Yoga and yogatypes

What is yoga?
When I talk about Yoga, the first question that is asked is often: “can you stand on your head?” Yes, I can. But performing acrobatics is not what it is about. Yoga goes further than that. It is not about “look what I can do,” but about “look who I am.”
Yoga is not a competition, you doing it purely for yourself.

Yoga is an exercise method through which you learn to move your attention from the outside to the inside. During the yoga postures you feel what is happening with careful attention: in your body, with your breath and your mind. Where is the tension? You are often completely unaware of where the tension is located. Through the postures and movements you will discover where the unnecessary tension is located. What is occurring? What can be released?
You will get more insight in yourself: how am I facing life? How do I treat myself and others?

With Yoga your posture will improve, you get more strength and endurance, and you will become more flexible, both in your body and your mind.
Tension and energy blockades can reduce and drain, you will literally and figuratively become softer.
Yoga affects the energy system and the nervous system, your body will get a chance to relax, recover and recharge. There will be more peace and clarity.
The postures will affect the glands, organs, connective tissue and joints and bring your body into balance.
Because of Yoga, you will not only feel physically fit, but also mentally and emotionally you will experience more space and energy.
You will not learn Yoga from books or through YouTube, but by doing it.
Only by doing it, you can find out what Yoga can do for you.
Whether you do it once a week, or every day, yoga enriches your life. If you practice it for a while, you are going to notice more and more positive effects in your body and your life.
A way of life…
Yoga is suitable for everyone, regardless of age, background and physical condition.
Everyone can participate in their own way and pace.

Hatha Yoga
The Hatha Yoga as offered by Flow-Yoga is primarily an exercise method.
This can both be quiet, as well as tough and physically challenging.
The positions are carried out in a very aware way, with full attention, and are held for some time. This way you will learn to feel the body with full attention. Through this form of inward attention, you will expand your inner consciousness. The mind becomes quieter. You come closer to yourself. At the same time, the energy in the body will be freed, will continue to flow and will bring the body and mind into balance.
Each lesson ends with a relaxation exercise.
The word Hatha derives from the words ha, which means sun, and tha, which means moon. The moon is represents the feminine energy, the receiving, the calm, the dark, whilst the sun stands for the male energy, the activating, the light. Hatha symbolizes contradictory elements that are always in our lives.
The word Yoga has several meanings: balancing, bringing together, controlling.
Through Hatha Yoga we find balance between tension and release, holding and releasing, left and right, breathing in and out, between body and mind, head (mind) and heart (feeling).
Hatha Yoga thus brings balance and harmony in your body and mind. The control of body and mind.
Hatha Yoga is suitable for everyone, regardless of age or flexibility.

Yin Yoga
Yin Yoga is still Hatha yoga. It is a quiet, meditative form of yoga in which you remain in one position for the average of five minutes. The postures are adapted to your body through functional anatomy. This is because everyone’s bones and proportions are different. The aim is to stretch and stimulate the connective tissue, such as ligaments and cartilage. In the connective tissue a lot is happening: pain, limited motion, pollution. It is one of the most important areas of our body.
In addition, Yin Yoga affects the energy pathways (meridians) and organs.
Because you remain in the posture in silence for a long time, you mostly encounter yourself in all respects.
It teaches you to open yourself and listen carefully to what your body is telling you.
Yin Yoga seems very static, but within the body a lot is happening.
One of the nicest benefits of Yin Yoga is the stillness that it can bring.
This type of yoga is not better than normal Hatha-Yoga, as they complement each other perfectly.
Yin-Yoga is suitable for everyone, even if you don’t have experience with yoga.

Yintens
During these Yin Yoga lessons the postures are experienced more intensive, even somewhat longer than normally. The lesson is also longer: two hours instead of an hour and fifteen minutes. Because of this even more stillness can be reached.
Yintens is taught once a month on Sunday. Please consult the course time table and program.

Tough Yoga (Yang)
A variation on Hatha Yoga, but with a little more edge to it. This dynamic and active lesson starts with gentle movements to prepare you for the lesson. After this, the sun salutations will warm your body and make breathing deeper. The series of postures that follows are connected in one continuous flow to the rhythm of the breath. This has a positive effect on endurance, strength, flexibility and concentration. This series is repeated for a few weeks so you can get used to the postures and grow in mastering them a little further each week.
This style is particularly suitable if you, in addition to the mental relaxation, are also looking for substantial physical exertion.

Yoga for the elderly
That old age does not need to be accompanied by all kinds of pains and infirmities, is proven by the elderly who exercise Yoga.
These classes do have a calmer structure and the poses are adapted to what is possible.

Meditation
Every month there is a meditation evening for students. On these evenings we work from different types of meditation, such as: the Zen tradition, walking and sitting meditation, and inaction by the Samsara tradition. All these techniques are open attention techniques, they are focused on reviewing, recognizing and admitting everything passes, everything that occurs in our consciousness.
By practicing to remain present, we regain contact with this natural openness. The focus is on the here and now, on everything that is going on at this moment.
Meditation teaches us to connect with our mind, our heart and our body.
It teaches us about ourselves, about all the thoughts that pass and how we respond to this.
It teaches us patience, acceptance and BEING who we are.