User:Missmia/ParaYoga

ParaYoga is a new name for an ancient approach to the tradition of hatha yoga. Para means ‘highest, supreme, the culmination of effort’. Combining the power and energetic focus of tantra (the ancient and most comprehensive approach to yoga) with the physical and dynamic aspects of hatha, ParaYoga offers students of all levels access to the complete range and sacred power of Yoga.

ParaYoga’s primary focus is on manifesting spiritual as well as worldly “success” through increased self-awareness and refinement of prana, life force. The larger aim of the system is to bring powerful, unadulterated and ancient Yogic Science into a contemporary context, and to provide tools with which one may create sustained and healthy growth and achieve one’s whole life potential. It is also to develop exceptional teachers and practitioners who embody and/or are able to lead others into Yoga as it was originally envisioned.

Each practice is carefully crafted to achieve a specific energetic effect, using the science of vinyasa krama (“wise sequencing”). ParaYoga views asana as just one way to move energy; thus the use of more comprehensive hatha yoga methodologies, like breath work, bandha, mudra, kriya, and meditation are introduced and incorporated into classes to foster desired energetic effects.

Rod Stryker is the founder of ParaYoga. Rod has been teaching for more than thirty years and began refining the methodology of ParaYoga in 1995. His yoga practice and teaching is an expression of his being one of few American teachers today transmitting an ancient tradition, one that has been handed down from teacher to student for literally thousands of years.

Rod credits the ParaYoga sources its teachings from the body of knowledge known as Tantra and the classical teachings of Raja Yoga (the Yoga Sutras). Tantra is an ancient, comprehensive spiritual and philosophical tradition that is the birthplace of Yoga. The teachings of Para Yoga draw from Rod’s tutelage with Tantric Master Mani Finger, with whom he studied for many years, and more recently, with Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, Spiritual Head of the  Himalayan Institute.

A ParaYoga class will include familiar and classical asanas and fits into the standard 75 -90 minute class time frame. At first glance, a ParaYoga class may not seem all that different from any satisfying yoga class. However, the cumulative experience of a ParaYoga class will be different.

Since ParaYogis believe in the Tantric premise that ‘the quality of your energy determines the quality of your life’, classes combine well structured asana with deeper hatha techniques bandha, kriya, mudra, etc to promote a specific energetic effect. The energetic intention will determine the rigor of the asana, yet students can always expect a rewarding physical practice, and will be safely guided through the more esoteric techniques.

A related meditation and/or pranayama practice is often the culmination of the class and aims to seal the overall intention and theme.

Since Tantra is the root from which ParaYoga stems, and means literally, to weave or combine, techniques like pranayama, meditation and kundalini practices (kriya, visualization) are integral to a ParaYoga practice. Each practice has a specific theme, or aim, and techniques are seamlessly combined to achieve the desired effect. Depending upon the level and intention of the class chanting is sometimes used. Class often will either end or begin with mantra.

ParaYoga certifies teachers with one of the most rigorous and extensive teacher training programs in existence. It is, minimum, a four year process, with the development of a strong and transformative personal hatha and meditative practice at its heart. Personal practice must be documented and each student receives private instruction and initiation from Mr. Stryker.

The ParaYoga Master Training Program involves attending nine five day training courses, reading and writing assignments, and clear demonstration of subject mastery (a comprehensive written exam) and teaching ability (submission and review of a teaching video) among other requirements. Each ParaYoga teacher is mentored, evaluated and certified personally by Mr. Stryker to assure the teacher’s integrity and mastery.

A ParaYoga class, by combining classical yoga, ayurveda and tantra, seamlessly weaves ancient traditions in a way that is accessible for yoga practitioners of all levels. It stands alone in its comprehensiveness. When students come to class they feel right away a sense of completion or intelligence that they haven’t encountered before. What they are experiencing is the reward of doing more than just enlivening their body, which is where many contemporary yoga classes leave off. ParaYoga emphasizes the whole person and sees practice as a way to directly affect real and meaningful change in the quality of students’ lives beyond the confines of class.

ParaYoga combines techniques that create specific and powerful internal alchemy (Shakti) that includes, yet moves beyond, the limits of the physical body, and fosters thriving at all levels.