Surya Namaskar, also known as Sun Salutations, is a set of helpful yoga asanas that can open up a world of benefits for your physical and mental health.
As the name suggests, Surya Namaskar means bowing in reverence to the sun. The sun is the source of all life forms on our planet. Solar energy is the most nourishing life force, without which all living beings (plants, animals, and humans) would cease to exist. In yoga, the Surya Namaskar is a practice that seeks to pay homage to the sun and show gratitude for the importance it holds in our daily lives.
While Surya Namaskar is a healthy exercise for your body whenever it is practiced, early morning hours are popularly considered the best and most auspicious for these asanas. Early morning is usually when it is calm outside, helping your mind to also be at its most peaceful and still. This meditative state is beneficial when practicing Surya Namaskar. It allows you to awaken your body, focus your mind, and experience a feeling of gratitude as you begin a new day.
Surya Namaskar is, at its core, a formal bow of gratitude to the sun. So, it makes sense to do it in the morning, facing the rising sun. The rays of the sun emit positive energy that can recharge your mind and body, as well as improve your overall health.
In the absence of external demands and distractions, the early morning hours are ideal for practicing Surya Namaskar in a state of meditation, which helps to energize you mentally.
Read on for 5 incredible benefits of doing some form of a Surya Namaskar yoga sequence every morning.
It helps improve the flow of 'Prana' or energy in your body.
Surya Namaskar is a set of 12 consecutive asanas. Practicing the various movements, especially in the early morning, opens up the pathways in your body that allow for the flow of energy. After lying in bed all night, it is essential to open up your mind, body, and spirit each morning, to set a positive tone for the rest of your day.
It balances you spiritually.
Yoga is a complete workout that affects your body and your soul. The three primary constitutions of the body are Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. Surya Namaskar helps maintain a balance between these three. If you can attain this spiritual balance every morning, before you begin your day, it will give you strength and immunity against all kinds of stress. So take that yoga mat out and find your balance through Surya Namaskar before you head out for the day!
Sun Salutations have a positive effect on your digestive system.
Modern lifestyle has punished many people with chronic indigestion. Surya Namaskar is particularly helpful as the forward bends involved in each sequence can prevent constipation and promote better digestion with regular bowel movements. It helps release trapped gases from your stomach, while also secreting more digestive enzymes. Practicing this sequence regularly every morning can help take care of any digestive ailments you have, including piles and constipation.
Early morning Sun Salutations help fight stress and anxiety.
Mornings are the best time to focus on your mental health. Doing yoga in the morning, especially Surya Namaskar and the attached deep breathing techniques, help relax your nerve cells significantly. Relaxed chakras have a positive impact on your brain function, especially balancing the right and left sides of the brain. With regular practice, Surya Namaskar can make you more emotionally stable while also boosting your mental strength, memory, and creativity. It also calms you during stressful times by helping to ease your anxiety.
It stretches your muscles before intensive workouts.
Starting your day with Surya Namaskar can be an excellent way to warm up your body. If you are used to gymming or running in the morning for exercise, Surya Namaskar can help you avoid nasty muscle pulls. As the 12 asanas in the sequence put the focus on various parts of the body, each set can be used as a full-body stretch before moving on to more rigorous asanas or cardio exercises. Regular practice will also bless you with greater flexibility and toned muscles.
Apart from the above five benefits, Surya Namaskar is helpful to your body in many other ways. The full-body workout can help you lose weight if done regularly and correctly. It improves blood circulation in the body, which lowers cholesterol levels, keeps your heart healthy, and enables you to live longer. And guess what – the healthy body that you'll get from regular Surya Namaskars will also show up on your face in the form of a radiant glow!
So stop looking for more excuses and start saluting the sun every morning. It will do you a world of good!
By Nisha Baghadia
Nisha has a great passion towards writing and loves the idea of sharing. She has written many articles on yoga, fitness, wellness, remedies, and beauty. She keeps reading articles on different blogs that gives a kick to her passion and provides her with different ideas. She is growing day by day and mastering herself in writing appealing articles. She is a regular contributor to StyleCraze.com & Other few websites too.
Practice Sun Salutations to start your mornining with yoga and give gratitude to the sun, right now!
Surya Devotion Flow with Mark Morford
Anytime Sun Salutations with Jackie Casal Mahrou
Want to make morning yoga a regular habit? Commit to the Rise and Shine Morning Yoga program, now!
We’re excited to share a unique new program, which is the perfect fusion of Pilates and yoga, from Claire Petretti Marti. While Pilates and yoga have some similarities, in practice, they are quite different. The fusion of these two practices offers unparalleled benefits for your body, mind, and spirit. The two modalities complement each other and adding Pilates to your current routine can help you take your yoga practice to the next level.
What is Pilates?
Pilates is an exercise method created by Joseph Pilates and documented in his 1945 book, Pilates Return to Life Through Contrology. In Pilates, the core is called the Powerhouse and the emphasis is on strengthening the deep abdominals, the obliques, and the back in order to create a resilient support system to protect the spine. Joseph Pilates believed that age isn’t gauged by years, but by the suppleness of the spine.
The traditional Pilates method is a series of thirty-four exercises, with five to ten repetitions each, performed in a flowing routine on a mat. The focus on deep rhythmic movement, with increasingly challenging exercises, builds a stable center, helps lengthen the lateral body, and creates a strong and supple physique. While flexibility is a key component of the practice, the focus on strength is excellent for people who need to remedy hypermobility. The focus on deep consistent breathing is also a key element of the practice.
Several pieces of apparatus, like the Universal Reformer, Wunda-Chair, and The Cadillac utilize springs and pulleys for additional resistance. Regardless whether you perform Pilates on the mat or in a studio with different equipment, the purpose is the same: to strengthen your center. And strengthening your center in this precise disciplined way will enhance your yoga practice.
5 Ways Pilates Improves Your Yoga Practice:
1. Strengthen your core and use it consciously throughout your yoga practice to aid in balancing poses, both on one foot and upside down.
2. Improve alignment from working on creating greater symmetry and length to the side body. This translates into better alignment in all your yoga poses.
3. Increase body awareness from the focus on precise, mindful strengthening exercises and see how your awareness improves on your yoga mat.
4. Enhance your pranayama abilities with the disciplined focus on mindful breathing with every Pilates exercise.
5. Prevent injury: if your core isn’t strong enough and you aren’t using your center properly during yoga practice, you can be overcompensating with other areas of your body and get injured.
Are you convinced yet? Claire is excited to share her knowledge from teaching Pilates for the last decade with you in this fun format. Try the new Pilates Yoga Fusion Intensive this week and check out the differences in how you feel on and off the mat.
If you practice yoga, Pilates can help to complement your yoga practice. Yogis who practice pilates as well, can create greater stability, better alignment and have stronger cores. This deeper strength can give greater control over your movements, allowing you to move between poses and hold them for longer.
Pilates is an 85 year old system of body conditioning, which can complement asana practice. It’s focus is on building and engaging a strong core - essential for advanced yoga poses. It was developed by Joseph Pilates, who studied a number of forms of exercise including yoga to come up with the practice.
Similarly to yoga, the focus is on connecting the mind and body to create the movement, but the movements themselves are very different. How Pilates and yoga are different is that while yoga holds each pose for a while, or flows through in vinyasas, Pilates is a practice which one repeats precise movements up to ten times in a rhythmic flow. The method to pilates is an emphasis on the controlled flow of movement.
This focus on targeted movements that develop core strength in Pilates, can help yogis to build a strong and stable center, lengthen the body and increase your awareness of your alignment. Pilates can help you get stronger, avoid injury and advance into trickier poses that you may be struggling with.
The emphasis with Pilates is the proper use of the core, to support the spine and back, and create stability in the core. Your core muscles are the deepest layer of your lower abdominal muscles, including your pelvic floor or the lower back muscles closest to your spine. Strengthening these muscles will allow your spine to move safely without causing pain or injury and improve flexibility - which are essential in yoga.
Pilates also helps to improve posture and correct any imbalance in your body. It can help to strengthen the weaker and unused muscles in your body, and relieve tension in thigh muscles.
Pilates also helps you to become aware of any imbalances you have between the sides of the body. Bringing balance to the body is very important in yoga, as incorrect posture and imbalance can lead to injury, pains and aches in the body, as well as joint problems.
Pilates can help your yoga practices, as a strong and well engaged core helps you hold you balance better - which is useful for poses such as Tree pose and Headstand. This in turn helps your mind calm, allowing you to reap the mental benefits of a yoga practice.
Having that core strength that Pilates builds up can also prevent strain on your body and joints. Poses like Child's pose can put stress on the hip joint, if you don’t have any core strength to support your joints.
However, it’s not just your core. Pilates is whole body fitness, which trains your body as a whole. Pilates workouts promote balanced muscle development and increase range of motion in your joints. It’s hard to find a whole body workout quite like it.
You can also try the practice whatever your level and needs. The foundations of Pilates can be picked up by any age or fitness level. There are thousands of exercises and modifications, with pilates being able to be tailored to your individual needs.
Pilates helps to create long and lean muscles which are useful in yoga and more difficult asanas. Instead of creating bulk muscles for show, you are working to build toned muscles that work together in the body, cultivating functional fitness needed for all sorts of activities. Pilates uses a type of muscle contraction and eccentric contractions to create these lean and strong muscles. This works towards a safer stretch of the muscles and helps increase the range of motion in your joints, helpful to all yogis on the mat.
Posture is also improved by practicing pilates. Good posture is a sign of good alignment and a strong core, and it’s essential in all movements, especially during yoga. Pilates trains your body to have good posture through its movement and repetition through the exercises.
Finally, Pilates can increase awareness and improve the mind and body connection that’s essential in yoga. Joseph Pilates created the practice to be about the complete coordination of body, mind and spirit. Practicing each movement with total precision helps to connect the mind and body, and increase awareness - similarly to how yoga helps connect both aspects.
By Amy Cavill
Why not try it? Our 5 Day Pilates Yoga Fusion Intensive with Claire Petretti Marti will help you reap the benefits of both practices to improve your time on your yoga mat!
The mornings are getting cooler here in Colorado, the leaves are changing up in the mountains, and the Fall Equinox arrived (where did the summer go?!). The change of season always brings a new crop of fruits and veggies into season which makes it that much more exciting.
