Yoga is a Sanskrit word most commonly translated into English today as union or connection. Most people in the West who have heard of yoga think of it as a form of stretching or physical body postures. In reality, yoga is a comprehensive approach to training the mind and body towards a singular point of concentration and calm focus. Yoga transforms an individual’s relationship to his or her internal experience and external environment.

Prajna means deep wisdom or insight. To cultivate this insight the mind-body is introduced to multiple levels of experience ranging from meditation, chant (sound), structural asana (postures), pranayama (breath control), and dharma study on the nature of mind. These approaches are used to build deeper insight into the ultimate nature of mind and the body’s relationship to that experience in physical space and time.

Key emphasis in the physical practice is placed on efficient structural alignment of the body in space. Bringing the physical structure closer to a midline central axis orientation improves the flow of gravity through the structure of the body. Realizing this efficiency creates sufficient grounded support to allow the subtle physiological movement of organs along with greater flow of breath (prana) through the whole field of awareness.

 To build this awareness in a gradual and integrated manner, the amount of influence of gravity on the physical body is regulated. By initially creating an environment that is more stable, the body, nerves and awareness are able to rest. This can be accomplished by laying down, sitting or using props such as bolsters, blocks and straps. From this place of greater ease, new somatic experiences are slowly forged, which are then gradually brought back into the body in its full relationship with gravity and the midline.

Throughout this entire reorientation, subtle layers of the mental, emotional and energetic body are prompted and woven into this experience to bring the entire being into a greater state of rest and awareness of the structures of form and the formlessness of flow.