Yoga/Tai Chi Classes

Gentle Yoga PE 180

Add a relaxation break to your day. Learn techniques to better manage stress in your life. Slow down the body processes: heart rate, breathing, and muscle tension - give yourself a chance to breathe. This gentle form of flow yoga places great emphasis on the breath and coordinating breath with movement. Flowing movement or vinyasa is similar to ashtanga’s dynamic series of poses, but is performed at a greatly reduced pace and stress level. Poses and flows are chosen to suit the student’s abilities. It teaches the yoga student how to apply the tools of yoga — asana, chanting, pranayama (control of breath), and meditation — in individual practice. Developed to places less stress on joints and knees since postures are done with slightly bent knees. Gentle yoga is considered excellent for beginners, and is increasingly being used in therapeutic environments.  

Relaxation YogaPE 185

Add a relaxation break to the middle of your day. Learn techniques to better manage stress in your life. Slow down the body processes: heart rate, breathing, and muscle tension - give yourself a chance to breathe. In this section, we present the technique of relaxation, that is an essential part of your yoga practice. There are three parts to proper relaxation - physical, mental and spiritual relaxation. With practice you will gradually learn to use your subconscious mind to extend this control to the involuntary muscles of the heart, the digestive systems and other organs too. Your yoga practice will help to be more in touch with your body, able to recognize tension and relaxation and thus to bring them under your conscious control. Throughout this session, you will spend time performing various Savasanas and several minutes in Final Relaxation. During this time, you will learn to relax each part of the body. A great combination for those taking power yoga or involved in vigorous physical activities.

Yoga PE 185

Practice of mind/body integration which allows for the development of strength endurance, flexibility and balance in a supportive and non threatening atmosphere. Following the classic Hatha Yoga practice this is an inspired class for those new to yoga as well as more experienced yoga students just wanting a more relaxed pace.  All levels are welcome -- Yoga offers some of the largest and most diverse courses in the PE curriculum. . In addition to the basics, the course also includes inversions, arm balances, and all the other fun stuff of hatha yoga practice. Each class is structured as a balanced practice, working a bit on each of the basic types of yoga poses and thus giving you a complete workout for the full body. Through these practices, the student is lead to greater health, renewed energy and restored balance. These practices may also assist in better fitness and fewer injuries in sports and every day activities.

We follow a traditional variety of fundamental hatha yoga poses -- many of which also appear in our Yoga II and power yoga classes. Our primary focus is on alignment and form in the poses. A great class for those who wish to begin a fitness activity.

Power Yoga PE 185

Power yoga tightens and tones the entire body, enhances flexibility and builds core strength by combining traditional fitness training, focused breathing and strength building through yoga poses. The result is a mind-body workout that improves health, athletic performance and mental acuity in people of all ages and fitness levels.The exercises develop self-awareness while building muscle, range of motion in the mind and body, and a sense of well being in life. This class is for the student seeking a training program for total health & fitness, including: strength, endurance, flexibility and balance develop from self-discipline and determination, patience and compassion. This is a practice to be used for a lifetime. It is truly yoga for everybody and every body.

Yoga II PE 185

Following on the poses learned in our Yoga course this class focuses on the more advanced poses. Each Yoga Exercise is designed to improve your body, quiet your mind, and increase the flow of vital energy in your body. The practice of these poses aids in developing your body by toning and stretching the muscles. Other Asanas massages and improves the circulation of blood and nutrients in the body which is essential to health. It also relieves some irregularities in some of our vital organs.


Tai-Chi Chuan-Short PE 185

Tai Chi Chuan is a traditional and ancient Chinese martial arts believed to affect the flow of chi (energy) with a system of slow flowing movements of the hands and feet. The chuan style is also used for the promotion of health and well being as well as spititual growth. Its slow and graceful movements teaches the practitioner to relax the body as well as the mind, which is the most important for both health and martial purposes. This internal discipline enables you to initiate movements from the internal core of the body- the abdomen and back—rather than from the external parts of the body—the limbs. The13 basic postures of Peng, Lu, Ji, An, Tsai, Lieh, Chou, Kao, Gu, Pan, Jin, Tui and Ding. These are the postures delinated and referred to in the accepted Classic writings. Concentration is necessary to maintain balance while moving. Breathing must be even. Focusing on how the body moves and paying attention to the breathing lead to a feeling of relaxation. Class is geared to improve students' strength, flexibility, balance, rhythm and coordination. Students will learn to perform gestures correctly.

Tai Chi Chuan-Long PE 185

Based on Tai Chi Chuan short form, the long form incorporates more challenging postures, as well as repeating basic short form gestures into its 88 gestures. The quiet motions are combined with breathing techniques that create a feeling of energy flowing through the body. Course is designed to increase strength, flexibility, balance, rhythm and coordination. Through practice and patience the student can hope to learn push hands, four comers, san shou, applications of the advanced gestures.

Tai Chi Weapons forms (Saber & Straight Sword) PE 185

The weapons form truly embodies Chuan style Tai Chi principles of using the movements of the body to move the sword/saber. Movements flow continuously one into the other without stopping, using circular and enveloping tactics, storing and releasing energy in turn, blending both the hard and the supple, with fast movements alternating with slow movements.  The weapons form practitioner sticks with the opponent without losing contact, never failing to take advantage of an opening, and uses deceptive actions to lure the opponent.  The changes are unpredictable, contracting and stretching, coming and going, with a method of energetically striking with hard energy .

Chen Tai Chi PE 185

Over the past decades, the Chinese art of Taijiquan ("supreme ultimate boxing") has become known in the west. While the art is seen by many outside of China as primarily a slow motion form of gentle exercise and meditation, it is traditionally practiced as a form of self-defense. The Chen style is the oldest of the five major styles of Taijiquan. Its combination of fast and slow, and soft and hard movements set it apart from other schools of Taijiquan, which practice slower and softer movements.

The style takes it's name from the Chen family, a clan living in Chenjiagou (Chen family village)- a small farming community on the banks of the Yellow River in Wen county, Henan province, where the art was first developed. This class will follow themethods from which this art developed, to introduce the various styles within the Chen school, and to offer a glimpse of the practice and techniques of the vibrant art of Chen Style Taijiquan.