The best yoga clothes are clothes you feel comfortable in. Most students generally wear a t-shirt or a supportive tank paired with shorts or leggings. Wearing form-fitting clothing is helpful in that it allows our teachers to see your postures and help you with alignment throughout your class. As for what to bring, if you have a yoga mat, bring it. If not, you can always rent one at the studio. Otherwise and towel and a water bottle are all you need for a successful first practice at BambooMoves Englewood.

BambooMoves teaches Hatha Raja Vinyasa: A physical practice that moves with the breath and teaches the philosophy practice of the 8 limbs of yoga.

Hatha Yoga Pradipika, 2:76 states, “It is not possible to master hatha yoga without raja yoga or raja yoga without hatha yoga. Therefore, one should practice them together.”

In “regular” yoga the heat is produced from within the body–working on poses and techniques to stoke the abdominal fire or 3rd chakra. This is why drinking water during a yoga class is not recommended. However, in hot yoga the room is heated to create heat from the external environment and drinking water is encouraged.

We encourage people with all body types, backgrounds, and aliments to practice yoga. Therefore, we try to keep the room at a comfortable temperature, safe for those who do not take heat well and inviting to those who do not enjoy the cold.

Depending on the class and the location, they range from 1 hour to 1.5 hours. When looking for the class that is right for you, take notice of the time duration of the class.

We do have a couple of classes that focus solely on seated meditation, but most of our classes end in 5 minutes of meditation, which can often assist new students to meditate. The posture practice and breathing helps the body minimize tension and stiffness, leaving the body more comfortable and able to sit and focus the mind for a longer, more gratifying meditation practice.

We have specific classes for advanced asana practitioners or you can attend the open or all level classes where you can practice more advanced poses. We also offer workshops which specialize in specific techniques such as pranayama or breathing, specific asana, or philosophy of yoga.

There are many benefits of doing yoga: It assists you in breathing more slowly and steadily. Because breathing happens automatically, we lose the capabilities to have a long inhale and exhale. This steady breath balances the nervous system which minimizes the effects of stress, such as the feelings associated with anxiety. Vinyasa, moving with the breath, whether fast or slow, allows the body to be nourished with more oxygen. Yoga is an aerobic form of exercise, meaning the muscles (including the heart) have more oxygen, also minimizing the effects of stress and leaving the body feeling rejuvenated.

Yoga also helps with losing weight or finding your ideal weight for your body. Because the main focus is moving with breath and awareness, this stimulates the hypothalamus, located in the brain, and balances hormones and the nervous system, two areas that when out of balance cause us to overeat or have unhealthy cravings.

Plus, as the asana portion of yoga is what we primarily teach, the body gets stronger, more flexible, and carries less stress. This can mean minimizing chronic pain or preventing injuries in the future. As you can see there are MANY health benefits to yoga but the only way you will feel them is by practicing on a REGULAR basis, several times per week.

Our studios are very welcoming and encouraging. We emphasize that you awaken the inner awareness and listen to what your needs are. We live the yoga practice so we fully understand that it is a journey and a practice, and one does not change overnight.
In The Secret of the Yoga Sutra Samadhi Pada says, in 1:13, “The Ardent Effort to retain the peaceful flow of the mind free of roaming tendencies is practice.”

It is an effort and at our studios we know this, we live this, and we have created a community to support your journey on the days that it comes easy to practice and on the days that it is a struggle to practice.