Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

This week we bring you four new classes to help fall asleep, have wonderful dreams, and awake recharged and clear for lovely days. When you were a little kid, you probably battled your parents to stay up as late as possible and avoid an early bedtime. As you transitioned into adulthood, sleep still seemed optional: there can always be so much to do! And, once upon a time, when you were ready to go to sleep, you could lay your head on the pillow and drift off to dreamland. If you are lucky, falling asleep still comes naturally. For many of us, insomnia is an occasional or chronic issue. Our world is zooming at warp-speed and keeping up can launch our nervous systems into overdrive or the “fight or flight response.” Despite physical and mental exhaustion, the minute we try to go to sleep, an endless reel begins playing through our brains. We’re unable to shut off the movie documenting every detail of our day or the issues we’re contending with at any given moment. Sleep is essential for us to rejuvenate and heal our physical, mental, and emotional health. Yoga to the rescue! With the appropriate yoga practice, you can learn to not only tire out your body, but also quiet your mind and calm your heart for a solid night’s sleep.

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:

As 2017 comes to a close, ask yourself how are you feeling? Do you feel strong? Powerful? Are you shining your inner light to the world at one hundred percent or do you feel weighed down physically, emotionally, or mentally? We’re thrilled to offer a brand new package: Yoga for Detox from Overindulgence to help you release any extra baggage AND four new classes designed to fuel your inner power. The end of the year is an excellent time to check in and connect to your center. In order to find clarity and truly see yourself, it’s necessary to shed whatever excess may be concealing your true sense of self. First, burn off the layers that are hindering you with our new program designed for detoxification, just in time to balance out the holiday season.

Quick exercise: Name three things you’re grateful for right now. Can you do it? Were you able to list three? Ten? Or, did you have a tough time feeling thankful because you’re in a challenging phase of life and your focus is simply on surviving whatever is difficult right now? We’re here to remind you that if you shift your attention, you’ll change your perspective. Two of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras provide direction and wisdom.

Do you need a change of pace? Are you ready to tap into your inner child and become more playful in your yoga practice, yet desire to shift your physical, mental, and emotional viewpoint too? This week, we’re thrilled to offer four new classes focused on how inversions and going upside down benefits you. Technically, an inversion in yoga is anything that brings your hips above your heart and your heart above your head. Downward-facing dog and standing forward bends can be considered inversions. Some inversions build heat and energy, like handstands and forearm stands. Others like headstands and shoulder stand act to calm the nervous system. Assuming you are physically healthy and aren’t dealing with injuries to your neck or shoulders, low blood pressure, or glaucoma, there’s an inversion to benefit you.

You just had a baby - congratulations! Does your body feel like a total stranger? Your amazing body spent nearly a year growing a new human, and longer for nourishing and nurturing this new life. For new moms, sometimes your body doesn’t feel like yours anymore. We can help. Whether you’re looking to reconnect with your sense of self, rebuild your core or just start moving and toning your muscles again (with your doctor’s blessing), we put together a special 10-class Yoga For New Moms package with exactly you in mind. We also have 3 key tips to practice any time:

Week 3: Finish Strong! You’re almost to the finish line, challengers! We hope you’re feeling stronger, lighter, and more radiant. We know it isn’t easy to create a new habit, especially when it means committing to practice every single day. Whether you are fired up and roaring to the finish line or if you’re stumbling a bit in your resolve, we’re here to help you finish strong. YogaDownload offers these four tips to blast you to the stars and accomplish your Pre-Holiday Challenge (and life) goals.

Sun Salutations are about worshipping the sun and activating the solar energy in the body. Consisting of 12 yoga poses (Hatha Yoga) requiring the practitioner to move from one pose to another in a rhythmic fashion in order to reap the benefits. Although this series can be practiced at any time of the day, the benefits of Sun Salutations increase when practiced in the morning in front of the sun.

Transitions are part of life and the change of seasons is a perfect time to focus on transitions and transform your life. When we tap into the essence of the season and align ourselves with nature, we can create lasting change. Now that you’re in week two of the YogaDownload.com Pre-Holiday Challenge, we hope you’re feeling stronger and determined to stay the course.

