What is Yin Yoga?
In the simplest terms, Yin Yoga is a yoga style that holds passive yoga postures for a longer duration of time. These poses are usually held for a duration of between three to ten minutes.
The concept of holding passive poses for a longer period of time is taken from the practice of Hatha Yoga, where poses are usually held for up to ten minutes. Ten minutes can be a long time, as Hatha Yoga was originally practiced by monks as an austere practice - but when Hatha Yoga was introduced to common people it was modified to be between one to three minutes, to make it more accessible.
What makes Yin Yoga different is that only the passive poses are used. Muscle use is kept to a minimum, with muscles only gently encouraged to hold the posture without extra effort. As poses are held for a longer duration, props such as cushions and bolsters are encouraged. The poses are taken from Hatha Yoga but are given new names to differentiate between the two.
The History of Yin Yoga
Yin Yoga is a fairly new style of yoga, and it started in the late 1980s. While attending a Taoist Yoga class taught by martial arts champion Paulie Zink, Paul Grilley practiced holding the Taoist Yoga poses for long periods of time, from five to ten minutes. However, after practicing for months, Paul didn’t see much improvement in his flexibility. So, he stopped attending classes and continued to practice and teach dynamic poses from Vinyasa Yoga.
While he taught some passive stretching classes to his students and saw huge results. The quicker improvement in his students' range of motion led him to focus on these movements, and he started to call his classes Yin Yang Yoga, due to his interest in Buddhism. Even in Hatha Yoga, poses are held for up to three minutes - not as long as in Yin Yoga.
When poses are held for a longer period of time, the yin tissues are stretched. These are the deeper tissues such as the tendons, ligaments, and other connective body tissues. These tissues are less vascular, which means they are less supplied with blood, and also less elastic. This means they need more time to stretch, but stretching them increases overall flexibility, circulation, and range of motion.
Differences between Yin and other types of Yoga
More dynamic styles such as Vinyasa Yoga and Hatha Yoga, the movement makes your muscles do a lot of the work and stretch. Muscles are our Yang tissues, and they are quick to warm up and stretch, but also quick to cool down and rebound. So, when you only practice dynamic practices, you can gain muscle strength but not a wider range of motion. To have a healthy range of motion around our joints, we need to stretch the deep connective tissue and the joints.
Breathing is also an important part of yoga. The way breathing is regulated affects how the muscles and mind respond to a particular pose. In Yin Yoga, there is more of an emphasis on relaxed belly breathing. The focus is on long slow and deep breaths which are vital for letting the body relax and be in a pose for longer.
Benefits of Yin Yoga
The benefits of Yin Yoga are multiple, especially on the yin tissues. The Fascia tissue is stretched and stimulated by the long holds in the body. Stretching the fascia allows for an increased flow of nutrients, improving the overall functioning of the body.
The ligaments also benefit from Yin Yoga. The ligaments connect bones to bones, and they are stiff and strong and protect our joints from going out of place. Yin Yoga can gently stretch our ligaments and maintain the range of motion in our joints - keeping our body young.
Our tendons are the connective tissue that connects muscle to the bone. WIth dynamic exercise, the tendons can become short and decrease the range of motion. Yin poses can lengthen the tendons gently and retain the range of motion.
Yin yoga also helps to put gentle pressure on the joints, which revitalizes the joints and renews the fluids. This can help to increase the lifespan of the joints.
There are also a lot of mental benefits to Yin Yoga. Yin Yoga can help to release stress which is stored in our deeper tissues. Stretching these muscles in Yin yoga releases tension and stress, and you might feel an emotional response.
Yin Yoga can also help emotional balance. Yin Yoga stimulates our endocrine glands by pressuring them in longer held poses. The effect is an improved hormonal balance which also results in more balanced emotions. Sitting still in longer poses can also help to bring more mental clarity and focus.
If you are interested in starting Yin Yoga, why not try our 3 part series: Yin Yoga 101. This is a great way to introduce yourself to the practice and learn the basics while giving yourself a chance to reap the benefits.
Why we need Yin yoga now. We are all living at a pitch point in history and these last few years have been challenging on every level––individually and collectively. From living through a pandemic to times of war and strife, how can we find a balance inside and out? While yoga can’t solve all these major issues, it can help us create more space in our reaction time to find reserves of inner strength to handle the external events we cannot control.
Yoga’s many benefits, from increasing physical strength and flexibility to quieting the mind and balancing the emotions, come with consistent practice. Many forms of yoga, from the more active Yang practices like Ashtanga and Vinyasa to more passive styles like Yin and Gentle Hatha nourish us. But sometimes, when the world has so much active Yang energy, a more pacifying Yin practice helps us slow down and soothe our nervous systems.
If you’re new to Yin Yoga, this week we’re sharing a three-class introduction with Yin Yoga expert teacher Caitlin Rose Kinney. The classes are appropriate for all levels of experience. Yin consists of three tattvas or principles:
Find your edge in the posture.
Settle into a sense of stillness.
Hold the posture for an extended time, usually one to five minutes.
Yin yoga’s emphasis on only doing a few postures and holding for a longer time targets the ligaments, tendons, and fascia, as well as the internal organs like the kidneys and adrenal glands. Instead of working on the muscular level, this practice goes deeper for powerful relaxation and calming of the nervous system. Most postures are seated or lying down and can get intense!
Extended holds require you to focus on your breath and quieting your internal chatter. Because of the emphasis on hip openers, profound emotional releases often occur during class. Taking the time to get silent is a form of self-care and we all need that now more than ever. Physically, emotionally, and mentally, one of the main goals in Yin is to access a sense of surrender in each pose. If we individually grow more peaceful, our collective energy can impact the world.
Harness the stable quiet energy cultivated in Yin practice. These classes will balance out the active Yang energy that fills most of our days. You’re in incredible hands with this introductory program. Enjoy!
If you are a spice lover like myself, I am pretty sure this recipe will stay with you forever. This chili oil goes with everything. I enjoy it with my dumplings and noodles, drizzle it on scrambled eggs and use it on avocado toast. I use it to top my ramen soups and rice bowls. I sometimes even drizzle it on vanilla ice cream! You probably get the point, you can add this to anything!
Two good things about this condiment – first, making it is extremely simple. Yes, you will be handling hot oil, so I would not trust a kid alone with this recipe, but the process is very straightforward. Second, it keeps for more or less forever. Well, that is the theory because in my case the batch is finished within a few months. Actually, there is a third thing, and the chili oil makes a wonderful gift to give your heat-loving friend.
So, if you are ready to change your life forever give this recipe a go!
Chili Oil: You can add to anything!
Cooking time: minutes
Ingredients:
2 anise stars
1 small stick of cinnamon
2 bay leaves
4 cloves
1 small onion, peeled and quartered
2 ½ cups rapeseed oil
2 cups chili flakes
½ tsp salt
Instruction:
Place everything besides the chili and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer. Lower the heat and let the oil infuse for around 30 minutes.
At the same time, place the chili flakes and salt into a BIG heatproof bowl. Big, as you do not want the hot oil splashing over!
Once the oil has been infused, pour it through a sieve over the chili flakes and mix.
Jar/bottle up and keep at room temperature up to a few months.
By Kadri Raig
Kadri is a food blogger and yoga teacher from Estonia. She loves to spend time in the kitchen, but most of her recipes are simple and don’t take more than 20 minutes of active cooking time. She thinks that everybody can find time to cook healthy food at home, it is just a question of planning. "I work in an office full time, teach yoga 7-8 hours a week and write a blog. So if I manage to cook most of my meals, then so do you!" Connect with Kadri and enjoy many more of her delicious healthy recipes on her website here: www.kahvliga.ee.
