The throat chakra The throat chakra – or Vishuddha – is home to our communication – both speaking and listening – and self-expression. It extends from our throat to include our neck, jaw muscles, and thyroid, and physical ailments in these areas can be the result of a blocked throat chakra. When our throat chakra is blocked, we find it difficult to speak our truth, maybe out of fear. We also have a harder time actually realising what our truth even is….
Whether you’re on one foot, one hand, or just standing in a Warrior pose, balance is an element that we should all incorporate in our practice. Below are a few tips for maintaining strength and ease as you balance in your asanas. 1 – Drishti, or in English, the “focused gaze”. We spoke more about this in our past Drishti post which you can see in our blog archives. Put simply, it means focusing your eyes on one point. It’s very easy…
I hope you are all having a wonderful week this week. This week’s post is the second part of our yoga and mental health series. You can check out last week’s post here. As you might remember I discussed my own personal struggles with depression and anxiety and I explained how much yoga helped me, even if I wasn’t going to classes, I did several Asanas (poses) before bed to help me feel more grounded and happy. Of course, one…
Whether you have your own personal practice, or you only do yoga in a group, there are a few ways you can find grounding in any type of practice, on any kind of day. Slow your breath. Take slower, deeper, longer breaths. Take care not to exaggerate the breath, but deepen it by breathing in for just 1 or 2 seconds longer, and breathing out for 1 or 2 seconds longer. Keep this deep breathing awareness when you’re still and…
As the weather sets in for autumn, you may notice your body and your mind being swept up with the change. After an active summer, it may be hard to slow down to the pace of autumn. As the late sunny nights of summer die off, the feeling in the air is more of introspection and getting cosy and snug indoors. Check out the following poses for helping to stay grounded and joyful through the transition: Cow Face Pose –…
Anahata – the heart chakra Here we are – chakra number four! Anahata, more commonly known as the heart chakra, is situated in the centre of your chest. Radiating out from both the front body and the back body, Anahata marks the movement from a more physical element to a more spiritual one as we travel up through the chakra system. We feel a lot of vulnerability in the heart chakra, and so we often close it off and guard…
There are so many people who start yoga with the intention of gaining flexibility. While this is a huge benefit from keeping a consistent yoga practice, it’s not the only thing thing that your body will gain from learning asanas and yoga sequences. Would you believe that, in terms of keeping a sustainable, healthy yoga practice, strength building is equally as important as gaining flexibility? There is a saying from a book written more than 1,700 years ago in regards…
Here it is! Chakra number 2. I’m sure you’ve all been waiting with bated breath since you learned all about Muladhara (the root chakra) with me over here. So now that we’re all good and grounded, let’s start movin’ on up. To Svadhisthana – the Sacral Chakra. Where is it? Our (sacred) second chakra is located above the pubic bone and below the navel, and is home to our deepest emotions, creativity, sexuality, and intuition. A balanced sacral chakra brings a…
The heart is known as our seat of compassion. It’s where we love from. It’s what floods us with joy when our heart beams. Physiologically, the heart is connected to our central immune system. Just at the centre of the chest is the Thymus Gland. This gland is our immune regulator. Additionally, the area of the heart is connected to the lungs and our breath. So when we do heart openers, we are working with expanding and clarifying the breath,…
Muladhara The root chakra, or Muladhara, is located at your tailbone, and extends to include your legs and feet. Representing the beginning of your spiritual development, the root chakra is literally your root, your base, there to ground you. Representing who you are at your core, who and what you trust, and your sense of belonging and tradition, the root chakra’s desire is survival, self-sufficiency, and stability. It governs how we deal with things like family, money, basic needs, and…
