Z Centre has a variety of Gift Certificates available for Registered Massage Therapy, Yoga, Indoor Boot Camp, Martial Arts including Kids Kickboxing/Karate. Please phone 778 217 0102 or (604) 375 4335 :

Hatha Yoga

When people mention the term Yoga, they usually refer to Hatha Yoga. Hatha Yoga is the most popular branch of Yoga and from which a lot of the Styles of Yoga originated including Power Yoga, Bikram Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga and Kundalini Yoga. Hatha Yogis consider the body as the vehicle for the soul. They use Physical Poses or Asanas, Breathing Techniques or Pranayama, and Meditation in order to bring the body in perfect health and for more subtle spiritual elements of the mind to emerge freely.

Hatha Yoga came from the words "ha" which means "sun" and "tha" which means "moon". It is often translated as the branch of Yoga that brings union of the pairs of opposites referring to the positive (sun) and negative (moon) currents in the system. Hatha Yoga concentrates on the third (Asana) and fourth (Pranayama) steps in the Eight Limbs of Yoga. It uses the Physical Postures and Breathing Techniques in order to energize and clear the energy channels called the Nadis, removing the obstacles for the other Limbs - Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi.

Asanas are designed to improve Health and bring energy to the body and mind which is necessary in opening the Nadis. It can also serve as a Meditation pose which can make you feel perfectly comfortable for a longer period of time. Mastering the Asanas can help develop your will power, concentration and self-withdrawal or not bothering too much about the input of the senses. These Asana benefits directly open the path to Prathyahara and Dharana.

Pranayamas, on the other hand, is highly vital in the practice of Hatha Yoga. One needs to master his breathing patterns before he can master his mind. Pranayamas regulate the flow of Prana or vital energy in the body which is needed to take further steps toward Samadhi. The practice of Pranayama can also lead to the awakening of the Kundalini Energy.

Practicing Hatha Yoga can help you recognize that a divine light shines within you. It can also help you become stronger, more flexible and relaxed. The Relaxation Exercises involved in practicing Hatha Yoga opens the energy channels allowing your spiritual energy to flow freely. Certain Asanas also massages and tones internal organs which facilitates in the prevention, management and treatment of certain ailments such as Diabetes, Arthritis and Hypertension. Breathing Exercises can also help patients of Asthma and Bronchitis. Hatha Yoga practice is also a great way to cope with stress, relieve tension and deal with Anxiety and Depression.

Hatha Yoga Pradipika

The most fundamental text of Hatha Yoga is the Hatha Yoga Pradipika , a Sanskrit classic written by Swami Swatamarama, a disciple of Swami Goraknath. It is said to be the oldest surviving text on the Hatha Yoga.

The book was written in 15th century C.E.. The work is derived from older Sanskrit texts and Swami Swatamarama's own yogic experiences. It includes information about asanas, pranayama, chakras, kundalini, bandhas, kriyas, shakti, nadis and mudras among other topics.

Many modern English translations of the book are available.

The book lists in great detail all the main asanas, pranayama, mudras and bandhas that are familiar to today's yoga student. It runs in the line of Hindu yoga (to distinguish from Buddhist and Jain yoga) and is dedicated to Lord Adinath, a name for Lord Shiva (the Hindu god of destruction and renewal), who is alleged to have imparted the secret of Hatha Yoga to his divine consort Parvati.

It is common for yogins and tantriks of several disciplines to dedicate their practices to a deity under the Hindu ishta-devata concept (see Patanjali's Yoga Sutras) while always striving to achieve beyond that: Brahman. Hindu philosophy in the Vedanta and Yoga streams, as the reader will remember, views only one thing as being ultimately real: Satchitananda Atman, the Existence-Consciousness-Blissful Self. Very Upanishadic in its notions, worship of Gods is a secondary means of focus on the higher being, a conduit to realization of the Divine Ground. Hatha Yoga follows in that vein and thus successfully transcends being particularly grounded in any one religion.

By balancing two streams, often known as ida (mental) and pingala (bodily) currents, the shushumna nadi (current of the Self) is said to rise, opening various chakras (cosmic powerpoints within the body, starting from the base of the spine and ending right above the head) until samadhi is attained.

It is through the forging a powerful depth of concentration and mastery of the body and mind, Hatha Yoga practices seek to still the mental waters and allow for apprehension of oneself as that which one always was, Brahman. Hatha Yoga is essentially a manual for scientifically taking one's body through stages of control to a point at which one-pointed focus on the unmanifested brahman is possible: it is said to take its practicer to the peaks of Raja Yoga.

In the West, Hatha Yoga has become wildly popular as a purely physical exercise regimen divorced of its original purpose. Currently, it is estimated that about 30 million Americans practice hatha yoga. But it is still followed in a manner consistent with tradition throughout the Indian subcontinent. The traditional guru-disciple relationship that exists without sanction from organized institutions, and which gave rise to all the great yogins who made way into international consciousness in the 20th century, has been maintained in Indian, Nepalese and some Tibetan circles.

B.K.S. Iyengar

A photograph of B.K.S. Iyengar

B.K.S. Iyengar , (aka Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar) born Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar, December 14, 1918, in India, is founder of Iyengar Yoga and one of the most respected yoga teachers in the world. Millions of students and followers around the world practice Iyengar Yoga. Iyengar and has written a number of definitive yoga texts. Iyengar Yoga

Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are one of the six darshanas of Hindu or Vedic schools and, alongside the Bhagavad Gita and Hatha Yoga Pradipika, are a milestone in the history of Yoga. The book is a set of aphorisms, which are short, terse phrases designed to be easy to memorize. Though brief, the Yoga Sutras are an enormously influential work that is just as relevant for yoga philosophy and practice today as it was when it was written. Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Hatha Yoga Pradipika

Kundalini

Kundalini is derived from a Sanskrit word meaning either "coiled up" or "coiling like a snake". There are a number of other translations of the term usually emphasizing a more serpent nature to the word— e.g. 'serpent power'. The caduceus symbol of coiling snakes is thought to be an ancient symbolic representation of Kundalini physiology.

Zen

Bodhidharma, woodblock print by Yoshitoshi, 1887.

Zen is the Japanese name of a well known branch of Mahayana Buddhist schools, practiced originally in China as Ch'an and subsequently in Korea , Japan , and Vietnam . Zen emphasizes the role of sitting meditation (zazen) in pursuing enlightenment. Zen can be considered a religion, a philosophy, or simply a practice depending on one's perspective. It has also been described as a way of life, work, and an art form.

Zen is the common name for this branch of Buddhism in Japanese as well as in English. However, in the last half of the 20th century, Zen has become an international phenomenon, with centers in many countries around the world. Zen

Kundalini Yoga - Awakening the Kundalini Energy

Kundalini Yoga

Kundalini Yoga is the most powerful Yoga ever known and is considered as the mother of all the Styles of Yoga. It centers on awakening the Kundalini, the energy (serpent power or Bhujangini) which is found at the base of our spine or the Muladhara Chakra. Kundalini came from the word kunda which means "pot" but it Kundalini Sadhna, it is defined as the coiled energy that looks like a serpent with three and a half coils lying dormant at the base of the spine with the tip of its tail to its mouth. The three coils represent the Three Gunas : the Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, the half coil

Kundalini Yoga

Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya

Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (1888-1989) is credited with being instrumental in the resurgence of interest in hatha yoga. His students included Indra Devi, B.K.S. Iyengar, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, and T.K.V. Desikachar—major yoga teachers in their own right. Born in 1888 in Mysore , India , Krishnamacharya received his first instruction in Sanskrit and yoga from his father. He went on to attend the Royal College of Mysore and later spent seven years studying in Tibet . He returned to Mysore in 1924 and later opened a yoga school. In 1976, Krishnamacharya's son and closest disciple, T.K.V. Desikachar, founded the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram, a yoga center in Madras .

Sri K. Pattabhi Jois

Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois was born on Guru Purnima in 1915 in the village of Kowshika , near Hassan, Karnataka, South India . Jois currently teaches yoga at his school, the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute, in Mysore , India .

In 1927, at the age of 12, Jois attended a lecture and demonstration in Hassan by S. T. Krishnamacharya and the very next day became his student —the beginning of 25 years of study with Krishnamacharya

Karate

Two Karate practitioners engaging in competition style Karate.

Karate or karate-do , "the way of the empty hand") is a martial art of Okinawan origin. Karate is a synthesis of indigenous Okinawan fighting methods and Southern Chinese martial arts. In modernity, it is categorized by some as budo, introduced to the Japanese main islands from Okinawa in 1921 by various Okinawan practitioners who moved to mainland Japan during the early 20th century

Meditation

Meditation refers to any of a wide variety of spiritual practices (and their close secular analogues) which emphasize mental activity or quiescence.

The English word comes from the Latin meditation , which originally indicated every type of physical or intellectual exercise, but which later could perhaps be better translated as "contemplation." This usage is found in Christian spirituality, for example, when one "meditates" on the sufferings of Christ; as well as Western philosophy, as in Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy , a set of six mental exercises which systematically analyze the nature of reality.

Meditation

Chakra

In Hinduism and its spiritual systems of yoga and in some related eastern cultures, as well as in some segments of the New Age movement -- and to some degree the distinctly different New Thought movement -- a chakra is thought to be an energy node in the human body.

The word comes from the Sanskrit cakra meaning "wheel, circle", and sometimes also referring to the "wheel of life". The pronunciation of this word can be approximated in English by chuh kruh ; with ch as in chart and both instances of a as in yoga (the commonly found pronunciation shock rah is incorrect).

Self-realization

In yoga, self-realization is knowledge of one's true self. This true self is also referred to as the atma to avoid ambiguity. The term "self-realization" is a translation of the Sanskrit expression atma jnana (knowledge of the self or atma). The reason the term "realization" is used instead of "knowledge" is that jnana refers to knowledge based on experience, not mere intellectual knowledge.

As discussed in the article on yoga, while the goal of self-realization is the same in all yoga paths, the means used to achieve that goal differ. For example, in Sahajayoga or hatha yoga, self-realization is said to be achieved when the serpent force or kundalini rises through the shushumna nadi to the sahasrara chakra.

Asana

Asana is a Sanskrit word that literally means a seat but in the practice of yoga refers to a pose or posture. In Patanjali's yoga sutras Asana means, mainly, sitting for meditation.

The practice of asana involves stretching and moving the body into various positions. With practice, the body can be made to remain in a given position for a longer period of time, comfortably. When a degree of comfort is attained in a given posture, it becomes Asana . In general, however, the term is also used to refer to physical yoga exercises in general. Asana

Soul

The soul , according to many religious and philosophical traditions, is the ethereal substance — spirit — particular to a unique living being. Such traditions often consider the soul both immortal and innately aware of its immortal nature, as well as the true basis for sentience in each living being.

The concept of the soul has strong links with notions of an afterlife, but opinions may vary wildly, even within a given religion, as to what happens to the soul after death. Many within these religions and philosophies see the soul as immaterial, while others consider it possibly material. Soul