Yoga

July 26, 2014

Healthy Relationship with Pain

Picture by Tom Lann

Sutra 2:1
Accepting pain as help for purification, study of spiritual books, and surrender to the Supreme Being constitute Yoga in practice.

Sutra 2:8
Aversion is that which follows identification with painful experiences.

Sutra 2:16
Pain that has not yet come is avoidable.

Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

The Yoga Sutras states that a yogi should not fear pain but they should try and avoid it. By doing everything with awarness and prescense, we avoid pain but still live life.

Why should we not be afraid of pain? Because the act of living comes with many risks. When you love someone, you risk their rejection. Should you not love? When you speak your truth, you risk others misunderstanding you. Should you not speak your truth? When you practice yoga, there is the risk of injury. Should you not practice yoga?

Photo by Brooklyn Morgan

To live fully, we have to embrace the risks of pain without fear, but try to avoid it as much as reasonably possible. So when we love, we have to be unattached to the outcome and love for the sake of love. When we speak our truth, we have to do so fearlessly for the sake of truth alone. When we practice yoga, we do so with supreme awareness knowing that pain is possible but not letting it stop our practice. In the big picture of our lives, the benefits of all these actions outweigh the risks.

Everything has risks so you want to build a life with risks worth taking.

Healthy Ways To Approach Pain

Form relationships with like minded people-become very picky about who you let into your life.

"When someone shows you who they are, believe them"- Maya Angelou

Don't make your judgements based on past experiences with other people, but based on what this person is currently showing you. When they show you who they are, and it is not something you want in your life, limit your involvement immediately.

Build the life you want right now- the decisions you make today are your foundation for tomorrow. Make decisions that result in the life you want.

Don't Let Fear be your guide-fear of pain is often irrational. One way to see rather you are afraid or just avoiding is to use these questions from spiritual teacher Byron Katie,

Is it true?

Can you absolutely know that it's true?

How do you react, what happens, when you believe that thought?

Who would you be without the thought?

thework.com

An example of this would be the thought, "chatarunga pose is bad for me".

Is it true? Yes, I hurt myself doing chatarunga

Photo by Sunset Girl

Can you absolutely know this is true? No, I may have been doing it wrong or to many of them. It is possible that my awareness was off that day. Maybe I don't know how to approach it for my body.

How do you react when you believe that thought? I get afraid of chatarunga. I stop practicing it.

Who would you be without that thought? I would practice chatarunga

In this situation, the questioning reveled that the avoidance of chatarunga is based on ego, fear and past experiences. This is not healthy.

If pain arrives, see it as a teacher-what can you learn from this situation? The pain can either destroy you or make your stronger. The choice is yours.

Jul 26, 2014 7:16:32 AM | Health, Yoga

July 22, 2014

Finding Freedom Through Crazy Yoga Poses

I absolutely love it when I come across a pose I can't do. I always have. Difficult poses represent freedom. Even though I have no rhythm and have never taken lessons, I am a dancer at heart. I love the idea of being able to move my body any way I want with no restrictions. I have also learned that freedom is also at the end of everything difficult in my life because it brings about the absence of fear. Once you go through something difficult and you come out triumphant, that situation no longer scares you. A life without fear is the only way to be free.

For most people, freedom only comes through their own deaths because it is the ultimate in letting go of resistance. I want to be jivamukta, which is someone who is free while alive.

That is why I fell in love with Ashtanga. My first real yoga class was a full Primary Series Led class and I had no clue what I was doing and that excited me! It is possible that I will never master Ashtanga and that is so fricking awesome.

It wasn't until I started teaching that I realized that I was the exception and not the norm. When I started teaching Ashtanga, the feedback from those who didn't come back was always along the lines of "that practice is not attainable for me or my body type". When I came across this in Vinyasa or Power Yoga, it was even more disheartening.

At one studio, where I taught, I was told, that when I attended classes people were intimidated by me and why did I feel the need to do "all that stuff"?At another studio, a student told me that my hip openers were "vulgar". I was pretty much told in a passive aggressive sort of way, that I needed to dumb down my practice so others would be comfortable.

I came up against this phenomenon again when I wrote, The Myth of the Unattainable Yoga Pose. An article that I thought would inspire people and make them feel like the sky was the limit, was quickly hyped up to be a treatise on injury, death and destruction.