People are endlessly seeking happiness and motivation in their lives, trying all sorts of tricks to achieve them. While there’s no single secret to happiness and motivation, there are some academic insights you can implement into your own life to bring about a greater abundance of the two.
This article dives into the concepts of hedonia, eudaimonia, engagement, and their impacts on your happiness and motivation. Psychological and social research has led to the development of these concepts that have their roots in ancient philosophy but still bear fruit in the present day.
The Meaning of Hedonia
To understand the relationship between hedonia, eudaimonia, and engagement, you must first understand them individually.
The word “hedonia” comes from the Greek work “hedone” which translates to “pleasure.”
You may recognize the sound of the word from “hedonism” which is more commonly used nowadays. Hedonism may have negative connotations depending on where you come from, as religious organizations and certain philosophers have criticized it harshly.
It was viewed as a purely selfish form of physical indulgence with strong ties to morally deviant behavior. This, however, is an extreme view that does not apply to hedonia.
Hedonia, as modern psychologists understand it, is an umbrella term for a state of pleasure, comfort, or enjoyment. A state in which you are free of distress. Hedonic pursuits, therefore, are activities or indulgences that bring you closer to this state of being.
You can likely think of something you do in life simply for the enjoyment of it. This could be doing yoga, eating your favorite food, spending time with friends or loved ones, drinking a cup of coffee, or walking in nature. Anything you do to destress and enjoy yourself is potentially considered hedonia.
Understanding Eudaimonia
Hedonia and eudaimonia are similar in that they both have positive outcomes. However, in contrast to hedonia, eudaimonia relates to long-term achievement rather than short-term pleasure.
The ancient philosopher Aristotle first conceptualized eudaimonia, a word that literally translates to “happiness.” In his terms, it relates to activities that help bring about self-actualization, living true to your nature, and fulfilling your passions in life.
To look deeper into the meaning of the word, you can dissect it. “Eu” translates to “good” while “daimon” translates to “spirit.”
Thus, eudaimonia refers not simply to pleasure, but to fulfillment, enlightenment, living according to your perceived purpose and passion. It’s a complex concept to pin down with words, but that doesn’t stop contemporary philosophers and psychologists from trying.
In simple terms, you may think of eudaimonia as something that provides lasting and meaningful happiness as opposed to short-term, fleeting joy. There is often work required to achieve eudaimonia. For example, your daily yoga practice. While you may enjoy your yoga, it requires commitment and effort. The benefits of yoga are strength, vitality, and peace, which last a lifetime if you maintain your practice.
Another example is education. It requires work and effort, but through the pursuit of knowledge, you become more fulfilled and capable in life.
Eudaimonia often requires discipline while hedonia is much easier to sink into. Sometimes you don’t even have to think about it.
The Engagement Element
Engagement may be thought of as the level of attention you put into anything you do. The theory is that the more you engage with or attend to any activity, the more you get out of it. Signing up to do something is easy. It can be a split-second decision. But being present with the activity every time you do it is engagement.
To use yoga as an example again, you may come to your mat in the morning feeling grumpy and distracted. You have a thousand things on your mind, and you resent the 30 minutes you’re taking out of your day to focus on hip openers or sun salutations.
You may feel tempted to breeze through your poses without paying attention to the instructor, doing the bare minimum to look like you’re participating. It’s unlikely that you will reap much benefit from your practice in this state of mind and body.
If you’re committed to engagement, you may take a few deep breaths, put yourself in your heart space, and practice your poses with as much dedication and mindfulness as you can. This may not completely alleviate your stress, but your mind and body will benefit far more from choosing to be engaged.
Similarly, a student who does the bare minimum in class and in their assignments will be lucky to pass and will struggle professionally more than the student who shows up on time and works hard every day, regardless of their feelings.
An Energetic Intersection
Psychologists believe that a careful balance between hedonia, eudaimonia, and engagement is the closest thing we have to an instruction manual for happiness and motivation.
Eudaimonia spurs you to do things like study, exercise, meditate, eat well, help the needy, and advance your career. These things are great for the human spirit, but they are also taxing. They require tremendous amounts of commitment and discipline to maintain, which in turn causes us to become stressed.
Hedonia comprises all the big and little indulgences we allow ourselves to provide a counterweight to all the strain we take in pursuit of larger goals. Eating that chocolate, spending a night out with friends, going on holiday, taking that afternoon nap, these are all things that when practiced in moderation provide us with joy and comfort that alleviates stress.
Engagement overlaps with both of these concepts. Whether you’re working hard to achieve a personal or fitness goal or simply taking some time to enjoy the little things, you should allow yourself to be present and engage fully. If your mind is in a thousand different places, you will not reap the full benefits of hedonia or eudaimonia.
With that in mind, strive to be present while doing yoga, but also strive to be present while having fun with your friends. Both are necessary for us to stay happy and motivated, and both will bring you closer to your truest expression of self.
By Sophia Bennet
Want more motivation at work? Do the yoga breaks at your desk program for increased focus and productivity!
Posture is something that most people can stand to improve a little. Our heads, necks, backs, and shoulders get put under pressure every day, and it’s easy to not realize how tight they can become. The easiest way to improve posture and ease tension in the upper body is to make little changes throughout your day, and not even all of them need to be done at once. Here are a few things that could be damaging your posture and upper body, and a few ways to combat it.
Slouching on your commute
We all know that slouching can be an easy habit to fall into, and it can be debilitating to your posture. While we can all slouch throughout the day, we are probably more aware of it when sitting at home, or even more so at work when we have to sit up and look at a screen for most of the day. But many of us can slouch on our commute, perhaps when tired after a long day of looking down on our phones while on the train. This can actually make neck and back problems worse. Studies have shown that vibrations caused by trains and cars can actually make you slouch more, by relaxing and sedating your muscles. Try to make an effort to sit up straight on your journey.
Talking on the phone
We’ve all needed to go hands-free while we’re on the phone, to jot something down or tackle an issue. But did you know that cradling your phone between your shoulder and your ear will affect your neck muscles and ruin good posture, even if you do it for just a few minutes every day. Try using headphones or a speaker to ensure you don’t damage your posture while on a call.
Take breaks and stretch
Whether you work on your feet or work on a desk job, spending eight hours of your day either sitting on a desk or strenuous activity can hinder your posture. When possible, try to take a few minutes every day to walk around, stretch and give your muscles a break during the day.
Don’t carry everything on one shoulder
It’s another habit to carry your bags on the same shoulder, day after day. But carrying on this habit can cause upper back pain, headaches, and sciatica, especially if you carry heavy bags. These issues can all hurt your posture and cause you to lean to one side due to weight. Try switching it up every time to combat this.
Wearing high heels
High heels are still very popular, and while a lot of people love them, it’s not the best shoe for your posture and your body. High heels can start to affect the way you stand, and eventually the way you walk because they cause your spine to start to sway unnaturally. If you do have to wear heels, try to stretch your calves as often as you can.
Bending forward with your back
If it’s lifting things that are heavy, or even doing something simple like picking something up or leaning forward, bending forward with your back can lead to serious issues with your upper back and posture. Try bending forwards at your hips, instead of bending with your stomach, and you will see a massive difference in your posture.
Don’t cross your legs
Even when you’re sitting down, the way that you position yourself and your legs when sitting matters. While it might seem second nature to cross your legs when you sit, you should actually avoid it. When you put one knee over the other, you lift your pelvis and this can actually cause a sore lower back and add to bad posture.