Apples are one of our favorite autumn fruits, so we wanted to share a smoothie recipe we’ve been loving lately – Apple Pie Smoothie! This smoothie tastes like fall in a glass, and gives you all the apple pie flavor you love without all the added sugar.
Apples a great source of fiber, plus they’re rich in immune-boosting vitamin C and antioxidants. Even though they contain naturally occurring sugars, they have a low glycemic index because of their high fiber content, making them a great low sugar option. Besides adding great flavor, Ceylon cinnamon helps to regulate blood sugar levels, making this the perfect smoothie to enjoy when you’re craving something sweet but want to avoid the mid-morning crash. As the mornings get colder, you can make this a warm smoothie by heating up the almond milk in a saucepan over low to medium heat.
What’s your favorite fall treat? Let us know in the comments below, and we might give it a Conscious Cleanse makeover!
With love and fall excitement,
Apple Pie Smoothie
Yield: 1 quart
Ingredients:
1 apple (green if you like it tart, red if you like it sweet) 2 cups spinach 1” piece of ginger, peeled 2 cups homemade almond milk (warm your milk if you want a warm smoothie) 1 tsp. Ceylon cinnamon ¼ tsp nutmeg
Instructions:
In a high-speed blender combine apple, spinach, ginger, almond milk, cinnamon, and nutmeg until creamy. Serve immediately.
Jo Schaalman and Jules Peláez are co-authors of the book 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. 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.
Yoga is a great way to stay healthy and keep the body supple. However, yoga offers amazing benefits to oral health as well. Thanks to these benefits, you must consider incorporating yoga in your life for your dental care, amongst it's numerous other benefits.
5 benefits of yoga on dental health include:
Reduced Inflammation
High stress levels cause an increase in the production of cortisol, which is the stress hormone. This increases inflammation, which will worsens the swelling of gums if you suffer from them. Gum swelling will increase the risk of gum diseases.
Yoga helps in reducing stress levels, which further reduces inflammation and swelling.
Alleviates Jaw Pain
Yoga promotes better posture. When you slouch or have rounded shoulders, the head will fall forward and go out of alignment with your spine. This misalignment will result in 2 things: Discomfort in the jaw and an affected bite.
If you have chronic jaw pain, it may be because of temporomandibular disorder (TMD). This condition affects your ability to chew food, sleep and talk. Different yoga poses help the body back into proper alignment, thus reducing jaw pain.
Stimulates Saliva Production
One of the benefits of yoga for oral health is its ability to stimulate saliva production. Saliva naturally rinses the mouth and washes away harmful bacteria. It also removes food particles that can be stuck in the teeth. Saliva contains antibacterial enzymes that help in breaking down the food.
When there is low production of saliva, the mouth will get dry and the bacteria will flourish. Chronic dry mouth leads to bad breath, tooth decay, a build-up of plaque and gum diseases. One of the first signs of dry mouth is bad breath.
Certain types of yoga such as vinyasa yoga and poses that incorporate forward bends, twists and inverted stances stimulate the salivary glands. This will increase saliva production. Yoga can also prevent the mouth from drying, thus preventing bad breath and several oral diseases.
Improves Posture
Good posture offers numerous benefits. Some of these include stronger core muscles, improved breathing, better brain function, more energy, better productivity, and better mood.
Poor posture affects the spine, mouth, and neck. When you hunch over, the lower jaw will shift forward. This causes the upper and lower teeth to come out of alignment. The skull also moves back and compresses the spine. This movement will put stress on the surrounding joints, muscles, and bones. If this is left untreated, it will create pain and inflammation in the joints and muscles when the mouth opens and closes.
Bad posture can also lead to jaw problems like temporomandibular joint disorder, more commonly known as TMJ. Those suffering from TMJ also suffer from headaches, jaw tenderness and a change in jaw alignment.
When poor posture causes the head to jut forward, it creates stress on the neck, spine, and collarbone. It can also cause compression of the ear canal and poorly balanced shoulders which can cause stress on the ribs and the organs underneath.
Just by improving the posture, you can prevent a lot of pain and many oral issues. Yoga poses help in correcting the posture, which pulls the shoulders back and puts the head in alignment. This takes the strain off the jaw and helps in preventing dental issues.
Reduces Stress
Stress affects the health of the teeth and gums. Stressed individuals tend to grind their teeth or clamp their jaws. This causes the teeth to be worn out and can lead to broken fillings and micro-cracks in the teeth. This can also cause nerve damage.
When the teeth grind down to the dentin, it will result in sensitivity to cold and heat, loose teeth, gum recession, and gum pockets. Headaches and aching jaw are also common.
Moreover, stress also slows down the production of saliva and increases inflammation. This leads to dry mouth and gum issues.
Yoga is a great stress buster and it brings down the stress levels. This helps in protecting the gums and teeth apart from relaxing the entire body.
As you can see, there are myriad benefits of yoga for dental health. Yoga along with proper oral hygiene habits like regular brushing, flossing and dental care will ensure you a healthy set of teeth and gums.
By Anu Isaac
Author Bio: Dr. Anu Isaac, DMD, runs a successful dental practice in Salem, MA. As the founder of Coral Dental Care, she is dedicated to creating healthy, beautiful smiles for her patients and also to educating dental and non-dental community with her engaging articles on all things related to oral health, recent dental innovations, and latest treatment modalities.
Convinced? Practice yoga now for benefits not only to your mouth, but also the rest of your body and mind!
Stand Up & Stretch with Jackie Casal Mahrou
Yummy Yoga Flow 5 with Claire Petretti Marti
We’ve all probably experienced procrastination whether its at school, at work or in our home lives. Some tasks and chores just seem impossible to keep focused on, and procrastination can seriously hinder our productivity levels.
Here’s 10 ways to help avoid procrastination.
1. Get Organized
You won’t be able to get anything done if you don’t know what actually needs doing! Buy a planner, use apps, or set up your own personal organization system to keep track of all tasks and assignments that need doing, and by when. This will make it easier to stay on track and know what needs doing, and when.
2. Set achievable goals
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the tasks you have to do, it’s easy to let yourself get distracted. An easy way to avoid this type of procrastination is to set yourself simple goals that you know you’ll be able to achieve. Make the goals specific, like ‘I will write 500 words in my essay tonight’ so it’s easy to check off, and less intimidating than ‘I will finish my essay’.
3. Give yourself a schedule
After you have your organization and your small goals, give yourself time to complete them. This could be a schedule or just a regular time each day that you devote to certain tasks. You can keep yourself on schedule with regular reminders and alarms. When you know you only have a certain amount of time to do something, you’ll be more inclined to stay on task.
A good tip for this is to dedicate the first 30 minutes of your day for work - rather than get distracted by social media and go down a black hole of browsing the internet. If you start your schedule with 30 minutes of work, it can be easier to stay focused throughout the rest of the day, and stay on task.
4. Remove distractions
Make sure you rid yourself of any distractions or potential distractions before you start working. This will help avoid you from getting sidetracked halfway through when your concentration starts to wane. This can involve turning off the TV, putting your phone away, going somewhere quiet - try changing your environment to somewhere like a library or a coffee shop if getting things done at home proves too distracting.
5. Take Regular Breaks
Time yourself and take a break every hour to prevent burnout. It’s important to take a mental break every now and then. Give yourself a 10-15 minute break every hour and take your mind off your work, and relax a little. These breaks will make it easier to stay on task when you’re working.
6. Use Incentives
Rewarding yourself for a job well done is a great way to stay on task. Use incentives to reward yourself and help you want to get the job done. It can be something simple, like rewarding yourself with a glass of wine or an episode of your favorite TV show after working on a task for a couple of hours - or it could be a bigger goal, like a weekend away after meeting an important work deadline.
7. Get the Hard Things Out the Way First
With every task there are those big, cumbersome things to check off that everyone always leaves till last because they just seem so hard. But when you check that big difficult task off your to-do list, it’s going to be so much easier to get everything else done on time. It’s best to complete the most challenging tasks first, to free up your time for those little things that need to get done. They’re not going to do themselves, so buckle down, work hard and move onto the easier stuff.
8. Make Yourself Accountable
If you make your goals public, you become accountable for them, giving you the motivation to work hard. Let people know what you are working on, and they’ll start to ask you about your progress - and you’ll want to report back that you have made some!
9. Don’t Take on Too Much
Make sure you’re realistic about what you can achieve and don’t take on more than you can handle. If you’re looking at your plan and there just seems more tasks on there than hours in the day, you’re allowed to say no and move something back, or even cut things altogether.
10. Accept Imperfection
When you have to make a tough choice or deal with a difficult task, you might be aiming for the result to be perfect - this can make it hard to get started because you’re so distracted by that ‘perfect result’ that you can find it hard to make decisions and start working. Accept imperfection, and start working with the ideas you have, rather than waiting for a great idea that may never come. Getting something done is better than nothing, and you can always go back over your work and improve it.
Bonus tip: Yoga and mindfulness can help to keep you focused and on-task. If you feel like you've got lots to do, this week's classes will help get your brain and body focused.
If you enjoy challenging yourself and giving yourself to-do lists and/or work endeavors that require you to show up, be consistent, focus, and utilize your brilliant potential, good for you!
However, sometimes our intentions are out of alignment with our energy levels and vitality, and ability to focus on what it is we desire and are passionate about achieving. Movement, exercise, working up a sweat, stretching, breathing, and the meditative focus of a yoga practice can help boost motivation, productivity, and output. This week's classes will have you moving and ready to focus!
Jackie Casal Mahrou - Yoga for Focus & Concentration
Josey Prior - Heron: Patience & Determination
Erin Wimert - Raising the Barre
Claire Petretti Marti - Yummy Yoga Flow 5
After a great yoga practice, you’ve probably experienced how your mind feels more clear, calm, and balanced. Many practitioners find the mental benefits of yoga to be the most important, even more than a strong, supple body.
Who doesn’t want to be focused, motivated, and able to experience life to the fullest? This week’s classes will release stress and boost your ability to focus and motivate yourself.
Interested in why and how yoga does this? Step back about 5,000 years and tap into the wisdom of the Yoga Sutras. Yoga Sutra 1.2 Citta Vritti Nirodhah is often translated as: Yoga is the ability to direct the mind without distraction or interruption. This skill is difficult, takes constant practice over time, but can be achieved!
