Our Yoga - Bali Shakti Yoga Studio

Yoga is a way to bring the body and the mind to stillness, in order to experience the oneness of life. Yoga is not sport, yoga is not religion, yoga is not therapy. Yoga is not just an acrobatic body manipulation. Yoga is a very peaceful way to communicate and discover your body. Yoga is the art of life and helps to develop the sense of being present and full of life.

This seven thousand year old yoga tradition is originally from the North Indian Tantric school, and has been passed down by many teachers including Sri Yuketeswar, Swami Satyananda Saraswati and Swami Gitananda Giri. The quality of our tradition is the respect for the potential of the complete mind and body system.

"If you want to be happy, do happy things.
If you want to be healthy, do healthy things.
If you want to be holy, do holy things."
Swami Gitananda Giri

Essentially, our tradition is based on a sadhana with eight steps :

1.	Mudra(seal, gesture, that which gives power) Mudra is a hand gesture used to symbolise the beginning of our practice. It gives a sign to the universe that we are doing yoga. Mudras have been used in all spiritual traditions around the world.
2.	Puja(offering) Puja is the first meditation, where we offer the fruit of our actions to the Almighty powers. It is also a way to connect us with other beings, bringing more happiness and peace in the world.
3.	Mantra(sacred words) We use the voice to create unity. The mantra Om is the original sound. The Bible says "at the beginning was the word- and the word was God", and the Upanishads say "in the beginning was the sound and the sound was Om".
4.	Kriya(action, movement) Here we start the more dynamic part of the sadhana, creating movements to improve the blood supply, expand the breathing capacity, accelerate the heart beat, or to develop the flexibility through movement. Basically here we use sun salutations, hathenas (techniques to develop the lung volume), and ashtanga yoga series based on Patabis Jois.
5.	Asana(posture that is stable and comfortable) To open the energy channels of the body, we use the rich range of classical asanas with more than 900 variations, from very simple postures like Trikonasana (triangle) to more advanced like Padma Sirsasana (lotus in headstand). The method is based on the precise teachings of BKS Iyengar, the beauty of the flow of Angela Farmer and the power and mindfulness of Boris Tatski (energy yoga ).
6.	Pranayama(yoga breathing technique) This is a bridge between the body and the soul and a way to mobilise and focus the energy in the body. Using this ancient yoga technique, more than eighty different variations create subtle connections with different states of the mind.
7.	Nishpanda(relaxation) The process of letting go is essential for evolution, and relaxation in yoga is a preparation for the next step (meditation). During relaxation the body has the time to assimilate and integrate all information for the sadhana. In yoga we use body focus relaxation and mind focus relaxation, and these help to bring down the body tension to a more healthy level.
8.	Dharana/Dhyana(concentration/meditation) The sadhana is a preparation to bring the body and mind to experience stillness. There are many different techniques to help the mind to concentrate and to achieve a state of meditation or contemplation, where no more thoughts emerge in the mind, and the mind is totally clear and free.

Much more than a technique, yoga is a way to communicate with your own body, and get in touch with parts of you that you might be surprised to discover. Yoga supports all processes of transformation, creating new inner space for more happiness, love and light.