Your Guide to Yoga at Castle Hill Fitness

At Castle Hill Fitness, we are proud to offer Austin’s finest yoga instruction in a supportive, encouraging, and relaxing environment. Our center has two cozy yoga studios, fully equipped with an array of yoga props and mats, highly qualified instructors, and accommodates any level of practitioner. Our class schedule features over 20 yoga classes a week, in a wide variety of styles.

What Does Yoga Mean?

The word yoga stems from the Sanskrit word meaning ‘union’ or ‘connection’, and symbolizes the yogic union of the mind, body, and breath, and its purpose to liberate oneself from worldly attachments. The yoga journey of enlightenment and self-discovery involves many different aspects of the yoga tradition, including living principles, meditation, breathing exercises, and physical activity.

In fact, the physical aspect of yoga, or yoga asana, is only one of the eight different areas of study and practice:

1. Yama (the five “abstentions”): non-violence, non-lying, non-covetousness, non-sensuality, and non-possessiveness;
2. Niyama (the five “observances”): purity, contentment, austerity, study, and surrender to the highest being;
3. Asana: the physical practice;
4. Pranayama (breath control): Prana, breath, Ayama, to restrain or stop. Also interpreted as the control of the life force;
5. Pratyahara (abstraction): Withdrawal of the sense organs from external objects;
6. Dharana (prolonged concentration): Fixing the attention on a single object;
7. Dhyana (meditation): Intense contemplation of the nature of the object in meditation;
8. SamAdhi (liberation): merging consciousness with the object of meditation.

What Kind of Yoga Classes Does Castle Hill Fitness Offer? 

The classes we offer can be broken down into three different types: Flow Classes, Form Classes, and Relaxation Classes. 

Flow Classes

Yoga flow classes provide a unique cardiovascular element to your yoga practice. As you synchronize your breath to the movements in class, you will begin to feel the immediate benefits like increased blood circulation, improved flexibility, and reduced stress. Most yoga classes are set to music, but not always.

Form Classes

Other types of yoga focus more on the shape and form of the individual postures. Build stamina and strength in our flow yoga classes that hold postures for longer periods of time. Classes may include the use of props to support the body as it progresses to more challenging movements.

Relaxation Classes

While any yoga class will result in overall relaxation, some types provide an even greater sense of calm. Movement is limited in these yoga classes and is often passive, done on the floor, and utilizes props to ease you into a cozier sense of relaxation. Surrender to gravity and experience a deep state of recovery.

Select classes on our schedule are practiced in a gently warmed studio. These warmer environments help the muscles loosen, promoting a greater range of motion and flexibility while mindfully exploring poses. Plus, it’s cozy! 

The Different Styles of Yoga On Our Schedule

VINYASA YOGA

Vinyasa classes are usually much more fluid and fast-paced, with a focus on synchronizing your breath with each movement. Vinyasa allows for a wide variety of postures, which means flows will often vary from class to class and from instructor to instructor. This differs from styles such as Ashtanga Yoga, which repeats the same sequence in the same order every time. Rather than holding poses for an extended period of time, attention is geared towards a smooth transition between postures. This movement-based style generates heat and therefore offers a more cardiovascular element to your practice.

HATHA YOGA

The meaning of Yoga refers specifically to the intense and prolonged effort that characterizes a dedicated yoga practice, and generally refers to all styles of yoga that practice physical postures. Hatha Yoga is a particular system of yoga described by Yogi Swatmarama in its manual Hatha Yoga Pradipika, dated from the 15th century. The system of Hatha Yoga focuses on the purification of the physical body as leading to the purification of the mind and of the vital energy, or prana. The publication of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika marked the development of asanas into the full body postures and their many variations, now in popular usage and of the particular style that many people associate with the word yoga today. You can expect classes titled as ‘Hatha Yoga’ to be gentle, slow classes that delve into the basics of yoga postures.

The Yoga Wall helps ensure proper alignment.

IYENGAR YOGA

In this method, the primary focus is on alignment, precision, and sequencing. Poses are usually held for a long time in order to properly focus on the form of each one. Props are commonly used in classes to aid in performing the asanas accurately and effectively. This precise yoga methodology builds strength, stamina, balance, and mobility.

