How it all started
In 1999 I started practising yoga at Yogastudio Winfried Termaaten in The Hague, Netherlands. I’ve been studying yoga with Winfried ever since. Soon after I started my yoga practice, I noticed the positive effects of yoga on my overall health and well being. This encouraged me to practise dilligently. Besides the weekly classes I also wanted to practise at home. So I started to take notes of the exercises we did in class. By now I have dozens of descriptions of exercises and I’d like to share these with you on this website.
Arjan Smeele, webmaster and creator of artreeyoga.com.
Yoga for all
I believe yoga can be beneficial to everyone, provided you take both possibilities and limitations of your body into account. Quite some classical yoga exercises are not suitable at all for the beginning yoga practitioner. That’s why most exercises you will find on this site are relatively easy to perform. But that doesn’t mean that they are less effective than more demanding exercises! Even if you’re very fit and athletic, you will find them surprisingly effective.
YogaBlog
There is a lot of information about yoga out there. I’m always searching for books, instructional videos and best practices. If I find something worth sharing, I will write about it on the YogaBlog on this side. So visit it regularly if you want to be kept informed!
On the YogaBlog, you can also read articles on the backgrounds of yoga and other philosophical matters. The topics vary from the wisdom of centuries-old yoga philosophy to the ideas of contemporary thinkers on the art of living.
Being a Human Kinetic Technologist by education, I’m very interested in the dynamics of human posture and motion. Therefore, I’ll be writing about this subject my personal blog www.arjansmeele.nl. I will post links to these articles on the YogaBlog. After all, a profound understanding of posture and motion is critical for yoga practice, especially when you are a professional yoga teacher.
About the logo
The tree has a deep spiritual meaning to me. A deciduous tree sheds its leaves in autumn, but fresh and new leaves return in spring. This symbolizes the eternal cycle of life. A healthy tree stands firmly with its roots in the ground and its branches reach out to touch the sky. That reminds of the importance of ‘grounded spirituality’. In fact, I believe that a deep sense of grounded spirituality is the very purpose of yogapractice. The figure sitting under the tree is based on the story of the Buddha, who is said to have attained enlightenment under the Bodhi-tree.
Social media
ArTreeYoga can be found on Twitter and Facebook.
Twitter: @ArTreeYoga
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ArTreeYoga
I hope you will find this site most useful!
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Disclaimer
The exercises on this website are described with the greatest care and are safe to perform by most physically, emotionally and mentally healthy individuals, provided the instructions are cautiously followed. Please note that carrying out any of the exercises described on this website is at your own risk. The author cannot be held responsible or liable for injuries and/or damage that may result from performing the exercises. It’s adviced to consult a medical doctor before starting any exercise program.
