Welcome to
Yoga Shemesh
What is Yoga
Shemesh?
Hello friends
My name is Alosha Shemesh, I am a Hatha Yoga teacher.
I warmly invite you to join Hatha Yoga classes in a quiet and peaceful place located in the beautiful village of Amirim , in the north of Israel.
Hatha Yoga is the mother and th father of all modern Yogas, known under many names, such as: Iyengar, Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Yin, Power, and many more
The common thing in all these practices is working with the physical body, breathing and meditation. In other words - Hatha Yoga.
The basis of everything we do in classes is the awareness of breathing which is developed through Pranayama - various breathing techniques and to this are added various poses and transitions.
At the same time, I like to combine physical practice with the spiritual side of Yoga.
I will be glad to see you at a session of relaxation, breathing and self-analysis through the practice of Yoga.
My story
I was born in Siberia and lived in the town of Chita until I turned 15. Chita is located on the eastern side of the deepest lake in the world called Baikal. In 1998, I immigrated to Israel with my family.
Spiritual/conscious development began sometime in early 2012. Before this, I had nothing to do with spirituality.
After several mystical experience and a deep crisis that year, the spiritual journey have started.. I discovered that values I grew up with were mostly untrue. I also came to a deep realization that as long as I continue to blame others for the problems that happen to me, I will never be able to truly take responsibility for my life. I had to take responsibility for everything: it is not her fault, it is not his fault, the outside world is just a reflection of me. The truth is that most of my life was one big physical and emotional suffering especially in the childhood.
Of course, I am deeply grateful for the experience that I had to endure, because this brought me to where I am today.
Deep questions had been raised.. what is life on this planet? ..what is the Universal truth? who am I in all this?
Over the next three years I read several books that changed my way of thinking and encouraged me to delve deeper into Kabbalah and various meditation practices.
In 2015 the road took me to Australia, where I discovered the magnificence of Yoga and Vipassana meditation.
I was very happy to receive gifts such as Vipassana and Yoga from the Universe that immersed me in an inner exploration of my body and mind. In 2017, I returned to Israel as a different person. My family and my friends didn't recognize me: I didn't eat meat anymore, I didn't drink alcohol anymore and I didn’t go out with them anymore.
Almost everything changed in me, I was interested in complete freedom from suffering - Moksha (Sanskrit ). Complete liberation from life endeavors and at the same time helping others, through acquiring knowledge, on the path of developing consciousness.
In the following years, I devoted myself entirely to Sadhana - a deep spiritual practice that included abstinence from any sexual activity, water fasting from 3 to 8 days once every two months and a raw food diet consisted only of fresh fruits and vegetables. The main part of the day I devoted to the practice of meditation (about 3 hours), Hatha Yoga (about 3 hours) and reading spiritual texts. Fortunately, I had a comfortable job where I could read spiritual books.
In 2018, I began teaching Yoga, while leading a strict monastic lifestyle. I received my teachers certification in 2020, completing a two-year (500-hour) Yoga teachers training course with the wonderful Yael Ziv, a senior teacher of
Hatha Raja Yoga.
At the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic, life was very generous and invited me to live in a very special village called Amirim.
There I continued to evolve as a Yoga teacher. There I am still evolving as a practitioner of Yoga.
And the path is endless.
Namaste 🙏
Classes
Hatha Yoga
Meditation practices
Private classes
Suitable for all levels
Weekly meetings
Held in Amirim settlement
Sunday 9:00 - 10:30
Tuesday 9:00 - 10:30
Wednesday 8:30 - 10:00
Friday 9:30 - 11:00
Price list
One-time class
60 nis
Ten classes
500 nis
Private class
300 nis
Session for a couple
380 nis
Privet class for
a small group
500 nis
Duration of the class
lasts
one and a half hours.
The path of Yoga
In this section I simplify Yogic terms and the way of life according to Yoga.
What is Yoga?
In translation from Sanskrit, Yoga means union/unity.
The highest intention is unity with all creation. We live on Earth in a dual world through which the soul develops.
In order to pass this adventurous school, it is highly desirable to move from a state of consciousness of separation and fear to a state in which we see and feel the divine spark in everything, in every person. By doing this, we allow ourselves to progress from the consciousness of separation and fear into a world of unity that is Love and kindness, despite everything that happens on this planet.
Four types of yoga:
Jnana yoga
Bhakti Yoga
Hatha Raja Yoga
Karma Yoga
All these types of Yoga are attributed/associated with a specific area of the human body. Let's continue with the details in order:
Jnana yoga
This is the Yoga of intelligence, knowledge. Jnana Yoga is expressed through meditation, through self-examination and looking inside, at the subtle layers hidden from the ordinary eye. The main question of inquiry is: Who am I? There are several other questions that support this process, such as: Am I the thoughts that come and go? Am I the emotions that appear and disappear? Am I the physical sensations? etc.
At the beginning of the inquiry the focus is on the root feeling of the self (naked i am) before all our usual definition ( I am a man or a woman, I am a doctor or a nurse, before I am a politician or a father of three children). Basically, Jnana Yoga is a meditation for advanced practitioners, it is not available to most people.
The area of the body attributed to this Yoga is the head
Bhakti Yoga
Yoga of Unconditional Love
In India, people usually perform ceremonies, chant mantras to the gods, make each other happy, volunteer in ashrams and much more...
At the highest levels of Bhakti Yoga, a person approaches the ability to see/remember God in any manifestation: in every person, every animal, every tree, in all life circumstances. That is, to learn to be in love and harmony, in the most unpleasant life circumstances and in the most wonderful moments, as well as everything that is in between these two points, which, in my opinion, is the most difficult of all that can be. Bhakti Yoga is for the brave, who are not afraid to lose their ego.
The area of the body that associated with this is Heart chakra ❤️
Hatha Raja Yoga
Hatha Yoga is the Yoga of purification of the physical and energetic body, performed through various practices such as:
Poses:
Pranayama - various breathing techniques
Shatkarmas - special techniques for cleansing the body
Bandas - physical and energy locks in the human body
Mudras - locks, mainly of the fingers.
The purpose of all exercises is to cleanse and rejuvenate the physical body. After that, you can begin the practice of Raja Yoga, which is entirely devoted to purifying a more subtle level, the mental level. When Hatha Yoga is a preparation for Raja Yoga, in which deep meditation is practiced.
Hatha Yoga refer to the abdominal area, since Hatha Yoga is physical work with the body, and the abdomen is also the place where gross/physical processes occur in the human body.
In Raja Yoga, this is the head area.
Karma Yoga
The word karma means action and a certain result. Every action in our life has consequences that manifest immediately or after some time in different and varied ways. You have probably heard the phrase "good" or "bad" karma, this is what it means.
The main practice is based on conscious action without expectation of any result I give for the sake of giving and not to receive something in return. In addition to this, we try to see that every action of ours is not really ours, but the action of God through us. We just think that all this is our doing (our thoughts, feelings, successes, failures, etc.)
It is obvious that in the West oriented society it is less accessible to practice these things, so most people, who want to start practicing should preferably start in meditation centers/ashrams. This is how you begin the path of Karma Yoga until it becomes a way of life - an egoless action.
Karma Yoga refers to the pelvic area, the area of the reproductive organs.