Patanjali outlines a practical how-to manual to reach a state of yoga: the eight-limbed yoga path. The eight limbs are:
1. Yamas—the five moral restraints
2. Niyamas—the five moral observances
3. Asana—physical asanas or postures
4. Pranayama—mindful breathing
5. Pratyahara—withdrawal of the senses
6. Dharana—concentration
7. Dhyana—meditation
8. Samadhi—absorption/enlightment/union
Concentration or Dharana is the sixth limb and is the action of focusing or directing your attention exclusively on something. In order to reach Dharana, which is considered the first level of meditation, it is vital to be able to withdraw the senses of touch, sight, sound, smell, and taste and turn the senses inward. By practicing asana and pranayama first, you prepare your mind to be able to sink into a deeper state of yoga.
When we practice with a focus on our breath and our movement, it quiets the busy-ness in our brains. Freeing ourselves from external distractions opens up the ability to truly focus on what we desire.
This week’s classes will start you off toward an active, focused mind. There is power in movement and mindful breathing which goes much deeper than strengthening muscles and developing flexibility. So press play and hone your ability to concentrate and stay clear on your path.
1. Erin Wimert: Raising the Barre
2. Claire Petretti Marti: Yummy Yoga Flow 5
3. Josey Prior: Heron: Patience and Determination
4. Jackie Casal Mahrou: Yoga for Focus & Concentration
The autumn is slowly sneaking in here in Estonia, and for me, it always means some changes on my menu. I still love salads, but instead of leafy greens that are main heroes in my summer salads, they are now a little heartier. Hence barley in today’s delicious bowlful.
Barley is somewhat a national food for us Estonians, or at least it used to be. It is traditionally cooked with potatoes and pork, and then lightly mashed to something called ‘Mulgipuder.’ Mulgipuder is often served with crispy fried pork fat (greaves in English, I think) and sour cream. I don’t even remember when was the last time I had it, but now thinking about it I just started graving it… Especially the leftovers heated up on a frying pan, so it turns nice and crispy… mmm!
Talking about Estonian kitchens, it is traditionally a cross between German (sausages and sauerkraut) and Russian (potatoes, a lot of meat, soups) but today leaning more towards the clean Scandinavian kitchens. So here was a sneak peek to Estonian cuisine.
Should I share some Estonian recipes with you sometime soon? Let me know in the comments!
Anyway, back to the salad, this is very far from anything traditional. No pork or potatoes used in any way – in fact it is fully vegan. However, it is delicious! I like how simple it is to throw together and how fresh it is from different herbs. You can play around with different herbs and veggies to customize it to your liking and the massive bonus for this salad is that it stores well. Perfect for office lunch or make-ahead dinner. To prove that it is a crowd-pleaser – I once served it to 4 of my friends for lunch, and within a week 2 of them already showed off their concoctions on Instagram!
Simple Pearl Barley Salad
Serves: 5
Cooking time: 40 minutes
10 oz pearl barley (if possible, then soak them for a few hours before cooking)
2 larger tomatoes (I always prefer heirlooms)
1 large cucumber
½ daikon
2 ripe avocados
A handful of fresh dill
A handful of fresh basil
A handful of fresh parsley
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and plenty of freshly cracked pepper
Instructions: Cook the barley and let cool. Presoaked parley takes around 20 minutes to cook; if you don’t have time for soaking, the cooking time will be longer.
Chop up tomatoes, cucumber, daikon, and avocado.
Chop the herbs and zest the lemon.
Mix the cooled barley with lemon juice and oil, and then carefully fold in everything else.
Season with salt and pepper, have a taste. If needed, add more herbs, seasoning or lemon.
You can either serve the salad immediately or store it for later. Tried and tested that it still tastes good in 2 days.
By Kadri Raig
Kadri is a food blogger and yoga teacher from Estonia. She loves healthy food and cooking and for her, these two are often the same thing. Cooking meals from scratch, you know exactly what goes in it and even without holding back with sugar or fat we end up using a lot less compared to ready-made frozen stuff from the supermarket.
She does love 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: http://www.kahvliga.ee/.
Eat healthy with recipes like these and practice yoga to keep your body and mind in optimal shape. Never tried yoga before? Explore with this entry level 5-class Beginner Yoga 101 series!
Coconut oil is truly a superfood. It stands out from all other oils due to its extremely high nutritional content.
If you’re already consuming coconut oil regularly, that’s great! We will provide you with information on how it benefits your body. If you don’t regularly consume coconut oil, you might want to try incorporating it into your diet by the end of this. Let’s get started! Coconut Oil is Anti-Microbial
Coconut oil has been known to kill harmful microorganisms in your body. It contains helpful fatty acids that do this, specifically Lauric acid. Lauric acid accounts for around 50% of all the fatty acids found in coconut oil.
Once you digest the coconut oil, the Lauric acid creates a different substance in your body called monolaurin. Together, these two things have been scientifically proven to kill any harmful pathogens in your body. Whether it’s bacteria, fungi, or even a virus, coconut oil has the power to kill them.
If you struggle with yeast infections, coconut oil might be the answer to get rid of this issue for once and for all. Lauric acid has also been proven to kill Staphylococcus aureus, which can be a very harmful pathogen if left in the body.
Not only does coconut oil kill these harmful pathogens, it also helps to prevent any bacteria from entering your immune system in general.
Coconut Oil Can Increase Good Cholesterol Levels (HDL)
We can have both good and bad cholesterol in our bodies. The good cholesterol is called HDL, which is found in the blood. Coconut oil has been proven to increase this. This happens from the natural saturated fats contained in this oil.
In addition to increasing your good cholesterol levels, coconut oil can even decrease the bad LDL cholesterol found in your body. Good levels of healthy cholesterol contribute to overall metabolic health along with a lessened risk of getting heart disease.
Coconut Oil as a Weight Loss Food
Coconut oil contains something called MCTs. This stands for medium chain triglycerides. Many other oils such as canola or soybean oil contain LCTs (long chain triglycerides) which aren’t as effective as fighting weight gain.
MCTs are beneficial for those who want to lose weight because they boost your metabolism and increase your energy expenditure. Consuming around 1 tablespoon or more of coconut oil a day can help you burn an extra 100-120 calories daily, depending on your starting weight.
You might not think that 100 calories are day is enough to make a difference in your weight loss, but it truly is. Over the course of a year, this equates to an average of 36,000 calories burned. That’s at least 10 pounds of fat!
Coconut Oil Helps Regulate Hormones
If you’ve ever struggled with hormone imbalances, you know just how much of a toll it can take on your body. Whether you are dealing with too much or too little hormones, estrogen or testosterone, coconut oil can help regulate both.
Lauric acid is the key to this. This fatty acid works to keep your hormones in check, especially during menopause. For those women who struggle with low estrogen levels, studies have proven that it can increase these levels in your body.
Coconut Oil Boosts Brain Function
Whether you are studying for exams or just trying to do the best you can at your job, coconut oil can help boost your brain function for both these tasks. That makes it especially beneficial for those who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or any form of dementia.
Those who commonly struggle with memory loss might not be getting enough glucose in certain parts of the brain. Ketones, which are found in coconut oil, can work as an alternate energy source instead of glucose.
Whether you are looking to reduce symptoms of Alzheimer’s or simply prevent it, the MCTs in this oil are especially beneficial for improving overall brain function.
Coconut Oil for Oral Health
You might not think that oils would have anything to do with oral health, and usually they don’t. However, with coconut oil that all changes. Coconut oil has been proven to strengthen your teeth. Some even make homemade toothpaste out of it.
The most effective way coconut oil improves your oral health is through oil pulling. This is a process where you take around a teaspoon of oil and swish it in your mouth for around 15-20 minutes. It’s recommended to do this first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Be careful not to swallow any of the oil, and spit it out when you’re done.
After this, brush your teeth as normal. The point of oil pulling is to remove and extract bacteria from all over your mouth. It not only extracts this bacteria, oil pulling kills the bacteria as well. During the process, it also strengthens your teeth and gums and can fight against bad breath.
Coconut Oil Helps With Mineral Absorption
Mineral absorption is especially important for our bones. If we aren’t absorbing the minerals that we need properly, our bones won’t be as strong. Coconut oil helps to improve your body’s ability in absorbing certain minerals such as calcium and magnesium.
This makes coconut oil especially beneficial for the older generations as well as anyone who either has osteoporosis or is prone to getting it.
Coconut Oil as an Energy Source
If you’re looking for increased energy throughout the day, coconut oil can help with this. It’s often used by athletes and bodybuilders to give them more energy in their workout. It can also enhance their endurance and overall performance.
Coconut oil is also great for providing energy to those who are dieting. Eating fewer calories than you normally would can make your body feel weak and de-energized. However, adding coconut oil to this can help you feel better.
Conclusion
We hope that you’re now more aware of the countless health and nutritional benefits you can receive from this magical oil. No matter what reason you are choosing to consume it for, you’re likely to receive more benefits than you expected!
By Alice Webster
Alice is the founder of www.alices.kitchen. Alice loves to cook and spends much of her days in the kitchen experimenting with creating healthy nutritious food. For more reasons to love coconut oil, check out this blog form our friends at Alice’s Kitchen.
Ready to feel healthy? Enjoy more healthy recipes, on YogaDownload's blog here, or practice the Yoga for Detox, Cleansing, & Vitality program!
Life is pretty busy, and although we might love the idea of slowing down, taking some time for ourselves, and reaping the benefits yoga practice promises, sometimes in practice, it can be hard to simply just find the time. Yoga urges you to slow down, but sometimes, work, housework, responsibility and family duties don’t give you an opportunity for some time off to roll out your mat.
If you’re finding it hard to juggle a busy schedule, you might have brushed off yoga as something you just don’t have time for, and start denying yourself those minutes in the day that are just for you. Taking time for yourself is important, and yoga can massively benefit both your physical and mental health - so don’t be so quick to write it off as something not important. Even the busiest of people can benefit from all yoga has to offer - here’s some tips on how to fit yoga into your busy schedule.
Keep Your Yoga Mat in Eyesight
Rolling up your yoga mat and putting it away in a cupboard or up on a shelf is a sure fire way to make sure you never get it out again! The effort of getting it out can be just what your brain needs to say ‘oh I don’t have time’, and it turns your yoga practice into a bigger mission. Having your mat where you can see it, or already rolled out in a quiet spot in your house can help you to practice yoga more frequently - and means you can fit in a quick practice when you have the time - waiting for dinner to cook, in between ad breaks in television, if your mat is already out, it’s so much easier to fit in a few minutes.
