This is My First Yoga Class - What Do I Need to Know?

• Reservations are not required.
• Please arrive a few minutes early.
• Wear comfortable workout clothes - cotton fabrics are best.
• You will sweat, bring a towel.
• The practice is done barefoot on sticky mats.
• Some mats are available for newcomers, but for hygienic reasons, please purchase your own mat.
• It's best to eat 2 hours prior to class.
• If you must eat, have something easy to digest, like fruit.
• Drink plenty of water before and after class.
• Remember to work within your own limitations. Honor your body.
• Notify instructor of any physical ailments or medical conditions.

Yoga Terms:

Asanas:
The physical postures we practice in Yoga to build strength, flexibility, endurance and balance. Yoga asanas benefit the cardiovascular system, the immune system, the endocrine system and promote the body's natural healing responses.

Pranayamas:
Breath discipline practices, breathing techniques. Yoga believes in a body, mind, spirit connection and the breath is the bridge between these realms.

Meditation:
Mind training for sustained concentration and focus. Healthy thoughts create health.

Vinyasa:
Intelligent sequences of poses guided by breath. Preparatory poses are used to prepare the body for more dynamic poses and counter poses are performed for balance.

Flow:
The uninterrupted state of Yoga - a connection to something larger than ourselves. Joyful people have a steady connection to their Source.

Mantras:
Literally "thought that liberates." Mantras are words or phrases with divine sound structure - Amen, Shalom and Om are mantras.

Mudras:
Literally "to move toward delight." Mudras are hand or body gestures that are healing. The prayer position with palms pressed together at the heart is a mudra which predates Christianity by thousands of years. Yogis believe the gesture harmonizes the left and right hemispheres of the brain, soothing the nervous system.

Shala: Yoga school

Ayurveda:
The ancient medical system of India- a sister science to Yoga.

Tantra:
Those techniques which move us beyond our limitations.
Tantra combines asanas, pranayamas, contemplations, meditations, visualizations, bhavana, ayurveda, chanting, ritual, astrology, gemology, herbology, mudras, mantras and alchemy.

Bhakti:
Surrender and devotion to the Source, whatever your name is for the Source or God/Goddess.

Dharma:
Right action- taking our practice off the mat and into life to find our purpose.

Prana:
Similar to the Christian concept of the Holy Spirit, prana is energy plus intelligence, energy that is aware of itself.

Prana is the life force energy which animates all of nature and travels via the breath and awareness in the human body.

Bhavana:
The cultivation of helpful and positive attitudes, feelings and intentions.

Yoga Nidra:
Yogic Sleep is conscious relaxation and a form of meditation. The Tantric version creates circuits of healing energy in the body using Marma Points.