The combination of physical movement, breathing exercises, meditation and relaxation gives rise to a more balanced physical and emotional state.

Classic Yoga

The history of yoga is more than five thousand years old. It began with the behavioural observation of the animal kingdom by wise indian monks in which they sought to uncover the secret of a long life. They asked questions like "Why does a turtle live to be a hundred years old and a mouse only three to five years"? The end result seemed to be a stress free life, deep and slow breathing, regular movement in the open air, a healthy diet, and specific cleaning techniques.

These wise indian men called Rishis completed this wisdom by adding ethic rules such as sincerity, nonviolence and dedication to serving the human race. In this light yoga was born.

The word yoga comes from YUI (= coming together) and means harmony of body, mind and soul. This was the way yoga was taught for thousands of years. In the beginning it was only available for the educated elite and rich indians and so remained for quite a long time. In the 20th Century during the time of british colonial power in India the doors of this secret wisdom opened up to the west. The first english yoga books became published and reached europe during the 40’s. During the 60’s it became increasingly popular through the hippy movement.

New forms of yoga

In the meantime yoga enjoys the status of being recognised as a scientific discipline. It is often combined with Ayurveda and is famous in the wellness area. Besides the well known classical yoga form and popular modern power yoga there is another type of yoga called chair yoga.
Read more about chair yoga