Looking for a yoga class in the Illawarra?
Yoga has seen enormous growth over the past couple of decades. In the past, yogis were considered by many as either astute religious devotees or alternate “hippy” types that wore tie dye and cheesecloth while feasting on mung beans.
These days, yoga is widely recognised as a valuable fitness modality than promotes strength, balance and flexibility as well as offering many mental health benefits due to its’ focus on mindfulness and breath work.
There are a wide range of yoga classes available in the Illawarra, so no matter your ability level, goals or preferences, its’ likely there is a style of yoga class out there that’s a good fit for you.
What is yoga?
While there are a myriad of styles and varieties of yoga, it is basically an ancient practice of philosophies, breathing techniques and physical postures than originated in India, several thousand years ago.
Yoga involves self reflection and meditative techniques as well as challenging one’s physical limitations with mobility and strength, although it can be modified for all levels of physical ability. The practice cultivates physical, emotional and mental wellbeing and has been reported to improve concentration, digestion, relaxation and mental clarity. In today’s fast paced world of mental heath challenges and burnout, yoga is an easily accessible way to bring about some balance to your life.
Traditionally, yoga is really a way of life and not just a form of physical exercise. Here in the western world, however, it’s the physical movement aspect of yoga that it most widely known, recognised and practiced. This physical aspect is known as Hatha yoga.
Types of yoga in the illawarra
There are so many different types of yoga, with some styles more focused on the physical challenge of holding postures that target balance, strength and flexibility and others designed to be gentler, with more emphasis on concentration and breathing.
Often the name of a particular style of yoga stems from the teacher who developed that specific variations of Hatha yoga. There are so many of these variations, but some of the more common yoga styles that are practiced in Australia include;
- Iyengar
- Ashtanga
- Bikram
- Yin
With so many types of yoga classes in the Illawarra that you can attend, it’s great to experiment and try out a few.
Chat to a few local yoga teachers about what you’re looing for and go and try a few different classes out. There’s a “flavour” of yoga in the Illawarra for you!
illawarraYoga classes to try
Rebecca Davis – Counselling, Yoga and Massage Therapy Illawarra
Rebecca Davis is a Counsellor, Yoga teacher, and massage therapist specialising in mental and emotional health.
A lot of the massage work I do focuses on shifting trauma from the body and helping to rewire the brain to support recovery. I also do a lot of work with people with chronic pain, because that's something I've lived with most of my life and again, the right forms of bodywork can make an enormous difference to people's well-being and functional capacity.
