Josephine Rafferty founded Yoga Plus, the key to relaxation after having practiced yoga for years and later qualified by the Irish Holistic Association Of Medicine in Dublin in both Yoga and as a Holistic Health Coach.
I always knew there was more to life and the human being, and it wasn’t until I took up training to become a qualified yoga instructor and after having attended an Educo Seminar, (how to use more of your mind) that led me to discover myself and my real purpose in life. I always had a great interest in helping others and was looking for a career that would allow me to share my life and experience with others. I found what I was looking for, by learning to relax at a deep level, to trust my inner self, to be guided by that intelligence of that life force which transformed my health and my life.
I also know that when life is at its most demanding and all your resources are channelled into coping with stress, yoga may well be the last thing you think about doing, Yet this is exactly when yoga can help you most.
I teach Hatha Raga Yoga, which uses a combination of physical postures, cleansing methods and breathing exercises to strengthen and purify the physical body, improve the flow of energy to the limbs and vital organs in the energetic body, and can lead to improved concentration and focus in preparation for meditation and the path of yoga, called Raga, known as the royal road to the mind.
Yoga is for everyone, young, old, male, female, healthy or sick. Yoga can always be adapted to your individual needs whatever your circumstances. I have learned how to explain the philosophy to people in a structured way through my yoga training, and have found it brilliant for my own self expression and to be able to pass it on and help others to do the same is my ultimate goal in life and the great adventure, and by just seeing the changes in people’s lives is so rewarding and allowing people the freedom to discover themselves.
When people learn to relax the whole body, they start to feel better in themselves. It gives them a sense of purpose, freedom to be themselves and experience a sense of inner peace. Yoga is the building blocks to better health and life, putting your body into a state of rest allows the digestive system to work efficiently, calms down the nervous system and the mind. Yoga improves the quality of your sleep, you will feel stronger, become more flexible, and improved strength and balance.
Learning to focus on a positive mental and emotional climate, are some of the main yoga ways of dissolving those layers of embedded thought and connecting back to your own life force and intelligence that underlines all things. The yoga view is that this is not a process of self-development, the Self is already there, perfect in each of us, but covered over by layer of thought, that we don’t experience its light, movement or energy.
Research and studies prove Yoga can improve a vast range of common conditions, including anxiety, asthma, back pain, bladder dysfunction, dementia, depression, diabetics, heart conditions, high blood pressure irritable bowel syndrome, and rehabilation andnpost-operative recovery. I believe in an inclusive understanding of yoga, as a gentle and accepting practice that balance the mind and body, and that can be applied throughout life.
My passion is to pass this message on to as many people as I can. I find that the more I teach the better my life gets, by helping others to relax and connect with that greater part of themselves and to take responsibility for their life. By taking time to contemplate your “why” you are connecting with what matters most to you and this is what galvanises you into doing things differently. To feel your best you have to consider the health of not just your BODY AND GUT, but your MIND AND SPIRIT too – this is the holistic health in action.
OUR MIND IS OUR GREATEST ASSET. “Create yourself. Give shape and form to your being.
“Paint your life, sculpt yourself whatever you will be, will be your work. It is not fate – you are responsible.”
