Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

One morning at my 5:30 am Mysore Ashtanga practice, I had one of those days where my body went on strike. Everybody has those days, where technically we can and have done all (or most) of these postures with grace and ease, but that day… not so much. My muscles fought back in even the simplest forward bends, my spine wouldn’t loosen up, and as a result, my inner-monologue was…well, let’s just say it was less than yogic. Asana practice has two real main functions in the yogic tradition: to prepare the body to sit and meditate, and to open and balance energy lines in the body to facilitate personal development (so one can be comfortable in meditation internally). Typically on these days of physical ‘strike’, I’m left to contemplate in my Savasana what in my body/emotional patterning is so out of whack that it causes my entire physical being to seize up.

If you are trying to be healthier, you might find that a quick fix or a fad diet never lasts and you find yourself slipping back into old habits. This is because as humans, we are creatures of habit, and if we want to see and make long-lasting positive changes in our daily lives, we need to work on improving habits one at a time. However, this way to a healthier and happier life doesn't need to be difficult or overwhelming. Making one small change every day for two weeks can be the secret to transforming your habits. Here are 14 simple habits you can add to your day, over the course of two weeks. Feel free to add these daily intentions to your daily yoga, in YogaDownload's upcoming FREE 2-Week Yoga Challenge: Root and Rise.

2-Week Yoga Challenge: Root and Rise. The challenge is free for everyone and starts on April 11th! Check back here soon to sign up! “Yoga is 99% waste removal.” -TKV Desikachar TKV Deiskachar was a legendary yoga master and son of the father of modern yoga, T. Krishnamacharya. He built upon his father's teachings and was one of the most respected leaders in the yoga world. One of the primary themes of his therapeutic approach to yoga was that its purpose was to cleanse the body, mind, and emotions. He often spoke of the importance of “burning away the rubbish” to find one’s highest self.

I do a little cupboard cleanup at least once a year where I try to use up all the odd ends of dry ingredients that I have laying around. The raw buckwheat here is one of these ends, but it does not mean that I do not like raw buckwheat – I do! I just rarely eat it in savory versions as my favorite is buckwheat muesli that I just realized have not even shared with you, so I will fix that soon. But this simple dish here is a quick weeknight dinner that comes together in around 30 minutes and most of this time you don’t need to do anything. Just chop your veggies throw everything in two pots, transfer some of the first pot over to a second one, stir a little and you are done. Easy! You can also substitute almost everything in this meal – cauliflower instead of broccoli? Of course! Adding in zucchini? Why not! Replacing buckwheat with say, quinoa? Surely it would work! Just open your fridge and cupboard, see what you got and get creative!

Many Full Moon blessings to you all. Our world is shifting rapidly, and we're all awakening, expanding, and collectively moving together into new horizons. Next month will be a whirlwind. Stay connected to your highest visions. This moon marks the completion of a cycle and brings a new cycle, a new epoch, a new order forward. What you hold in your mind, and within your heart are building and gaining form, keep the space clear.

Is anybody else ready to lean into the powerful transition of the Equinox? Here at Yogadownload.com, we’re ready for that push of energy from Mother Earth to help us align with nature. Whether you’re celebrating the move into longer nights in Autumn in the Southern hemisphere or eager for the blossoming of Spring in the Northern hemisphere, we are all experiencing the change in the seasons. When we harness the seasonal shifts to empower our individual intentions and move with nature’s ebbs and flows, we can better implement our true desires. The cycles of the moon, the hours bathed in sunlight, the fluctuations of heat and cold all impact us––we are a part of the natural cycle, not separate. This world influences how we feel on every level––our bodies, our hearts, and our minds.

The recipe is from spring 2020 when we had our first lockdown here in Estonia. I remember it very clearly as I was supposed to be in Jamaica and in Miami, but then life happened, the world became a crazy place, and I still haven’t taken this trip. Maybe this year! Fingers crossed. Anyway, as I had planned a three-week holiday and prepped well with doing all my work for this time beforehand and yoga classes were canceled, I just spent 3 weeks at home cooking, drinking (smoothies mostly, but also cocktails as I was supposed to be on holiday after all), cleaning out all the forgotten corners of my home and binging on I don’t even remember what, but most likely some cooking competition. And here I am almost two years later and I still have not gone on that trip!

Massage with hot stones is an ancient technique that can fill you with the pure energy of nature. The technique of massage with natural stones is based on the natural reaction of the body to cold and heat. However, the stones themselves play an extremely important role in this mystery. Some say stoned are the oldest inhabitants of our world, absorbing the energy of the cosmos and stars, earth, and water for thousands of years. In the process of stone therapy, minerals transfer the accumulated energy to the human body, healing ailments and soothing the soul. What kind of stones are used for massage?

The benefits of yoga are becoming more well-known and mainstream. That said, there is still a sizable chunk of the population who would like to practice, but get stuck on some common excuses of why they can't practice.

While we celebrate offering yoga classes that appeal and benefit a wide range of individuals, it’s also important that we provide niche classes that are created for specific populations. Who doesn’t want a yoga class that recognizes we may need something different at times? It’s a great reminder that we aren’t alone in that need, we’re part of a community. 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. Whatever your personal experience, there’s a universal premise that yoga is a process of turning inward. Of getting quiet so you can truly be present. Of finding your brightest inner light or—gasp- even achieving Samadhi or enlightenment.