Tell Yourself That All You Can Do is Enough
If you tell yourself that a short yoga practice is enough, you’ll be more motivated to go do it. If you’re used to hour-long yoga classes, or even longer yin practices, you may think that a shorter practice just isn’t worth it. But even a few minutes of stretching is enough for your body to feel it and reap the benefits! If you don’t have a full hour, or even half an hour, you can still fit a yoga practice in - and you won’t feel bad for running late for that meeting, or missing out on family time because of your dedication to the mat. Every little helps, so do what you can and don’t punish yourself if it’s not very long!
Don’t Beat Yourself Up if You Don’t Have Time
Sometimes life gets in the way and you literally just don’t have any free time for yoga. That’s okay! Things happen, whether it’s a household emergency, or work commitments, or you just want another glass of wine instead. Even if you don’t have time for the physical asana, you can use these days to take the lessons you learn on the yoga mat into the outside world with you.
These include focusing your breath, practicing mindfulness, and being kind to yourself - aka don’t beat yourself up that you missed your practice!
Practice When Your Body Needs To
Some people aren’t morning people - so a 6am yoga practice before heading off to work is just not going to work for them. We all know our body clocks and when we feel the most energised during the day, so it’s impossible to try and work around this - no matter how many times you read the benefits of a morning yoga practice. The key is to remember everyone if different, and to not feel bad if you prefer a few more moments in bed rather than on the mat - just practice in the evening instead!
Yoga practice is supposed to feel good- not torture that you force your body into! It’s much easier to find the time and to keep committed when you practice at a time that’s best for you.
Change Up Your Practice
Changing up your practice to what you have time for in the moment is a great way to stay committed and to fit it into a busy day. Maybe if you have more time, you do a more dynamic practice, or if you have 15 minutes before you head out the door, you do a slower less strenuous practice that means you’ll be less sweaty. Yoga is a great exercise, but it’s important to remember that it doesn’t always need to be intense, and if some days you only have time for a mild practice, that’s totally ok! Be present for the practice of yoga itself - rather than the burn or the weight loss. This is what will keep you returning to the mat, and finding time in busier days.
Do it for Yourself
The simplest way to fit yoga into a busy schedule is to allow yourself to come first. We all hold many commitments to other people, and spend much of our time and energy meeting others needs, colleagues, partners, or children. Allowing yourself to become the priority, and saying no to others, gives you the time to practice yoga (or even do something else for yourself).
To help you, This week's classes are all about giving yourself permission to relax and chill. These classes are here to help you unwind, recharge, and remember to relax. Yes, while determination and ambition are essential, it's also important to take a break from your task oriented mindset, and simply relax. Fortunately, yoga can help in this process. These classes will help not only your body, but also your mind relax, with a mix of different yoga styles and a meditation class.
Ready to make yoga a consistent part of your busy schedule? Try the 14-Day Yoga Challenge for Busy People and receive your shorter class choices delivered to your inbox everyday.
Leading a full life is a blessing. Leading a life where you feel you don’t have time to take care of your own well-being is a problem. In order to live your best life, you must carve out time to refill your own well. Balance is key to achieving a joyous fulfilling life. We’re here to help you with four quick powerful classes so you don’t sacrifice your yoga practice!
We know you’re busy, so we’ll keep this short.
Here are three tips to keep your yoga practice on track, no matter what other commitments you are managing in your life.
1. Schedule your yoga time in your planner: When you write down what yoga class you’re going to take in your calendar, it’s part of your daily schedule. You don’t need to waste time pondering if you have time. You do have time––written out clearly in black and white.
2. Remind yourself of how you’ll feel, even with a short time commitment: You’ll feel stronger, more flexible, more relaxed, and also more energetic. Your sleep will deepen, and your posture will improve. The mental benefits of a quick yoga practice are incredible: you can return to your work day with heightened concentration and a clear mind.
3. Practice first thing in the morning: Prioritize your personal yoga practice and do it first, maybe even before your morning coffee or tea. Set your alarm for twenty minutes earlier than usual if necessary. Unexpected events often arise once your day gets going and can steal your scheduled yoga time. If you take care of yourself first, you’ll be better equipped to handle your day, no matter how busy it is!
Have a wonderful week!
1. Jackie Casal Mahrou - Morning Power Boost
2. Becca Riopelle - Cardio Express
3. Claire Petretti Marti - Quick Energy Flow 4
4. Ellen Kaye - Brain Break
Today’s recipe is entirely free from refined sugar, but I promise than nobody will miss anything. The banana adds just enough sweetness, and the darker your bananas are, the sweeter they will be. Since I really hate food waste, I sometimes deliberately pick out the darkest bananas from the market, bring them home, slice and store them in the freezer to be used in smoothies, banana bread and in these little muffins.
Sometimes I come home with a full box of bananas because they look so sad on the counter and otherwise they would be just thrown out in the evening. So I sometimes think about myself as a banana savior. Since I love overripe bananas it is a very simple saving job for me, so win-win.
In addition to being sugar-free these little muffins here are also wheat-free and if you choose gluten-free oats, they can be gluten-free.
Preparing these muffins could not be any easier, and the most time-consuming part is swirling in the peanut butter on top of the muffins. For me, these extra swirls are 100% worth the effort, but you can skip this to save an extra 5 minutes of your time.
The muffins are perfect little bites for breakfast and very simple to bring with me to snack on during the day. And they are healthy enough, that I sometimes treat my yoga students with these after the class.
Sugar Free Chocolate Peanut-Butter Muffins
Yields: 24 mini muffins
1 ¾ oz full-grain oat flour
1 ½ oz cacao powder
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
4 ripe bananas
2 large eggs (always free-range, please!)
3 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla paste
3 ½ oz + extra for swirling peanut butter
1 tsp lemon juice
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. In case your muffin tins are not nonstick, use the spray or line with little muffin papers.
In the first bowl, mix flour, cacao powder, baking powder, and salt.
In the next bowl mash the banana with a fork, add the eggs, coconut oil, vanilla, peanut butter, and lemon juice. Mix everything (a stick blender is a good choice here, but it can be done just with a spoon as well).
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and fold carefully without overmixing.
Divide the mixture between muffin tins. Top each muffin with a little extra peanut butter and swirl it in using a toothpick.
Bake around 15-20 minutes (depending on the oven and the size of your muffin tins) until baked.
Back pain is a serious problem in the modern day with 80% of Americans expected to experience it at some point during their lifetime. So, any activity that can help to guard against it should be welcomed right?
Well, this is exactly what yoga can do. As the flexibility and increased range of motion it gives you can really take the pressure and strain off your back throughout the day. While the core strength you’ll gain will keep your back better supported while also improving your posture.
However, despite these benefits most yoga classes continue to be dominated by women as many men remain reluctant to give it a try.
But why is this?
Well, despite originating in India as a practice for men only, yoga has often been seen in the western world as a predominantly feminine activity. And this has created a stigma in certain parts of society that has discouraged some men from practicing it.
Why Is There Still Such a Male Stigma Towards Yoga?
The male stigma surrounding yoga is not as bad as it once was. However, it’s still going strong within many male-dominated environments such as building sites and factories, with many ‘real’ men in these environments telling us yoga is for females. However, this is a real shame as yoga benefits men as much as women.
So, what exactly are the hang ups and stereotypes with yoga that keep certain men for trying it?
Some of the most common complaints are:
Yoga is only for girls or hippies.
It’s not competitive and you don’t get a proper workout from it.
Stretching is boring so why waste your time on that when you could be running or lifting weights instead?
Being in a class full of women and doing a ‘woman’s activity’ would be embarrassing.
If your mates ever found out you’d never hear the end of it!
And so on.
The problem is that for some men this stigma is so deep-seated that it’s hard to change their minds. But with more and more people championing the benefits of yoga for athletes such as footballers, boxers and hockey players, in keeping them strong and fit, this will hopefully start to change and open the door for more men to feel comfortable practicing yoga.
As it’s not just great for their overall health and well-being, it’s also especially good for their backs too.
8 Ways That Yoga Benefits Men with Back Pain
Yoga has been found in many studies to be a really effective way for people living with persistent back pain to be able to manage it and improve their quality of life.
But how exactly does it help?
Well, there are a number of ways and I’ll go through each of them now.
1. Yoga Increases Your Flexibility, Which Relieves Pressure on Your Back
One of the best things about yoga is how it keeps your body loose and flexible. You are constantly lengthening and strengthening your muscles as you run through the different poses and postures. This is great for people that suffer from back pain.
The increased flexibility, especially in your hamstrings, will keep your body balanced and relieve pressure and strain on your back as you move around throughout the day. And you don’t need to go overboard to get these results either.
As one study from the University of Doncaster showed that even one 90-minute yoga session per week was enough to increase the flexibility of the participants significantly. So, yoga can be a great way to relieve pressure and ease the burden on your back.
2. It Strengthens Your Core Muscles, Giving Your Back Better Support and Stability
Practicing yoga is great for building up your core strength. Because when you are holding your body in the various yoga poses you are having to support different levels of your own body weight.
This is great for strengthening the deep-lying core muscles which help to support and stabilize your spine. This also gives your back better protection throughout the day.
If you’re exposed to more intense movements involved with more physical jobs, strenuous activities, and hobbies such as gardening or playing competitive sports, you'll want to give your back more support to stay pain and injury-free. Regular yoga sessions are an excellent idea to strengthen your core and protect your back.
3. Yoga Improves Your Posture Which Lightens the Load On Your Back
Maintaining a healthy posture whether sitting, standing or moving around is really important to keep your back free from pain. This helps you stay nicely balanced and spreads the pressure of gravity evenly across your body.
When you hold yourself in an awkward posture your body is forced to compensate, with your lower back tending to take on most of the extra burden. Which leads to extra pressure, strain, and inevitable pain.
But the good news is that yoga is ideal for helping you maintain a healthy posture. It improves your balance and helps to release the tight muscles that can cause your body to hunch over. The increased flexibility and core strength you gain from it makes it much easier to stay upright and comfortable, which will relieve the pressure and strain on your body and back throughout the day.
4. Yoga Increases Circulation and Blood Flow
The stretches and postures involved in yoga practice are great for relaxing tight muscles and relieving tension. By stretching and relaxing these tight muscles you also open up pathways that increase the blood flow to them, which is important for keeping you free from pain.
