Prana Yoga

This yoga style creates an intense connection between body and mind. It stimulates an attitude of mindfulness and increased concentration. It also increases the body’s spatial self-awareness and improves breathing capacity. Physically speaking, Prana Yoga renders you more flexible and stronger. Your muscles are stimulated to grow lengthwise. They build up equal strength on all sides of the body and the limbs. Prana Yoga improves the balance and health of your joints. You also learn to be firmer and more conscious. You experience and manage your breathing with sharpened awareness.
After a class of Prana Yoga you will feel relaxed, completely grounded and at home in your physical body..

Mental awareness

Keeping your full attention to your practice is probably the biggest task. Yet it is essential in yoga practice. It is a genuine mental effort.
That’s why we sometimes practice with our eyes closed. In order to stay focused on all physical sensations in the body more easily.

Breathing

During Prana Yoga we work continuously with the ujjayi breathing technique and sometimes with conscious contraction of certain muscle groups.
We consider our breathing to be the “engine”, guide and driving force of our practice. Since everyone breathes in a different way, there are moments when the participants work at their own rhythm.

Posture

In Prana Yoga the six most important functions of physical yoga are all addressed. The tool to support and strengthen these functions is the yoga posture or asana.
The movements and postures come from almost hundreds of described yoga postures. Dynamic postures (movements) alternate with static moments. We continue to take five to seven quiet, deep breaths in each posture. Prana Yoga is somewhat slower and more static than Prana Yoga Flow.
The series includes standing, sitting and lying postures. Certain props such as chairs, blocks, belts, for example, are available. Because they help to support our yoga practice and to adapt it to each person’s individual physical abilities.

Strength and flexibility are built up with every class. Both mental awareness and concentration improve. Little by little we regain the mastery over our body and mind that we have sometimes lost due to our contemporary way of life.
The quiet sequence of postures allows us to reflect on the “technical” details from time to time. In order o strive for the most appropriate alignment that fits our individual body. In doing so, we avoid exaggeration: because we use the posture as a means of getting into the body, and not the other way around.

How is a Prana Yoga Flow class structured?

Prana Yoga classes are generally structured as follows:

• Aiming for presence in the present moment and physical sensation of the body.
• Activation of the ujjayi breathing technique prior to the postural sequence.
• A few short warm-ups.
• The sequence of postures consisting of standing, sitting, lying and inverted postures.
• At the end a short moment of meditation and deep relaxation, lying on our back or in a resting position of your choice.

A class of Prana Yoga lasts for an hour.

Would you like to make a comparison with other yoga styles? Then this yoga is close to what one finds elsewhere under the name Hatha Yoga.