Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

We’ve got something new for you this month. In the interest of exposing you to a broad range of yoga, we’re excited to roll out new Kundalini classes and practices with Guru Jagat from the Rama Institute for Applied Yogic Science and Technology. If you aren’t familiar with Kundalini, you aren’t alone. More mysticism surrounds this style of yoga than most others. Do you have to wear white? No. Is it a religion? No. And, what’s this about coiled serpents? How can this ancient practice apply to me in this modern age where I’m just seeking to find a mind-body connection?

The Full moon in Aries invites us to take charge of our lives and think outside the box. You know you have it in you: the will to do what inspires you most. Take advantage of this sacred energy and put this power to use. Aries carries the energy and passion of our drives and urges into the world. When used wisely, this energy is unstoppable and a force for positive change and growth. If you’ve been playing small up until now…stop. It doesn’t serve you or your gifts. Those who would benefit from what you have to share are waiting for you to make your move.

Among the core tenets of yoga philosophy, drishti—a Sanskrit term referring to immersive mental concentration—can expand, deepen and recalibrate that intrinsic mind–body connection during your practice. In order to experience these benefits for your well being, however, you must become attuned to every nuance of movement on your mat, from the postures and energy flow to breath work. The best part: you can practice to reach this desired degree of focus off the mat, just as effectively, through other pursuits that sharpen both cognitive function and physical dexterity. The following autumn inspired activities can help yogis everywhere, from the disciplined veteran to the untrained novice, improve their drishti throughout this beautiful and transformational time of year.

Are you living your life to the fullest? Have you done the work to uncover your beautiful shining light? Living your most authentic life? And, if so, are you sharing it with the world? Consider this: you already possess the power and strength to do whatever it is you want to do. Each one of us is born with a special gift, a potential that when realized allows us to shine beyond our wildest dreams. Yoga offers the tools to help harness your prana and unleash your unique energy to live a life without limits.

Yoga is an invitation to grow—to wake up and to experience your life in the most fulfilling way. The true transformation is more than just a physical change in your appearance—it’s an awakening of your inner strength, freedom and perception. There are no guarantees to this awakening though. You have to be willing to do the work, stay the course when you hit a wall or plateau, and allow your yoga practice to be about more than just your body.

At the end of every yoga class I teach, I conclude with a prayer. It sounds a little different every time. But I usually say: “Begin to slowly awaken here, noting the symbolic journey from death into new life: from the pose of the corpse, savasana, into this shape of new life, the fetal position; how we all entered this world. This is symbolic of the journey, of the death of ignorance — feeling fractured, unwhole, anything less than divine — thanks to the journey of yoga. And here now, we emerge into new life: the new you, the true you, the whole and yoked you. That is yoga. Remember that today is not yet over. That you always have an opportunity to begin again, to start anew, to be you, to choose your Self and be unapologetically you.”

Life is one beautiful mess of relationships. We can classify them. We can put them in quotes. We can add that extra long, extra inquisitive inflection at the end, but are we in a relationship? Some are transitory. Some are so interwoven into our fabric we can forget that we are separate from them. We can forget that they each deserve reflection and intention. We can forget that they are, no matter what, intimate.

One of the most influential people in my life was John Magill, a Presbyterian minister and my grandfather. I remember his warm, soft hand holding mine when I was a little girl squeezing it as we sang, “let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.” At a young age, I developed a deep conviction that I would do something about spreading peace. It was this same conviction that led me to get on a bus when I was 11 years old and travel 5 hours across the state of Pennsylvania and joined the 6.5 million people in the Hands Across America human chain.

A Libra new moon invites us to get creating and start relating. Libra loves the arts, music and anything beautiful, so this is a good time to immerse yourself in the divine beauty all around you. Any excuse to work with your creative faculties should be taken advantage of, as this new moon sparks the beginning of new artistic works for you. Libra is also the great relator — no matter what kind of relationship needs tending in your life, the Libra energy from this new moon fuels the fire of intimacy.

As one of the most beautiful flowers in the world, the lotus stands for enlightenment and self-awareness. It has its roots in the mud, at the bottom of streams and ponds, but rises to blossom above the water without becoming wet or tainted by the mire below. It symbolically represents being fully grounded in our truths, yet aspiring past suffering and negativity towards our truest forms.

Roughly every three months, the season changes. In some places in the world seasonal changes are quite evident. It others, it feels the same for most of the year. I’ve always been a fan of seasons because I like variety. With each new season brings a change in perspective, whether we consciously think about it or not. New fresh fruits and vegetables, new available activities, new temperatures, new clothing to meet those temperatures and associated forms of precipitation, new colors.

