Meet Prana Yoga
Hello, I’m Tracey
I'm an experienced Yoga teacher based in Northamptonshire.
I started practicing Yoga over 15 years ago following a sports injury. My usual form of exercise was ”go hard or go home”. Not leaving the gym in a total sweat was considered a complete waste of time. Following an injury Yoga was pretty much all I could do whilst recovering.
Honestly, I hated Yoga when I first started. What was the point? Why did I pretty much want to stretch a bit and lay down for an hour under the guise of exercise? I did not, but I had no choice and then slowly but surely, I started to feel stronger in my daily life, better physically, mentally as well as emotionally, just walking felt better, I looked taller, and whilst not important slimmer. But the most important effect of my Yoga practice was that I started to feel calmer about life.
I was finding peace with myself and then lock down happened!
During lockdown and trying not to become half woman half Rose wine! I decided to take my Yoga qualifications, I had always wanted to, but didn’t have the time. Well now I did, as we all did, and it was my saviour. I studied with Ganga from https://www.himalayanyogainstitute.com/ the style of Yoga is Rajadhiraja Yoga, https://www.himalayanyogainstitute.com/about-us/rajadhiraja-yoga/ and my studies took my Yoga to the next level, for both mind and body.
From the get-go, it was clear that Yoga is not just a series of exercises. It is actually an innercize, innercize because the Asana’s [poses], when practiced with a certain number of repetitions, held for a specific amount of time, affect the inner body, organs, glands and especially the Chakras. Far more important than their effect on the muscles and joints.
In the West we have come to equate the term Yoga with Yogic postures, but in fact they form only a small, albeit important, part of the whole system. The term Yoga implies a whole way of life with Yoga postures as one of its many facets.
In the Sanskrit language, Yoga postures are called Asanas. Asana means “a posture producing physical comfort and mental composure”.
And that’s what I try to do in Prana Yoga, guide you through a series of Asana’s that you can hold comfortably. We also practice Prana [control of vital energy], using Pranayama [breath techniques]; which release toxins and stress when you breathe out and nourish your mind and body when you breathe in.
There are many physical benefits, of the Asana’s and breathwork, but the most important affect is on the mind.
That is why in Prana Yoga the emphasis is not on vigour of execution, but on proper positioning, proper breathing and a quiet, but persistent flow of movement, which in turn applies pressure on the relevant glands and inner organs. Thus, in Rajadhiraja Yoga one not only develops strength and flexibility but achieves a general sense of well-being.
Come and join me at class, and practice with me, I will guide you in your Yoga practice, and help you get the best out of your class.
Know in my classes Yoga is not a competition, all of our bodies are different, we are all at different stages of our practice and we can do some Asanas and no matter how hard we try, we just cannot do others and that is ok.
There is always a modification, modifications are a sign of strength. Even as a teacher there are certain postures, I will never be able to get into, so I concentrate on what I can do, modify and then simply surrender to the rest.
