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Category: Iyengar Yoga

  • Yoga in Charlottetown: A Beginner’s Guide to the Studios

    Yoga in Charlottetown: A Beginner’s Guide to the Studios

    If you’ve searched “yoga in Charlottetown” and felt a little spoiled for choice, this guide is for you. For a small city, Charlottetown has a genuinely good yoga scene, but the studios are quite different from one another, and the right fit depends a lot on what you’re looking for (and how you feel about heat).

    Full disclosure: we run The Yoga Barn, an Iyengar yoga studio just west of the city, so we’re hardly neutral. But we’ll give you an honest lay of the land, including who each studio is best for, because the worst outcome is trying the wrong style, deciding “yoga isn’t for me,” and giving up. It’s almost always the fit, not you.

    Charlottetown’s yoga scene, honestly

    Broadly, the options around Charlottetown fall into three camps:

    • Hot and heated yoga. Studios like Modo Yoga and Oxygen Yoga & Fitness build their classes around heated rooms (often 37-40°C) with dynamic, flowing sequences. Oxygen adds a music-and-candlelight, fitness-fusion feel. If you love to sweat, want a cardio element, and find heat helps you loosen up, these are excellent and popular for good reason.
    • Multi-style flow and wellness. Charlottetown Yoga Space offers a rotating mix of flow, yin, restorative, meditation, sound baths and more. A nice choice if you like variety and a gentler, unheated flow.
    • Traditional Iyengar. That’s us: the only dedicated Iyengar studio on the Island. Unheated, precise, and built around alignment and props rather than sweat and speed.

    How to choose your first studio

    A few honest questions to point you in the right direction:

    • Do you want heat? If a hot, sweaty room sounds great, go hot. If it sounds miserable, or a doctor has warned you off it, you’ll want an unheated studio.
    • Fast flow, or slow and precise? Flow classes move quickly and can be genuinely hard to follow as a true beginner. Iyengar is deliberately slower: you learn how each pose actually works, with time to get it right.
    • Big class or small and personal? If you’d rather not be lost in a packed room, look for smaller classes with hands-on guidance.
    • Any injuries, stiffness, or “not as young as I was”? This is where alignment-based, prop-supported yoga shines. It adapts the pose to your body instead of asking your body to force the pose.
    • Genuinely nervous? Look for a studio that welcomes first-timers explicitly and lets you try before you commit.

    Where The Yoga Barn fits

    We’re the option for people who want to learn yoga properly, gently, and sustainably, rather than sweat through a workout. A few things that make us different:

    • Authentic Iyengar. Charles Sanderson studied in India with senior Iyengar teachers and is a certified Iyengar Yoga teacher, the only one on PEI. You learn the real method: precise, alignment-based, and famously good for building strength and mobility safely.
    • Unheated and accessible. No 40-degree room. We use props (blocks, belts, bolsters, ropes) so the practice meets you where you are, whatever your age, size, or starting point. Especially good if you’re working with a stiff back, sore knees, or coming back from injury.
    • Small, attentive classes. Charles teaches among you, watching, adjusting, and explaining, rather than leading from the front of a crowded room.
    • A barn, not a strip mall. The studio is a restored heritage barn on a homestead overlooking the North River, ten minutes west of Charlottetown, with open doors to the meadow in summer and ample free parking.
    • Your first class is free. So you can see how it feels with zero risk.

    The honest bottom line

    If you want to sweat, chase a workout, and love heat, Charlottetown’s hot studios are genuinely great, so go enjoy them. But if you’d rather learn yoga you can practise for the rest of your life (cool, precise, unhurried, and kind to your body), especially as a beginner, a 50-plus body, or someone with a niggle to work around, that’s exactly what we do.

    Come find your footing

    The best way to know is to feel it. Your first Iyengar class at The Yoga Barn, ten minutes from Charlottetown, is free.

