DISCLAIMER: YOGA HAS BEEN KNOWN TO CAUSE HEALTH + HAPPINESS
Yoga can be two fold: a physical exercise used to stretch + heal muscles or an overall holistic health system that works to cleanse your physical body from the bottom to the top + provides tools to eliminate stress from yesterday, today + tomorrow so that we can live healthier + happier lives full of purpose + fulfillment!
yoga on tap // a practice of balanced living + mindful drinking
Whoever said that you can’t have a pint after a yoga class? At YOGA ON TAP our lifestyle is all about balance! If you exercised too much – your body would hate you, if you drank too much – your head will hate you, if you worked too much – your family will hate you! Health + happiness comes from balancing the priorities in our lives so that with a constant state of presence we can be calm cool + collected week in + week out, focusing more on what matters – kicking ass at crushing our goals + chasing after our dreams!
YOGA ON TAP acts as a reminder to constantly strive for balance in your lifestyle so that you can be more carefree day to day knowing that you are spending time on what matters most – family, friends, work, nutrition, exercise, travel, reading, etc! They all need to get some love! Whatever your passions are DO NOT let them go unfulfilled because they will come back + bite you in the ass!
ASHTANGA YOGA // YOGA IS 99% PRACTICE + 1% THEORY
For some, you will never care about the fundamental principles of the yoga practice, WHICH IS TOTALLY FINE! Come, move, release, go! Whether you are incorporating more of the tools provided in the practice or not, a limber body is a happy body!
For those of you interested more in our practice, we look to the traditional form of yoga,
ASHTANGA, in which our sessions
are based off of. YOGA ON TAP Founder Ashley Kokelj studied Ashtanga Yoga under Yogi Kamal Singh + Sunil Sharma in Rishikesh, India at Tattvaa Yogashala, located in the Yoga Capital of the World! A world changing experience where alcohol was banned + she didn’t use the internet for a month, it took Ashley some time before learning how to mindfully add back some of the distractions in our day to day life back into her normal lifestyle.
That is where the practice of yoga comes in:
Ashtanga Yoga literally means "eight-limbed yoga," as outlined by the sage Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras. According to Patanjali, the path of internal purification for revealing the Universal Self consists of the following eight spiritual practices:
Yama [moral codes]
Niyama [self-purification and study]
Asana [posture]
Pranayama [breath control]
Pratyahara [sense control]
Dharana [concentration]
Dhyana [meditation]
Samadhi [absorption into the Universal]
Ashtanga yoga asks tightness to bend + softness to be strong. It challenges the limits of the mind + the body beyond popular medical notions of safety, possibility + comfort. In doing so practitioners literally expand their consciousness. While containing six series of postures, most practitioners spend their entire lives working on the first or Primary Series of Ashtanga yoga because its level of strength and flexibility is already quite challenging. Yet the Primary Series is a complete practice that burns through accumulated toxins within the body + heightens the level of health. Without regular cleansing the body collects toxins from the environment, food and even emotional states that if left unattended can sometimes lead to disease + discomfort later in life.
The physical practice of yoga can be likened to brushing your teeth. Without a daily routine plaque and tartar accumulate and cause a pricey visit to the dentist. Yet with yoga youth, health and comfort can easily return to the body through proven methods of practice. It is no magic pill for it is through your own effort that you purify your body. Yoga is as strong as you make it and takes you as deep as you are willing to go.
TERMS + TOOLS
As mentioned above, the asana practice of Ashtanga yoga follows a set series of postures over six series which are linked together with vinyasa + ujjayi breathing with a focus on drishtis + bandhas to keep us focused from distraction + light in body. Here is a break down of some helpful terms:
VINYASA / SUN SALUTATION
A SMALL SEQUENCE OF POSTURES THAT ARE USED TO WARM UP @ THE BEGINNING OF PRACTICE + LINKS TOGETHER EVERY INDEPENDENT POSTURE IN THE ASHTANGA SERIES. BUILDS STRENGTH + FLEXIBILITY. CAN EASILY BE MODIFIED.
UJJAYI BREATHING / YOGA BREATHING
BREATHING TECHNIQUE WHERE WE CONSTRICT THE BACK OF THE THROAT MUSCLES SLIGHTLY + BREATHE IN/OUT THROUGH THE NOSTRILS TO CREATE A SOFT OCEAN SOUND, LIKE YOU WERE LISTENING INTO A SEASHELL! Helps us to slow down each inhale + exhale, create internal heat + keep us our minds from wandering off the mat!
DRISHTI
SET YOUR GAZE ON ONE PARTICULAR POINT LIKE YOUR HAND OR A SPOT ON THE CEILING TO HELP KEEP YOU FOCUSED + BALANCED WHEN MOVING THROUGH ANY YOGA POSTURE. SOME PREFER MORE OF A PERSPECTIVE GAZE WHERE YOU GAZE OUT AT A CERTAIN AREA IN THE ROOM BUT INSTEAD OF FOCUSING ON ONE POINT YOU SET YOUR GAZE ON THE SPACE AS A WHOLE.
BANDHAS / PELVIC FLOOR + HOLLOW BELLY
THESE ARE TOOLS USED TO HELP CONDUCT THE FLOW OF ENERGY IN OUR BODIES DURING OUR PRACTICE TO KEEP US LIGHT + STRONG.
UDDIYANA BANDHA IS LOCATED BELOW THE NAVEL + IS ACTIVATED WHEN WE KEEP A SLIGHT CONTRACTION OF THE LOW BELLY. IT IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE INHALATION.
MULA bANDHA IS LOCATED DEEP IN THE PELVIC FLOOR WITH A SLIGHT CONTRACTION OF THE THESE MUSCLES AS IF YOU REALLY NEEDED TO PEE! yoU DON’T WANT TO BE SQUEEZING 100%, WE’RE TALKING LIKE 20%. IT IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE EXHALATION.
ASHTANGA PRIMARY SERIES SEATING CHART
VIDEO SHORTS // PRACTICE // FLOWS // HOW TO’S
RESOURCES
bOOKS – COMING SOON
ONLINE READING – COMING SOON
VIDEOS – COMING SOON
Until I can get my yogi ass together to get my own Ashtanga video demos up, here’s one of my mentor’s + Ashtanga yoga guru Kino MacGregor as she takes us through an intro to the Ashtanga Primary Series!