For a brief second, I was angry that it was misinterpreted. That was quickly overtaken by sadness. My thoughts at the time were, "why do people want to believe so much in their own limitations that they will fight to keep them in place?" The same people who would tell their own children that you can do and be anything that you want, will turn around and place limitations on themselves. It all came down to fear.

Then I knew that I had to give up that story as well. It was none of my business why some people got so angry over that article. I know how I felt about it and why I wrote it. The article was very clear. I said what i wanted to say. It is not my business to worry about why someone may not like the way I practice, I know why I practice and that is what is important.

The saying is, "when the student is ready, the teacher will come". It it not my job to bring people over to "my" side. My job is to be who I am so strongly, to let my light shine so brightly, to raise my energy so high that those who vibrate to it will find it and feel at home. Freedom is not something I can give to someone, it is something they must want themselves.

Jul 22, 2014 7:48:20 AM | Yoga

June 19, 2014

Yoga Was Never Free

Recently, I have seen statements that charging for yoga is somehow wrong and that it should be at a price that makes it accessible. There is an assumption that real yoga was free or really cheap. However, yoga was never free. Until the last 80 years or so, if you wanted to study yoga you had to give up your life and follow your teacher. That is a very high price.

The fact that you had to give up your life also meant that it was not accessible to everyone. There were very few who were willing to do that so very few studied it.

Yogis lived from begging and donations from the community. Often, it was the senior students who made sure that the teacher had warm clothes, a place to stay and food.

Also women could not practice yoga and you had to be Brahman. Most of the people currently practicing yoga are non Brahman women. Thank you Krishnamacharya. The modernization of yoga is the only reason many of us have access to this information. In a modernized society, money is the currency.

So when we charge you money for yoga, we are actually making it more accessible. You don't have to drop everything to practice it. You may have to give up Starbucks, eating out or cable to afford it, but that is a cheap price to pay.

Jun 19, 2014 8:26:18 AM | Yoga

June 11, 2014

Be The Change You Want To See In the Yoga Industry

There have been a slew of articles about the downfall of the yoga industry. In these articles and in the comments, people often say, "that is why I don't teach anymore", or "that is why I am thinking about closing my studio" or "that is why I don't practice anymore". How is you not teaching or closing up going to help the situation?

Once you close up shop or leave the scene, nothing is left except the very thing that you felt was killing the industry. Congratulations! You just helped the dysfunction grow! Now there is no one there to speak up or illustrate another way of practice. Now, all people see is what you felt sucked.

I understand you don't want to fight or be a part of the madness. Here is the thing. You don't have to fight or be a part of the craziness to show a different way and to change the game.

How To Change the Game Without Fighting

Support the teachers and studios that are teaching what you want to see-help these teachers and studios to grow. If you don't, the studio will shut down or the teachers will have to stop teaching due to lack of participation. How is that helping?

This may call for you having to go out of your way and be inconvenienced. Yep. Change is sometimes uncomfortable. If you don't go to these classes, they will not be successful. Unsuccessful studios shut down. Teachers with no students get fired or quit.

Where attention goes, energy grows. Just like McDonalds, the current yoga market is powered by money. Trust me. If enough people decided that they wanted healthy food, stopped going to McDonalds and started going to mom and pop shops that sold healthy fare, McDonalds would be forced to change their menu. The same is true for yoga studios.

If there is a particular teacher that you love, commit to going to their classes. It is not enough to tell the teacher how much you love them and how great they are. Show them how great they are by coming to their class. Commit to coming to their class every week, not because it is convenient, but because it is important.

Teach anyway-let go of the fighting energy. Just do you. Do what you feel is right. Even teaching one class a week helps people to see that there is another way. Stop focusing on what other studios are doing and how you can't compete. Stop making it about them. Make it about you and your students. You are not in competition. You are offering something different. Do it to the best of your ability, get the word out and let people make up their own minds about it. Don't go into it wanting to make tons of money or pack out a room. Teach to whomever shows up. Offer it up to something greater then yourself.

Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater-It is not all or nothing. A great line from one of my past teachers was, "I came giving you want you want so that you would learn to want what I have to give". Is there a way to marry what you love with what is out there? Can you give the students what they want and still throw in what you love? Can you give them what they want and then slowly expose them to something different?

Workshops-A studio may not be willing to add what you love on the schedule but most will allow you to teach a workshop on it. Again, don't think about the money. Think about it as exposing people to what you love. Make it affordable for the studio and the students.

