Treatments & Activities

Yoga

What is Yoga?

Yoga is best known as a type of exercise system that stretches and strengthens the body through various poses known as Asanas but Yoga goes far beyond just a mere exercise routine. One of the most compelling reasons to begin practicing is the holistic outlook it takes - working mind, body, and spirit. The word 'Yoga' comes from the Latin 'yoke' - to join together. It is the union of body and mind. This rings true for all types of Yoga but the style you prefer will depend on your personal goals and lifestyle. In every style of Yoga, the aim is the attainment of optimal physical, mental and spiritual health.

What to expect

With the breath-taking backdrop of the Mont-Blanc Massif in this peaceful location, enjoyable and informative workshops are held within our chalet grounds in small groups to enable every individual to appreciate the true essence of Yoga and will give you the tools to bring the benefits of Yoga into your daily life.

What are the benefits of Yoga?

Yoga has enormous benefits both Physical and Mental. These are well known and well researched. Here are a few:

Physical Benefits:

• Increasing Flexibility and lubrication of the joints, ligaments and tendons
The well-researched Yoga positions exercise the many different tendons and ligaments in the body and act upon the various joints, improving flexibility dramatically.

• Pain Prevention

Increased flexibility and strength can help prevent the causes of some types of back pain. Many people who suffer from back pain spend a lot of time sitting at a computer or driving a car. That can cause tightness and spinal compression, which you can begin to address with yoga. Yoga also improves your alignment, both in and out of class, which helps prevent many other types of pain.

• Massaging of all Organs in the Body

Yoga is perhaps the only form of activity, which massages all the internal glands and organs in the body, including those - such as the prostate - that hardly get externally stimulated during our entire lifetime. Yoga acts in a wholesome manner on the various body parts. This stimulation and massage of the organs in turn benefits us by keeping away disease and providing practitioners with forewarnings of a likely onset of disease or disorder.

• Excellent toning of the muscles
Muscles that have become flaccid or weak are stimulated repeatedly which sheds excess flab and flaccidity.

• Detoxification
By gently stretching muscles and joints as well as massaging the various organs, Yoga ensures the optimum blood supply to various parts of the body. This helps in the flushing out of toxins as well as providing nourishment. This leads to benefits such as better circulation, delayed ageing, increased energy levels and a remarkable zest for life.

Mental Benefits:

• Mental Calmness
Concentrating so intently on what your body is doing, as in Yoga, has the effect of bringing calmness to the mind. Yoga also introduces you to meditation techniques, such as watching how you breathe and disengagement from your thoughts, which help to calm the mind.

• Stress Reduction
Physical activity is good for relieving stress, and this is particularly true of Yoga. Because of the concentration required, your daily troubles, both large and small, seem to melt away during the time you are doing Yoga. This provides a much-needed break, as well as helping to put things into perspective. The emphasis Yoga places on being in the moment can greatly relieve stress on a daily basis, as you learn not to dwell on past events or anticipate future ones. You will certainly leave a yoga class feeling less stressed than when you started.

• Body Awareness
Doing Yoga will give you an increased awareness of your own body. You are often called upon to make small, subtle movements to improve your alignment. Over time, this will increase your level of comfort in your own body. This can lead to improved posture and greater self-confidence.