The purpose of life is to awaken.

The purpose of a yoga class is to facilitate the awakening process in a tangible way--starting with the body, but engaging the mind, the senses and awareness on all levels. Asana, a yoga posture or pose, metaphorically means "to be seated in one's own soul or purpose." It is one of the eight limbs or practices of yoga that facilitate Awakening. In the series of Yoga practices asana follows yama and niyama which are the personal and social aspects of Yoga that help to establish our interdependence and broaden our understanding. In asana we take the time to break down movement so that we might perceive the motivation of our actions, exercise choice about how to center ourselves and listen deeply in order to freely become a conduit of energy.

The limb of Pranayama follows Asana and further refines the practice —now the sinuses filtering on a subtler level; the breath. The next four limbs bring us deeper into a meditative, peaceful and radiant state.

Iyengar Yoga utilizes clarity and precision to bring students into alignment. It maximizes strength without hardness, and grounding which results in lightness. We use asana as the tool for greater awareness in each of the five families--standing poses, backbends, inversions, twists, and forward bends.

Yoga is a space, a union where the divine powers of creativity and of receptivity join forces. Where these come together, beauty and grace abide and true intimacy with one's body as home returns.