Blogging, Vlogging, Social Media-get vocal about. Don't just do pieces where you bitch and moan about what you don't like. Educate people. Present what you love to them without putting down other methods

Jun 11, 2014 6:44:28 AM | Yoga

May 30, 2014

Words From Anatomy Experts on Strengthening Your Core.....

This first article is by Anatomy Guru Doug Keller. For the full article, go to Love Yoga Anatomy

To achieve a toned and healthy midsection you need to work with a number of muscles that are commonly called the “core”. Your core includes more than just abdominal muscles. Most exercises that target the abdominal muscles can actually tighten the muscles around your tummy in such a way that they prevent abdominal tone and, if done without proper awareness, can push your belly out and even hurt your back.

It’s often the psoas that will cause you to lose the battle of the bulge. A key muscle at the very center of your core, the psoas is often overworked in ab exercises. You will benefit most from your core exercises if you learn the actions that not only tone your tummy, but also tame a tight psoas.

The second article is from Yoga Dork and it is written by Jennifer Rawlings. Go Here for the full article.

WHAT IS THE BENEFIT TO HAVING SIX-PACK ABS?

While six-pack or otherwise ﬂat abs are an aesthetic that our culture ﬁnds attractive, they actually offer no physiological beneﬁt to our body. In fact, not unlike other body aesthetics that our culture idealizes (think high heels and that all-too-common overly-arched spine), creating too much tension in your abdominal area can actually lead to musculoskeletal imbalances which can contribute to health problems with time. Learning to wean ourselves off of the over-use of the six-pack muscle is therefore an essential step toward restoring balance in our body.

May 30, 2014 4:41:58 AM | Yoga

May 29, 2014

Instagram Can Transform Your Yoga Practice

I had been fighting joining Instagram. I saw it as a frivolous time waster and I didn't understand how my 13 year could spend hours putting hearts on pictures.

When my yoga homies and my all time favorite place to work, Y2 Yoga, sponsored a challenge, #defygravityyogi, I decided to do it because I wanted to force myself to use it to promote my blogs and myself as a yoga teacher. I also decided to do another challenge, #practicemakespossiable, with another Charlotte yogi, Andy. I did not expect to get much out of it but it taught me so much about myself and proved to be not just a marketing tool but one for transformation.

What Instagram Did For Me and my Yoga Practice

I am stronger and more capable then I think- Certain poses that I thought I could not do like Revolved Birds of Paradise, I actually did with ease.

I am more flexible then I think-when I do Dancer, it feels like my foot is a mile away from my head, but it was actually really close

My Hamstring/Hip Weird Injury Thing Is Almost Healed-For the past 6-8 months, I have shied away from deep hamstring work because I was afraid of the pain and I wanted to baby my leg. I told myself that, on the days we had to do deep hamstring work, I would just suck it up and take it.

To say that my hamstring on my right side has atrophied is an understatement. I have been practicing for around eleven years and that leg feels like day one. I was anticipating all my hamstring poses to look like crap.

The first deep hamstring pose we did was a forward fold. I was not expecting to touch my chest to my legs or to not bend my knees, but I did. After I did it, I was expecting to be in pain the next day, but it never came. As I progressed through the challenge, I could do all the hamstring poses and I had no negative repercussions. Were they comfortable? No. Did I feel a few twinges? Yes. Am I going to start dropping into a full split whenever I get the chance? No. It did teach me that my legs "bark was worse then its bite".

I Actually Look Pretty Good Doing this Ish-I am pretty confident about my body and appearance but I am not blind to the fact that my bootilicious build is very different from all the popular teachers in studios and on the internet. I was expecting to have to do alot of editing and I actually downloaded an app that could liquify and slim just like Photo Shop. I found that I really didn't need it. In fact, the only time I used it was on two or three poses where I forgot to use Uddiyana bandha (suck in the gut) and I didn't feel like taking the picture again.

The only reason I used filters was to hide the fact that the light sucked, my feet were ashy or my hair was crazy.

People are Pretty Awesome-everyone on Instagram was super supportive. I had people who can do a handstand on one finger giving me thumbs up on my less then amazing variations and asking to follow me.

I felt connected to the people who were doing the challenge with me and it was fun to watch them on their journey. I felt like a cheerleader!

I Learned From Seeing Other People's Poses-I payed attention to how poses looked different on different bodies. For instance, Some people's handstands were a straight line from foot to neck while others seemed to almost have a shelf around the shoulder area. You could see how they used the serratus and lats to support their pose. It helped me to see other ways that I could use my body differently to do the same pose.