YIN YOGA

Yin Yoga is a slow-paced style that focuses on passive poses rather than active ones and deep, controlled breathing. Postures are mostly performed seated or lying on the floor, and held for 3-5 minutes to deeply stretch the connective tissues, such as ligaments, joints, bones, tendons, and deep fascia networks. Props such as bolsters, blankets, yoga blocks, and bands to support the postures. Not only does Yin Yoga aid in enhancing flexibility and range of motion, but the deeper breathing also supports the nervous system in relaxing. Learn more about the restful benefits of Yin Yoga here. 

VIN/YIN YOGA

Can’t decide if you want a more engaging or restful yoga practice? Why not both? Vin/Yin is a modern style of yoga, combining the more active benefits of Vinyasa with the restorative benefits of Yin. These classes start with a faster-paced, strength-building Vinyasa flow, before settling into passive, supported postures to release the body and mind. 

YOGA WALL

Castle Hill is one of the few studios in town to feature professional-quality Yoga Walls. Rooted in Iyengar Yoga, the use of this prop adds an additional layer of depth and support through straps and harnesses that hook into the wall. The benefits of the Yoga Wall can be experienced by all levels of practitioners. Beginners can work on fine-tuning alignment and better understanding the classic postures. Meanwhile, for more experienced practitioners, the Yoga Wall can challenge strength and flexibility by allowing them to explore more advanced asanas. 

YOGA SCULPT

Another modern fusion style practiced at Castle Hill Fitness, Yoga Sculpt incorporates Vinyasa with fitness exercises and weights to build strength, mobility, and balance. These classes also increase the heart rate through fast-paced flows and cardio-focused exercise intervals. These classes conclude in a grounding Savasana, to center the body and mind after a rigorous class. 

RESTORATIVE YOGA

Restorative yoga is all about establishing full-body relaxation through long, gentle sequences and deep breath work that aids in soothing the nervous system. Props are typically used to encourage your body to rest and unwind. These classes offer spaces for you to detach from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and reconnect with your spirit, mind, and body in a safe and nurturing space.

How to Determine What Type of Yoga is Right For YOU

In deciding which type of yoga to practice, you need to take several things into account: your likes, your dislikes, your personality, your schedule, your level of stress, your overall physical condition, and what you hope to achieve with your practice. If you are brand new to yoga, you will want to start with beginner classes to learn fundamental poses and alignment principles and to avoid injuries. Finding a class and an instructor that best fits your wellness goals is key and one of our top priorities, so please feel free to use your free 7-day trial to try our weekly beginner classes, meet different instructors, and get exposed to various styles of teaching. By reading the class descriptions on our website, you will gain further insight into the various yoga traditions we teach and practice here at Castle Hill Fitness.

Our teaching faculty at Castle Hill is as varied as the different classes on the schedule – no two teaching styles are the same, and each instructor offers a different unique experience. Whatever your skill level, goals, and preferred style are, our well-rounded yoga program has what you need! 

COME FLOW WITH US AT CASTLE HILL FITNESS

Join us for yoga classes virtually or in-person at our studios! Our class schedule is open to both members and non-members. Yoga classes are included with VIP memberships or are available to purchase a la carte.

SEE OUR IN-PERSON YOGA CLASSES

SEE OUR VIRTUAL SCHEDULE

Meet Our Yoga Instructors

• Anne Schultz
  Yoga Instructor
  (she/her/hers)
• Collette Ouseley-Moynan
  Yoga Instructor & Social Media Coordinator
  (she/her/hers)
• Devon Dederich
  Yoga Instructor
  (she/her/hers)
• Gillian Barksdale
  Yoga Instructor
  (she/her/hers)
• Gioconda Parker
  Yoga Instructor
  (she/her/hers)
• Jeff Bowman
  Master Trainer
  (he/his)
• Karuna Nicols
  Yoga Instructor
  (she/her/hers)
• Leslie Bailey
  Yoga Instructor
  (she/her/hers)
• Leti Alvarez
  Yoga Instructor
  (she/her/hers)BOOK
  NOW
• Sean Riley
  Personal Trainer, Massage Therapist & Yoga Instructor
  (he/his)BOOK
  NOW
• Vanush Von Love
  Yoga Instructor
  (he/his)