All of us at YogaHub are very excited to announce the new YogaHub Teacher Spotlights on our blog. Every 3-4 weeks, we’ll tell the story of one of our beautiful instructors. Enjoy! Chris Flack tells us about his yoga journey by breaking down his experience with meditation, and offers helpful meditation tips! www.UnPlug.ie I meditate 24×7. I, am a legend. …I don’t and, I’m not. Although when I started meditating I’m pretty sure that was my goal. On a yoga…
You may have heard that doing just 5 minutes of meditation a day can greatly improve your health. We all know that it’s good for us, but what does it actually do? It decreases stress. Stress is something that is experienced when the brain interprets a situation as being threatening or demanding. All situations, however, are neutral. They are a state of being. The way a person interprets a situation is what can potentially cause stress, if interpreted negatively. The…
Ikigai No, it’s not the contact details of that oddly-smelling dude from the bar last weekend who you assured you’d text after one too many cocktails. (iki-guy, get it? ….). I recently stumbled upon this picture of a venn diagram centred around the word ‘ikigai’ in an article on elephantjournal.com, and through a bit more research, was truly uplifted by what I read. ‘Ikigai’ is a Japanese word which translates to ‘the reason for being’ or a ‘reason to wake up…
When I first started Meditating I could hardly sit still for 3 minutes let alone 5. I’d manage to go through the motions for 5 days or so and then something would happen and I’d fall out of it. Then I’d beat myself up about not doing it. Then I’d do it again. Maybe for a little bit longer. Maybe not. Erratic. Unpredictable. All over the place. My practice was an analogy for my mind……………..and me. It’s now a year…
There’s a great story I always come back to about a doctor in Hawaii who ended up “cleaning” a criminal psych ward just with the power of his thoughts. Dr. Hew Len was hired to work at a ward for the criminally insane nearly 30 years ago at the Hawaii State Hospital. This particular ward had a high turnover rate of staff and many who endured their time at the ward rolled their eyes as they saw the calm and…
It’s happened to all of us at some point or another. You’ve done 6 downward dogs in half an hour. Your body is saying,”No,” but your mind is looking around the room, making sure not to fall behind. Everyone in class is going into a 7th downward dog. You know that your shoulders have had enough. You know that you’ll be carrying a backpack for about 20 minutes on the way home. But you feel like you need to get…
We are always told to come back to the breath. It’s the go-to of meditation. It is the yogic prana, a.k.a. our life force. So, sure, we can slow down the breath. We can count to 4,5, or even 8 on our inhale, and count to the same number on our exhale. We can feel the movement in our lungs, in our ribs, even in our bellies. But what about when a thought comes in anyway? What about that wrinkle between…
Where it is: Top of the head and a few inches above, Pituitary Gland Colour: Purple Element: No element Mantra: Om Qualities: Universal Consciousness, One-ness, Feeling Whole, Peace, Unity This is the seventh chakra. Physically, it is at the crown of the head and also a few inches above. It is associated with the pituitary gland, or the master gland. It is where we connect with the universe and everything–where we see no difference between ourselves, and others, or places,…
Where it is: Eyes, Brain, Pineal Gland Colour: Blue Element: Light Mantra: Om Qualities: Intuition, Mental Clarity, Intelligence, Spirituality, Learning, Wisdom This is the sixth chakra. It is centred around the eyes, the brain, and the pineal gland. It is the seat of our intuition, our sight, insight, wisdom, and spirituality. This is where we gain insights from our life experiences and where we draw information through our seeing. When we listen to our intuition and keep ourselves mentally clear,…
Where it is: Throat, Thyroid, Ears, Mouth Colour: Light Blue Element: Aether Mantra: Ham Qualities: Communication, Expression, Listening, Clarity, Truth This is the fifth chakra. It is centred around the throat, ears, mouth, and thyroid gland. This is the seat of our communication, our self-expression, and our ability to listen. This chakra is about the balance of listening and expression. When we listen to ourselves and to others, and then express ourselves mindfully, it indicates a balanced Vishuddha chakra. Physically,…
