Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

Are you ready to highlight your humanitarian efforts during this full moon in Aquarius? Good, because the world needs it. This is a time to shed whatever is holding you back from speaking your truth, particularly about how things need to shift. Each of us has our own way in which we can be the change we wish to see in our world. There is no singular effort, no one goal that needs to be accomplished right now; all efforts and all goals are equally important. While each of us has our soap box, so to speak, it is now that we need to stand upon it and clear the way for positive change. 

When I was little, my sister and I came up with this game that we would play whenever we would go to the ocean (once a year). We would be so excited to get our feet in the sand and our toes wet that we couldn’t wait to put on a bathing suit. Fresh from a 12-hour car ride, we’d run down to the beach, still in our clothes, roll up our shorts even shorter and feel the waves crashing on our feet. Then, we would challenge each other by declaring in delight “Step farther!” and each of us would have to take a giant step forward into the ocean. Whoever chickened out first because they were afraid to get waved on lost. We would giggle and scream and then start all over again to see how far we could get into the ocean without getting scared.

We don’t know about you, but we find watching the Olympics to be an incredibly inspiring experience. Seeing the athletes who have dedicated their lives, sacrificed so much for the opportunity to compete at the highest level on the globe have the opportunity to shine is powerful. Are the Olympics just about being the best? Winning the gold at all costs? Is it about the outcome? Or, is it more than that? Is it truly about the journey?

I was first introduced to the sankalpa during my 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training program during a Yoga Nidra practice. This practice forever changed the trajectory of my life. By listening to my teacher guide me into a state between consciousness and unconsciousness, I was able to create my sankalpa by crystallizing what my heart’s true desire was and begin to allow it to manifest and unfold in my life.

The new moon in Leo invites us to move into the spotlight with laughter and exuberance. If there was ever a time to shine, it is now. Leo’s regal qualities are highlighted right now, encouraging us to laugh freely, commune with friends and take advantage of all opportunities to revel in the attention of others. Imagine sitting at the high table with those you love on either side, and an audience of adorers willing to listen…what would you say? How would you communicate your love? This is happening now, and so you must bring your message of loyalty and love to the world.

Summer fun catching up with you? Even though we’re a month away from our next online Conscious Cleanse, it feels good to hit the reset button from time to time, especially during summer when there are just so many fun trips, activities, and gatherings to enjoy!

With the world’s drishti turned to Rio this week, we’ve been asking ourselves, what if yoga were a global competitive sporting event? Yogis would be judged in categories like compassion, presence and breath - they would be judged on their non-judgment. Yoga will likely never join the 28 sports that earn gold medals (and if they did what version of yoga would that be?), but with over 36 million Americans practicing everyday, we still feel a patriot-like sense of pride and community. Many global athletes embrace a yoga practice to enhance their athletic performance. In addition to physical conditioning and strength training, yoga helps build mental agility – in short, it connects brain and brawn for a higher purpose.

I’ve spent many an evening, after a long, hard day doing these poses in our living room while family life happens around me. That might mean that my daughter is jumping on me, or that there’s an occasional sports newscast on in the background. My evening wind down practice isn’t pristine (and yours doesn’t have to be either), but I still find it incredibly helpful to spend a few minutes on self-care in the evening. It provides a buffer zone that helps me relax so that when it’s time for sleep, my mind isn’t buzzing and my body isn’t calling out for more attention.

It’s peach season and that means it’s time for peach pies, peach cobbler, and peach green smoothies! Tis’ the season for PEACHES and as you can tell, we can’t get enough of them. Today we’re adding to our peach repertoire with these delicious Peach Crumble Bars.

You began your workday with the best of intentions. Quite virtuous intentions, actually. But, your job is hectic and deadlines loom. Despite planning on attending a yoga class at the studio down the street or even in your office wellness center, you find yourself trapped at your desk working overtime. Again. If this happens to you on a regular basis, don’t despair. You can squeeze in time for yoga at the office, even if it’s at your desk with no sticky mat or stretchy pants in sight.

We’re officially in the dog days of summer and even though summer doesn’t typically scream “soup!” this recipe – which is straight out of our book, will make you think otherwise! Gazpacho isn’t just any soup, it’s a soup that is traditionally made of raw vegetables and served cold, making it absolutely perfect for summertime.

Dear fellow yogis, When I started the The Kaivalya Yoga Method Teacher Training with YogaDownload.com in January 2016, I had no idea or conception of what the ride would be like.  Wow, that was a training above all trainings imaginable!  It certainly took lots of energy, effort, focus, and strong perseverance! I found the beginning modules more challenging for me personally, and as I continued on, I felt like I was opening up a genie (a.k.a. Alanna Kaivalya) bottle that I found on the beach. And, out of the genie bottle continued to arise more and more intrigue, more and more heartfelt information, more and more myths and depth.

