Triangle Yoga, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Aerial Dance (a session class) gracefully moves you in the air, suspended on fabric, free from the confines of gravity. You will build strength, flexibility, and release compression from the body. This class will teach you the fundamental techniques of aerial fabric including climbing, foot locks, wrist locks, and sling work. You will find this class a safe and positive introduction to moving in the air. No experience is necessary, just an open mind, and a desire to get off the ground. After completing the Level 1 session one can sign-up and enjoy the Level 2 training. Drop-ins are not permitted. Classes fill up quickly, so pre-registration is required.

Anusara Yoga: (a session class) was developed by master yogi John Friend with the unique approach of following your heart and flowing with grace. Anusara Yoga embraces the human spirit and joyfully blends this with the science of biomechanics. The Anusara Yoga system integrates the celebration of the heart, universal principles of alignment, (energy loops and spirals) and balanced energetic action into the performance of asanas. Click here for an in depth description of each Anusara class.

Ashtanga Yoga Primary Series is derived from the Yoga Sutras, the teachings of ancient Indian sage Patanjali. The asanas are taught in a form known as Vinyasa, which links the poses in a precise, flowing sequence designed to strengthen, align, and purify the entire body and mind. Vinyasa synchronizes the breath to the movement, enabling the practitioner to develop concentration, endurance, flexibility, balance, and clarity. We focus on the Primary Series as taught by Shri K. Pattahbi Jois.

The Community Class is offered the 1st Sunday of every month and is FREE to the public. All Community Classes will explore the fundamentals of Yoga. We believe that providing yoga is a community service. Offering these classes for free is an expression of Karma Yoga, our desire for individual calm, and world peace. Click here for the Community Class Calendar.

Core Power Flow is a dynamic and energetic form of Vinyasa Yoga. This class will physically and mentally challenge the practitioner to connect to their inner power, empowering their presence of mind and body. Core Power Flow helps heal, detoxify and rouse the body and mind through balance and intention, strength and spirituality.

Deep Stretch is different from most traditional classes in that we don't explore any standing postures. Remaining close to the floor allows you to penetrate deep beneath the surface of your body. Through twisting and stretching you can unlock and release enormous amounts of tension. Relaxing into the realm of your hips and shoulders, you can immerse your attention and heighten your level of awareness. Appropriate for all levels.

Dynamic Flow challenges your ability to let go of everything you think you know about yoga and test your ability to "go with the flow". Perfect for the dancer or athlete in you, each class is a newly choreographed, creative sequence of poses linked with the breath. Due to the spontaneous nature of a Dynamic Flow and it’s continuous movement of energy, students are asked to work intelligently and within their limitations. The course of a class will introduce students to more intricate ways of sequencing and linking of the poses, with basic hand balance poses and inversions added to accentuate stillness.

Dynamic Stretch is a creatively sequenced practice that will play the edge of both your flexibility and strength. This one hour class stays low to the ground yet will challenge ones stamina. The practice is deliberate, specific and focused. Force and extreme pressure are never used. All stretches are coordinated with the breath and are intelligently sequenced to unfold and revitalize the body. Results of Dynamic Stretching are often immediate and measurable...class is appropriate for every body.

Early Bird Yoga strengthens your incentive and willpower to get up and out. Classes are only 1 hour in length and are offered before the work day begins. An early morning practice is a sure way to set a positive tone for the rest of your day.

Hatha Yoga is the physical practice of yoga. The Sanskrit word 'yoga' means to link, or join together. Linking the deliberate movement of the body to the deliberate movement of the breath is what constitutes Hatha Yoga. Out of this very basic idea has emerged a variety of yoga styles, all distinctly different in form and taught at different levels of experience. Some styles adhere to tradition, focusing on technique and precision, others are more creative and eclectic. In Sanskrit, the word Hatha also means "ha / tha" or "sun / moon". The asana practice is intended to balance these opposites by stretching tight areas, strengthening weak areas, and finding equilibrium between right brain and left brain, masculine and feminine, active and passive qualities. All yoga classes taught here are a form of Hatha Yoga.

Inner Body Yoga is based on the teachings of Angela Farmer, and is about undoing rather than doing. It is a feminine style aimed at learning to listen to your inner body -- your true teacher. Instead of striving to achieve a pose (approaching a pose as something to do perfectly), we will be using the poses as an opportunity to see what is extra that we can let go of. Learn how to turn off the thinking mind that wants to control the body and turn on the listening heart for a more organic, intuitive experience. Participants will come away with an understanding of how they might feel a deeper ease and openness as a result of honoring the feminine. Prerequisite: an imagination! All levels are welcome.

Kids Yoga 5-8yrs, (a session class) is a light hearted class where children learn yoga games, breathing techniques, postures, and relaxation tools, all in a playful environment. Drawing, story telling and visualization add to the fun. We offer an adult class at the same time so that moms and dads can practice too!

