Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

B.K.S. Iyengar, one of the yoga teachers credited with bringing yoga to the West taught that pranayama was more advanced than asana. In his classes, he instructed his students to master the physical postures prior to attempting pranayama techniques. Pranayama allows you to sink into deeper meditation. A well-rounded yoga practice includes asana, pranayama, and meditation. What is Pranayama? Pranayama is the practice of extending and regulating your prana or life force. Simply by focusing on mindful breathing, we can learn to change the way we feel physically, mentally, and emotionally. Simply by utilizing different techniques, you can calm your nervous system, boost your energy, quiet your mind, and soothe your emotions. Pranayama gives you the ability to manage your prana.

Mind-body practices that have been around for centuries are becoming more modern day, accessible tools to elicit greater health and harmony in life. Current research shows the numerous benefits of consistent mindful meditation practices, such as increasing emotional intelligence, the body’s resilience to stress and improving positive states of mind. Our physical health, productivity and longevity are directly affected by our mental and emotional well being.

Do you know that feeling, the one when your mind and body are working in perfect synergy? It’s in those moments you’re living fully in the present moment. Your thoughts and your actions are aligned and you’re the strongest version of yourself. This state of being is ideal but it takes practice and discipline to settle your busy brain. You’ve probably heard the expression “quiet the monkey mind” in yoga. Visualize your mind as a windowless room with a troop of wild monkeys in play mode––zooming around, bouncing off the walls, babbling and distracting you from finding a sense of calm. If you allow the mindless chatter to take over, you’ll have a tough time finding your mind body connection.

When you're coming up against an obstacle, meditation can help you overcome anything. When you visualize yourself conquering a difficult task or hardship, you're able to access breakthroughs in your mind and in your life. This meditation offering for today is one of harnessing your inner warrior. We all have deeply-rooted courage and perseverance in us. It may not feel like it at this moment; if you are currently battling a personal storm. But, this meditation on confidence will offer up an opening for you to eventually recognize the warrior within. The mantra offered in this meditation is one to provide comfort, clarity, and confidence. These elements aid us in the journey of believing in our own self-worth and revealing hidden confidence that may be shadowed by trauma or distraction. This is not an easy road to travel. Some days will feel better than others.

This meditation is a natural vitality booster. You can do this meditation anytime and anywhere. It’s nice to spend some time with it in your formal meditation practice, but you can also invite the energy of the golden sun with you at anytime, commuting, working, or even while eating or walking. To enjoy this simple meditation, simple do the following steps. It only takes a few minutes. 1. With eyes open or closed, visualize a bright, golden sun above your head.

Some days life feels undeniably easier than other days. It’s part of being human. Ever wake up on the “wrong side of the bed”, where one thing after another seems to keep going wrong and your mood is bad and everyone is bothering you? Life can feel like a struggle on these days, instead of something we’re meant to enjoy and savor. Do you appreciate the opposite days? The days where you are in the flow and one amazing thing after another unfolds and you’re in a good mood, are happy, content, and enjoying life. These are the days we live for. Luckily, we have the power to put ourselves into a good mood and create more of these days, even on those days when we wake up in a bad mood. It’s not always by chance whether we're in a good mood or a bad mood. We have the power to create the days and moods we want. While some days feel more challenging than others, we have the power to turn any day around.

It’s no secret that routines often reap high rewards, especially those in the morning. If you have done any kind of research on this matter, you know there is a long list of reasons to rise early in the morning. If the facts are all laid out in front of you, what are you still waiting for? Here’s how it all started for me. I had heard great things about organizing and prioritizing mornings. So, I decided to take the plunge and put these ideas into practice. I set out to create my own set of morning rituals and find out the truth for myself. After only a few months of implementing these changes, I figured just about anyone can benefit from waking up with the sun. In fact, busy people might just need morning rituals more than anyone else to keep their days productive. Modern life can be fast paced, ever changing, busy, and stressful. For many, we are constantly interacting with a variety of clients and multitasking to get a to-do list complete. Taking time each morning to slow down may just help those of us who are busy, have productive days and succeed. Having a specific morning routine helps you to be more organized and less stressed out, ultimately making you a better professional and much more productive.

Most modern yogis agree it is a huge relief to focus on the simple “be”-ing of life, and that keeps us coming back to our mats every day. It really is easy to understand, considering how busy most everyone is in the Western world. However, the westernization of yoga through hatha yoga doesn’t change what yoga is except in that it evolves the practice. The word “hatha” in Sanskrit means “force”, and hatha yoga was established in hopes of “forcing” the benefits of the practice, as well as the practice itself, upon the individual. This branch of yoga is where we see a driven focus on the asanas. A contemporary twist to yoga offered by the western world are more fitness and sculpt based styles of yoga. As this trend continues to sweep North America, it has evolved quickly over the past five years alone. Many classes teach it as “yoga with weights” while others incorporate less yoga and more body-weight exercises, modeled as “fitness-style yoga”.

I was listening to a podcast the other night and the woman speaking said that meditation makes life a little “LSD-y.” I burst out laughing and nodded my head with understanding. Every day I feel like my senses are becoming sharper as I choose to show up more presently in life. Maintaining a meditation practice has been a priority of mine and I seem to be getting a lot of feedback that I should continue doing it. I’ve come to believe that life will give us feedback if we’re being present or not. We know when we’re taking care of our minds, our bodies, our relationships, our responsibilities… We know because life begins to flow more smoothly, we feel more confident and connected to what’s going on. Things feel lighter. Life also gives us feedback if we’re not taking care of those things, things begin to feel sloppy and awkward. Life feels a little heavy. Meditation trickles into every area of my life. Since I spend so much time teaching, that’s where I get the most information about the state of my mind. If I’m off my game, I know that it’s time to start re-prioritizing things so that I can get back on. I love teaching more than ever right now and I’m totally certain that I’m on the right path. The more present I become, the more I know what’s going on. It feels good to know what’s going on because that’s when we can begin to shape our reality and our life.

