Welcome to the website of
Atmarama Yoga
In Cedar Park, Texas near Austin! Please explore the site a little if you would like to see the classes currently being offered as well as other pages that provide more explanation of the style of yoga practiced and taught here. This style of yoga is great for beginners and seniors as well as for all levels of practitioners… also as therapy for recovery issues in various aspects of the body and the psyche. The Strengthening classes are aimed at the more physical practices including asana and movement with much attention given to alignment, breathing and balance. The Integrating classes focus more on inner awareness in asana, breathing and mudra. Please let me know if there are any questions about yoga, our classes or practice, or if you have any comments about the website:
Atmarama@austin.rr.com (512) 585-1925
The Importance of Practice
The intention of this site is to encourage the reader to act, that is, to practice yoga… not simply learn about it. An ounce of practice is worth at least 10 pounds of learning about the practice… perhaps even more because oftentimes when we “have already learned” about something, our minds will tell us that we don’t need to practice it… after all, we already “know” all about it!
Knowledge (Chit, Vidya, Gnosis) derives from experience, and experience can only come from practice. An ancient yoga book called, Hatha Yoga Pradipika, states,
“The practitioner will succeed; the non-practitioner will not. Success in yoga is not achieved by merely reading books.“
Simple… makes sense, right? Yoga is a lot like playing a musical instrument. At first there may need to be a little theory, learning notes and some scales and so forth. Then with practice over time it becomes more and more about making beautiful sounds and putting them together into songs. As practice continues the finest and most satisfying musical experience may emerge. So, a little practice is worth a lot of learning about it.
Patient Practice
The practice also will usually yield stronger results when it is performed innocently, exploratively, without expectations or ideals about what the results might eventually be. When we practice with a lot of ideals about what the body “should” be or preconceptions about what “I can” or “I can’t” do then we just slow down the transformation process. Much easier and more fun to just drop self-judgment, self-criticism, self-imposed limitations and impatience… then just practice… and see what happens! The Universe is never in a hurry… it unfolds bit-by-bit according to the perfect, natural order of the present moment, every moment.
All blessings in your yoga practice! Namasté,
Lee Loftus (Atmarama)