Devanadi Yoga ~ About Us

	About Us About ParaYoga® Parking & Bike Lock Info There is plenty of FREE PARKING on the street or in lots in the neighborhood, provided you visit the business. Take the winding, brick path in front of the Linden Hills Home Store and voila, welcome! We also have a community garden area on the east side of the studio. Feel free to lock your bike up there. We generally face the window so your bike should be safe. There are other bike lock areas throughout Linden Hills as well.			Devanadi Yoga offers a variety of yoga classes, as well as workshops, trainings and traditional healing modalities based in eastern philosophy and medicine in the Minneapolis area with multi-certified teacher and therapist, Tanya Boigenzahn Sowards as well as other multi-certified teachers. We are primarily a ParaYoga® teaching environment offering Hatha and Classical Yoga, Tantra, Yoga Nidra, Restorative Yoga, Ayurveda (the healing science of India) and many offerings to help heal the body such as Thai Yoga Bodywork, Reiki, Healing Touch and Integrative Yoga Therapy. Our aim is to serve our local community - students and yoga teachers - as well as operate with ethical, sustainable, and GREEN business practices. We invite you to join our great community of yogis and yoginis. Come experience a class or workshop today! In the PRESS: NEW! MN Picks - scroll to #3 \| SW Journal - Fall 2010 Our Studio & Location Devanadi Yoga Studio is a cozy yet fresh, open space situated in the cottage currently behind the Linden Hills Natural Home Store. The path to yoga begins upon arrival to the studio. Be sure to take the "scenic" route, meandering along the brick path in front of the Home Store, surrounded by beautiful landscaping including a fountain and serenity pool. On the way back to the studio, you'll pass "Linden Hills Beach," a white sandy cove with lounge chairs and palm tree - and a hammock(!) just left of our studio door. Soon you'll arrive ready for class. Going GREEN Devanadi Yoga is a GREEN Yoga Studio, certified by the Green Yoga Association, and is the first yoga studio in Minnesota to belong! In our present space, we are living eco-smartly by using non-VOC paint, turning the thermostat down each night to 55 degrees (the space luckily heats up quickly), opening the windows as opposed to using A/C (don't worry - we do have A/C if needed!), purchasing eco-friendly yoga props and paper products, encouraging students to use our website for info rather than print off paper-wasting flyers & schedules, purchasing from local vendors and walking to their establishments, recycling bottles and paper, donating money from our community events (our Holiday Kirtan racked in several hundred dollars a well as many cans of food for local food charities!) to local eco-friendly non-profits, and more to come. Contact us to learn more about how you can help. Our Community Devanadi Yoga Studio aims to serve the local Linden Hills community in Minneapolis, as well as all lovers of traditional yoga from all parts of the Twin Cities and around. We encourage people from all walks of life to our studio and believe that yoga is for everybody. We encourage and honor sustainable practices of transportation to class such as public transportation, biking and walking. Although we are a yoga studio first, our mission is to help cultivate a sanctuary for like-minded individuals to gather for wellness, spirituality and community. Check out our Community Page to learn more about upcoming events, volunteer opportunites and more. How Do You Say "Devanadi"? day-vah • nah-dee. Some people miss the "n" in our name and say amusing things like "Devandi" or ADD an "n" and say "Devanandi," which actually is a Hindu deity that means the sacred bull. ;) See below for what our name REALLY means... We think you'll like it. What does "Devanadi" mean? Deva is often translated as “god" or "sacred" but it is more correctly understood as a free and shining being - as well as a being in whose presence you become shining and free. Deva is derived from the verbal root div, which connotes brightly shining and expansive light as well as a certain mood of playfulness. Nadi means "river," "channel," "nerves," or "pathways." In the body, the ancients described a system of nadis that conduct pranic energy or life force. For yogis, three main nadis are the most important: 1) ida - the left channel corresponding to lunar energy, intuition, cooling, healing, yin; 2) pingala - the right channel corresponding to solar energy, physical, active, yang; 3) sushumna - the center channel that when awakened leads to meditation and enlightenment. There are said to be 72,000 nadis in the body. Modern scientists have discerned that we have about 72,000 - 75,000 nerves in the physical body. Tanya, our studio director, chose Devanadi as our studio name to help thread together all the mystical traditions that she's been studying over the years - the Sacred Rivers of Yoga, Thai Yoga Bodywork, Ayurveda and Energy Medicine, which all use the understanding of the nadis. Her 5 year old son is also named River, so the name was an "a-ha!" moment when it came to her. We hope that your experience here is a blend of all the Sacred Rivers in your life, too. Our Approach to Yoga at Devanadi Our mission at Devanadi is to help students understand and see benefit from the two sacred rivers of yoga listed below. Some classes may focus more on one particular tradition, depending on the needs of the students in the class. For example, sometimes we need more discipline in our lives (i.e. think the New Year and starting resolutions). In this case, we might teach more of a flow with a sequence to help us become more organized in our thoughts and intentions. Other times we just need to break out of our current "funk" and move our energy. In this case, we might teach a particular breath technique throughout the class to help reshape our prana, thereby helping our minds find more balance. Regardless of what is taught in the classes at our studio, we all commit to teaching safe, supported, nurturing classes that speak to all students regardless of their background, yoga experience, injuries or limitations. • Hatha is part of the Tantric path of yoga. Some of the meanings of the word tantra are to stretch beyond all limitations, to shine brightly, to thrive. Tantra sees the world as a manifestation of the most divine healing, or feminine energy, otherwise known as Shakti. In essence, Tantric-style practices help students move past obstacles to help us see that we're all a part of the same river of life. The word Hatha refers to balancing the energies of the "sun" ("ha," heating, active, linear, yang) and "moon" ("tha," cooling, intuitive, healing, yin) within all of us. Specific pranayama (breathwork), kriyas (cleansing practices like fire breathing or kappalabhati), visualization of the chakras (energy centers), vinyasa krama (wise progression or sequencing), and meditation are a part of this path. Hatha yoga primarily works with balancing our vital energy, or prana, during practice to help us connect all parts of ourselves and the world together into harmony and balance. This process is called "samyoga." • Classical Yoga is the yoga of Patanjali, author of the Yoga Sutra. It's most commonly referred to as the "Ashtanga" or "eight-limbed" path. Styles that come of out this tradition include Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, Iyengar yoga, and most vinyasa-style or power yoga practices that we see in many gyms today. Classes often have a variety of Sun Salutations, flowing postures, elements that help to build heat, and many standing poses. Classical yoga primarily works with disciplining the mind, or chitta, during practice to help us separate ourselves from that which isn't yogic in our lives. This process is called "viyoga."