Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

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.

Are you tired of pushing a plateful of delectable food away from you? