yoga

Why practice Yoga?

Imagine an activity which can strengthen your muscles, help prevent excessive weight gain, increase your flexibility, centre your thoughts, relax and calm you.  Yoga does it all and much more.  Yoga literally means union.  It unites our mind, body and soul for a balanced, happier and useful life.  Yoga can change your mental and physical capacity while preparing the mind and body for a healthy life. 

Developing strong and flexible muscles protect you from problems like arthritis and back pain and also help prevent falls in elderly people.  You can only build muscle if you go to the gym, but if you desire muscle strength and flexibility, yoga is definitely the best option.  Yoga also helps improve sleep quality, enhance spiritual well-being, improves social function and reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Benefits of Yoga

  • Decreases Stress
  • Relieves Anxiety
  • Improves Heart Health
  • Improves flexibility and balance
  • Improves breathing
  • Promotes healthy eating habits
  • Increases strength and stamina
yoga

Bhagavatamrita’s Yoga Style

Formed as a yoga instructor at the Yoga Inbound International School of Yoga, Bhagavatamrita delivers fun emotive classes for all levels, offering great tips for alignment on and off the mat.  

Ashtanga Yoga Inbound reflects the strength and discipline of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, the spontaneity and creativity in the yoga asanas of the Mixed Levels of Larry Schultz and the refinement, alignment and heart opening nature of Anusara Yoga. The practice is infused with the Bhakti philosophy of loving service to all living beings.  Bhagavatamrita’s unique Vinyasa Flow combines these styles giving you a new insight to the world of yoga and may possibly encourage you to start reaping the benefits of a yogic life. By incorporating the teachings of Bhakti Yoga into each class, students are reminded of the importance of the fundamental yoga principles.

As mentioned above, postures give us many benefits.  Yes, yoga is a physical practice, the positions challenge our body and give us strength and flexibility, but there is much more beyond the physical aspect.  Achieving a final yoga pose shows a greater control of the body, but it does not reflect greater growth as a person. If you simply do yoga for the physical benefits, you are only touching the surface.  Yoga without the work of cultivating consciousness is simply a kind of stretching. Yes, Yoga allows us to experience benefits in our physical health, but if we go deeper, we will discover even more benefits.  Yoga exists to help us connect to our inner self and cultivate consciousness, it is there to help us recognize our thoughts and emotions which allows us to live with greater peace and fulfillment regardless of external circumstances.  It is there to cultivate an attitude of gratitude.

yoga

What is Bhakti Yoga?

Bhakti yoga is classically defined as the path of devotion, and has been referred to as the sweetest of the yoga approaches.  Bhakti gives us the freedom to worship the Divine in whatever form we like.  Whether you direct your love and devotion to a god, a guru, or the Divine in all things, as you cultivate a sense of love, gratitude, and devotion for something seemingly outside yourself, you essentially fill yourself with love.  In the act of giving love, you receive it.

Just as we can stretch our bodies with asana and our breath with Pranayama, we can elongate our capacity to feel and expand our ability to love with bhakti yoga.  Bhakti works with the fuel of our emotions and teaches us how to have a romance with life itself, rather than with just one person.  You simply focus on taking the actions that nurture and nourish the heart.  Bhakti is about making more love—putting it out into the world, not just in principle but also in practice.  There is no one “right” way to do that, but bhakti yoga offers a number of tools to point the heart in the right direction.

Bhagavatamrita has been practising and teaching bhakti yoga for more than 20 years, living by Vedic principles and sharing his daily practise with others.  He begins his day with the yogic practice of Kirtan and Mantra Meditation, followed by a study of the Vedas and dedicates the majority of his time to the service of others and mother nature.  Through his volunteer work at the Wisdom Forest Foundation, Bhagavatamrita has encouraged hundreds of volunteers and visitors to make positive long-term changes in their lives, learning to appreciate the simple things in life.

