yoga and restorative yoga

vinyasa & hatha inspired yoga flow

Well, what a great time to get into yoga. With so many new studios and different styles and options, it’s no wonder your head is buzzing with what options are best for you. Should you try a Bikram, hatha, vinyasa or yin session? And should the room be extra hot to really work up a sweat?

So if you’ve got all these choices – why choose a vinyasa & Hatha flow?

At Universal Balance, we offer Vinyasa & Hatha inspired Flow Yoga classes– a dynamic style of yoga that’s physical and deeply satisfying. Our teachers are highly trained to help you to adjust the pose to cater for injuries, discomforts or general aches and pains.  

The beautiful thing about yoga is there are many different styles so there is always something for everyone.

the benefits of yoga for mind and body

·       Improve strength and flexibility

·       Great source of cardio

·       Burns calories

·       Increases agility and mobility

·       Helps maintain healthy bones and joints

·       Promotes a healthy posture

·       Helps increase energy level

·       Helps to calm the mind resulting in reduced stress and anxiety  

Yoga and meditation evoke a relaxation response – the opposite of stress in the body. The Yoga Health Foundation has also seen the results of just one hour of daily yoga lowering blood pressure, cholesterol and resting heart rates through a number of trials. These drops result in a healthy heart and work alongside low stress levels to maintain a healthy body and mind. 

If you’re looking to improve your fitness and connect your body, mind and soul – yoga might just be right for you.

Level: All

restorative yoga

the art of healing the nervous system

Based on the teachings of B.K.S Iyengar, Restorative Yoga is a practice of passive healing. It is intended to carry you into a deep state of relaxation by completely supporting your body in propped-up postures.  This allows you to surrender completely, allowing prana, or vital life energy, to bathe the body in nourishment.  The kind of experience we are seeking when practicing restorative yoga is very subtle.  The physical sensations you should feel are minimal as the body finds space to gently open into the support of the props. This is unlike other styles of yoga where you may be asked to use your breath as a coping mechanism for intense sensations as tight muscles begin to release. It is important to remember that during a Restorative practice it is an act of doing, without doing. In other words, through the use of props as support, you are able to surrender completely any tension in the body, without exerting any effort in the process.

The physiological benefits of the practice are immeasurable. One of the major benefits of Restorative Yoga is the effect it has on the nervous system. The nervous system functions on two planes: sympathetic and parasympathetic. When the nervous system is in its plane of sympathetic function, the body enters its ‘fight or flight’ mode of survival. All of the systems of the body that are not needed for basic survival from say, running away from a sabre-toothed tiger, temporarily cease functioning. Unfortunately, in today’s busy, stress-ridden society, more often than not, people are living prolonged periods of their daily life in their sympathetic nervous system! As a result, the body loses its ability to carry out basic daily functions, like proper respiration, digestion, and elimination. Restorative Yoga, as its name would indicate, ‘restores’ the body to its long-term plane of parasympathetic nervous system function, the function of ‘rest and rejuvenate.’ It is in parasympathetic nervous system mode that the systems of the body can restore balance, allowing the body, breath, and in turn, the thinking mind and internal energetic space to heal and function at their highest potential.

With its balancing, healing qualities for the nervous system, Restorative yoga is therefore a panacea for every body!  It also has many specialised applications, supporting those with conditions like anxiety, exhaustion, adrenal fatigue, chronic fatigue syndrome, hormonal imbalances and recovery from illness and surgery.

Level: All