As this increased circulation allows your body to deliver the oxygen and nutrients to your muscles and tissues that they need to heal, repair and stay healthy. While also flushing away any trapped waste and toxins which may be causing pain and inflammation. So, good news all round for your back.
5. It Helps You to Relax
When you suffer from persistent back pain it can leave you feeling extremely stressed, angry and frustrated. However, allowing ourselves to feel this way will only make this pain worse.
Because the tension this creates can seep into our bodies making everything uncomfortable and a struggle. So, it’s really important that you learn how to relax and let go of any stress you’re feeling. One powerful way to do that is through yoga.
The combination of deep stretches and controlled breathing is great for alleviating this tension. Not only does yoga relax your body and help tight muscles to release. It also calms your nervous system and slows your heart rate which puts you into a really relaxed state. This has been shown in studies to be really effective in relieving the stress, anxiety and tension that may be causing you pain.
6. You’ll Get a Good Night’s Sleep After Yoga Practice
Another by-product of the relaxing effects of yoga is that it can help you drift off if you have trouble sleeping.
Because stretching and relaxing your body while simultaneously calming your mind with controlled breathing during yoga practice puts you in the ideal state for sleep afterwards. The practice can make you feel more calm, relaxed and at peace with yourself.
So much so, that some of the best night’s sleep I’ve ever had have come after evening yoga classes. This is really important for people with back pain. As it’s during sleep that your body gets the chance to rest, repair and heal itself from the day’s stresses and strains.
Which means your tired and aching back muscles are able to recover and regenerate themselves. So, if you want to rid yourself of back pain and wake up feeling refreshed in the mornings rather than stiff and sore, then you need to be able get into a deep and restorative sleep.
However, many people with persistent back pain struggle with this. With one study from Morocco finding that a massive 78% of the people with back pain that they tested had sleep problems. So, it’s wonderful that practicing yoga can help people like us to get over these issues.
One study from the Harvard Medical School found that yoga could also helps those with chronic insomnia. After 8 weeks of daily yoga practice, the study participants were falling asleep easier and sleeping longer and deeper. So, if you think you may not be getting the quality of sleep you or your back needs then you should definitely give yoga a try, and some classes are specically yoga for better sleep classes.
7. It Encourages the Release of Endorphins
Endorphins are fantastic. As not only do they give you a warm and happy feeling inside. They also work as the body’s natural painkiller which is great for keeping back pain at bay. The good news is that practicing yoga is a great way to encourage your body to release endorphins into your system.
So, if you want an easy way to give yourself some natural pain relief then get on your yoga mat and let the good times roll.
8. Yoga Puts You in a Positive Mood That Helps You Handle Back Pain
Yoga is far more than just a physical practice. And while some men may scoff at the spiritual side of it, this can be just as good for helping you to avoid or get rid of back pain.
As the deep controlled breathing and being mindful of your body and movements during yoga can really help to calm and soothe you mentally and emotionally. So, not only do you feel stronger and more relaxed in your body afterwards, you also feel this way in your mind too. And this gives you the self-confidence and positive attitude you need to be able to fight the challenges that persistent back pain brings.
Leaving you feeling happier, healthier, more energized, and well equipped to be able to live a better quality of life. So, if you want to tackle and beat your back pain you need to remain positive and yoga is an excellent way to do that.
How to Get Started
I hope I’ve convinced you to at least consider giving yoga a try after reading through that list of benefits. But if you’ve never tried yoga before then going to your first class can feel a bit daunting.
You might feel like you won't have a clue what you’re in for and worry that you won’t be able to keep up with the rest of the class. So, it’s a good idea to start slowly and build up your confidence. And you can do this by searching for a beginner’s class in your local area rather than heading straight into a class full of experienced yogis.
Also try to find a Hatha yoga class as this is a slower form of yoga and the one that’s well suited to anyone just starting out.
But if the thought of going to an actual yoga class really doesn’t appeal to you then don’t fret, because you still have the option of taking online yoga classes from the comfort of your own living room.
There are even some with classes designed especially for men that you can find on YogaDownload. But whichever way you choose, don’t let something as silly as a stigma or false preconceptions put you off from trying yoga, as the benefits it can bring for your back as well as your overall health and well-being are fantastic.
By Dan Singleton
Daniel Singleton is the founder of Back on Site, a website dedicated to helping people fight back against persistent back pain using the latest medical and scientific advice as well as his own personal experiences with the condition.
Convinced? Start your yoga journey to heal your back pain or for me, from your own home with the two programs below!
Stress and anxiety are all to common in the modern world. In fact, up to 70% of adults say they feel stressed or anxious on a daily basis. There are many ways to combat stress of anxiety, but if you’re having a bad day and need a quick fix, here are some quick ways to manage stress and feel more relaxed.
Work out
Exercise is one of the simplest ways you can relieve stress. It may make you scratch your head, but actually, the physical stress that you put your body through during exercise can actually help to relieve mental stress. Try to work out regularly to reap the most benefits. This is because of stress hormones. Working out and moving your body can reduce the stress hormones in your body, and can also release endorphins, which improve your mood.
Working out can also improve sleep quality, which can be a major cause of stress. Think about your mood the last time you didn’t get enough sleep - the two are very intricately connected! Exercise can also boost your confidence, and introduce a new fun hobby into your life!
Certain Vitamins & Supplements
There are a few supplements that can help reduce both stress and anxiety. For example. Omega 3 has been shown to reduce anxiety symptoms by up to 20% in a recent study. Lemon balm is also useful to use for it’s anti-anxiety effects.Ashwagandha is an herb that is used to reduce stress in the Ayurvedic medicine.Finally, green tea helps to increase serotonin levels, which reduces stress.
Scents & Aromatherapy
Lighting candles or using essential oils in certain scents can help to reduce feelings of stress. Scents such as lavender, rose, neroli, and ylang ylang can be some of the most calming out there. This type of aromatherapy uses scents to treat your mood, and several studies show that it works to reduce stress and improve sleep.
Drink Less Coffee
Your morning coffee might be a necessity to get you feeling awake, but did you know that high doses of caffeine can actually increase stress and anxiety? If you’re drinking so many cups of joe you feel jittery and anxious, it’s probably time to cut down. While coffee can be healthy in moderation, but it’s not for everyone, and everyone has different tolerances, so make sure you’re only drinking enough that’s right for you.
Cuddling
Physical affection such as cuddling, kissing, hugging and sex can all help to reduce stress. This is because positive physical contact releases oxytocin and also lowers the stress hormones. This can help to lower some physical symptoms of stress including blood pressure and heart rate.
Deep Breathing
When you go through a period of mental stress, your sympathetic nervous system is activated - this is what signals your body to go into fight-or-flight mode. This can activate symptoms such as quickened heartbeat, faster breathing and constricted blood vessels.
Deep breathing can counteract this by activating your parasympathetic nervous systems, which control your relaxation response. The goal here is to make your aware of your breath, making it slower and deeper. This expands your lungs fully, slowing your heart rate and making you feel more peaceful.
Reduce Physical Tension
Reducing the physical tension in your body can help to make you feel less stressed. You can use a tennis ball or a foam roller to apply pressure to tense spots. Before you do this, place a warm wrap on the area for ten minutes. Reducing physical tension can help to relieve mental stress.
Keep a Journal
Keeping a journal of things you are grateful for can be a great way to reduce stress by helping you remember the good things in your life. Being grateful and recognising your blessing can help to cancel our your negative thoughts. You can journal little things that have made you smile throughout the day, or document larger achievements. When you feel stressed, take a look back through your journal and remind yourself of the important things in life.
Chewing Gum
For a really fast and simple stress relief, try chewing gum. Chewing gum can actually cause relaxed brain waves, by promoting blood flow to your brain!
Spending Time with Loved Ones
Social interactions are essential to help you get through stressful periods. Being a part of a social network can give you a sense of belonging, and spending time with these people can release oxytocin in your body - a natural stress reliever. This is the opposite of the body’s stressful fight-or-flight response.
Take a Yoga Class
Yoga is a popular and effective method to relieve stress and help you exercise. The main goal of yoga is to join your body and mind, and yoga does this primarily by increasing awareness in your body and breath. Studies have shown that yoga has a positive effect on mental health. Yoga can enhance your mood and in some cases can be as effective as medication for depression and anxiety.
This is due to yoga’s effect on your nervous system and stress responses. It helps to lower your stress hormones, that’s your cortisol levels, as well as blood pressure and heart rate. Yoga can also increase the levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid - this is a neurotransmitter that has lower levels in mood disorders.
Why not try this week’s classes on Yoga Download?
These classes are here to help you unwind, recharge, and remember to relax. Yes, while determination and ambition are essential, it's also important to take a break from your task oriented mindset, and simply relax. Fortunately, yoga can help in this process. These classes will help not only your body, but also your mind relax, with a mix of different yoga styles and a meditation class.
1. Patrick Montgomery - Root Back & Relax
2. Shy Sayar - Therapeutic Wall Yoga for Hips & Back
3. Geenie Celento - Transform Tension into Vitality
4. Shannon Paige - Saraswati Hangs in the Stars
How many times have you caught yourself saying, “I’m too busy to…fill in the blank?” Once a week? Once a day? Once an hour? We all want to live a full, beautiful life, but cultivating a balance between action and relaxation is essential. This week, how about adding in a quieter type of yoga to your repertoire?
Consider these 5 benefits of taking the time to chill out:
1. Pacify Your Nervous System
Slowing down and settling into a relaxing, restorative pose encourages you to step away from stress. For example, in a supported Vipariti Karani (Legs up the wall pose), your parasympathetic nervous system kicks in and calms your stress levels quickly. If you’ve had a tough day, restorative yoga is a way to reset. Soothing your nervous system helps keep your body and mind healthy.
2. Strengthen Your Body Acceptance
In a mellow yoga class, your focus shifts from “doing yoga” to “being yoga.” You aren’t flowing or sweating, instead, your body can relax and simply be perfect. When you aren’t attempting to arrive anywhere, you have space to appreciate your physical body exactly how it is.
3. Intensify Your Awareness
Restorative and slower paced yoga classes encourage you to turn inward and tune into how you’re feeling. When you settle into stillness and there’s no action required except to breathe and relax, a sense of freedom arises to examine your thoughts and emotions. You enter a safe space to tune into your authentic self.
