About Us
Opened in 1996 and operated by
Naader Shagagi
Trained in Raja Yoga at the Self Realization Fellowship in Los
Angeles, and Hatha Yoga at The Yoga College of India, Beverly Hills,
Naader Shagagi has been studying Yoga and Meditation since 1983. A
former Ph.D. Candidate in Engineering at the State University of North
Dakota, Naader also studied Philosophy and religion before coming to Los
Angeles as a disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda in 1985.
Yogananda's book, Autobiography of a Yogi, led Naader to a spiritual
awakening. “It answered all of the puzzles in my mind about God,” he
says, adding that the book set him on a path to enlightenment. Now
President Southern California Yoga Teachers Association, Naader teaches
at His Yoga Kingdom Sanctuary in Pasadena, Community Centers in Pasadena
and Mount Washington.
His classes impart both his immense knowledge of yoga, and a deep
understanding of the spiritual self. His classes stress deep breathing,
relaxation, and gentle stretching, as well as emphasizing muscle toning,
stress relief, and weight loss. Naader also draws on his background in
mechanical engineering for his study of human motion. “I'm like an
engineer to the machine that is the body” says the former championship
swimmer in his native Tehran, and intervarsity Soccer player in the US.
Shagagi frequently quotes from the writings of Sufi mystics, Poets and
yogi masters in his classes reminding his students that “Health is not
everything, but everything is nothing without health.” His 90-minute
videotape, The Power of Hatha Yoga teaches more than 35 positions that
help people improve their concentration and sense of balance. Naader
offers retreats, teacher training, and classes on metaphysics. His work
has been featured in Mode magazine and Martha Stewart Living magazine.
Naader Shagagi, the director of Yoga Kingdom Sanctuary, is also the
director of Education and Treasurer of Southern California Yoga Teacher
Association.
Naader Shagagi teaches yoga to all who are interested in enhancing their
lives through one of the ancient scientific systems of rediscovering the
latent energy that exist within each of us. Hatha Yoga refines and
beautifies the body from the inside out. Following a series of
low-impact and gentle stretching postures, every muscle is toned and
strengthened, while simple breathing techniques calm the mind, increase
the will, and improve concentration.
Hatha Yoga will provide you with a complete sense of well-being, and
impart to you the power and confidence for expansion and positive change
in your life. Weight loss, muscle toning and stress relief are only some
of the immediate benefits of this unique and ancient practice.
Unlike high-impact workouts which stress the body and target only
limited muscle groups, Hatha Yoga encompasses a complete body / mind
conditioning where fitness is attained through the disciplines of gentle
stretching, deep breathing and relaxation.
It is no surprise that the far reaching effects of Hatha Yoga are
attracting millions of people worldwide, making it the most
comprehensive form of exercise for today's lifestyle.
As a professional athlete Naader Shagagi has been practicing and
teaching Hatha Yoga since 1983. He brings you the culmination of
intensive study and personal experience which he presents to you for
fitness, greater well-being and the power to bring positive change to
your life.
Naader's Philosophy on Yoga
The Hatha Yoga system is distinctly different form other forms of
exercise. It teaches people how to concentrate their attention, not on
instruments, muscles, or body movements, but on their awakened energy,
which is the direct giver of power, strength and vitality to all bodily
tissues - including the muscular. Hence, the faithful student will find
in time that the yoga exercises invariably and consciously develop his
will power, along with his bodily strength.
A developed will can control and correct inharmonious physical
manifestations. These yoga exercises are a non-mechanical. Scientific
and natural means for the strengthening of all living or atrophying
muscle fiber. The system teaches how to revive and strengthen them,
awakening new life force energy in lazy muscles and other tissues. The
correct use of these postures helps to strengthen injured or
underdeveloped osseous or bony tissue as well.
This system of postures teach one how to accelerate involuntary
functions, such as those of the heart, the lungs, stomach, intestines,
capillaries, lymphatic glands, veins, and the cerebra-spinal axis (brain
and spine) without exhausting or overworking them, as is the case of
lifting weights. Hatha Yoga combines control of voluntary muscles with
conscious harmonious adjustments of involuntary processes, which is
mostly overlooked in the West and in current forms of physical
development.
