Our Philosophy
Santosha’s commitment to the true practice of yoga stretches beyond the physical practice of asana. Our teaching is based in the Amrit and Kundalini Yoga traditions. The beauty of these yogic practices is that they are accessible to modern culture, yet incorporate the ancient teachings and practices of yoga.
Amrit Yoga
Developed by Yogi Amrit Desai, Amrit Yoga is meditation in motion, transforming the philosophy of yoga into experiential reality-transcending every aspect of your being. This practice integrates joyful inner stillness with effortless outer action in the world.
Learn to live in harmony and alignment—the essence of authentic yoga.
Amrit Yoga cultivates inward focus and meditative awareness along with the practice of postures and pranayams. This internal focus is the single most powerful tool to prevent chronic, stress-producing, mental dialogues and emotional reactions. These unconscious habits accompany us through every activity; the yoga mat is not an exception.
The practice of Amrit Yoga has the power to engage you totally, absorb you completely, and integrate you fully in your body, mind, heart and soul. It empowers you to enter the experience of unity, which is integral to the experience of yoga.
Amrit Yoga is a metaphor for life. The skills of mindful attention and meditative awareness you develop on the yoga mat extend to challenges you encounter in life. Painful transition periods, relationships and crises can become opportunities and openings for personal transformation.
Learn more about the physical and emotional benefits of yoga in this profile of Santosha on The Rhode Show.
Yoga Nidra
The literal translation of Yoga Nidra is Yogic Sleep. It is an ancient form of meditation that will take you into the deepest levels of relaxation while still remaining fully aware. This deep state beyond ordinary waking consciousness allows you to effortlessly disengage from restrictive physical, mental and emotional patterning. Here, you are free to create a life that is an expression of higher consciousness, rather than acquired conditioning.
“You cannot solve a problem with the same mind that created it.” -Albert Einstein
Most of us try to solve our problems with the same mind that created them. Instead, Yoga Nidra helps you find solutions by transcending the linear dimension of logic, reason, and memory. In Yoga Nidra, shifts arise from spirit (consciousness) which exists beyond the confines of the intellect.
In the linear approach, a rope wrapped a hundred times around a post would require being unwound a hundred times in the opposite direction. Yoga Nidra burns the rope rather than unwinding it. It allows you to resolve karmic patterns by going directly to the root of self-destructive fears, beliefs and habits to regain freedom.
Read about one woman’s transformative experience with Yoga Nidra in RI Monthly.
Kundalini Yoga
Kundalini Yoga combines meditation, mantra, physical exercises and breathing techniques. “Kundalini” literally means “the curl of the lock of hair of the beloved.”
This poetic metaphor alludes to the flow of energy and consciousness that exists within each of us, and enables us to merge with – or yoke – the universal Self. Fusing individual and universal consciousness creates a divine union, called yoga.
The primary objective of Kundalini Yoga is to awaken the full potential of human awareness in each individual…
That is, recognize our awareness, refine that awareness, and expand that awareness to our unlimited Self. Clear any inner duality, create the power to deeply listen, cultivate inner stillness, and prosper and deliver excellence in all that we do.
Kundalini Yoga focuses on one’s personal experience and awareness through the practice of kriya and naad. Kriya is an orchestrated pattern of movements, sound, pranayam, mudras, concentration and meditation that automatically guide the energies of the body and the mind to a specific result or change of consciousness.
Excerpts courtesy of Amrit Yoga Institute and Yogi Bhajan.
