Welcome!
My former business name was Hawk’s Grace, the problem was it didn’t describe my profession: “It’s a beautiful name…what do you do?” So I decided to simplify my business name. It’s part of the whole idea of simplification that yoga has brought to my life.
Yoga…what does it mean? At it’s simplest yoga means union. According to the Yoga Sutras, it is the realization of our true Self (Atman). It states that our true Self resides within us and looks out at the world through layers, which are the mind and the body.
Since the world is so full of a number of things it leads to distraction and we become attached to it and lose touch with our Atman. To find ourselves again we need to go back through these same layers. You do this by following the yoga system that begins to take you back through the layers until you reach the Atman. As you move through these layers you begin to remove and transcend the obstacles and attachments that you had in your body and mind and get in touch with your true Self again.
When you reach this place within you realize that you don’t need a lot to be happy, that being happy is a choice, and that letting go of ‘stuff’ leads to happiness. It is in simplifying that you can find joy and peace of mind.
With this in mind I approach yoga from the outside in, keeping it simple. Through yoga stretching we remove the obstacles (the tightness) we have in our bodies, by focusing on the breath we bring calmness, and by holding various poses in proper alignment we strengthen, most importantly we move with mindfulness.
As I guide you through poses I ask questions, “Now, can you do this?”, “What is your face doing?” or ‘Are you breathing?” You begin to become more aware of how you hold tension in your mind and body. You begin to bring this awareness into your daily life and your life begins to change, along with your body.
Slowly but surely you begin to liberate yourself from both mental (how you see yourself) and physical obstacles and the more this happens the more you get to know yourself and the closer you get to being your true Self.
It’s really just that simple.