Kundalini Yoga literally means coiling, like a snake. In the classical literature of Hatha Yoga, Kundalini is described as a coiled serpent at the base of the spine. The image of coiling, like a spring, conveys the sense of untapped potential energy. Perhaps more meaningfully Kundalini can be described as a great reservoir of creative energy at the base of the spine. It's not useful to sit with our consciousness fixed in our head and think of Kundalini as a foreign force running up and down our spine. Unfortunately the serpent image may serve to accentuate this alien nature of the image. It's more useful to think of Kundalini energy as the very foundation of our consciousness so when Kundalini moves through the sushumna and through our chakras, our consciousness changes with it.

Postnatal Yoga (a session class) is a joyful gathering of new mothers with their infants. Designed to help the mom get back into her body and regain her core strength, these baby friendly classes focus on postures that help restore alignment and tone, providing relief from lifting, carrying and nursing. The Postnatal class is a supportive community for new moms and babies three weeks to crawling. Students may enter an existing session at any time.

Pranayama, the Breath (breath control) is the ancient practice and art of observing, opening and strengthening the breath. This class will explore the science of breathing, the hub around which the wheel of life revolves. Come to know the essentials, functions and effects of the breath.

Prenatal Yoga (a session class) will focus on postures that are appropriate for pregnant women with an emphasis on breathing, relaxation, and muscle toning. Have the best possible pregnancy and delivery by learning to stretch and strengthen the body, focus and relax the mind, control breathing and develop awareness. Best of all meet a lovely community of pregnant women in your neighborhood! Yoga is a wonderful way to bond with your baby while he/she is in the womb. It also helps you to deal with all the changes happening to your body; this class will help you build the strength necessary during pre and post natal months as well as during labor. Practicing yoga will also keep your body agile and help you recover more quickly after the birth. The Prenatal Yoga class is a great way to bond with other moms, relax, daydream and honor the life growing within you and yourself. Due to the nature of the Prenatal student, starting and ending your session of classes, at any time, is allowed.

Stretch & Restore is designed to help heal the effects of chronic stress due to our fast pace and busy lives. Classes will focus on a series of gentle floor stretches followed by restorative poses using bolsters, straps, and blankets. Special attention will be placed on alignment, and relaxation, through proper use of the breath.

T'ai-Chi: Wu Hao Style, is an understated, tranquil, meditative style, with small steps and subtle movements that disappear into formlessness and appear ordinary. Concentrating on the concepts and actions of "opening" and "closing" (kai-he), it stirs the Qi (energy) throughout the body, and fosters internal focus and awareness: "mind method." Dr. Jay studied this style privately with Grandmaster Jou Tsung-Hwa.

Tween-Yoga 9-12yrs and Teen Yoga 13-16yrs, (session classes) will be taught in a lighthearted environment. Students will be encouraged to move with a greater sense of awareness and heightened focus. Empowering pre-teens with self-confidence as well as the tools necessary in coping with stress, this yoga practice will enhance physical performance needed in all sports, dance, or martial arts. Classes will commence January 2009.

Vinyasa Flow: Moving with each breath, Vinyasa Flow builds endurance through choreographed sequences similar to traditional Sun Salutations. Sequences are designed to warm up the body and typically move from basic postures to more intermediate and advanced movements as your muscles become more malleable.

Our Level 1 Vinyasa Flow classes will breakdown the basic fundamentals of alignment, breath use, and movement from posture to posture. Our higher level classes focus more on the expression of the poses so one's energy can flow in celebration of the movement.

Weekend Specials are mini-workshops taught by Triangle Yoga teachers and are always held Saturday or Sunday afternoons. Specials are approximately 2 hours long. Pre-pay is recommended; the drop in fee is $5 more. You can sign up on the clipboard outside the sun room and pre-pay in the office.

Yin Yoga is an opportunity to calm the mind and bring balance to active bodies. This class will introduce mindfulness techniques while students engage in passively-held floor poses that help increase flexibility in the hips, thighs, lower spine. These poses target the deeper connective tissues such as fascia, tendons, ligaments, and bones; making them more elastic which in turn, supports the musculature of the body. For this reason, incorporating a yin practice can be beneficial for enhancing one's athletic performance, regular Vinyasa/ Ashtanga routine, healing process of injuries, or relieving tightness in the hips/low back caused by a sedentary lifestyles. No prior yoga experience necessary. .

Yin-Yang Flow provides the benefits of a balanced practice of Yin and Yang styles of yoga. Class will start with the more active, dynamic, Yang style of vinyasa, strengthening and invigorating the body and mind. Class will end with a series of Yin postures that will target the hips, thighs, lower spine and the meridians that run through them.

Yoga Over 50 meets the needs of students physically limited by age, emotionally apprehensive, or simply wanting to move a bit slower. All ages are welcome.

Students will practice learning the fundamentals of the posture with an emphasis on alignment, breathing techniques, and relaxation.

Pilates-Yoga Fusion is a combination of physical postures, breath work, core conditioning movement, balance and relaxation. Integrate the body, mind and spirit. Purify, align, strengthen and stretch while connecting to your inner core. Classes emphasize breath awareness, standing and floor work, dynamic flow and relaxation to bring a state of balance within.