I Found Out that I am Complacent-I had gotten to a point in my practice where I was mainly doing maintenance. I was trying to keep the poses I could already do and was not really concerned with doing anything else.

I came to this place for two reasons. My injury and no one really was pushing me(which is an excuse, I wasn't pushing myself). I was too busy trying to heal and I was not concerned about taking anything to the next level. Now that my injury is starting to go away, that excuse is going to be retired.

I have two practices, Ashtanga and Power Vinyasa. Power Vinyasa is fun and kick ass, however, I have been practicing for over eleven years and it is almost impossible for a teacher to provide a group class that is accessible to everyone but also involves poses that would challenge me. I used that as an excuse to not really do anything different. The reality is that I could choose to kick up the poses myself and slow down even more to work on them, but often, I choose not to.

Ashtanga is my home and my heart. I am currently practicing Second Series Ashtanga. I was given a bit of Third but I dropped it off when I was injured. I have gotten complacent. My yoga teacher friend who helps me is a Primary Series practitioner and only has experience with working with me on my second series poses so she doesn't know to push me unless I tell her, and honestly, I have not wanted to.

When I saw all the amazing things the InstaYogis were doing, it inspired me to want to do more because I know that I have it in me and I'm not dead yet so why not try?

I Still Have Work To Do- My handstand is not great. Never has been. It is like a thief in the night. I never know when it is coming or if I am about to fall over on my ass. Again, I accepted this. Became complacent. However, I thought it was better then it was, until it was time to do it. The first day, when I did it for #practicemakespossiable, it took about 3 or four times but I got. Maybe it was the fact that I was at Cracker Barrel on Memorial Day and strangers were sitting on the porch of the restaurant watching.

When it came up in #defygravityyogi, it was pretty tragic. I tried over and over and over and over and over until finally, I had someone hold me and then walk away. I am not satisfied with that. I still have much work to do.

To read more about how Instagram Challenges can be powerful, check out my friend Kacy's blog post, Defy Gravity

Follow me on Instagram at wellness_yogini.

May 29, 2014 7:24:39 AM | Yoga

May 20, 2014

Rock Your Wheel Pose Drop Backs/Stand Ups/Drop Overs

Working on Tic Tocs with Briohnny Smyth. Picture Taken by Wanda Koch

I recently posted a couple of videos of me dropping back and standing up from wheel and dropping over from handstand on Facebook and Instagram. I got a few questions so I want to address common concerns and misconceptions about drop backs, stand ups and drop overs and give tips for making them better and helping you to achieve them.

Yo Do Not Have to Have an Extra Bendy Back To Do Drop overs or Drop Backs-If you look at my videos, you will see that I have neither.

What You Do Need- strong quads, open hip flexors, decent opening through the chest and upper back, decent amount of openness in the shoulders, straight arms, the ability to push the chest in between the arms to aid with lift off. You should be able to breathe calmly while holding the pose with no pain.

What is decent? A good teacher can look at you and tell if it is time to work on drop overs and drop backs. You do not have to have a Cirque Du Soliel backbend is my point.

The Number One Reason People with Decent Backbends can not drop back:

FEAR

In order to drop back, you have to trust that the floor will be there to catch you.

You have to allow the body to relax and fall back. If you don't relax, your chest and upper back does not open enough and you clench up causing the lower back to take the force of the pose.

How To Get Over Fear: Face It

Work on it every single day

If you fall, get back up and do it again. Do not give the fear time to take hold.

If you don't have a teacher present to help you, walk up and down a wall. Place a bolster under your head, drop back on your bed or just try your best a few times and let it go. However, do it every time you practice.

Number One Reason People Hit Their Heads: FEAR + Bending Your Arms

It is anatomically impossible to hit your head if you keep your arms straight. When you straighten your arms, they reach way past your head! Try it! Lift your arms. YOU CANNOT HIT YOUR HEAD IF YOUR ARMS ARE STRAIGHT! Why arn't your arms staying straight? FEAR. You freak out when the floor is approaching and bend your elbows. Work on fear and your drop backs will happen.

Why Can't You Stand Up?

