitude
  • Alignment
  • Action


Anusara Yogas' Universal Principles of Alignment™:

  • Open To Grace
  • Muscular Energy
  • Inner Spiral
  • Outer Spiral
  • Organic Energy


When in doubt, follow the 3 S's of Anusara Yoga:

Do that which is:
  • Shri (life-affirming)
  • Satya (truthful)
  • Svatantrya (freedom-enhancing)

Reconnect to your true essence. Call us at 818-292-6999