How would you describe your perfect birthday cake? For me (Jo), carrot cake is the ultimate birthday feast centerpiece. It’s always been my favorite cake since I was a kid. And every year I try to re-create a new favorite version! My birthday was just last week, so I’ve been daydreaming about a new carrot cake recipe for weeks now. My friend and nanny Kerry is an amazing baker, so I asked her to make my daydream into a reality. I wanted this cake to be a spin on the typical carrot cake flavors while incorporating elements of my favorite grain-free pumpkin rolls with a citrus cream for some extra decadence and an extra veggie punch. The end result is this super flavorful and delicious Carrot Cake with Citrus Cream!

Lots of guys drive or sit at desks with their wallet or cell phone in their back pocket, but they can’t figure out why they moan and groan in pain when they stand up to leave the car or chair. Here’s the physics: One butt cheek sitting higher than the other can trigger chronic pain in your back, hips and shoulders, and set off foot cramps.

What is Yin Yoga? In the simplest terms, Yin Yoga is a yoga style that holds passive yoga postures for a longer duration of time. These poses are usually held for a duration of between three to ten minutes.

Why we need Yin yoga now. We are all living at a pitch point in history and these last few years have been challenging on every level––individually and collectively. From living through a pandemic to times of war and strife, how can we find a balance inside and out? While yoga can’t solve all these major issues, it can help us create more space in our reaction time to find reserves of inner strength to handle the external events we cannot control. Yoga’s many benefits, from increasing physical strength and flexibility to quieting the mind and balancing the emotions, come with consistent practice. Many forms of yoga, from the more active Yang practices like Ashtanga and Vinyasa to more passive styles like Yin and Gentle Hatha nourish us. But sometimes, when the world has so much active Yang energy, a more pacifying Yin practice helps us slow down and soothe our nervous systems.

If you are a spice lover like myself, I am pretty sure this recipe will stay with you forever. This chili oil goes with everything. I enjoy it with my dumplings and noodles, drizzle it on scrambled eggs and use it on avocado toast. I use it to top my ramen soups and rice bowls. I sometimes even drizzle it on vanilla ice cream! You probably get the point, you can add this to anything!

People are endlessly seeking happiness and motivation in their lives, trying all sorts of tricks to achieve them. While there’s no single secret to happiness and motivation, there are some academic insights you can implement into your own life to bring about a greater abundance of the two. This article dives into the concepts of hedonia, eudaimonia, engagement, and their impacts on your happiness and motivation. Psychological and social research has led to the development of these concepts that have their roots in ancient philosophy but still bear fruit in the present day. The Meaning of Hedonia

Posture is something that most people can stand to improve a little. Our heads, necks, backs, and shoulders get put under pressure every day, and it’s easy to not realize how tight they can become. The easiest way to improve posture and ease tension in the upper body is to make little changes throughout your day, and not even all of them need to be done at once. Here are a few things that could be damaging your posture and upper body, and a few ways to combat it. Slouching on your commute

Stop what you’re doing for a moment and check-in to see how you’re feeling. Turn your head from side to side, perform a few shoulder rolls, and reach your arms overhead. Are you carrying tension in your neck or are your shoulders rounded forward? Mental and emotional stress often manifests as poor posture which impacts not just your muscles, tendons, and bones but also your subtle body. Read on to discover how yoga for your upper body can help.

What could be better than chocolate? Chocolate and berries! Desserts that combine berries with chocolate feel like the gold standard. These Raspberry Cheesecake Bites tick all the boxes. Raspberries give just the right amount of acidity and sweetness to the silky cashew-based filling. The luxurious texture and brightness of the tangy berries make this filling completely drool-worthy. And to top it all off, they have rich chocolate crusts that you’ll be tempted to eat all on their own.

Every family of yoga poses has its own unique energetic benefits. While the musculoskeletal benefits of postures are more obvious, benefits like open hamstrings, strengthening the core, or opening the shoulders, the energetic and emotional benefits are more subtle but important and valuable in their own way. For example, backbends, are uplifting and energizing and a perfect remedy for sluggish depressed energy.

This Full Moon moves us into the culmination of healing, and self restoration. This self-awakening began in the Fall, and worked the subject and object of the individuated self within our inner constructs. It worked to prepare for new endeavors and the embodiment of self through an expanded view of the external. How you hold yourself and the external has been challenged. These challenges opened the consciousness into new possibilities. This Full Moon not only brings a full circle to self-awareness but also reflects and ends a cycle from 2018 (pre-pandemic).

“The body benefits from movement, and the mind benefits from stillness.” -Sakyong Mipham Yoga is the perfect synergy between asana (posture), pranayama (breathwork), and meditation. When you develop a consistent yoga practice, you create a strong body and a centered calm mind. One effective approach to stepping into your personal power is to emphasize building physical strength through your yoga practice. These classes will help you strengthen bones and joints, increase endurance and stamina, and boost your mood with endorphins.

Not sure that today’s creation should be called a recipe because it literally is frying up a bunch of brussels sprouts, seasoning them with salt and lemon, and serving with sunflower seeds and cheese. But sometimes the easiest things are the best things in life, right! By the way, did you know that some people might have a true reason behind not liking brussels sprouts – some people have a heightened perception of the bitter taste and brussels have bitter notes and this is why they are not fans of these healthy nuggets.

Stories pass wisdom. Many religions base longevity and education on storytelling, as storytelling explains the unexplainable. We all have our own stories about our own journeys, and they are ongoing in nature. No finite end or distinctive start. Life goes on and so the story within us deepens, is added to and takes twists and turns. The style changes as romance, humor and thrill are added or removed. What is your story? What is the story of your friends, lover, family and peers?

Your heart chakra is the place of love and connection. It is associated with the element of air. It is connected to your lungs, heart, chest, and upper back region. Emotionally, it is the place where we love.