Kate Donaldson has been teaching yoga since 2009; practicing for more.  She is passionate about yoga because of the great benefits a regular practice has had in her own life.  Her training is in Prana Vinyasa, which is a approach to yoga developed by Shiva Rea designed to emphasize the flow of energy (prana) in the body.

Kate's teaching philosophy is to emphasize foundational poses and to add variations as students progress.  She provides instruction throughout the class — not just where to place your feet or arms, but how to breathe and where to feel the pose in the body.  She strives to help students see relationships between poses and groups of poses; she hopes this knowledge will help them to “demystify” new poses.

Kate believes that advancing a yoga practice is not only about learning new and perhaps "harder" poses; a student can develop a deep awareness of poses, how to sustain a steady breath throughout the practice, how to steady the gaze, to keep the mind steady and "in the room."  New postures can be fun, and keep experienced students from stagnating in their practice, but it's not necessary to advance along any one path to have a regular yoga practice.

Finally, Kate believes that to get the most out of a yoga practice, it is useful to try to attend class at least once a week. Although any amount of yoga is good and helpful, a regular, consistent practice will provide the most benefit. It is difficult sometimes to commit to something new in our busy lives, but Simply Yoga strives to make the time students spend in class truly supportive to their well-being.

Yoga

In the Western world, although not universally true, yoga often refers to a series of postures and movements that promote flexibility in the body and calm in the mind.  A yoga practice is often entered into with the expectation that a physical benefit will be achieved.

In the Eastern world, where yoga's roots reside in India, yoga is often viewed as a philosophical system -- the original way yoga was presented — in which the physical postures are only one small part of a program meant more to release the mind and free the soul than to unwind the body.  In addition to dos and don'ts for daily living, the philosophy of yoga includes several levels of meditation and an entirely separate practice of breathing.  Thus, yoga offers many things to its practitioners beyond simply moving the body in a unique way.

Many students are intimidated by the Western concept of yoga, assuming that a student needs to already have a certain range of motion even to begin a practice — countless times I have heard the phrase:  "I'm not flexible enough to do yoga."

It is important to know that a new student can start a practice from any point.  Some postures may need to be modified until a point at which a student can approach the movement without undue strain.  There is a practice for everyone when students takes a broad view of yoga to include breath, meditation, and even religious devotion.  

Simply Yoga's focus is on the physical movements (asana), breath work (pranayama), meditation techniques, and a sprinkling of Ayurvedic self-care.

Blessings, 
Kate Donaldson, RYT-500e