Sleeping on your stomach
While it might be comfy, sleeping on your stomach can put stress on your spine, and can make your posture worse. This is because when you sleep on your stomach, your spine can’t be in a neutral position, because all of your weight is at your center. Try sleeping on your back, or your side.
Now you know some of the things that can be making your posture worse, here are some ways to combat bad posture.
Wall slide
If you’ve been sitting in one place for too long, a wall slide is a good way to reset your body and your posture and remind yourself what a good posture feels like. It can also help to relieve tightness in your neck and shoulders. To do it, stand with your back and head pressed against the wall, with your feet a foot or two away. Try not to arch your back, and bend your knees slightly. Raise your arms, and this is the starting point. Now, slide your arms down towards your shoulders, keeping your back and head against the wall. Hold here for a moment, and then lift your arms back up to the starting point.
Child's Pose
Child’s pose is an easy pose that can help to stretch your spine and ease tension in your back. Start on all fours, then sink your hips back towards your feet - walking your hands out in front at the same time. Place your forehead on the floor, and relax and breathe deeply.
Shoulder blade squeeze
This exercise will help to improve your posture by stabilizing the shoulders and upper back muscles. Stand tall with your arms at your side, and pull your shoulders back and downward, as if you’re trying to get your shoulder blades to touch. Pull until you feel a slight stretch in your muscles.
By Amy Cavill
Stop what you’re doing for a moment and check-in to see how you’re feeling. Turn your head from side to side, perform a few shoulder rolls, and reach your arms overhead. Are you carrying tension in your neck or are your shoulders rounded forward? Mental and emotional stress often manifests as poor posture which impacts not just your muscles, tendons, and bones but also your subtle body. Read on to discover how yoga for your upper body can help.
This week, join us and dedicate some time to developing and maintaining a healthy spine with classes designed specifically to prevent and alleviate back pain. Yoga’s three-pronged approach will help you discover whether the tightness and discomfort are coming primarily from your spinal disc issues, strained muscles or connective tissue, or your texting or driving habits. The great news is that regardless of the cause, yoga can soothe what ails you.
This week’s classes offer relief if you’re currently suffering neck and back pain while strengthening and stretching the muscles supporting your spine to prevent future issues. You’ll learn techniques to maintain a stable yet mobile spine and release patterns that could be causing injury. From gentle backbends to core strengthening moves and focused shoulder-opening postures, these targeted practices provide powerful benefits. When you open your shoulders and chest, you’re creating more space for your heart to stay emotionally balanced.
By softening the areas where you carry tension, you relax the muscles, which creates a corresponding emotional release. The upper body houses the higher chakras, from the crown of the head, Sahasrara Chakra, down the spine to the third-eye or Ajna Chakra, the throat chakra or Visshuda, and the Anahata or heart Chakra. These energy centers represent our connection to the Divine, our intuition, our center for authentic communication, to our seat of love and compassion, respectively. A yoga practice emphasizing creating freedom in your neck, shoulders, and back will positively impact your subtle body and mental health.
Check out this week’s varied classes and improve your posture, open your heart, and clear your mind. Reverse the damage from hunching over your computer, sitting too long, and holding anxiety in your neck, shoulders, and back. Here’s to feeling light and balanced!
Claire Petretti Marti - Yoga for Healthy Backs: Spinal Tune-Up
Shoulder Mobility with Kylie Larson
Desiree Rumbaugh - Strengthen, Protect, & Heal the Upper Body
Patrick Montgomery - Neck Nirvana
What could be better than chocolate? Chocolate and berries! Desserts that combine berries with chocolate feel like the gold standard.
These Raspberry Cheesecake Bites tick all the boxes. Raspberries give just the right amount of acidity and sweetness to the silky cashew-based filling. The luxurious texture and brightness of the tangy berries make this filling completely drool-worthy. And to top it all off, they have rich chocolate crusts that you’ll be tempted to eat all on their own.
We’ve added maca to this recipe for some added adaptogen-powdered oomph to your celebrations. Maca helps boost libido and fertility, improves energy, and may also relieve some of the symptoms of menopause.
The best part? These cheesecake bites can be whipped up in no time at all. There aren’t any complicated steps in this one — just some straightforward blending and freezing. For such an easy process, the payoff is huge. These bites look enticing and taste irresistible.
Plus this is a naturally sweetened recipe, so you won’t get the crash and irritability of your typical sugar-laden treats. These bites are a nourishing alternative that gives you all the flavor without the side effects. They’re also completely plant-based and gluten-free, which makes them extra easy to share.
With chocolate raspberry kisses,
Jo and Jules
Raspberry Cheesecake Bites
Yield: 4 Cheesecakes
For the crust:
¼ cup dates ¼ cup raw pecans 2 tsp cacao powder
For the filling:
½ cup cashews, soaked at least one hour Juice of ½ a lemon 2 tbsp palm shortening ¼ cup oat milk 2 tbsp maple syrup 1 tsp vanilla 2 tsp maca powder 1 pint raspberries 2 tbsp maple syrup
Directions:
For the crust, start by blending dates in a food processor or blender for about one minute or until they turn into a paste. Take the dates out and pulse the pecans until the texture resembles flour. Add the dates back in along with the cacao powder and blend until combined. Line 4 slots in a muffin tin with paper liners and fill each with a generously rounded tablespoon of the pecan/date mixture. Press down with a spoon or fingers, and freeze while making the filling.
For the filling, place all ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth, making sure to scrape down the sides of the blender. Pour filling on top of the crust in the molds and let freeze at least one hour.
Cook raspberries with maple syrup in a saucepan until they break down and become a purée. You can strain out the seeds at this point if you prefer a purée without them. Let cool for at least two hours in the refrigerator. After topping the crust with the cheesecake mixture, add one teaspoon of raspberry and stir lightly with a toothpick before freezing for at least one hour.
Allow the cheesecakes to come to room temp for about 10 minutes before enjoying!
Jo Schaalman and Jules Peláez are co-authors of two books The Conscious Cleanse: Lose Weight, Heal Your Body and Transform Your Life in 14 Days, a best-selling, step-by-step guide to help you live your most vibrant life and their brand new The Conscious Cleanse Cookbook! Together they’ve led thousands of people through their online supported cleanse through their accessible and light-hearted approach. They’ve been dubbed “the real deal” by founder and chief creative director Bobbi Brown, of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, beauty editor of the TODAY show.
Every family of yoga poses has its own unique energetic benefits. While the musculoskeletal benefits of postures are more obvious, benefits like open hamstrings, strengthening the core, or opening the shoulders, the energetic and emotional benefits are more subtle but important and valuable in their own way.
For example, backbends, are uplifting and energizing and a perfect remedy for sluggish depressed energy. Inversions are excellent not only for the lymphatic and circulatory systems but also for changing perspective and getting a new angle on looking at things. Twists not only are physically detoxing but are also a catalyst to help you let things go and shed things holding you back.
Forward folds are unique in their own special way. They give you the ability to go inwards and physically and emotionally. Physically, they are fantastic for relieving back pain as they open the entire backside of your body (legs and back).
Energetically and emotionally, forward folds, are soothing and calming, even if it doesn't feel like it while you're in the posture. They are an excellent family of postures for combatting anxiety and soothing your nervous system. If you feel a lot of scattered and overwhelming fast energy, practice any of these forward folds, for several breaths, to give yourself a moment to calm and ground.
Here are 7 simple Forward Folds to help you experience the calming benefits of these asanas.
