Yoga Guidelines

Reading list

Photo tour of studio

.

* Level Of Instruction

At Eyes of the World, we believe you will receive some of the very finest teaching available in yoga today. Who you study with makes a difference.

Yoga needs a proper room environment, such as Eyes of the World, to foster yoga's potential.

Find a teacher who teaches in a style you resonate with. We think it is a good idea to work with someone who has many years of experience, who can take you far into all aspects of yoga. We believe we can offer that to you.

* What Yoga Is

Yoga is a direct experience of the vast interrelatedness of all life and of all things. You will feel at peace at the end of a yoga class because there is a natural realignment of your body which leads to a natural realignment of your perception of life and of who you are.

You will need to develop discipline and there is hard work involved especially when you first begin.

Hatha Yoga is the study and practice of physical alignments and breath.

Yoga is much more that stretching and breathing. (Read The Perennial Philosphy.

If you stay with yoga long enough, you may discover a "spiritual awakening" (for lack of a better phrase.) You will find out that who you are, is not just your body, and not just the conversations in your mind. This is not dogma, but a direct experience. Yoga will open your eyes to things you have not experienced before. It will take you beyond the mundane ordinary waking perceptions and into a whole new appreciation of life.

Genuine yoga will change your life, your habits, your body, your health, your mind, your breathing patterns, your attitudes, your outlook. Yoga is about learning from direct experience. You will develop wisdom of how your body works most efficiently. You will learn how your conscious and unconsious mind can either support or harm you, and then later, a deeper wisodm naturally gets revealed. There is more.....

*What Yoga is Not

Yoga is not a religion at Eyes of the World. You don't have to adopt any beliefs, gurus or foreign dieties. There is no conflict with whatever you believe in.

We are grateful to all the teachers we have studied with, yet we promote no lineages, no fundamentalist doctirnes. We want students like ourselves who question and challenge everything and take nothing at face value.

Yoga is not about strength and flexibility. You don't have to be flexible to practice yoga. Strength and flexibility will happen as a secondary benefit when you practice. The practice at Eyes of the World, is physically challenging, sometimes even "aerobic" in Open Vinyasa, but fitness you will probably discover is just a secondary benefit. Yoga is far more valuable than physical training, although that is where most people start.

Trying one or two yoga classes is like taking one or two golf lessons. There is not much point to it. You will need to make a sincere commitment for 3 months to give it a fair trial. See what happens. Don't be quick to judge. Your mental and physical habits took a long time to develop. You won't undo them in a single class. You will need to practice alignments, breath and awareness many times a week, at home, in the car, waiting in line. Eventually the meditative depth that you learn in yoga is an all day long practice. Then, you begin to experience its true depth.

Many people come to yoga because of back pain, sciatica, neck problems, breathing problems, heart problems, anxiety, diabetes, plantar fascitis, stress disorders, ulcers, addictions, anxiety, panic attacks, depression, or they want to lose weight. This is a good thing. Because many find that yoga is so much more than the physical problems that they first came for. While yoga is very effective in allievating certain types of medical conditions, these are secondary benefits. Yoga is not a medical practice, but it has been shown to be very helpful in many ways.

Frequently asked question:

Q: How long should I go to Fundamental classes?

A: As long as you like. You decide.....some people have gone to Fundamentals for three or four years because they like it and it suits their needs.

New students go to these classes

Fundamentals classes:
Mon 9:30 am, Mon 7:30 pm, Wed 5:45 pm

Mellow Vinyasa
Fri 4:30 pm, Sat 10 am

Gentle Yoga
Tues 7:30 pm

prenatal yoga

(Students who have studied Iyengar Yoga should go to Open Vinyasa Classes)

.

.

Outside Door Locked?

After 5:45 pm and on Saturdays and Sundays, the outside door is locked for security purposes. Please be patient. One of the teachers or a student helper will be with you to escort you inside.

Come 15 minutes early.

Please do not go upstairs to the lawyers offices. Please use the facilities and changing rooms in the yoga studio.

Clothing

Be prepared to sweat. Wear comfortable exercise clothing that you can move in. Jeans and belts won't work. We have three dressing rooms in the back. It is a practice done in bare feet.

Food

Do not eat at least one and a half hours before class. That's ideal. If you need to keep up your blood sugar, try something that is liquid or easy to digest.

Water

Drink water 45 minutes before and after class. In Level One and Two classes you will sweat. We don't recommend drinking water during class. Of course, if you need to clear your mouth, then take as small amount as possible. There is high quality, bottled water for sale at Eyes of the World at the front desk.

Heat? Hot Yoga?

The "Fundamental classes" do not use heat. We conduct them at normal room temperature. "Mellow Vinyasa classes" do not use heat or very modestly. "Open Vinyasa" classes do use heat around 85 to 90 degrees. This is like practicing on a warm summer's day.

