Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

One of the primary intentions in yoga is to center your mind and become grounded in the present moment. In our daily lives off of the mat, it’s easy to become mired in the past and controlled by memories, patterns, and fears. Also, in our Western culture, the focus on the future, on doing, on achieving, on getting somewhere or buying something, pulls us out of the now. Yoga teaches us to focus on the present moment.

“Summer time and the living’s easy” …Sublime’s song Summertime

What does freedom mean to you? Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Does freedom need to be granted to you by a higher power? Or, can we cultivate a sense of freedom from the inside out by shifting our perception, by working to release fear that weighs us down and prevents us from living our life to the fullest?

"Extremes are easy, strive for balance." ~ Colin Wright

“It's about what you believe. And I believe in love. Only love will truly save the world.” Wonder Woman from the awesome new movie. Love is a superhero power!

Our core is our center—physically, emotionally and mentally. It’s vital to keep our spine healthy, our abs strong, and cultivate our prana from our navel center. Learn to utilize the wisdom of yoga to become your most confident, decisive, and happy self. Diving into subtle body anatomy, specifically balancing your Manipura or navel Chakra can empower your life. This week, we’ve got four new classes and a previously released class to get you started.

Denelle Numis composes an authentic experience on the mat where each student can immediately connect with the rhythm of their body and their breath. With a background in modern dance, Denelle builds her Vinyasa classes through a progression of dynamic sequences to stimulate energy and vitality throughout the body. She infuses her classes with eclectic music and inspiring peak postures. Even though her classes may be challenging, Denelle’s vibrant and gregarious personality motivates her students to stay playful in their practice.

If you’ve been chained to a desk since New Year’s Day, your body’s in need of a liberating vacation, and your mind is ready for a cozy staycation. How do you escape, but stay still at the same time? Well, you could binge watch Netflix or you could try these 5 tips to kick off summer with a sense of adventure and peace.

What’s your favorite benefit from your yoga practice? Flexible hamstrings? Strong shoulders? Steady balance? Peace of mind? How about healthy, supple joints?

When is the last time you experienced a breakthrough on your yoga mat or meditation cushion? Yesterday? Last month? Never? If you feel stagnant with your regular yoga practice, we’re here to offer you options to break through and deepen your physical asana practice or the quality of your meditation time. Consider different ways you can amplify your practice.

From your fingers to your toes, the Nadis are making connections in your body. In the yoga tradition, Nadis are the energy superhighways running through the body – and depending on the lineage you have anywhere between 72,000 to 350,000 of them.

If your hips aren’t happy, odds are you won’t be happy either. In order to stay pain and injury free, you need to keep your hips open and stable. Yoga Sutra 2.46, Sthira Sukham asanam states that the posture should be stable and comfortable. Often, this principle is described as seeking the balance between strength and softness or effort and ease.

Both you and the Earth could really use some love right now. So we wanted to send you into the weekend, and into Earth Day, with 6 ways to bring in the values and actions of your yoga practice to the planet.

"Few things are so pressing that they cannot wait for a moment of breath." - T.K.V. Desikachar

What do yoga and Eminem’s hit song, Lose Yourself have in common? Both focus on seizing the day or Carpe Diem. Yoga is about living in the present moment and experiencing the ease and the discomfort of each day. Carpe Diem is defined as the enjoyment of the pleasures of the moment without concern for the future. The lyrics from Eminem’s hit song focus on the transient nature of life and how we need to grab it with both hands:

Whether you’re a hard-core athlete, weekend warrior, or avid spectator, we here at YogaDownload.com have the classes to help you enhance your athletic performance and prevent injuries. Yoga goes beyond simple stretching by working the muscles and joints through all ranges of motion—activating the little-used muscles that support the primary movers. The body must be worked through all three planes of motion in order to remain balanced and healthy. Even if you stretch pre- or post-workout, you’re probably just stretching the muscles in the same direction and plane of motion in which you are exercising.

Happy spring! We’re here to help you stay on top of your game physically, emotionally and mentally while you’re on the go. Whether you’re planning a spring vacation or opting for a staycation, here are 7 tips to keep your body & mind right when you’re on the move:

It’s normal to start feeling little sluggish or unlike your usual confident self after a long, rainy winter. It may the perfect time to clear out any energy or feelings that have gone stagnant. We could all use a reboot in our systems to charge our inner fierceness and tap into our ambition.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! This week we celebrate how to capture those feelings of good luck and happiness and bottle them up for the entire year. It’s just like the leprechaun finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, right? Check out Mark Morford’s latest class: How to Get Lucky Vol. II: Get Luckier.

When your back hurts, everything in your life is impacted. If you’ve ever experienced spasms or intense pain anywhere along your spine, you know what we mean. We’re here to help break down a few of the reasons back pain manifests and also to suggest how incorporating yoga can keep your spine healthy and prevent future back pain.

Do you dread attempting full splits or Hanumanasana? Physically, it’s an intimidating yoga pose and could be one you avoid for that reason. We’re here to share the story behind the pose. Once you appreciate the myth behind the posture, you may be inspired to approach it differently with the power of the meaning fueling you.

With so much information out there about nutrition it’s nearly impossible to sift out the genuine truth. Find something you think you can trust that even has citations and studies to boot, and guaranteed there’s some website out there that fundamentally disagrees with what you just read and somehow, magically, has the same amount of evidence backing it up. Either that or the advice it gives you is to sacrifice all of your beloved foods and basically rearrange your entire life around digestion.

Do you pride yourself on your ability to juggle several balls in the air at once? If you’re dispersing your energy by multi-tasking, by being glued to your smartphone, by working overtime for your career, your family, and your friends, you’re going to burn out. When all your energy goes outward without the requisite focus on recharging your inner light, disconnection results.

Ayurveda is a complex discipline based upon Vedic spiritual tradition, and is a powerful system of mind-body health. Learning to work with its principles will aid you in maintaining vibrant health or in achieving health if you are in a state of dis-ease. This sister science of yoga integrates beautifully with your asana, pranayama and meditation practices.

Roses, chocolates and teddy bears aside, you don't need another person to validate love this Valentine’s Day (though we’ll take the box of chocolates). Today, we challenge you to roll out your mat and write a love letter to yourself. Take fifteen minutes to celebrate everything that makes you whole, even the messy parts. Write them down and see them for what they are: regular human qualities worthy of love. Then, through today’s asana practice, celebrate that self-understanding. Embrace your shaking legs, sweaty mat and experience the fullness of who you are.