Wide-Legged Forward Fold: Prasarita Padottanasana
Wide-Legged Forward Fold is a powerful stretch and strengthening posture for the entirety of both legs. This versatile pose that requires engagement through the feet and legs, is a partial inversion, opens the hips, and lengthens the spine.
Standing Forward Fold: Uttanasana
Standing Forward Bend is a calming posture that will stretch your calves, hamstrings, and back muscles while rejuvenating your mind and body.
Seated Forward Fold: Paschimotanasana
Paschimotanasana is a grounding forward fold, that stimulates your root chakra, calms your nervous system, and stretches the entire spine and back of the legs.
Janu Sirsasana: Head to Knee Forward Fold
Head to knee pose is a powerful stretch for your hamstrings. It also opens your hips, gluteus muscles, and back of your neck.
Child's Pose: Balasana
This is a partial forward fold, but still has many of the calming benefits. Child's pose is a restful posture that will allow you to catch your breath, open your hips, lengthen your spine, and feel grounded.
Downward Facing Dog: Adho Mukha Svanasana
This is another partial forward fold and partial inversion. Downward Facing Dog is a common therapeutic yoga posture that elongates spinal muscles and rejuvenates your entire body.
Standing Split: Urdhva Prasarita Eka Padasana
Standing Splits challenges you to find a balance of strength, flexibility, and grace while opening your hamstrings, quads, and back.
Pyramid Pose: Parsvottanasana
Pyramid pose is a challenging and deep forward bend. Your legs not only stretch but also strengthen in this posture. It's important to continue to lengthen your spine while holding this posture.
Ready to relieve anxiety through yoga? This Yoga for Anxiety Relief program will have you feeling calmer and more centered.
This Full Moon moves us into the culmination of healing, and self restoration. This self-awakening began in the Fall, and worked the subject and object of the individuated self within our inner constructs. It worked to prepare for new endeavors and the embodiment of self through an expanded view of the external. How you hold yourself and the external has been challenged. These challenges opened the consciousness into new possibilities.
This Full Moon not only brings a full circle to self-awareness but also reflects and ends a cycle from 2018 (pre-pandemic). Look back and acknowledge how far you've come, how vast and expansive your journey has been. The mind and sense of self have crossed new horizons of understanding, consciousness, and self-awakening. Our external world has been stirred, the concept of self within time has shifted dramatically. This lunation is special in the waters that are rejuvenating are equally birthing the beginning of new self-awareness. It will hold us in space. Some of you may have experienced rapid shifts in your lives, the foundations, or what we call the four corners (career & legacy, health, relationship, self). These 'Tower Moments' mark quick shifts in direction and though some may have felt the ground or structures crumble on a very personal level. Know that these energies are for you to command, and if anything has affirmed that your foundation lies within the power of you, and your foundation is you. These awakenings support 'illogical' realities, unrealistic expectations, and reassert the foundation of the self resides within the self.
It's not easy, to be pressurized. However, know that building castles in the sky is the new reality. The gift of this Full Moon will bring to light what lies deep within, how intuition has and will continue to be a potent force in direction and self-realization. Time will feel non-linear, things will continue to shift quickly, or feel like it's not moving at all. Rest assured that what remains behind you are the ashes that nourish a grander reality than logic can fathom. These energies are creating the place in between. It is melding the two opposites and allows one to bring together an amalgamation of what once was, and what is emerging. In relationships and life, this is being reflected into a new evolution of relationships, views, and of course of one's abilities.
The middle road is coming forward and how everything is coming together through the self and mind are very unique. This is a point in which individuation has a healthy relationship with unification. Pay attention to symbols and signs, much is being reflected from the depths of the psyche and will work to strengthen the coming together. This helps in rising in individuality with a greater understanding and connection to unity.
An important aspect of this Full Moon is its ripening of virtues. There is a balance within values, truth, commitment, and fortitude. Again, the foundations of well-being will begin to birth how we connect our higher selves, the core values of humanity through the individuated self. How we create a new world, will rely heavily on how we come together. There is an exposing of duality. This exposure works to find the unifying essence. It will work how we individuate within unification.
By Geenie (Gemma) Celento
Geenie, also known as Gemma, is an Ayurvedic Practitioner, astrologer and student of the Sri Vidya Tantric lineage. Her website is here. Her classes on YogaDownload are often inspired by astrology and aimed to guide each student to unfold a deeper connection from within. Her diverse knowledge and continued studies in the spiritual sciences can be felt in her class offerings. With humble devotion Gemma weaves the wisdom of yogic practices into accessible and impactful mat experiences.
You can book a Cosmobiology Consultation- Ayurveda with Astrology reading or other offerings of hers, here! Practice Geenie's Yoga & Astrology program now!
“The body benefits from movement, and the mind benefits from stillness.” -Sakyong Mipham
Yoga is the perfect synergy between asana (posture), pranayama (breathwork), and meditation. When you develop a consistent yoga practice, you create a strong body and a centered calm mind. One effective approach to stepping into your personal power is to emphasize building physical strength through your yoga practice. These classes will help you strengthen bones and joints, increase endurance and stamina, and boost your mood with endorphins.
When you focus on building physical strength, you’re not just becoming more muscularly toned, you’re ensuring the health of your spine, your cardiovascular and nervous systems, and more. We’ve only got this one body and yoga asana is an excellent way to maintain fitness for your entire life. Like Joseph Pilates’ said, “Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness.” Think of your yoga practice as a vehicle to allow you to stay active and vibrant as long as possible.
Yoga asana originated to allow the yogi to be able to sit still and meditate for long periods of time. If you aren’t strong or flexible enough to sit comfortably, you’ll be challenged to quiet your mind and find Santosha (contentment). When you focus on challenging your body’s limits, you tap into your inner resolve and filter out distractions, which reduces stress and encourages more balanced emotions. You simply can’t separate the physical, mental, and spiritual benefits of yoga. Even if all you care about is mastering Mayurasana (Peacock) or Sirsasana (Headstand), you will still find more clarity, calm, and joy within yourself.
Whether you’re accustomed to emphasizing the physical, mental, or spiritual aspects in your own practice, all approaches lead to the same place––learning to live in the present moment. In this space, we can release self-doubt and unleash our inner warrior, becoming the most powerful version of ourselves. Whether you’re accustomed to a slow-paced Iyengar class a fast Power Yoga flow, or a quieter practice like Yin or Restorative, you’re building strength, balance, flexibility, and equanimity.
Join us this week for some fun classes that will not only challenge you physically but will empower you to be your strongest self––outside and in.
Jeanie Manchester - Arm Balancing: The King and the Sage
Desiree Rumbaugh - Yoga for Lower Body Strength
Not sure that today’s creation should be called a recipe because it literally is frying up a bunch of brussels sprouts, seasoning them with salt and lemon, and serving with sunflower seeds and cheese. But sometimes the easiest things are the best things in life, right!
By the way, did you know that some people might have a true reason behind not liking brussels sprouts – some people have a heightened perception of the bitter taste and brussels have bitter notes and this is why they are not fans of these healthy nuggets.
I probably don’t have this heightened sensitivity as I really love brussel sprouts. But not every kind – just boiled to a mush I will not touch them, but toasty and fried up like in this recipe – I don’t even need anything else to go with them as a main, just hand me a big bowl of these and I am happy!
That said – they do make a nice side dish to whatever protein you prefer!
