Yoga is a vast and rich system developed thousands of years ago to assist each individual on his or her path to self mastery, self realization, and becoming one with the Divine.   We recognize that this system is laid out for each of us to discover our own personal path to joy, peace, and bliss.

At West Asheville Yoga, we understand yoga as a multi-faceted approach to freedom.  Most of us in the US are most familiar with yoga asana, or postures, which remove pain and discomfort, weakness, injury, and lethargy.  Asanas are practiced to free our prana, or life force energy, so that we may be strong, flexible, and shining healthy beings capable of living, giving and doing service without depletion.  We recharge ourselves with our yoga practices.

Yet asana is but one part of the system and while we focus on asana in our classes, we also incorporate pranayama breathing techniques, meditation, learning to turn down the wild energy of the mind, service, philosophy, and devotion in the mix to offer a more complete picture of the practice.  Asana works with the body and the rest are techniques to work with the whole being.  We see that every person has a spark of the Divine in their hearts and we bow to that flame of greatness in each student.  You are already whole and complete and perfect at a very deep level.  It is our hope to share the practice of yoga with you so that you may recognize that in yourself and others, and experience life in its fullness, free from self destructive relationships, thoughts and patterns, energized, and filled with joy.   We regularly hold kirtans, or call and response chanting with music, to free our hearts and voices.  We offer all of our classes at a sliding scale to make yoga accessible to more students.

All of our teachers are certified instructors who have completed at least 200 hours of yoga instructor training, and all are concerned with proper alignment in the poses and the safety of our students.  We are here as guides and instructors and wish to help you develop your practice to suit your body and needs.  We love to answer your questions and to assist you in finding a way to practice a pose without pain or injury.  We believe in working toward a pose and fitting the pose to your ability and structure, not trying to force you into a pose that may result in injury or strain.

We at West Asheville Yoga are dedicated to the practice of yoga in our lives and we are excited to share the path of yoga with you.

Namaste   “That which is Divine in me bows to that which is Divine in you”

Cat Matlock
Founder, West Asheville Yoga