4. Prepares You for Deeper Contemplation and Meditation
Many of us need to release the tension we’re holding in our tissues before we can quiet our mind. A sweaty Vinyasa class can be wonderful to relax the muscles, but a quieter slower practice does too, and on some days when we’re experiencing extra stress we need the deepened awareness of a quiet practice. You may be able to settle into the meditative state during yoga, before you begin a more formal meditation.
5. Balance Your Perspective
Life is a dance between rest and work, softness and strength, and yin and yang. When we make time to truly relax and restore our body, mind, and spirit we create more energy for the times we need it. Imagine if you didn’t sleep at night? In a matter of days or even hours, you’d collapse. Similarly, if you don’t give yourself permission to chill out, you can burn out.
Allow yourself to release and surrender in order to stay balanced. This weeks classes will help not only your body, but also your mind relax, with a mix of different yoga styles and a meditation class.
Truffles are usually heavy on cream, butter and maybe even some extra sugar in addition to chocolate that is already sweet on its own. But not these truffles!
My truffles are as delicious and creamy as their unhealthy brothers are, but at the same time, completely vegan and I would even go as far as calling them healthy! Of course, they are only healthy if consumed in reasonable amounts and not all 20 of them in one sitting ☺. For me, they are just rich enough that 1 or 2 after a meal with a nice cup of tea are just sufficient to satisfy my sweet cravings.
A bonus is that they only require two ingredients + whatever you choose to coat them with. Can you guess what the components are?
The first one is a no-brainer – dark chocolate just has to be involved when talking about truffles. The darker, the better, I always prefer 80%, but you can test with different ones to find your favorite.
The other ingredient is my old favorite – avocado! Avocado is just such a versatile fruit – it is good both in savory and sweet dishes and gives everything a luscious creaminess. Just try to find the one that is just ripe – soft enough, but not overly ripe yet. A small trick on how to find the best avocado – choose the one that is soft to the touch, but if you remove the stem, you can still see the bright green color.
Chocolate Avocado Truffles
Serves: 20 truffles
4.5 oz dark chocolate (80% would be perfect)
1 large ripe avocado (7 oz)
A pinch of salt
Crushed nuts, coconut flakes, cacao powder or extra melted dark chocolate to coat the truffles.
Melt the chocolate over double boiler. You can also melt it in the microwave. I am not a fan of using a microwave myself, but if you have one, then you can use it to heat the chocolate for 10 seconds, then stir and repeat the process until its smooth and melted.
Once the chocolate is melted, add the avocado with a pinch of salt and puree everything together with a stick blender.
Let the mixture cool completely and let set in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
Roll the mixture into bite-sized balls (I got 20) and coat with whatever you fancy. I chose crushed pistachios and cacao powder this time, but coconut flakes, any other crushed nuts or even some extra dark chocolate would all be delicious with these truffles.
Losing those extra pounds and having a toned and fit body is something many people desire. Weight loss is usually associated with two things - regular exercise and a healthy diet plan. However, if your focus is only on these two factors, then your weight loss strategy is incomplete. A fit body is a combination of a healthy mind and a healthy body, so some component of mindfulness and also creating healthy thinking, is essential for a successful weight loss strategy.
Meditation helps not only in keeping brain healthy but also helps in enhancing self-image, managing cravings, promoting regular exercise, and more. Today with an increase in the awareness about meditation, people are using it as a tool to understand their body and adopt healthy eating habits, which further helps in losing weight.
What is Meditation?
Meditation can be considered as a brain exercise which helps connect our body, mind, and soul. It brings a sense of calmness. People have been practicing meditation for thousands of years. In many religions, it is considered as a spiritual practice. Meditation also helps in reducing stress and anxiety.
Different people follow different ways of doing meditation. Some focus on breathing, whereas others chants mantras during their meditation sessions.
Irrespective of the type of the method, meditation helps in understanding the function of our mind and body. It also provides a clearer understanding of our thoughts.
How is Meditation Connected to Weight Loss?
Many people think that burning calories and avoiding calorie intake are the only ways to reduce their body weight. People overlook the importance of a healthy state of mind and the benefit of meditation, in losing weight.
If you want to lose, you need to have strong willpower and determination. Also, you need to find the reasons which have resulted in weight gain. There might be subconscious issues of holding onto things or a lack of self-love.
These questions can be answered only with a clear mind. Meditation is very helpful in finding answers to such questions. In addition to this, meditation helps in building a healthy relationship with food.
Various studies have shown stress as one of the major reasons for overeating. Meditation reduces stress, henceforth resulting in weight loss. In addition to this, meditation helps in reducing the levels of C-reactive Protein and cortisol in the body, which are responsible for causing obesity.
Specific Ways Meditation Helps Support Weight Loss
Meditation Lowers Your BMR Effortlessly
Basal Metabolic Rate or BMR refers to the calories needed during rest time or at the time when we are just breathing. Regular meditation decreases BMR. This means meditation reduces the calories needed by our body, hence resulting in weight loss.
Meditation Aids in the Assimilation of Food
Many times, people after heavy workouts, end up taking more calories. This increase in appetite continues beyond post-workout sessions as well as at times when you have not exercised. This occurs due to the assimilation of food. Meditation helps in improving this condition. In addition to this, stress and hormonal imbalances result in indigestion and overeating. Regular meditation helps in reducing stress and balancing hormones in the body. This also helps in reducing weight.
Meditation Moderates Unhealthy Urges for Fast Food
Our cravings and taste buds are the biggest roadblocks on our way to become healthy. We need to have the willpower to ignore such cravings. Meditation helps in rejecting such temptations, and we also become internally aware of what we should eat and what should be avoided. With time, these healthy eating habits become part of our food habits.
Meditation = Less Stress
Stress hampers our body mentally as well as physically. Daily meditation helps in reducing stress and also relaxes our body and mind. Sometimes, under stressful situations, we don't even realize what we are eating.
Meditation Boosts Commitment
Starting a weight loss routine and following it rigorously are two different things. One has to be 100% committed to be successful in losing the weight they want to lose. This can be only achieved if you have faith in yourself and a strong will to continue. Meditation helps in clearing our thoughts and intensifying our intentions. Hence, making meditation a part of your weight loss routine is essential.
Simple Step by Step Guide to Learn How to Meditate:
Meditation is about both focusing and calming the mind. It aims at attaining inner calm and self-awareness. Meditation does not require any equipment.
All you need is some time to make meditation a part of your daily routine. For beginners, 10 minutes of meditation on daily or alternate days is quite reasonable and can provide noticeable benefits.
Find A Quiet Location
Meditation needs to be performed at a peaceful location, which is free from distraction. All your concentration and focus should be on your body and mind. Select a place where you have privacy and will not be disturbed while performing meditation. If you like music, you can play a soft, calm, and repetitive tune. You may even play music based on natural sounds like the sound of raindrops or running water.
A Comfortable Posture
Traditionally meditation is performed by sitting on the ground, in lotus or half-lotus position. But it might not be a comfortable position for those who have any back problems or lack flexibility. Hence try to find a position in which you can sit comfortably for the entire duration of meditation. Just make sure that the position selected by you let you sit in a straight and balanced manner. Don't restrain yourself to a sitting position if they don't work for you, as you can do meditation even while lying down, standing, or even walking.
Once you found your comfortable position close your eyes relax and take a deep breath and hold it for few seconds. Breathing meditation is one of the basic and simplest ways of meditating. While meditating breathe naturally and focus on your calming breath.
Continue Focusing on Your Breath for 5 to 10 Minutes
Focus on your breaths and follow them in and out with your awareness. Follow the pathway of your breath, starting from nostrils till the movement of your abdomen. Avoid judging or trying to perfect your breathing pattern and keep breathing naturally. Continue this for 5-10 minutes.
An Open Mind and Good Attitude
While performing meditation, your mind might lose the focus and may start wandering. It's quite normal, so don't overthink it and try to bring your attention back to your breathing pattern. Try not to get frustrated and gently bring yourself back to focusing on your breath each time.
By Jessica Ann
Jessica Ann has written many blogs across the spectrum, but specializes mainly in weight loss and dieting. With several years in the field, Jessica has been helping people get healthy and is dedicated to providing information for those who need it.
Convinced? Try our 14-Day Meditation series now, or sign up for Yoga for Weight Loss program.
Happiness can sometimes evade us. Reading bad news, a rainy day, or just feeling generally grumpy can lead to us feeling unhappy and negative. However, there are some small steps you can take to help you on your way to happiness everyday. If you’re feeling down in the dumps lately, here’s some quick wins to help you on your way to happiness.
Get Enough Sleep
Seven to nine hours, to be exact. A healthy sleep schedule is the first step to being happy. Have you ever had a bad night’s sleep and the following day almost everything frustrates or annoys you? This is because a lack of sleep can make you less alert, less logical and can also contribute to health issues such as obesity and can exacerbate mental health issues. All these things can lead to a breakdown of your good relationships, make you struggle at work, and make it harder to feel happy and productive. Struggling to sleep? Try to have a warm shower or bath before getting in bed, and put your phone away from your reach.
Wake Up a Little Earlier
This might seem counteractive to the step above, but having a little extra time in the mornings can lead to a smoother, more prepared, and happier day. If you’re a fan of the snooze button, try to get yourself out of the habit - those 10-15 minutes spent snoozing won’t make you feel less tired! If you adopt the seven to nine hour sleep cycle, this shouldn’t be too hard. This will give you extra time in the morning to start your day right - without rushing around or forgetting to brush your hair! This extra time will also help to get your head in the right frame of mind to start your day.
Meditation
Meditation is such a simple and quick way to feel calmer and happier, and shouldn’t be underestimated! Simply meditating for even just five to ten minutes when you wake up can give you immediate benefits that last the entire day. Increased clarity and focus are just a couple of the benefits that meditation can give you. You will also give yourself the time to set a positive intention for the day, keeping yourself living mindfully and in the moment, and breaking out of negative thought patterns. There’s also been studies that prove that meditating can help to prevent stress and anxiety, that might hinder your day to day life and cause unhappiness.
Keep your Space Clear
How many times have you gone shopping in a bad mood, only to realise you feel worse after buying material goods?
Accumulating possessions, especially those we don’t need can actually negatively impact your mental and emotional well-being. However it’s easy to reverse this and give yourself a dose of happiness by simply decluttering. Spend a few minutes each day cleaning and clearing your space, whether it's your home, your bedroom, or your desk at work. Commit to one area at t a time and donate anything that you don’t need. And next time you find yourself drawn to the shops, remember how your clear and clean space can make you happy - and don’t buy the things you don’t really need.
