Heartful Yoga

Heartful Yoga encompasses several different styles of yoga, namely, Hatha (Vinyasa) Yoga, Yin Yoga, Pranayama, Yoga Nidra and Bhakti Yoga. We offer this great variety so that everyone can find his*her way to his*her own personal practice.

Hatha Vinyasa Yoga

Hatha Yoga is, so to speak, the oldest asana practice known today. It represents the point of union and
balance between two opposing forces. The Sanskrit root "ha" means "sun", while "tha" translates as "moon". Hatha represents the eternal dance between the masculine and feminine, between the body and the mind. Vinyasa means flow, movement. Referring both to body movement and the flow and movement of the breath.

Older does not necessarily mean purer or more original, both Hatha and other more current styles are the result of the evolution of ancestral rituals and practices through time and the different traditions and cultures that inhabited India.

Daily practice of Hatha Yoga provides this balance on the physical, energetical, emotional and spiritual level. For you to experience that, there is no need for any new belief system, nor for a change in existing ones.

Hatha Yoga practice consists of postures and physical exercise (asanas), breath control (pranayamas), concentration and meditative practices, and also of a series of moral principles and concepts (yamas and niyamas). It is the combination of these practices that make Hatha Yoga, from our own personal experience, undoubtedly one of the most complete systems of personal growth that exist for the purpose of liberation from suffering.

In our practice both disciplines are present, sometimes closer to the more static and traditional Hatha, sometimes closer to the fluid movement of Vinyasa, and at other times in a fusion across both disciplines, depending on how we feel as teachers also as persons at that moment, and the general needs of the group.

Generally, what we need and what we like are two different things. While we incorporate difficult positions like head- and handstands, crow or scorpion in our daily practice, we don't believe in perfection as everything constantly evolves. Yoga is not meant to create competition or to be a show to demonstrate how "yogi" we are through the accomplishment of very difficult and elaborated positions. The purpose of yoga is to be aware, to connect with body, mind and emotions through breathing and to find and stay in balance no matter what happens. We believe in a "perfect" point of balance that every person can reach in each position, which of course is purely individual. We perceive the practice of asanas as a mere training for the mind and body, enabling us to bring inner balance to our day-to-day life, where it is more difficult to create balance and thus much needed.

Yin Yoga
Medicine

Yin Yoga is pure medicine for the crazy world and "timeless times" we live in. It is the art of doing nothing and at the same time feeling ourselves fully through deep stretching and relaxation. It is an intense and very meditative practice of asanas/ postures that are held for several minutes, resulting in a more relaxing and deep experience. In addition to group meditation.
Yin yoga is our offer for you, for the daily evening classes.

Among its many benefits, we want to highlight the following:

Provides elasticity to the joints
Carries the vital energy or "chi" to the internal organs
Balances our emotions
Quiets the mind

The most obvious difference between Yin and Yang Yoga (i.e. the different forms of Hatha Yoga) is
that in Yin we do not activate the muscles by staying in the asanas.

In this way, we can directly affect the body's connective tissues: tendons, ligaments and fascia. These "yin" tissues are more rigid than the "yang" ones such as the muscles, which are more elastic and respond better to rhythmic and repetitive movements.
By applying pressure to tendons and ligaments, or stretching them for an extended period of time, we bring "juiciness" to the joints, as the fluidity of their synovial fluid is regenerated.

Yin Yoga is based on Taoist philosophy, where the cycle of life has five seasons linked with the five elements, with two predominant internal organs per season/element. The internal organs are connected by a network of meridians or electromagnetic channels that conduct energy throughout the body. Both the meridians and the internal organs can be energetically harmonized through Yin Yoga asanas. Holding the postures for several minutes affects the tissues called fascia, where the meridians are located, stimulating the flow of vital energy or chi in these channels (as in acupuncture)
and generating more health and vitality for the internal organs.

... and as we know, a healthy body and balanced emotions invariably bring greater peace of mind.

Yoga Nidra Relaxation

Yoga Nidra basically is a way of reaching a state of deep meditation, lying down in Savasana position
and therefore avoiding the typical discomforts of seated meditation.

The Sanskrit term "Yoga Nidra" translates into "yogic sleep", a technique of deep relaxation and a form of meditation. Also called "psychic sleep", Yoga Nidra represents a state between sleep and wakefulness, where the body is completely relaxed and the practitioner turns the consciousness inward by listening to a series of instructions – much like a guided meditation. Performing yoga nidra involves practicing pratyahara ("extraction of the senses"), which is the fifth branch of Ashtanga Yoga.

Yoga Nidra is derived from the ancient tantric Nyasa practice. It is an important technique of meditation and deep relaxation developed by Swami Satyananda Saraswati who adapted and updated the ancient practices, preserving their essence, while removing their ritualistic complexity, adapting them to our time and making them more accessible to anyone.

The practice of Yoga Nidra produces deep relaxation and expands the individual's self-awareness,among
other important mental and physical benefits:

Calms the mind
Relaxes and rejuvenates the body
Relaxes the nervous system
Reduces fatigue
Reduces high cholesterol and blood pressure levels
Strengthens the immune system
Improves sleep quality
Helps with depression
Reduces pain
Improves concentration
Supports brain function and increases creativity

One hour of Yoga Nidra is equivalent to 4 hours of deep sleep. Santi discovered this by "accident" on his first Vipassana Meditation retreat and it changed the relationship had had with insomnia throughout his life forever.

Magic Pranayama

Breathing is the basis of life, as you breathe so is your life.
It usually happens automatically without paying too much attention to it,that's
how it goes...

Poor breathing is a direct cause of multiple disorders. Usually we don't consciously breathe, we don't know what it really means to breathe and what potentials it entails. We just cope and live more or less decently, missing the chance to enjoy life to the fullest.

There are multiple examples of people who can do really amazing things through control and awareness of their breathing, like Wim Hof, who is able to completely control his body temperature in ice-cold water for a long time without any adverse effect on his health and to neutralize a virus injected into his body.

The yoga master Iyengar also had a really powerful and decisive support in his early days with yoga
because of the sickly weakness of his body since childhood.

By becoming aware of your breath you can change, not what happens in your life, but how you place yourself in it, and the responses, usually reactive and unconscious, that we constantly generate in the face of everything that happens.

At Heartful Motion, we put special attention to Pranayama, breathing practice as a fundamental part of the class.

Bhakti Yoga / Kirtan

Bhakti Yoga is the limb of yoga that connects you with your own energy and the universal energy through sound. It is devotional yoga to divinity, based on the understanding that "Love is God and God is to Love".

Through the meditative chanting of mantras, Kirtan, it is possible and really easy to develop
a devotional attitude of love and to feel love within.

Yoga is an altruistic concept and it is not unusual for a Bhakti Yogi to perform tasks for others
without expecting anything from them in return, nor expecting any rewards for it.

According to the teachings of Bhakti Yoga, the reward lies in the doing itself and in the joy that
it will bring to others, putting the best of ourselves in it.