Healthy Brussel Sprouts
Cooking time: 15 minutes
2 cups of Brussels sprouts, halved
1 tbsp cooking oil
The juice of 1 small lemon
Salt, to taste
1 tbs toasted sunflower seeds
30 g parmesan cheese
Heat the oil on a pan and throw your Brussels in. Use moderate to high heat and try to place the little cabbages cut side down at first to max the crispiness factor. Cover with a lid and leave for 5 minutes, then season with salt and lemon juice, toss them around and fry 5-10 more minutes until nice soft, but not mushy.
Serve hot sprinkled with toasted sunflower seeds and shaved/grated parmesan cheese.
Stories pass wisdom. Many religions base longevity and education on storytelling, as storytelling explains the unexplainable.
We all have our own stories about our own journeys, and they are ongoing in nature. No finite end or distinctive start. Life goes on and so the story within us deepens, is added to, and takes twists and turns. The style changes as romance, humor, and thrill are added or removed.
What is your story? What is the story of your friends, lover, family, and peers?
Everything makes up your story. At the time it may not feel like a highlight or something even worth mentioning, but know that everything shapes us. It lays foundations into the way you will act and respond to future events.
It’s the layers of repetition and renewal that color our story. Understanding results in a greater awareness that we have and we realize that it all dances and interweaves with seemingly unrelated happenings.
Stories we tell are life lessons for others. Listeners pick up, often unknowingly, on ways to cope, thrive or react. Unedited, unrepeatable recollections of life told in person, capture more than a thoroughly edited written version.
Our story is the way we saw it, felt it, lived it. It may and likely will be different from the version someone else recalls, but all are true for the individual. It’s an experiential and emotional account not a videotape of fact.
The way we each react and respond to the same circumstance is as unique as our fingerprints and therefore the way we retell the situation will be just as individual. The way we hear another’s retelling of the story will be different from how others hear it. The message or lesson of the story that we identify with may be different from what another picks up as being important.
The common threads link the unique views and a fresh view expands the appreciation for another. Tales hold so much healing for the one telling it as well as for those that listen. We process as we speak, we shift from a place of denial or fear to a place of trusting someone enough to share. We often recount other people’s stories, retelling them in the way we heard them, continuing the cycle of healing for us and new listeners.
Do you know your story? Have you taken the time to ponder it? Did you live it with enough connection that you noticed it? Or have you rushed so quickly to find out how it all ends that you missed how it all happened?
Slow down, recognize that your story is an ever-evolving account that can be added to every single moment you are blessed with. Yours is influenced by that of those you are surrounded by. Individual stories become encyclopedias of your community or clan.
You can read the same story multiple times and each read, take different insights and learning. Your story is the same, a reflection of your state and longing at the time you read it.
Life is a process, a mystery. There is no certainty other than death. Live with adventure and explore the unknown. Color your pages. Re-read your story and if you're unhappy with the chapter you are on, don't be afraid to rewrite it.
By Amy Booth
Amy is a yoga and pilates teacher and personal trainer in Brisbane, Australia, where she runs a cute riverside studio and a personal training business. In addition each year she runs yoga and hiking retreats.
To find out more: Website: www.ambertreeyoga.com.au Instagram: @ambertreeyogaandretreats Facebook: Amber Tree Yoga and Retreats
Start loving your body now, with Body Positive Yoga!
The chakras are energy centers in your body. There are seven in total and each one holds different energetic qualities relating to the unique physical, emotional, and spiritual components of your being. They also reveal the interconnectedness of your body and mind. The goal is for each of these centers to be in a state of balance, so one to live in an optimal balance in various areas of life.
The three lower chakras are more primal and the three upper chakras are more spiritual. They meet in the middle, in the heart chakra, Anahata, which encompasses a balance of these qualities.
Your heart chakra is also the place of love and connection. It is associated with the element of air. Physically, it is connected to your lungs, heart, chest, and upper back region.
If out of balance here physically, one may experience heart problems, trouble breathing, or poor posture in the upper body. Emotionally, there could be a guard up to letting love in, or a lack of discernment.
A happy heart chakra is seen as a healthy respiratory system, a healthy heart, and a proud posture. Emotionally it leads to healthy and meaningful relationships.
Yoga can help open each of your chakras! Different poses that stimulate different chaka centers, help find balance in these energy centers..
Here are 5 postures that open the Anahata chakra. Hold each of these for several breaths, and focus your attention on the center of your chest, the area of Anahata chakra, while performing each posture.
Bow (Dhanurasana)
Bow pose is a complex backbend posture that works against gravity and is powerful in strengthening the muscles of the back. Bow requires a powerful and equal kick of the legs and lift of the heart for an invigorating and even backbend and shoulder opening.
Sphinx (Salamba Bhujangasana)
Sphinx pose is a beginner-friendly and powerful heart-opener and backbend. This simple, yet powerful posture, can help heal lower back pain, open the shoulders and neck, and improve the area around the lungs and boost respiratory health.
Upward Facing Dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana)
Upward Facing Dog is a strengthening backbend that is commonly part of the Sun Salutations sequence.
Wheel (Urdhva Dhanurasana)
Wheel Pose is a deep backbend and shoulder opening pose. This uplifting pose stretches the entire front side of the body and connects all of the chakras.
Dancer's (Natarajasana)
Dancers Pose is a glorious heart-opening posture that challenges your balance while lengthening your chest and spinal muscles.
Camel (Ustrasana)
Camel is a deep heart-opening posture that strengthens your back while freeing your neck, chest, lungs, abdominals, and thighs.
What’s your morning ritual? Do you hit the Snooze button repeatedly and burrow under the covers or do you have a mindful routine that sets the tone for the rest of your day? How you begin your day influences the rest of your waking hours and your sleep too. Adding yoga to your morning routine will set you up for a great day.
Here’s how unrolling your yoga mat at the start of your day can shift your perspective and improve your life.
1. Boost Your Metabolism and Immunity:
We’re two years into a global pandemic and it’s more important than ever to do all we can to boost our internal systems, especially our immune systems. Yoga is fabulous because it stimulates circulation, improves digestion and elimination, and impacts the lymphatic system, which is what removes harmful toxins from our bodies. Yoga asanas like forward folds and twists compress and stimulate our internal organs, which stokes Agni or digestive fire. Seventy percent of our immune system resides in our gut so, a regular morning yoga practice contributes to starting your day off as powerful as possible.
2. Prioritize Self-Care to Stay Strong:
Some people are great at making sure they refill their personal well on a regular basis, but for the rest of us, it’s easy to be swept up in the events of the day and neglect our own well-being. Consider practicing yoga first thing in the morning as a way to ensure that you’re nourishing your body, mind, and soul. Yoga soothes our nervous system which results in deeper sleep and more alert waking hours. When we feel strong and balanced, we are able to show up for others in our lives and be fully present.
3. Manifest Positive Intentions:
We’ve said countless times: we don’t have control over external events, but we can learn to control our reaction to how our days unfold. If we begin the day with a sense of gratitude and a positive mindset, we are better equipped to handle the latest news or master the latest challenge that comes our way. Mindful movement, breathing, and intention-setting enable us to be less reactive and more proactive. Happiness is a choice and who doesn’t want to make the most out of each day?
So, this week, join us first thing in the morning and see how you feel! If you’re not usually a morning person, these four classes by some of YogaDownload’s top instructors may convert you!
Pradeep Teotia - Morning Vinyasa Flow
Elise Fabricant - Morning Quickie 3
Kylie Larson - Morning Movement
Shy Sayar - Morning Yoga in Bed
To this day, one of my favorite treats is my mom’s homemade chocolate peanut clusters. They’re made with all the ole fashion “good” (read bad!) stuff including sugar, dairy, and preservatives. They’re seriously addictive and cause me to break out in a sweat (that’s my response to sugar)! If you don’t know how to identify your response to sugar, be sure to check out our Sugar Sensitivity Quiz here.
