Yoga

What this is

Yoga, the way I teach it, is a practice of moving and breathing with attention. It is not a religion and it is not a performance. Most people go through the day without noticing their body at all until something hurts.

What holds the practice together is the breath. The shapes matter less than whether you can keep breathing inside them. That is also why yoga tends to reach the mind as well as the body — slowing the breath is one of the few direct levers we have on a nervous system that has been running fast for a long time.

You do not need to be flexible, thin, young, or coordinated. Flexibility is a result of practicing, not a requirement for starting.

What it can help with

A back and neck that have been shaped by a desk and a laptop
Stiffness that arrived gradually and that you have started to plan around
Stress you carry physically — a jaw that aches by evening, shoulders that never quite come down
Trouble falling asleep, or waking wired
Feeling disconnected from your body after illness, pregnancy, or a long stretch of inactivity
Wanting to move without the noise, mirrors, and comparison of a gym
Strength and balance you can use in ordinary life — stairs, groceries, getting off the floor
Wanting a fixed hour in the week that belongs to you

What a session is like

Come in comfortable clothes you can move in. Nothing special is required. We start slowly — sitting or lying down, finding the breath before anything else moves — and build gradually from there. Then we finish lying still for a few minutes, which is a real part of the practice and not the leftover time at the end.

You control what you do. Every posture has an easier version, and I will offer it out loud rather than making you ask for it. If something hurts, come out of it. If you want to sit the next few minutes out, sit them out; nobody will comment and I will not come over to correct you unless you want me to.

Nobody is watching you. That is the fear that keeps most beginners from a first class, and in practice everybody in the room is fully occupied with their own balance. There is no level you have to reach first. You are allowed to be a complete beginner in a room of people who are not.

If you have an injury, a recent surgery, a pregnancy, or anything a doctor has told you to be careful with, tell me before we begin so I can give you alternatives from the start.

Practical details

Format: Ask when you message — I’ll tell you before you book
Group size: Ask when you message — I’ll tell you before you book
Session length: Ask when you message — I’ll tell you before you book
Fee: Ask when you message — I’ll tell you before you book
How many sessions: It depends on what you come with. We review as we go, and you decide whether to continue
Languages: Ask when you message — I’ll tell you before you book
Where: Center St. Elie, Antelias
Cancellations: Ask when you message — I’ll tell you before you book
To book: Message me on WhatsApp or call 03-267-243

Common questions

I’m not flexible at all. Is that a problem?

No. That is the reason to come, not the reason to stay away. Nobody arrives flexible.

Is yoga religious?

Not as I teach it. It is breathing, movement, and attention. Bring your own beliefs or leave them at the door; the class asks nothing of either.

What if I can’t do a posture?

Then you do the version you can do, or you rest. There is always an alternative and I will show it without singling you out. Resting in the middle of a class is a skill, not a defeat.

What should I bring?

Clothes you can move in and some water. If you are unsure whether you need to bring a mat, message me on WhatsApp before you come and I will tell you.