Welcome to LeelaRam Yoga

Welcome to LeelaRam Yoga, home of Anusara Yoga, meditation and other heart-centered practices.

We are dedicated to honoring each student as an individual. At LeelaRam you can experience everything from a challenging asana class, to restorative yoga, to gentle yoga for seniors, special classes for women as well as therapeutic yoga.

In a creative and supportive atmosphere you can benefit from personal size classes with individual attention.

What is LeelaRam?

Leela is the Cosmic Dance of the Creator’s blissful energy as it flows outward into manifestation, embodying in its every graceful step and gesture all the forces of the universe, from creation to dissolution. This game of hide and seek is the great energy’s playful sport, concealing itself and then in an act of grace, finally revealing through joyful recognition that we are the Self, Supreme Consciousness. In Indian theology, Rama is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, the aspect of God that sustains and upholds creation. In its expression of female form, Ram is called the delightful, pleasing one.

LeelaRam evokes the dance of revealing the delightful, pleasing parts of the Self which are often hidden, even from ourselves.

What is yoga?

Yoga is traditionally defined as union, a yoking together of mind/body/spirit. It can also be seen as uniting the individual with the One. The practice of specified postures, conscious breathing, chanting and mindful meditation allows us to discover this union.

Why practice yoga?

Committing to a regular practice reflects a commitment to your total sense of well-being. The practice of yoga exercises full alignment, moving toward an “optimal blueprint” of integrated consciousness: physical body strength, mental concentration/attentiveness, and a spiritual awareness of Being.

Much of yoga’s work is carried off the mat and into your day. The peace that comes from practice, of having physically and mentally challenged yourself to align with the postures and the sweetness of deep relaxation that comes from yoga, is useful in moments of stress. The final word of the class, Namaste, is inherently recognition, an honoring of the Universal Divine in both yourself and the world around you.

I welcome your questions and will try to answer them in upcoming editions of this website.

namaste,

Rama

"Instead of trying to fit everyone into standard cookie-cutter positions, students are guided to express themselves through the poses to their fullest ability," says Rama Patella, a certified Anusara teacher at Yoga Mandali in New York City.
EXCERPT FROM WOMEN'S HEALTH