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…
I’m a Shiny New Yoga Teacher – Here’s 5 Things I Know (And More Importantly Some Things I Don’t Know) The first thing you will realise at the beginning of any yoga teacher training course, no matter how many years you’ve been practicing yoga or in how many different countries you’ve travelled, classes you’ve attended or new styles you’ve tried, is how little you actually know about it. Don’t get me wrong here; I simply mean that there is just…
You’ve seen classes advertised as Vinyasa, Iyengar, Yin, Kundalini, Astanga, and many more that are labelled according to a lineage or specific style. Any of these mentioned can be classified with very specific rules, sequences or concepts that define them as that particular style of yoga. But what is Flow Yoga and why is each Flow Yoga class so different? Yoga Flow can generally be defined as a yoga class that incorporates energetic movement through a series of asanas (yoga postures), by which the student…
“Which style of yoga do you do?” It’s one of the most common questions asked when someone says they practice or teach yoga. Unless you’re dedicated to a specific lineage or style, chances are your practice fluctuates as much as our Irish weather. To break it down, we can say that mostly all movement and asana-based practices fall under the umbrella of “hatha”. Other practices, like kundalini, fall a bit outside of this umbrella because of the predominant focus on…
We’ve been asked by a few students about our teachers’ favourite music to mediate to. While everyone has their own preference, such as silent meditation, sounds of nature, a specific mantra, or a singing bowl, it can be helpful to focus and get in the meditation mood with a song, album, or one of our teacher recommendations. Check the tunes out on our Spotify playlist! Aisling F – Uno by Deuter Aisling VR – A Feeling Of Being Closer by…
A few years ago, I went to one of my first yoga classes in Dublin. I walked into the studio, out of breath from trying to find the location, and found myself in an oasis of calm and smokey Nag Champa. I was happy to have stepped into this magical space, but I didn’t quite feel like I fit in. I wasn’t as calm as I felt I should be and I was wearing plaid pyjama pants. I shyly borrowed…
It’s currently raining in Dharamkot, Himachal Pradesh, one of the Northernmost populated towns in the Indian Himalayas. Meanwhile, I hear that it’s been 26 degrees in Ireland. Typical! Monsoon season here is in full swing, and as irritating as a downpour can be in the midst of exploring new towns and places, the people that you meet when huddled together with a street of strangers under a bright blue tarpaulin to shelter from the rain often make it seem…
How Yoga Can Enhance Creativity and Productivity, in Business or Otherwise “I am burdened with what the Buddhists call the ‘monkey mind’ – the thoughts that swing from limb to limb, stopping only to scratch themselves, spit and howl’ – Elizabeth Gilbert *It’s often been observed that a regular yoga practice can help promote creativity and a more productive and efficient work ethic, allowing practitioners to excel in their various specialized fields and carry out work with a clearer, more…
5 Questions That Will Bring You Back to This Moment ‘The time will come when, With elation, You will greet yourself arriving At your own door, in your own mirror, And each will smile at the other’s welcome, And say, sit here. Eat. You will love again the stranger who was yourself. Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart To itself, to the stranger who has loved you all your life, whom you ignored For another, who knows you…
There are many points of focus we use in yoga to help hone our practice. When we begin a class, we focus on an intention. When we centre ourselves, we focus on the breath. When we do an asana, we focus the eyes on one point called the drishti. All of these points help us concentrate so that we can allow thoughts to settle. A mantra is another tool that we use to focus. A mantra is a sound or…
