understanding the layers of the self
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Integrating yoga philosophy: the Koshas
Category: Yoga
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Yoga as Therapy?
Yoga as self-therapy: Tune out to check in. Yoga as therapy has been contentious in recent years. In January 2016, the Yoga Alliance requested that any yoga school remove the terms “yoga therapy” and “yoga therapist” from their title. This suggestion was a precaution against misleading the public to think that yoga teachers are diagnosticians. […]
You don’t have to practice yoga every day. But when you need your practice, you’re going to wish you’d been practicing every day. Land and Heart Yoga Yoga is a physical, emotional and psychological practice. The physical part, the poses, is the most obvious. The emotional and psychological components of a yoga practice are much […]
Use the Warrior Series to battle your ego and realize your goals. Most flow yoga classes incorporate at least one of the warrior poses (Virabhadrasana series), but beyond the physical shape of the poses, what are these poses all about? The warrior series refers to the spiritual warrior, one who battles the universal enemy. The […]
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Core Strength
There is a plethora of images in fitness magazines and on Instagram that display air-brushed models with flat and toned tummies. All of these images suggest that a taught belly is an ideal to strive for. Defined abdominal muscles are a point of vanity and the existence of a six-pack is synonymous with a strong […]
If you spend enough time in a yoga studio, you will hear a lot of bold statements about the physical and emotional benefits of yoga. “practicing yin will reduce stress and anxiety” “forward folds are good for introspection” “we store a lot of emotion in our hips: hip-opening poses can release pent-up emotion” “backbends will […]
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Yoga and SAD
The darkness of winter is upon us. If you suffer seasonal affective disorder, you will understand the debilitating exhaustion, apathy and moodiness that affects many during the dark months of December and January. Seasonal affective disorder is described by the Mayo clinic as a change in circadian rhythm and a drop in serotonin levels brought on by reduced […]
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Power Yoga is for Beginners
The physical challenge of Power Yoga makes the yoga aspect of the practice easier than in less-physically challenging sequences. I teach Power Yoga. I have taught other versions of yoga but Power Yoga is most congruent with my personal practice and is what I want to share with my students. Almost every day, someone says to […]
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Cue the Silence
Our world is a noisy place. We exist among conversations, loud engines, music, sirens, air filter machines, humming computers, ringtones, radios, barking dogs and constant chatter inside our heads. Silence is an elusive concept. So when the power went off in my office building last week, besides the darkness, the aftermath was a silence that […]
Yoga is the simple equation of breath + movement. But it seems there is an interest in “getting there,” “doing the poses right.” The physical part of yoga, the movement, is simply a gateway to quieting the mind. Yoga poses are a venue for your body and mind to concentrate on breath and movement with the […]