Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

A few years ago I visited a girlfriend in Southern California. I was preparing for my Yogic Lore Flow workshop on the Hindu goddesses and spent the week in her lush backyard garden meditating on Lakshmi, the goddess of abundance, beauty, and grace. I came to understand Lakshmi’s power of bestowing beauty, abundance, and grace is directly attributed to her ability to recognize the exquisiteness of every moment, every flower, every day, and every smile.

I love this word, power. Powerful, powerless, powering through, empowered … it’s so versatile and strong and well, powerful.

Statistics show that Americans are working harder, for longer hours, and are more productive than ever. Yet, few are getting ahead and most are grateful if they can just make ends meet. As stress-related illnesses account for an increasing number of doctor visits, the call to slow down and unplug has gotten louder. But juggling the demands of worldly life can often end up at odds with being attentive to our individual needs. Sometimes, knowing where to best make the trade-off is all we can do.

You know, my life has always followed this crazy rhythm. And it hasn’t always been in time with everyone else’s. However, what I’m learning is that it’s been in Divine time and very often, in time with the Moon.

When we think of prana and pranayama practice, we typically think of our breath and the many yogic breathing practices found in the pantheon of yoga. However, prana is so much more than just the breath. It’s our life force, our subtle energy field, which distributes itself throughout our physical, mental, emotional, and pranic bodies.

Wow … wanna know the truth? This Mercury Retrograde and Full Moon in Sagittarius is kicking my ass! I’ve been tossed into amazing opportunities and yanked back into the past all in one week. I had to face my immobilizing fear of technology and fix every i-apparatus in my home, by myself. I have to buy a new computer, and I lost all my photos of my children from 2002. (yes, I heard that gasp)

In part two of this shoulder series, we will cover a craze which appears to be sweeping the nation, labrum issues. It seems like everyone has a piece of this particular action, just ask Kevin Love. I cannot count the number of times someone has sidled up to me after a class and said “what have you got for a bad shoulder.” After a little bit of q & a, I usually find out the person has some sort of labrum damage.

For most of us, the fundamental supposition of modern posture practice is that what we’re doing is more than just exercise or physical therapy, that it is something deeply meaningful and perhaps spiritual. I know when I practice, I’m a better person because of it. But what exactly is going on? To help organize my thoughts, I’ve turned again to the books on my shelf to discover what other teachers and scholars have to say about it. This is an admittedly limited and biased towards the modern survey, but a beginning into insight.

These things are out of this world -- and the recipe leaves room for your personal creativity.

We are offered countless opportunities to up level our vibration on any given day. And this doesn’t mean:

The absolute pressing question to me right now is “What am I willing to sacrifice?” This isn’t about some self righteous asceticism but rather about prioritising my yoga practice. I’ve been at it long enough to know that yoga, which for me means postures, flow, study, and meditation, makes me feel sane and happy. But I also work a lot, try to have an active social life, and need some sleep somewhere between all that. My schedule is often irregular. I say all this not because I think I’m exceptional, but rather because I think I’m just like everyone else.

I really liked this theme … sovereignty: having supreme authority over oneself. It was an interesting one to follow “connection” but yet, so timely and complimentary.

I often hear people talk about how expensive it is to be healthy; that organic food is so much more expensive than regular food, that joining a gym or taking yoga classes all seem pricey, but you could just as easily drop $300 a month at Starbucks. I consider the money I spend now on my health a long term investment, because I don’t want to have problems with my bones or organs when I get older. Here are some ways that I invest in my health:

You have probably already heard or read about it, yoga seems to be everywhere these days. There are a lot of pre-conceived notions about what yoga is, ranging from a strenuous, acrobatic endeavor only for the very strong and flexible; to some sort of new age, spiritual practice where you sit around chanting. Sure, those are out there, but the vast majority of yoga classes are fun, relaxing and full of normal, practical people just like you.

The ubiquitous trope that “yoga is stretching” is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of both yoga and human anatomy. Now that scientific research is largely debunking ingrained notions of what it means to “stretch,” the language that yoga teachers and media are using to describe what yoga practice does needs to be questioned.

Welcome to Kapha season! Kapha (or spring) is a time of year known for wet, damp, warm weather. When in balance, this season can bring on a sense of peace and well being. Kapha individuals are even known to be loving, loyal and patient. But when out of balance, we may be prone to feeling congested, lethargic and lazy (read: too much Netflix!).

Start tomorrow today An evening routine is a great way to set yourself up to experience an awesome tomorrow. A relaxing bath, a yummy glass of warm, spiced milk or maybe even some journaling are a few actions that could make the morning great. Another great choice is yoga, right there in your bed.

There is an interesting book, "The Healing Power of Meditation" I’ve been reading about meditation and it’s effect on the mind and body. It’s a collaborative piece written by multiple experts in the fields of Psycholoy, Buddhism, and health professions, such as neurology. In the portion of the book that talks about meditation and emotion, it describes the process the human body, and mind, goes through when experiencing an emotion. Emotion is a fast response and usually subside. When we say we’ve been “feeling bad all day” what we’re doing is revisiting the same emotion, over, and over. We think the whole day has been “bad” when we really are just thinking about the same thing that gave us that emotion, calling for the response again, and again.

So you are helping yourself keeping fit. Your commitment to Being Healthy is on track. First, you have been doing some cardio every day, maybe some running or cycling, getting your heart rate up to the threshold and surely your heart is getting stronger. And you are trying to do this outside, in nature, even if it takes a little more effort, it is great to be outside this time of year.

Inspired by the wisdom of nature, Ayurveda is the oldest continuously practiced health care system in the world. The word ‘Ayurveda’ comes from ‘Ayus’, meaning life (mind, body, senses and soul) and ‘Veda’ meaning science or knowledge. We can translate Ayurveda as “Science of Life”. According to this science we are all microcosms of the natural macrocosm. The five great elements found in nature are also found in each of us. We are all unique combinations of Ether, Air, Fire, Water and Earth.

Bored of brown rice? Okay, I love the stuff but sometimes I just need a break. So lately I’ve been all about Forbidden Black Rice, which is every bit as cool as it sounds. Cultivated in China, this rice is composed of a natural purple pigment—the same pigment found in blueberries and acai—that is said to be high in antioxidants called anthocyanins. It’s also a whole food, meaning it hasn’t been refined and contains bran, germ and endosperm.

The theme courage came flying to me the moment I heard that the New Moon was in Aries and that Pluto had went into retrograde. Huh?

Ayurvedic philosophy teaches that we are all unique, not just by looks, but by the things we are made of. We know we are made of bones, skin, hair, and squishy stuff. And true, we all are built with two eyes, two arms, two feet, and a liver, but none of these parts are the same shape and size in any of us. In Ayurveda, one size does not fit all.

Chances are you’ve heard or read at least once that meditation is that practice that can help bring peace to most any sort of internal chaos. You might also have heard that it’s not only for Zen masters and Buddha followers, but that anyone can do it. So you decide to give it a go yourself. Heaven knows you could use that feeling of peace that you’re being promised!

I started practicing yoga in 2009. My best friend Laura got really into Bikram Yoga and kept telling me all the wonderful benefits of yoga, so eventually I decided to give it a go. I’ve practicing for 6 years now. I go through phases where I’m doing yoga many days a week and then sometimes not often. In Namibia I practice on average one day a week. It is a great way to de-stress.