Standing up is a mixture of strength in the legs, abs and faith. You have to push off while simultaneously activating the legs, then you activate the core to help you continue to lift up and then just follow through with faith. I know plenty of people who don't even keep their feet flat and stand up with sheer momentum coupled with faith and core strength. I am not saying that is correct or pretty. I am just saying that faith, coupled with resolve, no fear and a little bit of strength can sometimes be all it takes.

Don't Break the Chain- you stand up from the bottom up. Everything stacking with head last. You have to have faith. If you try to see where you are going by lifting your head, you break the chain and you fall backwards.

You Do Not Have to Be Able to Do a Handstand To Do A Dropover-My handstand is hit or miss and most days non existent. I don't work on it enough for mastery. Don't get me wrong, I am definitely on the handstand craze band wagon. I just have not focused on it lately. Let me digress. You should be able to drop back and stand up already and take a good strong hop up and then have faith that the floor will catch you.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

May 20, 2014 12:04:15 PM | Yoga

May 15, 2014

Is An Empty Stomach Essential To Your Yoga Practice?

The most common rule for yoga is that you should wait at least 3 hours after eating to practice. But why?

Most people keep it light so that they can move and twist without feeling sick. However, Sadhguru, of Isha yoga,feels that it goes deeper then this. In a recent article, he stated,

You should not only be on an empty stomach – your bowels should be empty too. If you do Hata Yoga, you must ensure to leave at least 10 or better 12 hours between your last meal and your practice. That way, you give enough time for digestion so that when you get up in the morning, the body will naturally purge. If you eat late at night and get up early, the digestion will not be complete.

In traditional Indian medicine, whether it is Ayurveda or Siddha, whatever health problem you have, first they will purge your colon. If you want to be healthy, it is essential that your colon is clean. The colon cannot be clean for people who eat certain types of foods, and who have the habit of eating in between too much. Especially dairy products andnon-vegetarian food remain in the colon for long periods of time.

Anything that is not an actual part of your body should be out if you want to move your energies upward. Yogic practices are not exercises – they are methods to restructure your system. In a way, you are trying to recreate yourself by remolding your system the way you want it to be. For this to be done, there should be nothing but your body. The only thing that is okay to have is water.

The source of creation, the intelligence which functions within you, treats anything else as an external substance, which will not participate in your asana.

Practicing yoga means beginning a partnership with the Creator. You cannot do it all yourself, but you can create the necessary atmosphere for the Creator to do the job. You want that which is the source of creation to become your willing partner. The first time you were made, it was not your choice – it was your parents and forefathers who decided how your body should be shaped, and how it should function. It happened from genetic memory. This is why in this culture, we refer to enlightened ones as dwijas or twice-born. Once born out of your mother’s womb – the way you were born was not your choice. But now you are reinventing and recreating yourself, step-by-step, the way you want yourself to be.

If that is to heady for you, here are some other reasons for practicing on an empty stomach.

Lightness

When your body feels lighter, it is easier to move

Picture Taken By Wanda Koch. Me working on Tic Tocs with Briohny Symth

Improved access to your core

When your stomach feels full, it is harder to feel the connection to the core

Arm balances and floating becomes easier

Because you have excess to the core

Twists and forward folds deepen

When your stomach is full, it is hard to twist and fold

Hot yoga becomes easier

The act of digestion and the feeling of fullness in your stomach can make you feel nauseous

Bandhas become more accessiable

If your belly is distended or your colon impacted, it can be harder to access the energy of uddiyana bandha and mula bandha

Pranayama and breathing becomes easier

Some pranayama techniques require the use of bandhas and constricting the belly. When the stomach is empty, these become assessable.

Your practice is safer

In order to keep everything in alignment, bandhas and tension in the muscles are needed in yoga poses. It becomes harder to access the needed muscles when the belly is full which makes the practice more dangerous.

Distraction

If your belly is full, it can distract you from your practice.

Energy

A full belly makes you feel sluggish and sleepy.

May 15, 2014 5:59:26 AM | Health, Yoga

May 14, 2014

Play That Funky Yoga Music Black Girl

Me Making a Playlist For Yoga Class

The first time I heard Krishna Das chant, I was in love. When I first started practicing yoga, chanting was a huge part of the practice. Before moving to Charlotte, I lived in Atlanta and I only practiced Ashtanga. The opening mantra was a beautiful part of the practice that I looked forward too. It was a prayer, an intention, an opening signal,an energy resetter and it was powerful.