Hello from YogaDownload! We have 4 exclusive new classes to share with you, going back to the core teachings of yoga. The 2000 year-old Sutras (Sanskrit for “threads”) are timeless truisms that brings you closer to your practice. The classes are all offered by the same teacher – and you need to meet this person. She gives us butterflies. Everyone from Ana Forest to Rodney Yee to Yoga Journal has sung her praises. Her books are bestsellers, her workshops sell out all over the world and millions of people adore her music. She is a true yoga scholar, an expert on the sutras, mythology, the anatomy of the body and the creative expression of the practice.

I recently graduated from my 500-hour advanced teacher training. The experience was an intense and deep study not just of yoga but also of myself and my relationship with yoga. As I’ve shared with some of you in my classes, it seems that we are always just beginning our journey – the moment we identify an end-goal is the moment we stray from the very path that will help us achieve it. Some of you have encouraged me to share some of what I wrote in my lengthy 7,600+ word final exam essays. As I went back and reviewed what I wrote, I found the perfect piece to share with you today. There are so many times I reference the Yoga Sutras in my blog posts, but I’ve never really talked through them in a full dedicated post, so now is the time!

Sometimes life is about a collection of details. Flecks of gorgeous sprinkled throughout the day. We can get lost in the macro of things, and we miss it. It being the details. It being the smell of cinnamon and honey that lingers on your skin after making granola. It being that surprising crunch of millet between your teeth even though you know it’s there, even though you know it’ll be crunchy. It being the magic of creation. The magic of watching ingredients meld together into something unique, something yours. It being the connection with your food, the connection with your body, the connection with the world.

Capricorn, the wise elder, gets the full light of the moon this month, bringing awareness to our level of maturity, commitment to discipline, being overworked and developing strategies for our career or lifestyle. The energy of Capricorn is ruled by Saturn, and so there is constant pressure to get work done and work the plans we’ve crafted. On the low side, however, this pressure leads to workaholism and forgetting the human element in our endeavors. Capricorn can be cold and ruthless when it comes to achieving its goal. The light of this full moon gives us a clearer vision to understand who, why and what we are working for at this time. If our goals have become trivial, materialistic or narrow minded, this is a good time to broaden our view and reintroduce meaning back into our life’s work.

Any time you can get to the gym is great. However, some times may have more benefits than others. Below are four reasons why exercising in the morning may be the best.

When you’re practicing yoga, do you ever wonder why you’re doing a particular asana or pose? Why the teacher emphasizes alignment in a particular way? What the benefits are?

Spring has sprung and all throughout yogaland, studios are hosting “detox flow” workshops that emphasize deep twists and side bends. And, no doubt, the vast majority of these workshops will declare that you need to keep your pelvis “stable” when you twist in order to keep your lower back and sacroiliac joints safe. Although the word “stable” in this context is slightly misleading, teachers are trying to keep their students from turning their pelvis when they rotate their spine. This is the way I taught twists for over 15 years — adamantly no less.

Vinyasa Yoga is one of the most practiced styles worldwide, indeed, according to a survey by the Yoga Journal, it is the most popular style amongst yogis. So, why is it that there seems to be some confusion about what Vinyasa is? Is it a style? A sequence? Or is it just a technique? And what exactly does it mean when a teacher says “take a Vinyasa”?

There is so much pressure to get into the best schools in order to receive the highest education. We work ourselves into exhaustion so we can make as much money as possible to pay off school debts and afford luxurious homes. These supposed paths of lives are followed in the hopes of “enjoying” ourselves on the weekends but deny ourselves activities that truly make us happy. In fact, most people are so stressed from the pressures of achievement that they are still thinking of work on their time off and can’t find enjoyment because the mind is so distracted with the pressure and stress of having to be ‘successful’. That sounds like a trap we blindly walk into. And for the majority, it looks like that trap has been accepted.

It’s estimated that about 9% of the American population practices yoga. Most of them are women, but the practices is slowly gaining popularity with the male species among us as the yogic path becomes more and more necessary to live a full and balanced life in these stressful modern day times. But shouldn’t everyone be practicing yoga? Here are 5 compelling reasons why the 9% should become 100%!

We’ve officially entered the dog days of summer, which according to Wikipedia is an expression that “refers to the hot, sultry days of summer especially in the Northern Hemisphere.” Today we’ve got the antidote to the dog days of summer – Chocolate Ice Cream!

You are awesome! Yes, you. If sometimes you doubt yourself and question whether you’re strong enough for whatever you’re facing in your life, you aren’t alone. We’ve got some suggestions for you about how loving and strengthening your core will empower you. Our core is our center—physically, emotionally and mentally. It is vital to keep our spine healthy, our abs strong and learn to cultivate our prana or life force energy from our navel center. Remember that when we create strength in our physical body, it translates to strength in our heart and mind as well.

How would you feel if you allowed yourself to seek all that you wanted? What would it feel like to want, free of societal filters and expectations? What would happen if you stopped the incessant cycle of self-sabotagement?