Learn a New Skill
While you might be afraid of failure, or worried about the stress of picking up something new you’ve never tried before, learning a new skill or taking up a new hobby can actually boost your wellbeing. Focusing on improvement and making progress with something can help to put you in a state of flow, which can improve happiness. Learning something also boosts your self-confidence and can make you feel sharper and more intelligent. Why not try a new type of yoga?
Exercise
Just 30 minutes of moving a day can help to balance your nervous system - and a balanced nervous system means less anger and anxiety. 30 minutes may seem like a lot but all your movements will soon add up. If you don’t have the time to hit the gym, try a few minutes of yoga stretching in the mornings, or walk down the stairs instead of using the lift, these little things will add up and allow you to get your full 30 minutes a day!
Turn Off Social Media
Social media is one of the biggest and most recent causes of anxiety and depression. Too much social media can negatively impact your mental health, so be more mindful of how often you pick up your phone to scroll. Why not take the time you usually spend on instagram doing something productive like reading the news, or listening to a podcast - you can even devote this time to your new skills, or your 30 minutes of exercise. Doing things that bring you joy rather than mindlessly scrolling is a great way to boost your happiness levels.
Do Nice Things for Others
Acts of kindness and generosity are a great way to boost your happiness levels while also improving someone else's day. Generosity acts actually activate the parts of the brain that are stimulated by both food and sex - both great causes of happiness! You’ll feel great knowing that you’ve made a positive impact yo someone’s life, and they’ll be inspired to pay it forward too.
Why not try our 3-week yoga challenge as a way to boost your happiness this month?
Commit to 21 days and learn to live for today. Often when we create intentions, we focus on the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. When we focus primarily on the prize instead of the steps to achieve it, we are living for the future. One of the most important principles in yoga is learning to be in the now. Committing to our 21-day yoga challenge can help you embody living in the present moment.
If you overthink how you’re going to squeeze in 21 consecutive days of yoga, you might quit before you begin. You’ve got family and work and workouts and commitments, right? Why add something else to your overflowing plate? Simple: By choosing to practice yoga every single day for three weeks, you are opening yourself to being fully present in your body, your mind, and your heart.
If you look at the yoga challenge as a day-by-day commitment, a commitment to practicing yoga today and not worrying about the rest, you are committing to living in the now. Appreciating the air around you. Appreciating the scents, the sounds, the sights, and the sensations. Not brooding over the past. Not planning for the future. Simply living your life.
Allowing everything else in your life to fade away for twenty, forty, or sixty minutes will recharge your batteries. Clear your mind. Reset your nervous system, your digestion, and your perspective. The benefits of yoga are always three-fold: physical, emotional, and mental. Whatever your reasons for participating in the challenge, you’ll receive all the inter-connected gifts of the practice, day by day.
All you need to do is show up and press play. We’ve created this program to both support you and challenge you. Structure and accountability and choices help you focus on the yoga. Each day you will receive two class choices in your inbox, so choose the one that resonates more for you on any given day: short, long, fast, gentle. Join us and enjoy living in the now!
Shine today and sign up for the challenge right now!
There are recipes in the world you have never ever heard about, but as soon as you try them, you are hooked and can’t imagine your life without it. I have to warn you – this one here might be one of those recipes. It is for me, anyway. These little pearls came to my life a few months back as serendipity. I had cooked barley for salad and had some of it leftover, even a little dried already.
The thing is that I really don’t like throwing away food BUT I also didn’t want to eat dried out barley. So I figured why not make it extra crispy if it is too dry to eat anyway. Luckily, it worked very well. For a while, I would say I was addicted to sprinkling those on everything. Like really everything - from salads to soups, and for those I consider using savory toppings normal. But I would also use it on natural yogurt and fruits, smoothie bowls, ice cream…. Not so normal anymore, but so, so delicious. By now the first excitement has faded, but I still occasionally make a batch and finish it too quickly.
I will not give you a portion size for this recipe, but I do recommend preparing these little crispy nuggets from at least 200 grams of barley. They will last for a few weeks if kept in an airtight container. And away from snacking area ☺
Delicious Crispy Barley
Cooking time: 5 hours in total, but only 10 minutes of active time
Barley
Oil for frying
Salt
Soak the barley at least for a few hours or overnight, then rinse and boil until tender. It takes around 20 minutes. In case you really don’t have time to soak the barley before, the boiling time will be longer.
Drain and spread out on a kitchen paper in one layer. Leave them to dry for at least 2 hours or again overnight, but in this case keep them in the fridge, uncovered.
If the barley is very dry, heat oil in the bottom of a small saucepan. The oil should cover about 1 inch of the base. The temperature is correct if the barley pearl thrown into the oil immediately starts sizzling.
Fry the barley one handful at a time and do not overcrowd the pan. Carefully throw the barley to the pan, let fry for about 30 seconds, then start carefully stirring with a slotted spoon until the grains are not stuck together anymore and are nice and crispy. It takes around a minute. Then lift out and drain on kitchen paper.
Repeat with all the barley you have, then season with salt, let cool and store in an airtight container to sprinkle them over everything from soups to salads to yogurt.
The 7th Chakra is the crown chakra, and it can teach about unity and transcendence. It encompases the top of your head, where the other 6 chakras integrate. It’s important to try and keep your Crown Chakra balanced, as it can help you to understand the world and your existence in it.
When your 7th Chakra is activated, it can unify your mind with your higher self. This Chakra is associated with wisdom and enlightenment, and awakening this Chakra can help to shake off confusion, self-doubt and hesitation.
The name for the Crown Chakra in Sanskrit is Sahasrana, which is translated as ‘the thousand petal lotus’. The energy collected in this Chakra helps you to be connected to everything in the world, and when it is unbalanced you can start to feel disconnected and attached to certain aspects in your life. This imbalance can also feel like you’re ‘stuck in your head’.
If you want to activate your 7th Chakra, here are the best poses to help you:
Headstand
The headstand, or Sirasana, is the best posture for stimulating the energy found in the crown chakra. However, this is a difficult pose that takes a lot of work and practice, as there is a risk of neck injury. When they are engaged correctly, the core muscle strength will help to create the steadiness you need for a headstand. Try to stay in the pose while managing regular breathing, up to five full breaths is recommended.
If a full headstand is a little beyond your capabilities, you can also try a supported headstand, or Salamba Sirasana. This supported headstand inverts the flow of blood to the head, letting the rest of your body and organs rest. This supported version allows your to shift the body weight to your forearms and shoulders, as you lift one leg at a time. You can also practice against a wall to start off.
In both headstands, your crown is connected to the floor, grounding it and connecting it to the earth, helping to restore the energy flow to your body.
Rabbit Pose
If you’re not into headstands, Rabbit pose is another way to connect with your 7th Chakra without the full inversion. This pose allows you to forward bend from kneeling and lift your back as you cup your heels with your hands. It requires core strength and allows your sides and back of your body to expand with the breath.
Savasana
Savasana is a great pose to practice detachment, to fully let go of any judgement, desires or expectations and just be at one with yourself. While this pose is easy on the body, it can be difficult to keep your mind still. But by achieving this stillness, you can activate your crown chakra. Try to visualise a light entering the crown of your head and flowing through your body as your breath to increase the benefits. You can support your head on a blanket if you need, but the importance here is to let your body relax and be still, and let your mind quiet. This calm pose will help to balance the crown chakra, as well as release any stress.
Half Lotus Pose
Ardha Padmasana or Half Lotus Pose is a great pose for meditation and helps activate the crown Chakra. Achieve this pose by sitting down, lifting your left foot over your right thigh and simply sitting here with your hands on your knees. This pose helps to neutralise your blood pressure, as well as balancing your body and calming your mind. Half lotus can help to directly tap into your higher consciousness.
Tree Pose
Tree pose is a balancing pose that taps into the energy of the 7th chakra through the gaze and position of the arms. This pose helps to align all your chakras from root to tip. Start with mountain pose and extend your spine, fixing your gaze. Lift your left leg and place the sole of the foot on the right leg inner thigh. This pose is great for practicing balance and strengthening your whole body!
Other ways to activate the crown Chakra:
Alternate Nostril Breathing
Your breath can help you to balance and activate the crown chakra, and alternate nostril breathing can help to connect the two hemispheres of the brain. Our nostrils can help us tap into the charged energy of the crown chakra by connecting our breath to our mind. This practice balances the crown chakra. Sit in a comfortable position and hold your hands so your last two fingers and thumbs are stretched out. Placing your thumb on your right nostril, inhale deeply in the left and hold for 2-3 seconds. Now place your fingers on your left nostril and exhale deeply from the right nostril. Do this 5-6 times on each side.
This will help to bring your mind to the present moment and bring calm and balance to your mind.
Seed Mantra Meditation
OM is the seed mantra of the Crown Chakra. This is a sound that when chanted, will resonate with the crown chakra and activate it. You can do this by sitting in an easy pose, taking deep breaths and chanting OM loudly, feeling your chakra opening and letting energy flow.
Want to stimulate your crown chakra? These classes all focus on the 7th chakra, and help to charge and balance it in order to feel at one with the world.
Yoga for the 7th Chakra with Elise Fabricant
Sahasrara Chakra Flow with Dana Damara
Ever need a reminder that life isn’t just our individual experience and we are all part of something bigger?
In yoga philosophy, the Sahasrara or Crown Chakra is the seat of pure consciousness and where we connect with the universe. In order to stimulate and maximize your personal connection with the world around you, learn more about how to tune into your subtle body and chakras.
The chakras, including the Crown Chakra, are part of our subtle body. All of us are made up of three bodies: the gross or physical body called the Stula Sharira, the subtle body or the Sukshma Sharira, and the causal body or the Karana Sharira. The physical body is our muscles and skeleton––what we can see with the naked eye. It forms the Annamaya Kosha, the coarsest of the five sheaths.
What concerns us most in yoga is our subtle body, which is a blueprint of the physical body and contains the chakra system. A simple analogy to conceptualize the subtle body is that what electricity is to a machine, the subtle body is to the physical body. Energy channels called Nadis carry energy throughout the body and the two primary pathways are the Ida and Pingala.