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, which is the foremost text on yoga, speaks of the power of mantra. Specifically, it talks about how just chanting "om" alone can bring enlightenment. No one denies that music has the power to change our moods. Chanting works to bring us closer to self realization by striking the heart. The vibrations, the tones, the words and the beauty of the music works through us and removes barriers that keep us from seeing who we really are.

I dream of one day leading a kirtan (chanting session) or starting and ending my classes with a rousing chant.

So when I was contacted by Kim Corbin of New World Libary regarding reviewing Alanna Kaivalya's, Sacred Sound, I jumped on it.

This book provides the chants, the mythos, correct times to use the chants and if you go to this link, you learn pronunciation and how to say them. The book is easy to understand and the chants and stories are applicable to even the most skeptical yoga student.

Am I ready to lead a Kirtan? No, but I am much more informed and comforatable wich is a step in the right direction.

For more information and to purchase the book, go to alannak.com

May 14, 2014 11:05:11 AM | Music, Reviews, Yoga

May 13, 2014

Ashtanga and the Aging Body

This is a post I wrote for my sister blog, Ashtanga Picture Project.com

Note: the pictures on this page were chosen at random and not based on age. They are from the Asthanga Picture Project.

Small Someone came to the APP (Ashtanga Picture Project) yesterday asking, can older people do Ashtannga? The answer is Yes, Yes, YES! Contrary to popular belief, Ashtanga is one of the most highly adaptable forms of yoga out there. Where did the confusion come from? Most people come to Ashtanga through guided classes. Guided classes were never designed for new students. They are for current students(that practice Mysore style already) who know the sequence. Guided classes are rigid and set because they are about proper counting, proper breathing, proper vinyasas and flow. Sharath, the lineage holder for Ashtanga yoga, has even said in conference, that they are hard and that students should take an hours rest afterwards! Check out Priyas Yoga Blog for conference transcripts.

While you can find guided classes in non traditional studios that claim to be geared towards beginners and may actually be beneficial, just keep in mind that , they were never meant to be used that way. If they are too tough, before you give up, find a good Mysore class and commit to doing it consistently for at least 6 weeks and you will see results. Mysore style is the main method for practicing and learning Ashtanga yoga. In Mysore, a student does one guided class a week and 5 Mysore classes. Mysore style is learning one on one in a group setting. This is perfect for aging bodies.

Another source of confusion is media. I try my best to run a diverse platform, but the majority of the pictures and videos out there are of people 40 and lower. However, if you search through the portfolio, videos and blogs of this site, you will see Ashtangis of all ages. You do not have to do all the craziness you see on Instagram. Don't let that scare you. Ashtanga can be adapted for anyone's needs.

Why Mysore Style Ashtanga is Perfect For Aging Bodies

Adaptable-A good teacher can modify poses, shorten the sequence, teach breathing and meditation techniques that are perfect for whatever you may be going through. You can literally walk into the room each day, tell them what is going on with you and they can adjust your practice accordingly.

The Sky is the Limit-If you are in good health and are athletic and able, a good Ashtanga teacher will let you soar regardless of your age. There are plenty of people in their fifties and beyond doing handstands and putting their legs behind their head. If the desire is strong they will teach you.

Move at Your Own Pace-you learn and move at your own pace. You don't have to keep up with anyone

You Can Practice It At Home-having a tough day health wise? Can't make it to the studio? You can take your practice home with you. That is one of the beauties of a set sequence. The sequence your teacher gives you is uniquely yours with a few variables changing from time to time based on what is going on with you. You can memorize it and do it in the comfort of your own home.

Moderate Temperature: Hot yoga is popular these days and many older people can not tolerate those temperatures. Even in classes that are advertised as cooler, many studios will still be upwards of 90 degrees. Most Ashtanga classes are no higher then 80-85 degrees which is warm enough to get your muscles moving but not too hot.

If You Want Spiritual Instead of Physical-Ashtanga is a complete system that brings inner and outer peace with an established framework. If your life is moving towards the spiritual and away from the physical, a good teacher can introduce you to the 8 limbs and the spiritual side of the practice.

Helps Preserve Memory Function and Keep the Brain Sharp-Ashtanga advocates memorization of the sequence, breath counts and vinyasas and you guide yourself through your learned sequence. Many studies have shown that a stimulated brain is less likely to suffer from age related memory and cognitive issues.

May 13, 2014 4:55:43 AM | Yoga

Wellness From Inside

Musing on yoga, wellness and living a healthy, happy life