Change – Balance – Stability
Combining: Indian Yoga, Chinese Qigong, & Japanese Zen
CLASSES: Wednesdays, 8am to 9am
LOCATION: Bellingen Youth Hub, in the back room, accessed around the left side of the building, 2 William Street, Bellingen
COST: By donation
Okido Yoga can help you relieve your body of aches and pains, unwind tight muscles and make you feel whole again. This form of yoga will build strength into your body, whilst relieving tight muscles and removing blockages.
We practice yoga asanas, corrective movements, gentle qigong, trigger points, breathing, laughing, shiatsu massage, & chanting: in solo, partner and group activities.
Corrective Movements help to correct muscular injuries, spinal alignment, internal organ disharmony, and diseases that may prevent you from fully enjoying life.
Hogushi Massage helps to release tightly held muscles freeing up your Asanas (stretches) and the flow of blood and energy in your body & heart mind.
Okido Yoga stretches meridians aligned with Traditional Chinese Medicine to help transform your health.
Suitable for everyone – all ages and abilities
The five principles of Okido Yoga:
- Body & Movement
- Mind-Heart
- Breathing
- Food as Medicine
- Environment (we learn from each other)
Okido Yoga is based on the understanding that true knowledge comes from an awakening of deep personal inner wisdom, which is gained through individual experience of the natural laws of Change, Balance and Stability.
Awaken your Vital Energy
Suitable for Everyone
Private lessons focusing on individual health disorders are also available upon request
What is Yoga?
The word “Yoga” means to unifying the body with the mind – “yoking” them together.
It is an eastern science developed and evolved over thousands of years and deals with the physical, moral, mental and spiritual well being of those who practice it.
From a biomedical perspective, it is one of the finest forms of physical therapy. It helps you to accomplish many positive changes in your health.
From a physical side, it is capable of reversing bone and joint deformities, lowering blood pressure, increasing strength and vigor, balancing the endocrine system, stimulating weight loss, correcting spinal alignment, and aiding in recovering from chronic pain.
From a mental perspective, Yoga is an effective meditative therapy, capable of:
* reducing the chatter in the mind (monkey mind)
* stabilising the emotions
* inducing a feeling of peace and harmony
What is Okido Yoga?
Combines the practices of Indian Yoga, Chinese Yin-Yang, Japanese Zen Buddhism, Martial Arts, Oriental & Western Medicine, where the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts
Includes purifying & strengthening Asanas (stretches), self massage techniques (Hogushi), gentle Qigong, corrective movements, physical games, laughter, breathing, sound therapy, meditation, & shiatsu massage…
Okido Yoga focuses on building your body through correctives so you can realise extensive Yoga Asanas, Movements and a stable Heart Mind.
The training method emphasises balance between opposites: tension and relaxation, heat and cold, stillness and movement.
The Corrective Movements help to correct any muscular injuries or tightness, spinal alignment, internal organ disharmony, and disease.
Each Asana (yoga stretch) combines with Houshi Massage, corrective movements, trigger point releases & counter-balances to help release chronically tight muscles, fascia, ligaments and tendons that may be restricting your Asana, as well as the circulation and quality of blood and energy in your body, mind and spirit.
The combination of Asana (stretches), corrective movements and massaging helps to dramatically increase your flexibility of body & mind – much more than only doing asana alone.
Okido Yoga can help heal specific parts of the body (such as lower back, neck, and shoulders), plus ease pain and prevent injuries .
The increased flexibility of body & mind is a simple way to help you to fully embrace life…
The practices of Okido are designed for those living with the strain, tension and diseases resulting from the technological confusion of our society. Through diligent daily practice of Okido Yoga, it is possible to heighten adaptability to today’s modern life, while re-creating one’s self-healing ability.
Okido Yoga is based on the understanding that true knowledge comes from an awakening of deep personal inner wisdom, gained through individual experience of the natural laws of Change, Balance and Stability.
It also emphasizes the importance of learning to work with, and for, others as it is not possible to create a balanced life that does not include harmonious and caring interaction within society. We learn from each other.
Okido Yoga is neutral from any religious group, and yet respects one and all beings. Its teachings are understandable and practical in the modern way of life.
Suitable for Everyone at all levels
Each class varies according to the specific needs of the people in the class
Okido Yoga also adapts to the environment and to the demands of the current season…
For example, in Spring, as the weather gets warmer and our level of activity increases, the Liver & Gall Bladder are more active, and stretching the side of the body (medial and lateral) helps to keep these organs in balance. The Liver is greatly affected by stress which tends to occur in spring from the increase in our activities (and decision making). Promoting the health of the Liver and Gall Bladder also helps to cleanse the blood of toxins, and this is a very safe and natural way to do your spring liver detox.
Classes suitable for Everyone
Awaken your Vital Energy
Feel a dramatic change in your flexibility,
mind & spirit within each class
Masahiro Oki
Who was Oki?
Masahiro Oki was born in 1921 and pursued spiritual and physical training for many years in India, Tibet, Mongolia, China, Japan and other countries. Oki established the first Yoga Ashram in Japan in 1967 (based on his experiences living and training with Mahatma Gandhi). Oki emphasised the Buddhist-Yoga truth that each individual is responsible for their own salvation. Oki combined his vast experience of different traditions and religions into creating a practice for those wishing to improve their minds and bodies. He fused Zen Buddhism with the teachings of Yoga to make it more meaningful for people today. This led to the development of an unique system of practices to correct bad habits and illnesses.
According to Oki sensei, three keys of yoga practice are:
* Natural State of Body
* Natural State of Mind
* Coordinated Breathing
Plus the important motto:
Force Not, Waste Not, but Continue
He explained about four essential points to keep a natural state of body, which are: Keep your muscles flexible, Keep your spine stretched, Keep your breath deep, and Keep your blood clean. For our mind-heart, he said: comparing with other animals, only human beings have the potential for a enlightened conscience; so-called Buddha nature, saint or holy nature. This is the potential nature of a human being – as much as we can acknowledge our spontaneous desires and emotions are natural ones. So, we creatively cultivate our own ways to transform desires and emotions to positive ones, so that these can be helpful for our development.
CLASSES: Wednesdays, 8am to 9am
LOCATION: Bellingen Youth Hub, 2 William Street, Bellingen
COST: By donation
