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06 August 2009
Posted in
Feeling Healthy This Winter
During these cold winter days, a hot yoga practice may be the perfect tonic to help cure the winter blues. On a physical level, during the winter we walk with our shoulders hunched and our muscles tensed in preparation for slipping on the icy sidewalks. This constant level of tension can lead to soreness and pain in the muscles and the joints. The stretching, and indeed the heat, in a hot yoga class can help to relieve that tension, helping you to move more comfortably throughout your day.
Emotionally and psychologically, winter often exacerbates feelings of restlessness and sadness, even depression. All exercise releases those feel-good hormones, endorphins, but yoga can have a deeper impact psychologically; at Moksha Yoga, students are encouraged to work at their own pace, release expectations and judgements, and accept – even celebrate – their own limitations, abilities and bodies, and to have compassion for themselves and for others.
One of the guidelines of leading a yogic life is to practice ahimsa - non-harming - and this is ahimsa directed inwardly, allowing students to foster a deep sense of peace and contentment in their own lives.
Practicing yoga in an environmentally-conscious space is also practicing ahimsa, as great measures are taken to ensure that the environmental impact of running a hot yoga studio is lessened as much as possible. Often green is not the cheapest way to go, but the long-term price of environmental carelessness is far too great to ignore.
In the eyes of Joanna Thurlow, owner and director of Moksha Yoga Halifax, the goal of Moksha Yoga is not to lose weight or get flexible; rather, it’s to encourage that idea of ahimsa, both inwardly and outwardly. This, she feels, can have far-reaching implications.
“Imagine if everyone lived with a commitment to not harm – to not harm themselves through unhealthy lifestyle and dietary choices or through constant self-judgement; to not harm others with their words or actions, but rather to foster compassion; and to not harm the environment and to work to protect and respect the earth… If everyone made those changes, then we would have a happier, healthier and more peaceful world.”
Moksha Yoga: How It’s Unique and What’s With the Heat, Anyway?
Moksha Yoga is a series of traditional hatha yoga postures practiced in a room heated to about 37 degrees C. There are Moksha Yoga studios across the country, united not in the traditional franchise sense, but rather in each studio owner’s commitment to environmentally-conscious living, and their belief that yoga can and should be accessible to everyone.
Moksha Yoga, both as a series of postures and a community, was created in Toronto by Ted Grand and Jessica Robertson. Both instructors of Bikram Hot Yoga at the time, they were feeling restricted by Bikram’s many rules regarding the teaching of ‘his’ yoga and the requirements for Bikram Yoga studios. So, they brainstormed to create the ideal yoga practice and in the ideal studio environment, and they came up with Moksha Yoga.
Moksha Yoga is a therapeutic form of yoga that focuses on freeing the areas of the body that are habitually constricted, such as the lower back, hips, knees, shoulders and neck.. Moksha-trained teachers are free to modify the series based on the individual needs of the students in their classes. All the studios are built and operated according to very high environmental standards, using, for example, recycled and reclaimed materials wherever possible, chemical-free paint and cleaning products, sustainable flooring materials, low-flow showers and toilets, green insulation, etc. Furthermore, depending on the area, they are either Bullfrog powered or they pay monthly fees to Zero Footprint to carbon-offset their energy use, making them the only carbon-neutral studio group in the world.
Another defining characteristic of Moksha Yoga is that it’s practiced in a hot room. And they ain’t lying – at around 37C with about 60% humidity, the practice room at Moksha Yoga studios can feel like a tropical paradise, even in the dead of winter! The heat is used to increase circulation and warm the muscles, allowing students to go deeper and more safely into the postures. The heat also promotes sweating (and you will sweat!), which is an effective way to detoxify, since we hold a lot of toxins in our skin.
Moksha Yoga – Where and When
Moksha Yoga has classes daily, and all classes are suitable for all levels, from the experienced practitioner to the first-time yogi! The class schedule and particulars can be found online at www.mokshayogahalifax.com
All classes are on a drop-in basis, so there is no pre-registration necessary. There are lots of different membership options, from a single drop-in class ($16) to a year unlimited pass ($1200). For those new to Moksha Yoga, try the Introductory Special - a full week of unlimited hot yoga for just $20!
Moksha Yoga Halifax is located at 1512 Dresden Row, right across from Pete’s Frootique. Phone: 902 420 088. Website: www.mokshayogahalifax.com. Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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