The Sushumna Nadi runs from Muladhara (Root) Chakra to the Sahasrara (Crown) Chakra. The Sushumna Nadi runs along the spine and encompasses 13 other Nadis. The Ida runs from the base of the spine and coils through each chakra to the left nostril to Ajna (Third eye) Chakra, and governs the right brain, parasympathetic nervous system, and references the moon, female, and pacifying energies. The Pingala runs from the base of the spine and coils through each chakra to the right nostril to Ajna Chakra, and governs the left brain, sympathetic nervous system, and references the solar, male, and dynamic energies.
Working to balance the energy through the chakras is vital to our physical, mental, and emotional health. Located on the top of the head, Sahasrara is the seventh chakra. It is represented as the thousand-petal lotus, the colors white, violet, and gold, and is related to all senses and the pineal gland. An open Sahasrara chakra is when only unconditional love exists, the soul search is complete, and the direct link to the divine is established. The associated bija mantra is a silent OM because it represents everything and nothing. Headstand, Savasana, Tadasana, and meditation are all pathways to the Sahasrara. Samadhi, the highest level of consciousness is associated with the Sahasrara.
Ready to feel connected to the world around you? This week's four classes stimulate and charge the crown chakra.
1. Dana Damara - Chakra Flow Series 7: Sahasrara Chakra
2. Elise Fabricant - Yoga for the 7th Chakra
3. Jack Cuneo - Once More into Handstand Dear Friends
4. Michelle Marchildon - Handstand Help 10 Different Ways
I love all the fresh summer food and the feeling of picking fresh herbs straight from my balcony. I live in the middle of the city, in Estonia, but I am fortunate to have a huge balcony, so I grow all kinds of edible plants myself - fresh lettuce, parsley, peas, dill, basil, and even courgettes and tomatoes.
I promise you – it is worth your time because they taste so much better than store-bought veggies and are always extra fresh. This year my basil is going strong, and I have already made several patches of pesto and used the leaves in at least 30 spring rolls. Today I a sharing a recipe that features asparagus with lemon-basil crumb, but the same crumb would also work very well with cauliflower.
For me, just vegetables and this delicious crumb is enough for a light dinner, but I imagine it would also taste good as a side next to grilled fish.
Delicious Roasted Asparagus with Lemon-Basil Crisp
Serves: 2
Cooking time: 20
14 oz green asparagus
1 tbsp olive oil
½ cup panko breadcrumbs
The zest and juice of half a lemon
10 big basil leaves
Salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 430 F.
Cut the wooden stems off the asparagus, sprinkle with oil and salt lightly. Roast for about 13 minutes.
At the same time, prepare the crumb. Heat the olive oil on a pan, add panko and fry until crispy on medium heat. Season with salt and pepper.
Mix chopped basil, lemon zest and lemon juice.
If the asparagus is roasted, serve it on the plate.
Right before serving mix the lemon-basil mix with crispy breadcrumbs and sprinkle over the asparagus. Eat quickly!
I chose to have my career as a yoga instructor. There is a lot that goes into it and it constantly develops an array of skills and parts of myself, such as public speaking, my creativity, and courage. It continually motivates me to show up in the present moment too. There is so much to this beautiful job, but what really qualifies us to teach yoga is simply that we continue to practice yoga. We must practice what we teach. We also must really love people.
Like any other mission, or purpose in life, it can present challenges, but as yoga teachers if we are humbly willing to show up to the moment, focus on growing and healing ourselves, and do all that we can to be of service to our community, this is such a rich profession. It is a great honor to be of service and inspire people back to their true nature and back to joy.
One goal of teaching yoga is to assist others in the experience of yoga, guide them towards enlightenment, a more liberated consciousness, and freedom from attachment and separation. If we are teaching yoga we have probably experienced moments of this bliss in our personal practice, and we want to share it with everybody. The more present we are to our every moment, the easier it becomes to facilitate and guide the yoga experience for others.
Yoga is a unique experience that feels different for each of us. As teachers, instead of micromanaging the experience for each student, we can instead inspire practitioners to show up to the practice, presence themselves, and heal. When a heart opens and softens in the yoga practice you know it, because if you are teaching yoga, you remember how the practice opened, and softened your heart. We are all capable of this feeling. But we cannot rush it. We strive with patient endurance. We always bring it back to love. You can create this kind of feeling for your class as a yoga teacher, or whatever feeling you want to facilitate. It is important to set the tone for the class. We want our students to trust and listen to us, so the best way to establish trust is to be consistent.
Simple things, like starting and ending class on time. This shows your students that you honor their time. The schedule is the time commitment we all agree to, stay with the schedule.
Also, if you commit to a class, commit. Don’t sub the class out often. You may lose students if you are not there. It takes time to build a class, a community. It takes time to build the trust to start to guide the exploratory education offered through the practice.
Show up to your own life and keep it simple and happy. If you are a stress ball in your personal life your yoga students will probably feel it. We as yoga teachers get under the energy and inspire our class to feel something, something within themselves. As teachers of yoga we can plant the seeds of wisdom and nurture those seeds through the sharing the ancient teachings of yoga. The 'scriptures' of yoga are hip these days too! They are just as profound today as they were thousands of years ago. When we can take the teachings of yoga and relate it to our life, we can better communicate the consciousness that naturally arises from the practice of yoga.
The best thing we can do as yoga teachers and as yogis is to be authentic and show others our own lives working for us. To be a teacher of yoga, you do not have to have a teacher certificate or teach classes in a yoga studio. You can teach to your loved ones, your co-workers, just by living it, practicing yoga, and sharing it if you feel inspired.
For example, show your children while you are in traffic running late to the next event, how you take a few deep breaths, and remain calm and happy. Show them how you can presence your self to all that arises, side step the drama of emotional escalation, and act in accordance to your values. Talk to them about your experiences with life. Tell them your goals, what you are working on to better your self, show them humility. Another example is at work, we can teach yoga to others by our ability to stay present and calm under pressure, by our ability to receive feedback with gratitude and humility, and through showing kindness to our co-workers. People feel it when we practice yoga, and it inspires them too to show up, and hold their own. All of us practicing yoga are teaching yoga in some way.
If you're on the path as a yoga teacher, know that you make a real difference in people's lives, whether or not you always feel it, and let that alone keep you motivated and inspired in sharing this practice with others.
By Shannon Connell
Shannon is a certified Jivamukti, Power, Yin, Hot Yoga, and Mindfulness Meditation Instructor, Usui and Karuna Reiki Master Teacher, and Registered Psychotherapist. She honors the interconnectedness between All-beings and All-things and is passionate about participating and supporting her community in physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. You can visit Shannon and learn more through her website, www.shannonconnellhealth.com.
Stay inspired with yoga, right now!
Slow Yoga Reset with Jackie Casal Mahrou
Yoga has come a long way, and in these modern times, the average yogi has a wealth of options when it comes to classes and styles of yoga. Each style of yoga can be vastly different from the next, all linked with a focus on physical and mental strength, flexibility and mindfulness. Ashtanga yoga is a style that can be the most intensive, and requires a lot of disciple and determination.
Ashtanga yoga is a standard set of asanas, focusing on breath, and internal mental space. Ashtanga yoga is a rigorous workout, and it’s known for its fast pace and difficult postures. Ashtanga typically features more traditional transitions and poses are held for a longer time than in some faster modern styles of yoga. Ashtanga is a great style of yoga for those who want to get a good workout and also clear their mind.
It’s most similar to Vinyasa, however, it differs as Ashtanga series stays the same every time, whilst a Vinyasa flow can differ from class to class. Ashtanga also incorporates many aspects such as chanting and breathing that are parts of traditional yoga, and vinyasa flows can sometimes leave out.
Ashtanga yoga can bring you back to the roots of yoga - that is, inner peace within yourself and mindfulness. It’s easy to lose sight of this with the exercise focus yoga can have in modern times. The term Ashtanga yoga literally means ‘the eight limbs of yoga’. This concept was first brought to life in the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali, which is a text that outlines to purpose of a yoga practice, and the principles you should strive to live by if you are a yogi.
The eight limbs of yoga make up an eightfold path. This is a set of guidelines on how to live a better life, through the practice of yoga. This path, or ‘eight limbs of yoga’ help to outline both the importance of the postures and physical practice of yoga, but also lay out some ethical guidelines to take off the mat and into your everyday life. Ashtanga yoga helps yogis to become closer to these guidelines, as it places an emphasis on all the yoga limbs, and is very much a spiritual as well as physical practice.
So how was the practice developed?
K. Pattabhi Jois developed the practice of Ashtanga yoga, and was very heavily influenced by the concept of the eight limbs of yoga. Pattabhi started his yoga journey as a student of T.Krishnamacharya in the 1930’s. He studied at the College of the Maharaja in Mysore, India. Here he studied the Yoga Korunta, an ancient text that is said to be written by sage Vamana Rishi. It is said that he wrote the text to help people heal through yoga.
Pattabhi’s practice of Ashtanga yoga focuses on a set series of yoga poses that are linked together through breathing. Ashtanga differs from many other modern styles of yoga in that the Ashtanga sequence is always the same. Traditionally, Ashtanga yoga is performed without any music, or lighting that you might find in a modern yoga class.
The idea behind this is that by removing these external factors that can influence your yoga practice, you start to bring your attention and focus internally, focusing on the inner aspects of yoga - to start thinking about the spiritual practice as well as the physical.
Ashtanga yogis progress their way through six series of Ashtanga sequences. Ashtanga is designed to be a daily yoga practice, so you’ll see improvements and progression day by day. Each practice will comprise of four parts. An opening sequence, one of the ‘series’, back-bends, and a set of inverted asanas to finish off, and then as always, a savasana.
The opening sequence always begins with 10 sun salutations, followed by several standing asanas. The six main series are referred to as the primary series, the intermediate series, or Advanced A, B, C or D. Newcomers and yoga beginners will start with the primary series.
The Ashtanga primary series is the most important of the yoga series, as it forms the basis of the whole system. In Ashtanga, advancing to the most difficult series isn’t the goal, rather, maintaining internal focus is. This is why daily practice is highly emphasized.
This emphasis on internal focus, combined with the physical intensity of the practice can sometimes give Ashtanga yoga a scary reputation! However, if you feel up to the challenge, and are physically fit enough for Vinyasa, you’re prepared enough to tackle Ashtanga. Any yogi should try it at least once. Ashtanga allows you to explore yoga in a different and deeper form.
Why not try our 9 days of Ashtanga Yoga Immersion series and find out Ashtanga's benefits for yourself?