While I’m not shy about fully indulging my own personal 20% when mom busts out the peanut clusters at holiday festivities, I thought it would be fun to make a Conscious Cleanse-worthy chocolate cluster that would not only make mom proud but one that would also keep my body healthy at the same time.
Enter Superfood Cashew Clusters!
These raw homemade chocolates are chock full of antioxidants and superfoods, making them equally worthy as a dessert or an in-between-cleanse snack!
Our superfood line-up in this recipe includes raw cacao (of course!), maca, goji berries, and cashews, giving these clusters superstar status in my humble opinion.
Packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber, this is one 80:20 treat that will make you think you’re “cheating.” In reality, there are much better ways to indulge your 20% (Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies, anyone?!) but if you’re like me and you want to “indulge” 100% guilt-free, these Superfood Cashew Clusters are for you!
If you’re looking for more decadent 80:20 dessert recipes be sure to check them out here.
In the meantime, if you’re newly post-cleanse or just have a hankering for some chocolate, be sure to give these raw Superfood Cashew Clusters a try.
Do you have a favorite sweet treat that you want us to make over? Leave me a comment below.
With clusters of love,
Jules
Superfood Cashew Clusters
Yield: About 20 clusters
⅓ cup coconut butter 3 TB. coconut oil ½ cup raw cacao powder ¼ cup maple syrup 1 tsp. maca powder 1 cup raw cashews ½ cup goji berries Pinch of pink Himalayan sea salt
Instructions:
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Using a double boiler, heat one to two inches of water in bottom pot on medium-high heat until steaming. Place coconut butter and coconut oil in the top half of double boiler. Use a rubber spatula to stir the coconut butter and oil until completely melted and smooth, about 5-6 minutes.
Turn heat to low and whisk in cacao, maple syrup and maca. Next add in the cashews, goji berries and generous pinch of sea salt. Combine well with rubber spatula until cashews are completely coated in chocolate. Remove from heat.
Use a tablespoon to measure out heaping spoonfuls of the mixture onto lined baking sheet, leaving space in between each of them to spread out.
Transfer the sheet of clusters to the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
When you're coming up against an obstacle, meditation can help you overcome anything. When you visualize yourself conquering a difficult task or hardship, you're able to access breakthroughs in your mind and in your life.
This meditation offering for today is one of harnessing your inner warrior. We all have deeply-rooted courage and perseverance in us. It may not feel like it at this moment; if you are currently battling a personal storm. But, this meditation on confidence will offer up an opening for you to eventually recognize your warrior within. The mantra offered in this meditation is one to provide comfort, clarity, and confidence. These elements aid us in the journey of believing in our own self-worth and revealing hidden confidence that may be shadowed by trauma or distraction. This is not an easy road to travel. Some days will feel better than others.
To recognize your inner warrior you must travel inward and this mantra meditation will be your guide. Wherever you may be on your journey right now, each day offers us the opportunity to begin. We can truly start whenever we want. The universe is always waiting to welcome us and to walk alongside us.
If you need to tap into more confidence or connect with your inner warrior, this simple meditation can help you, in just a few minutes.
Find a quiet place to meditate. You can light a candle in front of you too (optional). Use a meditation cushion or bolster and come into your posture for your practice. Softly close the eyes or have a soft gaze off the bridge of the nose.
First, notice your natural breath. Where does it reside today? Is it shallow and high in the throat? Or are you breathing deep and into the belly?
Begin to envision a lit candle radiating in the forefront of your mind. Everything else surrounding the candle is dark. The only light is the flickering fire from the candle.
Slowly deepen your breaths. Breathe deeply and slowly into the belly. Inhale through the nostrils. Exhale through the mouth. Repeat 4 times. Keep the candlelight in your mind’s eye. With the eyes closed, and the candle in your mind, we will begin the mantra.
This candle here represents power. The inner power that lives in you. A power to persevere in the darkness.
Repeat this mantra silently to yourself 5-10 times: “My inner power overcomes any darkness. I am strong and unbreakable."
Feel the emotion of you as a powerful being, as you repeat this mantra. If it feels good, you can continue to repeat this mantra for longer.
When you are finished and going through the rest of your day, come back to this mantra as many times as you need to, and in moments of weakness. You are strong and resilient.
By Christine Bowden
Christine Bowden is a Colorado-based Clinical Herbalist, meditation and yoga practitioner, and writer. Her mission is to serve her audience and community of eco-conscious and health-focused young adults, and military personnel find yoga and alternative medicine resources that provide them the support they need to empower their health wellness.
In the year of Snowmageddon––at least in Northern America––there’s no excuse not to head outside and play in the snow! Whether you’re a diehard skier or boarder or you’re a novice ready to conquer the bunny slope, you can elevate your snow sports experience with yoga. And if the closest you’ll get to snow is watching the Winter Olympics, you can still benefit from these classes!
Winter sports require a strong core, powerful legs, exquisite balance, and focused attention. Enter our Winter Sports Yoga Package, with 7 classes created specifically for pre and post yoga to help you maximize your time on the mountain. Skiing and snowboarding both require a lot of muscular work, and your hips and legs can grow tight and sore after several runs down the slopes. Yoga counteracts all that effort and has a cross-training effect to enable you to recover faster and prevent injury.
Yoga will help strengthen your core, which consists of not just your abdominals but also your back and glutes. A strong center is essential for maintaining your balance, controlling your movement, and protecting your spine. Powerful quads and hamstrings are essential for long days on the slopes. If your muscles tire out too soon, you may be prone to fall or strain your knees and hips. Asanas like Utkatasana (Chair Pose), Virabhadrasana I and II (Warrior I and II), and Vrksasana (Tree Pose) strengthen your lower body and improve your focus and balance.
In addition to helping you gain strength, yoga will stretch out the muscles you use during your winter sports. Your hips and legs are constantly working when you ski or board and over the course of the day, they grow tight. It’s important to keep your hips, hamstrings, quads, and inner thighs supple and flexible to prevent injury. Moving your spine through all the planes of motion, including laterally and rotationally is vital to feeling great before, during, and after you are on the mountain.
Another way yoga gives you an edge is by honing your concentration and focus. Pranayama work is key to staying calm when you’ve accidentally ended up on a Double Black Diamond run when you meant to stay on the blue runs or some out-of-control novice comes tumbling into you when you were minding your own business. Mastering your breath helps you stay energized in higher altitudes, which in turn maximizes the amount of time you can play!
Even if you’re only watching the downhill sports on television, you can benefit from these classes! Who doesn’t want to feel stronger, more flexible, balanced and calm?
Even though it is winter here in Estonia, I somehow crave summer food. Maybe it is because I miss summer, long days and sun. Maybe it is because Estonian traditional Christmas food is very much on the heavier side (think pork, sausages, lots of potatoes, etc.) and the light salad is a nice change. Or maybe it is because this spicy, zingy, and fresh salad is just so good and simple to prepare.
Whatever the reason – I have been eating this at least once a week for the last two months. It is so light but full of flavor. I love spice and this is definitely a salad for spice lovers. In fact, if usually, you can just choose to use less chili in case you don’t like heat then for this salad, I recommend just making something different if you don’t like heat as spiciness is essential for this dish. So is the fish sauce, so it is not suitable for vegetarians. I often substitute fish sauce in other dishes with extra salt to make them vegan friendly, but here it does not work – I have tried and it is just not the same. Sorry, my vegan friends. Luckily I have loads of vegan recipes available, so you will not stay hungry.