Schedules

Monday
9.30 – 10.45am
Yoga Sotogrande
8.00 – 9.15pm
Yoga Gibraltar

Tuesday
9.30 – 10.30am
Yoga Gibraltar
8.00 – 9.15pm
Yoga Sotogrande

Wednesday
9.30 – 10.45am
Yoga Sotogrande
8.00- 9.15pm
Yoga Gibraltar

Thursday
11.00 – 12.00pm
Yoga Marbella
8.00 – 9.15pm
Yoga Sotogrande

Friday
9.00 – 10.15am
Yoga Gibraltar (Beg)
10.15 – 11.30am
Yoga Gibraltar (Int)
6.00 – 7.00pm
Yoga Gibraltar (Beg)
7.00 – 8.00pm
Yoga Gibraltar (Int)
8.00 – 9.15pm
Sound Therapy Gibraltar

Saturday
23rd February
Ayurveda & Yoga Workshop
Mijas Costa
8.00 – 9:15pm
Sound Therapy Sotogrande
Schedules
 
 MondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFridaySaturday
       
Morning9:30 – 10:45 AM
@Yoga Sotogrande		9:30 – 10:30 AM
 *@Yoga Gibraltar		9.30 – 10.45am
@Yoga Sotogrande		 9.00 – 10.15am
@Yoga Gibraltar (BEG)		 
       
     10.15 – 11.30am
@Yoga Gibraltar (INT)
Afternoon      
      6:00 – 7:00pm
@Yoga Gibraltar (BEG)		 
      7:00 – 8:00 pm
@Yoga Gibraltar (INT)		 
Evening     7.00 – 8.30pm
@Sound Therapy Sotogrande
 8.00 – 9.15pm
@Yoga Gibraltar (BEG)		8.00 – 9.15pm
@Yoga Sotogrande		8.00 – 9.15pm
@Yoga Gibraltar (INT)		8.00 – 9.15pm
@Yoga Sotogrande		8:00 – 9:30pm
@Sound Therapy Gibraltar		 
       
Rates

Group class

60 min
£ 10
  • Make friends
  • Great Value
Book

Private class

60 min
£ 40
  • Individual class
  • Posture Adjustments
Book

Private class

90 min
£ 50
  • Self Tailored
  • Extended Relaxation
Book

Class at your home

£ ++20
  • Mobile Therapies
  • Relax at Home Following Session
Book

Extra person assisting Private Class

£ ++10
  • For Friends or Family
  • Choose Level
Book

What can I expect IN A YOGA CLASS?

Bhagavatamrita offers numerous group classes throughout the week in different venues between Gibraltar and Marbella.  If you prefer a more personalized class, he can visit you at your home where you can benefit from one2one tuition.

Classes have a duration of either 60 or 75 minutes depending on the venue.  In the 75 minute class, the first 15 minutes are dedicated to yogic lecture, reflecting on the subject of the day, followed by a warm up, asanas (different yoga positions) and finally a guided Savasana (relaxation).

Here are a few recommendations for those who are new to yoga… Socks off!  Yoga is best practised with bare feet. At the start of the class you might want to keep your socks on if it’s cold but as soon as you warm up it’s time to take them off.  You can buy special grip yoga socks if you have a problem going barefoot.  Throughout the class, Bhagavatamrita often does hands-on adjustments that can help you to gain better alignment or move you into a deeper expression of a pose.  Don’t feel discouraged if you are adjusted – it’s not a sign that you’re something wrong – through adjustments you should discover more ‘ease’ in the pose.

If you’ve never done yoga before you may be forgiven for thinking yogis are ‘super-thin fashionistas’.  That is not true! Yoga is for everyone and it’s more important that you feel comfortable in what you are wearing than wearing the latest yoga pants, just wear something comfortable.  It is best not to do a class on a full stomach.

Learning to connect with your breath is one of the most important things you will learn in yoga and Pranayama (breathing techniques) are incorporated into the classes.  It might feel a little confusing at first – you may feel as if you’re breathing out when you’re supposed to be breathing in and vice versa! – but again, don’t worry: practise and all is coming…  Remember that yoga is not a competitive sport so leave your self-criticism and comparisons behind.  Similarly, if you need to rest at any point during the class, do so. One of the most important tenets of yoga is ‘Ahimsa’ – which means ‘Non-violence’ or ‘non-harming’. When we act with ‘Ahimsa’ in mind, this means, among other things, not physically harming others or ourselves – so be kind to yourself.

As mentioned, Bhagavatamrita always ends the class with Savasana – the relaxation part of the class – and this can be one of the most challenging parts of the class for beginners and experienced yogis alike but it is also one of the most essential.  Savasana is where we fully absorb the benefits of the postures, it can act as a ‘reset’ button, calming the central nervous system and bringing the breath back to normal. It is the part of the practice where we can truly allow ourselves to simply Be.  Bhagavatamrita usually bring his singing bowls into Savasana, where you will get a taste of the benefits of sound therapy!