Welcome to SOL Yoga West Cobb. We are excited to introduce you to our amazing Yoga Teachers and guide you through classes including hot yoga, vinyasa, yin, restorative and aerial yoga. We want to share our passion for the ancient practice of yoga and cultivate a vibrant SOL yoga community that offers you a place to find balance in your life even in the midst of all the constant demands of our daily lives.
“The success of yoga does not lie in the ability to perform postures but in how it positively changes the way we live our life and our relationships” – T.K.V. Desikachar.
Our Yoga Studio name: SOL is the Latin name for the Sun. Our logo’s center represents the Sun and all of it’s beautiful, magnificent light and warmth drawing you towards it even on the days that you may not be able to visualize it but knowing it is always there.
Our circular logo has 8 points around the center which symbolizes the 8 limbs of Yoga as written in the Yoga Sutra, circa 200 AD, by the sage Patanjali.
Understanding the 8 limbs of Yoga will guide you on your yoga mat as well as off your yoga mat. Our Yoga teachers strive to educate, inspire and share the true essence of yoga.
The 8 Limbed Path of Yoga
1. Yamas are how we relate to others and are known as Ethical Standards.
2. Niyamas are how we relate to ourselves and this translates into our personal standards and includes self-discipline.
3. Asanas are the physical postures that we do during yoga class and is the most popular component of yoga in the United States. However, as Yoga teachers it is our responsibility to use the physical practice as a way to prepare the body and mind for the internal practices of yoga that are equally important.
4. Pranayama, breathing techniques, is the bridge to move our awareness from the physical body and into the subtle body. The Prana is known as our Life force. Without it we are unable to experience life.
5. Pratyahara, sensory withdrawal, teaches us to withdraw from external stimulation of the five senses: taste, touch, sight, hearing and smell to minimize sensory overload by mastering the art of directing our internal energy to the prana in order to prepare the mind for stillness.
6. Dharana, single point of concentration, to interrupt the constant fluctuations of the mind. This is the first step towards meditation where we begin focusing on one object which could be the breath or a mantra or even gazing at the flame of a candle. And we do it again and again and again to train the mind to concentrate.
7. Dhyana, meditation, finding the place where we can begin to observe without being distracted moving towards pure awareness. The mind is incessantly chattering about past experiences and narrating our present based on its memories of the past. This can be difficult for most of us to quiet that inner chatter and our yoga practice is a way to train the mind to sit quiet and stop chattering for longer periods of time with a consistent yoga practice as well as a regular meditation practice.
8. Samadhi, pure consciousness, achieving stillness of the mind while being aware of the Self and being one with the Divine. This is a state of bliss where the ego has dissolved.
Namaste, Belinda