Meditation teaches us how distracted we really are. We just don’t usually notice because we are so distracted. Most of us generally have the same series of redundant thoughts circling around in our mind, over and over and over again. In our society, we are so focused on getting somewhere, getting what we want, the “if only” syndrome so to speak. If only we can just get this job, this house, this person, fill in the blank, then we’ll be happy. When we are operating from this mindset, we aren’t focused on the here and now.

Coming of age in the yoga profession means facing changing realities and shifting priorities. The majority of yoga teachers start out in the profession at an early time in their lives. But as the viability of old models wanes and independent players have less impact in the face of up-scaled operations, long-term prospects for careers in yoga are less apparent. For those whose passion cannot be deterred by the odds, their faith and trust in practice will likely be tested.

It’s always best to eat foods that are in-season, and I recently got some pure kabocha flour and simply had to put it to good use. :) It’s 100% kabocha that has been dried and turned into a fine powder. I think I actually prefer this to cans of pumpkin puree because it’s very easy to measure, you don’t have to worry about what to do with any awkward leftovers, and it gives an intense pumpkin flavor and bright orange color to baked goods.

What are the chakras? According to yoga, our inner bodies are full of subtle energy. This energy moves along a central channel called the sushumna nadi. These centers are thought to be doorways into the depths of awareness – awareness that is within the body, outside the body and also can expand in such depth that we come to realize the innate vastness of our true nature.

The inspiration for today’s recipe came from past cleanse participants who elected to try our new Low Sugar Plan. Who is the Low Sugar Plan for? Simply put it’s for those of us who struggle with our weight, mood swings, hormone issues, anxiety, and/or insomnia. It’s for those of us who have an insatiable sweet tooth!

Do you ever get confused with all the labels attached to yoga practices today? There is hatha yoga, kundalini yoga, power yoga, yin yoga, vinyasa yoga, flow yoga, hot yoga— and the list seems to keep growing. For starters, classic hatha yoga is often referred to as the umbrella under which any practice that includes physical postures resides. 'Ha-' is Sanskrit for sun and '-tha' means moon. Thus, hatha yoga is based on creating balance between our masculine qualities—active, hot, sun—and feminine ones—receptive, cool, moon.

“Yoga and Ayurveda are sister sciences that developed together and repeatedly influenced each other throughout history. Yoga and Ayurveda work together to enhance their great benefits on all levels”.

Have you tried and failed at meditating? You are not alone! We all lead busy lives and the whole idea of meditating, for the peace that it is reputed to bring, sounds great. But when we sit down, the mind noise can be frustrating, distracting and downright irritating. Some friends have reported that they have stopped meditating because increasing their upset rather than reducing it!

Yoga can be the practice of discovering your own inner state of joy, so how will you achieve your yoga high today? Embrace what calls to you! Yoga doesn’t have to be so serious or complicated. It’s truly a simple practice, but as Patanjali states in the Yoga Sutras, it isn’t easy. There isn’t an identical path for any of us. We’re all unique. Individually perfect or perfectly imperfect. What really matters is how you feel during and after your yoga practice.

Every teacher can feel the shift that happens in the midst of teaching when the collective energy in the class begins to synch. It is a palpable sense of connectedness - a heightened quality of flow as movement, breath, and embodied awareness come into flow. As you may know and feel, our heart has a tremendous role in such shifts of consciousness that we feel at the heart of yoga.

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, which makes this juice cleanse I'm currently on pretty difficult. I mean, what would you rather have on a chilly morning? Fresh vegetable juice or a hot, delicious bowl of oatmeal? It's not a hard choice.

The smoothie bowl is a trend that I’ve been loving. They’re hydrating and cooling, making them perfect for summer breakfast or an afternoon snack. They don’t require sugar or sugar substitutes and you still feel like you’re eating a treat. Jason calls them “ice cream.”

If you’re reading this, you’re a seeker. A warrior of love and quester for experiences and purpose. You’ve been on the journey, maybe for a day, maybe for years. This journey of becoming who you are. And, it occurs to me that, at times (maybe at this time) you might feel lost. Your path may feel far away, and the road ahead may seem very murky and uncertain.

Mindful eating is a powerful tool that can be used to control weight gain, assist weight loss, fight binge eating, and deal with several other eating disorders. There are currently a lot of unhealthy solutions regarding weight loss, ranging from unhealthy fad diets to questionable, chemical supplements. Mindful eating, on the other hand, is a simple attitude that results in being aware of your appetite and thus allows you to control portions and make healthy meal choices. By practicing mindfulness while eating, you engage all of your senses, particularly when choosing foods. This way you are able to choose foods that are nourishing as well as satisfying. You will remain well aware of your level of hunger and be able to choose foods without relying entirely on emotional cues or stimuli, which drive many people to impulse eating. Eventually, you will be able to decide the ideal time to start and stop eating and the ideal foods to eat.