An Introduction to Mindful Yoga (Part 1)
by Mary Leonard

In the foreword to Frank Boccio's new book, Mindfulness Yoga, Georg Feuernstein, Ph.D. tells us that "In the United States alone fifteen to twenty million yoga practitioners exist, but most practice yoga as a health and fitness regimen rather than for inner growth and spiritual fulfillment." In the past I counted myself as one of those twenty million! When I first started practicing yoga in the 90s, I thought of it as a good addition to my weekly routine of weights and aerobics—as a stretching and a stress reliever, nothing more. I did not see the relationship between yoga on Saturday and the rest of my week. Then, when Gina Bassinette started teaching yoga at Fitness Unlimited in Uptown Kingston, she mentioned her own studio in New Paltz, Jai Ma. I thought I would try a class. The classes were longer and also much more geared toward meditation and inner growth, only of course, after a vigorous practice of the asanas, or postures. However, it wasn't until I participated in a weekly meditation class with Frank Boccio that I began to see the connection between yoga and an ongoing meditative practice.

Frank is an artist in his ability to marry both the physical and spiritual. Any good Yoga practice will emphasize an inner journey, an opening to some higher power even if it's just the power within you. In his book Frank says that "Yoga has been used to mean 'union,' 'sun,' 'conjunction,' and similar terms of joining. By extension it came to be used to signify spiritual endeavor, especially regarding the disciplining of the mind and senses."

In speaking to many of the yoga teachers in the Hudson Valley, I have discovered that they all mention the inner exploration in some form or other, whether they use the term opening to grace, or as Frank Boccio said, a deep inner self inquiry. In fact, I would be wary of any yoga class that does not mention the "spiritual" or inner journey in some form. Frank claims that "you are shortchanging yourself if you don't acknowledge the mindfulness/meditation aspect of yoga." So, for the novice: no, yoga is not just a stress reliever, not just twisting yourself into a posture that takes coordination, strength and balance. However, that does not mean that the newcomer should put down this article and sign up for a step class at the gym, although there is nothing wrong with that!

Many Kinds of Teachers
All of my yoga teachers have been practicing for many years. Ami Hirschstein, one of the founders of the Jai Ma studio in New Paltz, began practicing yoga in college in 1990, but since then has studied at the yoga institute Kripalu in Lenox, Massachusetts. In fact many of the instructors in this area have studied at Kripalu at one time or another and you may see in their studios, or advertising, the term "Kripalu Certified." Besides being an educational institute, Kripalu is a type of Hatha Yoga known for being physically gentle and thus particularly good for the beginner. However, in most of the yoga classes I have taken in the Hudson Valley some form of Vinyasa or flowing yoga is practiced as well (although some Vinyasa classes are very physically challenging, the word Vinyasa suggests a fluidity of movement similar to dance). Ami advises newcomers to look for instructors with certification recognized through the Yoga Teacher Alliance, then to try a variety of classes to see which yoga style and teacher personality best fit their individual needs.

The Varieties of Yoga
Before a newcomer starts trying out classes, she or he may want to know something about the different types of yoga. Here is a brief guide:

Hatha — umbrella name for all the physical forms of yoga

Anusara — the emphasis is on alignment, strong foundations, and the opening of the heart-founded by John Friend

Ashtanga — an aerobic style of yoga that emphasizes learning set patterns of asanas.

Ana Forrest — a California style placing awareness on the abdomen, neck relaxation, and strong feet

Bikram, or "hot" yoga — a set asana series designed to warm and stretch the muscles and practiced in a heated studio

Iyengar — a style using props for modification and alignment

Jivamukti — vigorous physically and intellectually stimulating practice leading to spiritual awareness.

Kripalu — emphasis is on mind/body awareness through practicing asanas and breathing.

Kundalini — a style emphasizing the chakras and using cleansing breaths, chanting and repetitive movements.

Vinyasa — emphasis is on flowing movements, not always the same pattern like Ashtanga, but aerobic in nature

Whether I have done Ashtanga (an aerobic yoga), Bikram (a hot yoga), Anusara (a heart opening yoga), I have always done a sun salutation flow that moves the body through a beautiful set of asanas. In case you get as confused as I do about the different types of yoga, you might consider the following clarification from Alex Nehez, instructor at Moksha yoga studio in Rhinebeck. "Any yoga practice that uses the physical body as a means to achieve union is called Hatha Yoga There are many different "styles" of Hatha Yoga. Some of them are: Iyengar, Astanga, Forrest, Jivamukti. But every style uses the breath as the primary tool for the exploration of the body and the mind. Through a one pointed focus on the breath (a specific breathing technique is used in the practice) the practitioner becomes less distracted by the mind as she is brought into a 'meditative state.' Hatha Yoga has been described as meditation in motion."

The Yoga Studios
You know how Starbucks has popped up on every corner of New York City? Well, sometimes it seems the same thing is happening with yoga studios in the Hudson Valley! Originally I intended to include in this article a survey of yoga teachers and studios in the area, but since I have run out of space, I will have to reserve it for the summer issue of AboutTown. See you then!