Do you love the holidays? The extra time to spend with family and friends? The opportunity to relax and spend a little extra time on the couch in your pajamas? Or, the time when you travel the world and explore? If you know you won’t be following your usual routine, we’ve got the perfect no-guilt solution. Welcome to our Pre-Holiday 21-Day Feel Good Challenge. Just before the holidays is the perfect time to implement changes, to align with nature and adjust to different schedules. Beginning a new program requires discipline, commitment and willpower, all key elements to a strong personal practice. Cultivate the principle of Tapas and jump in with us.

The mechanics of the knee is imposing! Its hinge structure and the performance it delivers will forever be difficult replicating. The knee joint is a typical synovial joint with the accompanying fluid for improved lubrication and protection of the adjoining parts. Here are 4 poses to also help strengthen your knees.

When someone completely new to yoga looks at Instagram photos, they might get confused. Is yoga all about handstands and backbends? There should be something more to it. When they do a brief research, they get even more confused. There are too many types of yoga, and all of them are quite different from one another. According to the Eastern approach to understanding human nature, each one of us has a unique personality and temperament. It’s no wonder why yoga has taken so many forms. It constantly evolves, and that’s a good thing. Since there are so many types of yoga, everyone can find a method that suits them. We’ll list few important types of yoga, so you’ll distinguish them and decide: which one suits you best?

“Stack your spine”, “Square your hips”, “Rotate your shoulder blades”, “Engage your core” - Do these sounds familiar but hard to comprehend? You are definitely not alone. Go deeper into this article to demystify and decode alignment cues used during your practice.

One of the greatest lessons of yoga is discovering the profound connection between your physical and emotional bodies. The physical benefits like looser hamstrings and stronger shoulders appear more quickly, but the benefits to your subtle body and emotional health are more profound. Shift your focus inside to attain the full benefits of yoga.

We have a confession. Sometimes we get into a monotonous rut with our yoga practice. Sometimes, with our daily habits. Heck, sometimes we eat the same breakfast every day for, well, forever. That’s all well and good to establish healthy habits, but sometimes repeating the same routines day after day can become rote, automatic, and even a little boring. Do you gravitate to the same classes day after day? Avoid postures you don’t like?

This week, we’re thrilled to introduce a new series of classes + program from YogaDownload superstar teacher, Kristin Gibowicz, that marry ancient wisdom with your daily life. Everyday Yamas will guide you through the five Yamas in an accessible way.

"Your strength is in your calmness, in the clarity for your mind. Strength comes from putting the negative aside without reacting. Win in calmness, in consciousness, in balance."

September is National Yoga Month, and if you’ve been curious about how this ancient practice can benefit your modern life, it’s the perfect time to put away excuses. There are a lot of reasons people think they can’t do yoga - and every single one is ridiculous. So we’re debunking the most popular excuses, and offering a special beginner’s bundle that proves yoga is really for every body.

"Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day."

You’ve spent the last few months saluting the sun. So don’t spend the next few weeks – the last precious days of hazy sunsets, al fresco dining and going barefoot – diving head first into a pumpkin latte. Seasonal transitions are natural and gradual, and we’re natural beings, so go with the flow and don’t rush from one season to the next. Summer is a time of sweetness and extroversion, and as it begins to wind down, this is a precious time to savor it’s lightness and glory, while also turning inwards to reflect and rejuvenate. This week, we invite you to soak up the end of summer and to slow down in the process.

What does it mean to be a Warrior? How can practicing yoga enable you to tap into your inner courage and stand up for freedom and truth? Even in the face of opposition and great odds?

You may have heard that yoga is the fountain of youth and this week, we invite you to dive in with two well-respected, popular, and lovely instructors, Desiree Rumbaugh and Michelle Marchildon. They have teamed up to create a program designed to encourage you to feel your best at any age. We’re thrilled to introduce a new series of videos and a book, Fearless After Fifty: How to Thrive with Grace, Grit and Yoga.

You can be whomever you want. You can do whatever you dream. You are capable of living a life without limits. There’s a caveat, however: you need to start trusting your inner voice and releasing limiting beliefs and habits.

Wanna sneak away for a quick, passionate session? Just the two of us, and your yoga mat.

Yoga teachers will tell you that arm balances just might be the most feared or most loved part of class. Why do some people jump, no pun intended, at the chance to take flight on their hands and go upside down while others use the opportunity to sneak out to the bathroom?