Asian Inspired Pomelo Salad
Serves: 2
½ cup cashew nuts
1 tsp dry rice
1 large pomelo
2 shallots
A small bunch of fresh coriander
The juice of 1-2 limes
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 Thai birds eye chilies
1 tbsp coconut sugar
Start by toasting cashew nuts for a few minutes until slightly browned. Then remove from heat and set aside.
Continue by toasting the rice for a few minutes until slightly toasted. Remove from heat, set aside, then grind to a rough powder in mortar and pestle.
Clean the pomelo and place it into a bowl.
Cut the shallots into thin slices.
Tear the leaves off coriander and chop the stems.
For a dressing, chop the chilies finely and mix together lime juice (start with one), fish sauce, and coconut sugar. Mix until the sugar has dissolved completely and have a taste. Add extra lime juice if needed – the dressing needs to be zingy and spicy but also balanced by sugar and fish sauce.
Mix everything together and enjoy. Addictive!
Enjoy this FREE 25-Minute yoga class from home, before your delicious mushrooms!
25-Minute Full Body Yoga with Keith Allen
Breathing is a powerful tool. From relieving stress to improving lung health, breathing can have many positive health and emotional benefits for those who devote time to focusing on it and making it part of their daily practice. Getting into the habit of mindful breathing can be positive for anyone. As more people take on remote work or deal with the strain the pandemic has put on the workday, breathing can help negate feelings of burnout, stress, and anxiety that may arise while working.
So next time you start to feel anxious or stressed during the workday, put on comfortable clothes and focus on your breathing to help expel some of that negative energy from your body.
People who practice yoga and mindfulness at work are less stressed than their peers. More and more people are seeing these benefits and following suit and the number of people practicing yoga in the workplace has jumped by almost 10 percent in the past few years! If you don't have the time or space for yoga at work, simply breathing can also help people feel more grounded and centered during the workday, which can improve both focus and productivity. But as an added bonus, breathing can also help improve posture which, in turn, can reduce the back pain or muscle tension that may come with a repetitive office job.
Try these simple breathing techniques that can help manage negative feelings that arise during your workday.
Box Breathing: People in high-stress situations like nursing or even the Navy use box breathing. In this method, you sit comfortably in your desk chair and take slow, steady breaths. You should inhale, hold your breath and then exhale in equal time — four seconds is recommended.
Sitali Breathing: This technique involves curling your tongue into a “taco” shape to experience the cool feeling of air coming into your body. The cool air can help calm people who are feeling agitated. To do this, stick your tongue out and curl the sides up, inhale through your tongue to focus on the cool air, exhale through your nose and then repeat.
Lion’s Breath: The lion’s breath breathing method can help calm the body down while also being a good exercise for those with asthma or lung conditions. To practice this method, inhale slowly through your nose, then stick out your tongue and exhale forcefully while making a “ha” sound.
Here is inspiration for a week's worth of mindfulness practices for your workweek!
By Emily Gibson
Emily is a content creator from Austin, Texas, who loves camping, listening to music and petting her dog.
There is never a bad time to set new intentions for success. Intentions are a great way to tackle areas of your life that you would like to improve. It’s important to spend some time thinking and setting intentions with purpose, as this helps in ensuring that they’re successful.
Here are our top 10 tips to set intentions that will actually stick:
Think about what isn’t working
When you set intentions, it’s important to think about the ways you’re not meeting your goals, or what isn’t working for your life right now. For example, if you want to exercise more, maybe change your lifestyle if it is more sedentary. Think about the aspect in your life which you want to change, and start your intention journey from there.
Think about how you want to feel
Once you’ve chosen something to focus on, turn it into an affirmation. For example, taking the exercise intention, think about how you want to feel. You might say you want to feel stronger. Turn this feeling into an affirmation, and tell yourself ‘I am strong’.
Check in with yourself
Before you set your intentions, think about your gut instincts and what they are telling you about your goals. It’s important to think about, as our intuition is important. Think about if your new intention is what you truly want, and how it makes you feel. Your intentions should make you feel a big ‘YES’ in your gut. Think about the words and feelings that your intuition tells you, and incorporate them into your intentions.
Use symbols
The unconscious mind communicates using symbols, and using them can help to accelerate changes and make them stick. Imagine a symbol that represents the way you want to feel, and try to use all of your senses. Think of sounds, smells, tastes and feelings associated with your intentions and visualize them. This will help when you think about your intentions.
Meditation
Meditation is great for thinking about and focusing on your intentions. Sit down and imagine your new intention and desired reality. Imagine receiving everything you desire, magnetically without effort or struggle. This will help to regain your focus and keep your intentions close to your heart. You can always visualize a daydream with your desired intention already fulfilled. Visualization will help manifest your intentions.
Set small goals for yourself
While thinking and visualizing your intentions, think about the action steps you can make to make your intentions a reality. Having a plan with small goals is essential to acting on your intentions and reaching your goals. Think of several small steps you can take over the next few weeks or months. This will help you to avoid procrastination.
Find small ways you can meet your goals
If you already have habits where it’s easy to slip your new intentions into, it’s a lot easier to start slowly. For example, if you want to exercise more, try and do something active every time you take a break at work, like stretching or going for a short walk. Instead of finding extra time to add in a new habit, it becomes easier to add it to things you already do.
Brainstorm ideas
After setting your intentions, brainstorm ideas and ways you can bring your new intentions into your life. While you brainstorm, think of your symbol. Brainstorming is a great way to help you come up with ideas to bring your intentions into your day-to-day life.
Connect with your intentions often
Repeating your inventions to yourself in the morning and at night is a great way to stay focused and to increase your ability to achieve them. Try to think of your symbol too, throughout your day, and you will see much more success.
Celebrate your success
At the end of each day, check-in with yourself and see how well you’ve done. Celebrate your successes and check in regularly. Perhaps every morning or evening, while you connect with your intentions. This can help keep your momentum and help to find new ways to integrate your intentions into your life.
Bring your resolutions and intentions to life with the Meditate to Manifest series!
Raise your hand if you committed to a consistent yoga practice in 2022 but now, you’re having a challenging time stepping onto the mat regularly. You aren’t alone.
We get it––life is busy. Despite our best intentions, sometimes our healthy habits are the first item dropped from our schedule. But self-care is essential to our well-being and the more energy we dedicate to our yoga practice, the more energy we have for everything else in our lives. We’re here to save the day with condensed classes that pack in all the yoga benefits you crave in half the time.
Thank quality over quantity. What is key to establishing a habit is consistency. Even as little as fifteen minutes a day can make a major impact on your health! Don’t feel you have to take a 90-minute yoga class seven days a week to be more strong, flexible, and balanced. Most of us can’t swing that much time, but every one of us has the same twenty-four hours in a day.
Look at your calendar and find a pocket of time where you can squeeze in a quick practice. Maybe that means setting your alarm thirty minutes earlier taking a yoga class at lunchtime or not turning on the T.V. when you arrive home. Choose to put your personal health at the top of your priority list and rejuvenate yourself.
By practicing yoga in consistent small chunks, you’ll tap into all of yoga’s myriad of benefits. On the physical level, you’ll build strength, enhance, improve your posture, keep your digestion flowing, and hone your sense of balance. We tend to store our feelings in our tissues, so on an emotional level, you’ll experience more level moods, increased energy, and a sense of santosha or contentment. Mentally, you can clear your mind of the clutter and enjoy more focus and clarity.