Using heat with yoga is a long discussion and here are a few headllines as to why we use it. It is best to suspend your anticipations and prejudices and try it out for many classes. Many people start off being very much against any kind of heat before they work with it. Then later they change their minds once they overcome their mental fears and find out the huge benefits one can get from using heat in yoga.

There are many reasons for using heat: 1) Most importantly, it reduces injuries 2) Increases flexibility which makes it safer to go into backbends and twists. You just can't go as far in a cold room. 3) Sweating detoxifies the body in a way like nothing else. Your sweat will stink badly for many classes. Once you have cleaned out the toxins, pesticides and potentialy letal chemical residues that are stored in your fat cells waiting to cause you some disease, your sweat will then turn sweet smelling. Wow! You will feel light and exuberant. Your skin will glow. No doctor, no surgery and no pill can detoxify you like this. Hot yoga is a unique therapy better than saunas because you twist, squeeze and flush out all the nasty things. 4) Weight loss is a reason for some people. You will lose many pounds each class. 5) Opens up your tolerance to temperature ranges. You will become equanimous to hot and cold weather. So give it a try for many many classes before you pass judgment.

Of course, people of different ages and genders have different heat needs to satisfy these goals. We have spaces in the room that are much colder than others: 7 to 9 degrees colder. So you can go to these spots and leave the hot spots for others. But you will have to go to class early and ask the teacher where the cool spots are.

Towel

Bring a medium sized bath towel to Open Vinyasa classes. You will need it.

Cell Phones

Please remember to turn on your cell phone after you leave class. Please use telepathy during class. :)

Jewelry, Watches, Bangles

Best of all: Don't bring them. If you do, Please, take off your watches, bangles and jewelry as they will get in the way and could possibly cause you wrist injury.

Perfume

We practice many breathing techniques and perfumes can be a problem for others in the class.

Hallway policies

We share the inside hallway with many other businesses. Please respect this space.

The studio door opens 15 minutes before class. Do not hang out in the hallway. If you come early, wait in your car or enjoy the park.

During the winter months, you may wait in the hallway, but please be respectful of the lawyers offices upstairs.

We have changing rooms inside the yoga studio. Please use them. Do not under any circumstances go up to the lawyer's offices on the 2nd or 3rd floors and use their bathrooms.

Cost. Register at the door.

You may drop in for a single class at $15 plus $2 yoga mat rental. Cash or check, sorry no credit cards. No preregistration required.

If you like the yoga practice at Eyes of the World, buy a 12 class card for $145 and your own yoga mat. Our regular students get a discount class card. Only buy a card if you can finish your 12 classes within 12 weeks. That is $12 per class. Come many times a week. As of now, the studio is large and there is no preregistration for any particular class.

"Forgotten Cards" If you forget your class card, then you will need to pay the drop in rate of $15 that class. Your class card is your responsibility to hold on to and not lose. Classes are non-refundable and non-transferrable to other students. We recommned that you do not keep your card in your wallet or purse. buy a yoga mat bag and keep your class card with your yoga mat.

Yoga mats

The perfect yoga mat has yet to be made.

The yoga mats we rent are pretty decent, but you want to get your own. Eventually, most yogis get one yoga mat for home practice and one yoga mat to keep in the car.

You can go cheap and buy a yoga mat at the Job Lot, TJ MAX or the supermarket for $5 -20 dollars. In most experienced people's opinion, you've wasted your money. Practicing on a high quality yoga mat is like driving a BMW. It is a much better experience. Why drive a Yugo? We don't recommend cheapo mats made by Living Arts, Gaiam, or Wai Lani. They are decidely inferior.

We have high quality yoga mats available for sale at the studio. Currently, we sell the 68" "Harmony" mat by Jade Yoga for $52.35 plus RI tax = $56.00. (This is less than you can buy it elsewhere. ) This is the best yoga mat we have encountered for people who need traction in sweaty environments. You will not need to break it in. It comes ready to practice on. It is made of natural rubber, not latex.

If you bought one of the other yoga mats, you will need to break it in for 15 or 20 practices or more. Wipe it down with "Simple Green" or some such soap and hang it in a sunny window. Practice and sweat on it. After a few months, your mat may almost be useable. Take our word for it, we don't recommend the cheapo mats.

Expensive mats to avoid: "Mandukasana Mat" $75 + tax. "Tola Mat" $65 + tax. We don't recommend these turkeys because they give zero traction in sweaty environments.

Buy a Large Yoga mat bag!! Keep your class card and yoga mat together. We have the best yoga mat bags probably in the world. There are uniquely beautiful, specially made yoga mat bags in a wide range of prices. They are works of art and love. One of our students specially makes them with the highest exacting standards, fabrics, colors and designs. She even adornes some of them with jewlery. We sometimes have simple bags as well.