Yoga Casona
About my yoga
Martin Jansen first discovered Yoga while joining a friend in a yoga class around 2010. He fell in love with the vinyasa style of yoga / power yoga, which was taught at that studio, and continued to practice regularly. Feeling the benefits of yoga practice in terms of physical fitness, flexibility as well as mental health made him go back for more every week.
After moving to Spain Martin realized that there was a need in the community to practice yoga and decided to pursue teaching yoga. On his first trip back to the US he completed a 50 hour yoga teacher training at “The Yoga Room” in Redlands, California, USA in March of 2019. This training focussed on the general principles of yoga, as well as building a strong practice in Vinyasa and Yin yoga. Besides the yoga teacher training, Martin draws on 25+ years of experience working as an occupational therapist in various areas of healthcare and rehabilitation to create the framework on which his classes are built.
Martin started teaching classes in this area in September of 2019, and since the fall of 2020 Casona Granado has been the location where these classes are held. From the start a loyal following of students has been practicing with him and growing the little yoga community here together.
Classes are a combination of vinyasa and yin yoga. A 90 minute class is usually divided into 45 minutes of vinyasa yoga and 45 minutes of yin, providing the students the opportunity to work on building strength, stamina and flexibility in each class, while focussing on their breath and mental focus. We recently started a beginner class, of one hour, focussing more on vinyasa, with stretches added at the start and finish to round out the practice.
Weather permitting, classes are held outside, to maximize the opportunity to enjoy the fantastic environment we live in and use that environment to further enhance the experience in the practice.
Vinyasa yoga
Vinyasa is a style of yoga that is characterized by stringing postures together so that you move from one to another. Postures follow each other seamlessly, and are held for up to 30 seconds. Breath is used within the posture to enhance focus, as well as to guide transitions in between poses. Vinyasa yoga is also referred to as “flow” yoga, Vinyasa classes offer a variety of postures and no two classes are ever alike. The variable nature of Vinyasa Yoga helps to develop a more balanced body. Classes are set to a soundtrack. Group energy, the soundtrack and the environment all work together to create an experience.
Yin yoga
Yin yoga targets your deep connective tissues, like your fascia, ligaments, joints, and bones. Yin yoga is slower and more meditative, giving you space to turn inward and tune into both your mind and the physical sensations of your body. During yin yoga practice poses are held for 3 to 5 minutes, helping you stretch and lengthen those rarely-used tissues while also teaching you how to breathe through discomfort and sit with your thoughts.
Together we have found that creating a class around combining both styles of yoga works well for our group, creating a varied class that provides multiple benefits for our health.
About me
Born in the Netherlands, Martin received his bachelors in Occupational Therapy degree at the Occupational Therapy School of Amsterdam. He graduated in 1987 and has worked as a licensed Occupational Therapist until retiring in January of 2019, initially in The Netherlands, and since 1993 in the United States.
Working as an occupational therapist gave him a thorough understanding of the function of the human body as related to performing activities, as well as injuries that may result from these. He worked in different treatment settings, including chronic pain, post surgery care, neurology, and orthopedics.
After retiring from working as an Occupational Therapist, Martin moved to the south of Spain in January of 2019. The move to Spain was prompted by a desire to be closer to family and to be able to pursue other options. He currently teaches Yoga, provides massage therapy services and, together with his wife, creates metal and ceramic art.
Martin speaks fluent dutch/nederlands and English. His spanish is limited but he is working on improving his mastery of the language.
English 
Spanish 