You’re probably multitasking right now while you read this. Our lives today are so much about getting things done and going through the never ending to-do list that we forget to pause, reset and rejuvenate. Plus, with the holidays near, we may find ourselves being pulled in a hundred different directions. There has to be a Yin to all the Yang created by travel planning, gift shopping, meals, celebrations (and recovery). ‘Tis the season to be merry and nothing should dampen that spirit. Spare a little time to journey inward and focus on just being. This will surely multiply the joy of your celebrations and help in getting things done faster and more efficiently. Wondering how to put this in motion? We have a simple recipe for it - Follow our 2-step guide of Yin Yoga and Meditation, to Holiday Bliss and witness heaps of love coming your way:

Whether you already like to meditate, are thinking about trying it, or are unsure of why it's useful, here are 5 reasons that taking the time to practice meditation, even for a few minutes a day, can have a profound impact on your quality of life and benefit your well-being.

One of the reasons why the Yoga Sutras are somewhat hard to understand for a first-time reader is because of the presentation and organization of the sutras themselves. Rather than presenting a chronological order of yoga with clear instructions, the very first chapter sets out to explain the unexplainable – the end goal of yoga, or samadhi. In fact, it takes an entire chapter and 51 sutras to really define and deconstruct what yoga is. Keep in mind, asana isn’t mentioned once!

What is it about being ambitious by nature? I am always playing with the prospect of somewhere else, or something else, something new. Seeking it has always been my mindset, for as long as I can remember. Until now. Finding balance between my self-determination and so much my brain space can handle? I have to work on getting my life sorted, get a health check, or my goal of drinking more water in this moment, and I can write a list of 20-something things I want to do, or I can try to schedule (more like squeeze in) back-to-back yoga classes into my daily schedule, and I can try to become a better photographer or writer or whatever it is yet all I’d like to do is sit still.

By now, winter has long been settled into many parts of the world bringing colder temperatures. Winter can be hard on the body as it works overtime to keep your body warm and you may find yourself craving hibernation. Do you ever find your energy levels lower during the winter? Or do you always catch a dreaded cold every winter? You may be wondering how you can stay healthy to promote more energy, boost your immune system to fight sluggish energy and beat the winter blues so that you're ready to fling into spring.

Last week, we discussed the Winter Solstice and how when we align with nature, we settle into a rhythm that honors our own inner being. It’s easy to get off balance this time of year when the world seems focused on the holidays, and your usual schedule flies out the window. How we can maintain our self-practice or Sadhana!

Can you feel the change in the air? December 21, 2016, marked the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. What exactly is a solstice? “Solstice” comes from Latin: sol meaning "sun" and sistere meaning “to stand still.” The Winter Solstice is the perfect time to pause, reflect, and create our dreams and intentions.

Fitness trends come and go all the time. Crossfit had its time in the spotlight, as did rail running and P90X. However, as studies are published across the fitness and medical industries, telling us which exercises will really get us into the best shape of our lives, there is one form of fitness that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. Which one is it? You guessed it: yoga.

Happy Thanksgiving friends! We’re here to help you kick off the day mindfully. Before the company gets here, take 10 minutes for yourself to get grounded in a moment of thankfulness – that’s what today is all about, right? Root down by sitting or standing in a place that feels comfortable, and spend a few moments gathering all your favorite people and places and foods and pleasures in your heart. Sometimes it’s easiest to start a meditation with “I am grateful for…”

Affirmations are phrases you repeat to yourself over and over again. Repeating these words reminds you of their meaning and the importance of the words. You can use these positive phrases to stay motivated and inspired. Affirmations can be repeated silently inside your head, said out loud, or written down and hung somewhere visible.

Do you ever feel like yoga should be more accessible? It has become harder with our fast-paced lives to get our practice in. Especially in a highly digital world, we have become more and more distracted. Instead of staying centered and trusting our internal compass, we’re pulled in a million directions. What’s the solution?

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.

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.

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!

Why do I feel this sense of urgency? I feel it all the time. I feel it the morning when I first wake up. I feel it while I am doing my work. I feel it while I am driving, walking and riding my bike. I feel it when I am on my yoga mat. I feel it in meditation. I feel it now as I write these words: write faster, finish writing sooner, move on to the next thing you have to do today. 

Am I full of it? I love Sun Salutations. I love doing them exactly the same way every day. I don’t need to be creative with them. But why is this? When asked about keeping up a yoga practice, I often say “consistency is what really matters. don’t worry about duration or intensity, just do something every day.” When asked about sequencing one’s practice for home or a classroom environment, I’ll defend the power of simple movements repeated several times with breath taught over many classes over complicated choreography that’s shifting and changing from one moment to the next and never repeated again from one class to another. If asked why, I’ll say “repetition of simple movements with breath is what will help the nervous system and mind relax, too much new and complicated will just stimulate and potentially lead to new stress.” I say these things, know them intuitively to be true, but beyond tradition (yoga sutras definitely emphasize repetition and consistency, and the movements of sun salutes are very much present in Eastern prayer tradition) really haven’t had much to back it up. But I think I’m beginning to get a clearer picture.