    Claim your free first class
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  • Iyengar Yoga: Meditation in Action

    Iyengar Yoga: Meditation in Action

    In other words, yoga is not just about movement or stillness—it’s about quieting the mental chatter (vṛtti) so the mind-stuff (citta) can become clear and steady. In Iyengar Yoga, the doorway to that clarity begins with the physical body. Why? Because the body is tangible. You can feel your feet on the floor, your arms extending, your ribs lifting.

    If you’ve practiced other styles of yoga, you might think of asana (posture) as a way to build strength, flexibility, or balance. In Iyengar Yoga, those qualities still matter—but they’re not the end goal. As B.K.S. Iyengar famously said, “The practice of asana is not a workout. It is a work-in.” Through precise physical actions, we’re actually training our mind. This is what makes Iyengar Yoga a practice of meditation in action.

    To understand this fully, it helps to go back to the roots of yoga. In the second verse of the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali, we’re told:

        Yogaś citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ

        Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of consciousness.

    But that’s just the start.

    From the Gross to the Subtle

    As practice deepens, awareness begins to move inward—from the annamaya kośa (physical body), through the prāṇamaya kośa (energy body), and eventually toward the manomaya and vijñānamaya kośas (mind and intelligence). In Iyengar Yoga, this journey from the outer most body towards the innermost self (like Russian Nesting dolls) isn’t left to chance. It’s mapped out methodically. We start with the body, move towards the breath, and end with SELF from the most tangible aspect of ourselves to the most intangible. As a teacher I am able to see the students body and help bring their attention to areas that are ‘dull’. To a lesser extent, I am also able to see how they are breathing and help guide them to direct their breath in more efficient breathing patterns. The mind cannot be seen. If I ask someone to close their eyes for meditation I am not able to see or adjust their minds!

    Prashant Iyengar often reminds us that “Asanas are not merely to be performed, but to be observed.” This means we are not just doing the pose; we are using it as a mirror to reflect the workings and tendencies of the mind. The body is a vessel, it is a container for the mind. As we move and shape the container, the contents of the container are correspondingly adjusted and manipulated. Where is the body stuck? What area is lacking freedom in movement and therefore breath? Where is the mind during the posture? What area of the body can the mind not witness or see? What does it mean to be truly present in the soles of the feet, thighs, sternum, or the fingertips?

    Awareness Through Alignment

    In a seemingly simple pose like Tāḍāsana (Mountain Pose), we might be instructed to press the inner edges of the heels down and lift the inner arches. Then we notice: how does that action ripple up the legs, affect the pelvis, and maybe even lighten the sternum bone?

    Or in Adho Mukha Śvānāsana (Downward Facing Dog), the teacher may direct your attention to the base of the index finger—the inner wrist—and ask you to ground that point. Over time, you’ll feel how that subtle action stabilizes the shoulders and awakens the deltoids (shoulder muscles). These are not just bio-mechanical cues; they are pathways to concentration and integration.

    Meditation Through Movement

    B.K.S. Iyengar wrote, “Meditation is not just sitting with closed eyes. It is the art of seeing clearly with the inner eye in action.” In Iyengar Yoga, meditation begins the moment you stand on your mat and align your awareness with your breath, your bones, your muscles, your prāṇa (life force).

    This kind of inner seeing cultivates ekāgratā—a one-pointed focus. Rather than withdrawing from the world to concentrate, we use the pose itself to sharpen awareness. Each action, each adjustment becomes a tool to anchor the mind in the present moment.

    Geeta Iyengar emphasized this in her teaching: “Do not simply stretch your body. Stretch your mind. Stretch your consciousness.” That’s what makes Iyengar Yoga unique: it uses āsana as a laboratory for self-study and self-transformation.

    Yoga as a Work-In

    We live in a culture that often treats yoga like a fitness routine. But the deeper work of yoga is internal. It’s not just about how flexible your hamstrings are—it’s about how flexible your mind becomes. Can you stay grounded when things get hard? Can you breathe when discomfort arises? Can you see yourself clearly, without judgment?

    Through this kind of consistent, mindful practice, we gradually move from the outer form to the inner formless. From the earth of the body, through the air of the breath, toward the subtle light of the self—the intelligence, or puruṣa, within.

  • Why Iyengar Yoga?