Ready to try it? This week, we have four classes that will satisfy your craving for that yoga buzz, all in less than thirty minutes a day. These quick practices will reap great rewards, with minimal time. Let’s do this!
Fitness 'n' Yoga: Energy Boost with Ben Davis
Caitlin Rose Kenney - Stability Practice
Maria Garre - Beat the Winter Blues Namaskar
Keith Allen - 20-Minute Yoga Fix
These squares are a nice sour pop to finish dinner. Do you know these fancy restaurants where at the end of the meal they bring you petit fours? These squares would be perfect there, so if you wish to feel fancy or surprise your dinner party guests with something extra – make these! They don’t take too long to make, but they definitely impress!
I love passionfruit in any form – so fresh, sour, and tropical and I often use it as a topping for cakes and panna cotta. It is a strong flavor and a little goes a long way. The same with these squares – only a few are enough to satisfy a craving. You can keep the rest in an airtight container in your fridge for several weeks.
The cooking process is very simple, but it is important to remember that agar-agar needs to be boiled for a few minutes to activate it. Believe me, I have missed the boiling part in the past and it does not work without it! So learn from my mistakes and simmer it for a few minutes!
Passionfruit Jelly Squares
Cooking time: 10 minutes + setting time
1 cup passionfruit puree (if using fresh just put the pulp through a sieve to remove the seeds. If used store-bought ones, make sure it is without much added sugar)
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp agar-agar
¼ cup shredded coconut
Place passionfruit puree, sugar, and agar-agar powder in a pot, bring to boil, and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes stirring now and then.
Line a plate (a square one would be best) with clingfilm and sprinkle half of the coconut to the bottom.
Remove the passionfruit mix from heat and let it slightly cool. Then pour over the coconut flakes and sprinkle the rest of the coconut on top.
Let it set in the fridge for at least an hour, then cut to squares and store in an airtight container.
Try this Yoga Challenge for Busy People to get daily yoga into your busy schedule!
Alleviates Stress and Anxiety: Stress, pressure, fatigue, poor diet, alcohol, and drugs damage neural connections between the brain’s prefrontal cortex and the rest of the brain. When you are fatigued or under intense mental or physical stress, the brain bypasses its rational frontal executive circuits. This respectively causes you to respond to daily tasks impulsively with shortsighted decisions. Emotions, such as fear and anger, are heightened and take over.
Meditation brings restful alertness, reducing stress and strengthening the communication between the brain’s prefrontal cortex and different areas of the brain. Neuroscientists have found that meditators shift their brain activity to different areas of the cortex, causing brain waves in the stress-prone right frontal cortex to move to the calmer left frontal cortex. This mental shift decreases the negative effects of stress, mild depression, and anxiety and there is less activity in the amygdala, where the brain processes fear.
Helps fight Disease: Meditation can help reduce pain and enhance the body’s immune system, enabling it to better fight disease. Emotional stress has been shown to increase activation of the sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal axis. This results in activation of adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol, which lead to faster heart rate, increased cardiac output, and narrower arteries. These processes result in increased blood pressure and enable the path to coronary heart disease and stroke. Meditation techniques reduce activation of the sympathetic nervous system dilating the blood vessels and reduces those stress hormones, such as adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol, providing stress relief.
Brings Peaceful Sleep: Without a doubt, meditation is excellent to battle insomnia. Techniques such as So Hum Mantra Meditation or Breath Awareness Meditation, and Zen Meditation Technique are excellent to help you get to a peaceful place in sleep.
Helps Invigorate Effectiveness in the Workplace: When the immune system is receiving some assistance, brain functioning is heightened and stress is handled effectively, anyone will experience ease in your everyday lifestyle. Relationships are more easily kept and increased, leadership behavior is increased, overall satisfaction is increased, impulsiveness is decreased, and there is a blissful calmness and desire to contribute to your work life more effectively with enthusiasm.
By Elise Fabricant
Elise Fabricant is a top teacher on YogaDownload.com. She's also always at your service for one-on-one coaching. If you’re ready to make big changes in all aspects of your life, sign up for a complimentary clarity session with her from her website here.
Practice this free yoga class with Elise!
Morning Yoga Quickie 2 with Elise
The bandhas are energetic locks in the body that help control of the flow of energy, prana, or life force, in your body. Engaging the bandhas creates more depth and richness in your yoga practice. They can help you get into postures more deeply, and in a safer way, as well as improve the function of energy throughout your entire body.
Jalandhara bandha – the throat lock
Jalandhara Bandha is the lock, or hold, that controls the flow of energy in the neck, throat, and chin. Jalandhara is the locking of the energy flow through the nerves and vessels of the neck area. When engaged with Khecari mudra (curling the tip of your tongue back to the roof of your mouth), its benefits are further amplified. This energetic lock helps fine-tune the flow of prana to the heart, neck, and head. It also helps keep the brain calm and helps balance the thyroid.
How to engage Jalandhara bandha:
Find a comfortable seat. As you breathe in, energetically lift up the crown of the head and the roof of the mouth. Retain the breath and lower your chin to your sternum and also lift your sternum to your chin. Hollow the front of the throat by lengthening the back of your neck and also relaxing your shoulders. Continue to feel the roof of your mouth and crown of your head lift upwards.
Similar to the other two bandhas (Mula bandha and Uddiyana bandha), explore this one gently to begin and don’t over effort. There is also an energy of lifting upward (through the top of the head and base of the throat) in this bandha, even as the throat constricts.
While this bandha can be engaged in most postures, there are postures that contradict this constriction of the throat. Think of postures like Camel or Wheel pose where the throat is opening. Even in these postures, you can find a hint of Jalandhara bandha, even while seemingly doing the opposite in the asana. Even as your throat opens in such postures, explore energetically drawing the base of the throat in and up, and towards the roof of the mouth to keep the energetic lock and length through the top of the head.
Align with nature and detox with Pradeep Teotia! One of the most powerful ways to feel your best is to align with nature. Instead of swimming against the current, when you go with the flow, it’s easier to lighten up. We’ve just experienced a Full Moon, which symbolizes the beginning of a period of releasing feelings of heaviness and stagnancy, inside and out. It’s the perfect time to join our 10-day Detox Immersion with Pradeep and shed what’s no longer serving you.
Now that we’re three weeks into the new year, take a moment to contemplate how you’re feeling. Are you ready to pause and assess exactly what you’re ready to release to create space for something fresh? Whether you’ve got some repetitive negative thoughts, unpleasant emotions, or tight hips that are preventing you from feeling content, it is time to purge.
For two weeks of the month, the moon waxes from a sliver to a Full Moon and it is the time to open up to new experiences and start new projects. But what happens if you don’t have the room to invite in the new?
During the two weeks when the Full Moon wanes, it’s an opportune time to shed whatever is weighing you down. We’re in that period right now and we know you’ll love the immersion’s focus on detoxification. Physically, this program will help you feel stronger and lighter. The choice of poses and breathing techniques provide powerful benefits for your digestion, elimination, and circulation. As a result, your vitality and energy levels soar.
On the mental and emotional level, the emphasis on cleansing can lift your mood and help you find a place of lightness and clarity. One of yoga’s greatest benefits lies in its ability to help us quiet our minds and filter out external noise. Sometimes we don’t even know what is weighing us down or preventing us from feeling our best. Through mindful movement and intensive pranayama (breathing techniques), we can consciously shift energy out and feel invigorated, no matter what it may be.
We’re here to support you while you focus on your optimal health. Just as the moon diminishes in the sky, you can reduce feelings of sluggishness on every level of your being. Happy Detox!