What is yoga? The word "yoga" means union: joining of body, mind, and soul. We accomplish this through doing poses (asanas) and breath practice (pranayama). Other aspects of yoga include philosophical principles such as non-violence, truthfulness, and contentment. Yoga is not a religion, but it can be used as practice and principle to support physical, emotional/mental, & spiritual well-being.
At Redbud Yoga we follow the teachings of our master teacher, the late B.K.S. Iyengar, from Pune, India. Iyengar's gift was to make yoga accessible to all types of bodies and conditions. In his book, Light on Life, he wrote:
“Yoga is the rule book for playing the game of Life, but in this game no one needs to lose. It is tough, and you need to train hard. It requires the willingness to think for yourself, to observe and correct, and to surmount occasional setbacks. It demands honesty, sustained application, and above all love in your heart. If you are interested to understand what it means to be a human being, placed between earth and sky, if you are interested in where you come from and where you will be able to go, if you want happiness and long for freedom, then you have already begun to take the first steps toward the journey inward.”’ “The rules of nature cannot be bent. They are impersonal and implacable. But we do play with them. By accepting nature’s challenge and joining the game, we find ourselves in a windswept and exciting journey that will pay benefits commensurate to the time and effort we put in — the lowest being our ability to tie our shoelaces when we are eighty and the highest being the opportunity to taste the essence of life itself.”