    Why Iyengar Yoga?

    A Clearer Path to Strength, Balance, and Self-Awareness

    If you’ve practiced yoga before—maybe in a flow class, a hot studio, or online—you’ve probably experienced some of the benefits: less stress, more flexibility, and maybe even better sleep. But if you haven’t tried Iyengar Yoga, you might be missing a key part of what makes yoga a truly transformative, lifelong practice.

    My name is Charles Sanderson, and I teach at The Yoga Barn PEI, a space I built with the intention of offering something both grounded and spacious—just like the practice itself. I’ve been teaching yoga for years, but my own journey began during university, when I stumbled into an Iyengar class that changed the course of my life. Since then, I’ve studied in India with master teachers and opened The Yoga Barn to share what I’ve learned with others.

    My goal as a teacher is simple: to teach so well that my students no longer need me. That might sound strange, but to me, it’s the heart of yoga—building the tools and awareness so you can practice with confidence, clarity, and independence.

    What Makes Iyengar Yoga Different?

    One of the things people notice right away in my classes is the emphasis on alignment. This isn’t about creating picture-perfect poses—it’s about working with your body, not against it. When the bones and joints are well-aligned, you feel more stable and supported. Movements require less effort, and you tap into a sense of energy and flow that doesn’t burn you out—it builds you up.

    Alignment isn’t just physical—it creates space for awareness. You start to notice when something feels “off,” not just on the mat, but in your day-to-day life. You begin to make more mindful choices: around food, rest, how you respond to stress. You learn how to listen more closely to your body’s signals.

    This kind of awareness brings us into better balance—physically, emotionally, and mentally. It protects us from injury, helps us open tight or blocked areas in the body, and allows well-being to grow in a sustainable way.

    What We Practice—and Why

    Each 6-week intermediate session I teach at The Yoga Barn is built around weekly themes. We explore a different focus each week, and together these layers form a well-rounded, integrated approach to practice. You don’t need to be an “advanced” student to join—if you’ve done some yoga and you’re curious to go deeper, you’ll be right at home.

    Here’s how we usually move through the session:

    Week 1: Standing Poses

    These are the foundation of the practice. They build strength, stamina, balance, and body awareness. No matter your age or experience, standing poses give you the intelligence and alignment needed for everything else we do.

    Week 2: Forward Bends & Seated Poses

    These calming poses help cool and quiet the system. They tone the abdominal muscles, lengthen the back of the body, and shift our energy inward. When the heart turns toward the ground, the nervous system gets a chance to rest. When practiced actively, these poses are energizing, fun, and challenge our hips and hamstrings to function with optimal ease and mobility.

    Week 3: Back Bends

    Backbends wake us up. They aren’t movements we do often in daily life, which is exactly why they matter. Practicing them helps reverse our common slouched posture, lifts the chest, strengthens the back, and often improves our mood and energy.

    Week 4: Breath & Philosophy

    We slow things down and turn inward with supported poses and breath awareness. This is the quieter side of practice—learning to feel subtle shifts in energy, calming the mind, and exploring the inner landscape. Breath practice (pranayama) also improves circulation, soothes sore muscles, and builds emotional resilience.

    Week 5: Arms & Abs

    This week is all about strength—building power and stability in the upper body and core. These movements help us support ourselves better in more demanding poses and in daily life.

    Week 6: Inversions & Integration

    Inversions are calming, clarifying, and balancing. They help regulate the nervous system, drain the lymphatic system, and improve focus. In this final week, we also pull everything together from the past five weeks, so you leave with a strong sense of how it all fits.

    A Practice That Meets You Where You Are

    Iyengar Yoga has supported me through injuries, stress, big transitions, and deep periods of personal growth. It’s not just a way to move—it’s a way to listen, to learn, and to reconnect with what’s essential.

    If you’re someone who wants to understand your body better, develop a clearer connection to your practice, and build something that will support you long term, I invite you to join me at The Yoga Barn PEI. The next 6-week session is a great place to begin.

    No gimmicks. No pressure. Just a steady path forward.

    Let’s get started.