LivYoga instructors are Certified and Registered with the Yoga Alliance.  LivYoga teachers have studied a variety of yoga disciplines: Anusara Ashtanga Kripalu Iyengar Vinyasa Viniyoga

Discover what lies beneath the surface.  "All you need is deep within you waiting to unfold and reveal itself. All you have to do is be still and take time to seek for what is within, and you will surely find it."-  E. Caddy

Shape, Tone, Stretch, Relax, Transform

Yoga can do all of this for you.  You don't need to be flexible.  You just need to breathe.

Shape

It’s true, yoga can help you change your shape and actually get you to smile when you look in the mirror .

Tone

Many people practicing yoga gain tremendous strength through various poses/asanas that dumbbells become a thing of the past.

Stretch

No matter what shape you are in, your age, or athletic ability, stretching is critical and yoga without question gets your body stretching.

Relax

Many people say the best part of yoga is the final resting pose, savasana.  And they may be right.  But all of yoga whether a challenging balancing pose or rest helps your mind and body relax.

Transform

Yoga is a wonderful habit to have.  Both off and on the mat, it is like an old friend that is comforting, trustworthy, and reliable.  It just makes you a better you!

Why Stretch? The Physical Benefits:

• Muscles contract through movement, getting shorter and shorter. This forms tightness and stress in muscle groups and joint capsules, eventually causing spasms, pain, and inflexibility. Joint tightness is now being linked to increased risk of arthritis.
• If muscles do not relax, they are deprived of oxygen. Think of a muscle as a sponge- when it is squeezed, fluids flow out.  Only when it is relaxed can it absorb fluids. When contracted the muscle is deprived of blood and oxygen and in time will get injured or diseased. Stretching elongates the muscle so it relaxes and absorbs blood and oxygen.
• Tight muscles hamper joints while stretching promotes full range of motion. Most joints are synovial joints in which synovial fluid oils the surfaces, making movements smooth and the ends of the bones soft. Movement stimulates the flow of synovial fluid while lack of movement sets the stage for arthritis when joints become dry and brittle.
• Tight muscles on one side mean weak muscles on the other side. Proper yoga stretching creates and maintains muscular balance.
• Tight muscles pull body out of alignment. Yoga stretches allow the body to be in natural alignment which means a free flow of fluids.
• A muscle that is too tight loses its mobility and functionality. They may look good, but lack in function and performance.
• Ligaments are connective tissue that joins bone to support joints. When they are not stretched, they can collapse and are not called upon to work twice as hard; they then harden and become immobile.

Why Yoga? The Mental Benefits:

• Flexibility of body transfers to flexibility of mind. It is easier to relax the body than shut off the mind chatter.
• It is more effective to start with what we can feel rather than force the mind to relax.
• Relaxation is the most effective and efficient way to relieve stress. Strenuous physical activity is also effective but stressful in another form.
• Savasana, relaxation/corpse pose, is a surrender exercise. Blood pressure, pulse rate, brain waves, and metabolism all slow down, allowing the body to receive a deep rest, where healing more naturally and spontaneously occur.
• When the body is fully relaxed the brain starts to produce more alpha waves, an indication of the mind beginning to transcend- to go beyond normal thought patterns. This is the state in which Edison founded the light bulb, and many scientists, philosophers, and sages came to their greatest insights. A higher state of consciousness begins to occur. The breath is often used as a tool or vehicle to this place of deeper awareness.

Why wait?  Discover what yoga can do for you in so many wonderful ways.