A lot of beginners and experienced yogis alike can find it uncomfortable and a little bit strange when they are invited by their teacher to chant āomā at the beginning or end of a yoga class. For many people who go to yoga for the more physical benefits, it might be tempting to completely dismiss this aspect of yoga. But when you understand the meaning behind it, you might find a whole new depth in the practice of saying āomā…
Savasana (pronounced shih – vah- sah – nah) is the final posture in each yoga class where all students are guided to lie down on their backs with their hands by their sides – hands and feet about as wide as the mat. Savasana translates to mean ācorpse poseā not only because it emulates a corpse on the floor. In the karmic tradition where death is seen as an important part of life, savasana is part of the acceptance of…
More and more people are turning to yoga to help prevent and recover from injuries as doctors, physiotherapists and trainers are increasingly aware of the positive benefits of a long-term yoga practice. As yoga enters the sports arena (so to speak) it is becoming another key tool for athletes and those who are looking to maintain their fitness in a way that will complement their injury prevention or recovery plan. In terms of injury prevention, yoga is an excellent way…
If you are one of the many people who have recently started yoga, you will probably have read or heard a lot about vegetarianism. A lot of yoga teachers and practitioners will often take up a vegetarian diet once they get serious about their yoga practice – you might be wondering what that’s all about. The answer lies in the historic roots of yoga. There are two main historical reasons for this connection, and both of them lie in the…
Many people keep coming back to yoga is for the physical benefits – you can get a whole lot healthier, fitter and more flexible in yoga. But for many many more, the mental impact of yoga is the best (and sometimes unexpected) benefit of yoga. If you are working on feeling calmer and happier and want to know how yoga can support you, practice yoga with these things in mind. Yoga is a place to explore your breath. The breath…
When I say I am a yoga teacher, a really common response is āWow, you must be really flexible.ā At a wedding recently a girl I had just met went so far as to scream āYou do yoga, DO THE SPLITS ON THE DANCE FLOOR!ā When I laughed that off she started chanting āDo the WORM, do the WORM!ā. I can do neither so I didnātā¦ much to her disappointment and everyone elseās relief. The screaming girl at the wedding…
There are times when everyone hits a bit of a yoga slump, when your schedule starts to fill up and making time for your yoga practice takes a back seat. The immediate things (texts, emails, work engagements) overpower the important things (health, happiness, peace of mind) and you start to feel a little āoffā and donāt know why. When this happens, you might notice a quiet little voice in your head saying āslow downā which you promptly ignore because oh-look-my-phone-beeped-must-answer-now….
Mindfulness is a tricky thing. Itās such a complex and yet simple subject. At the heart of it, it couldnāt be simpler – purposefully paying attention to the present moment. But we all have deeply ingrained thought patterns and in the busy world we live in, there are multiple demands on our minds at all times, so it can feel much more complex when we actively start a mindfulness practice. I really fell in love with yoga only after a…
If you havenāt heard of āsitting diseaseā, it is a scientific term for the sedentary lifestyle a lot of us live nowadays. Long hours in front of computers, or jobs that require sitting for long periods can contribute to the hours you spend sitting down each day. I realised recently that I spend a lot of my time seated – sounds weird for a yoga teacher, right? But with a lot of admin / marketing work moving online, many of…
I am often told by people who are new to yoga āI just donāt get the whole breathing thing, I donāt think Iām breathing correctly.ā Itās really common to be getting into the practice of yoga, but feeling a little unsure or even frustrated if you feel you are not āgettingā one of the main aspects of yoga – the breath. Matching breath to movement is one of the key differentiators of yoga when compared to other forms of physical…
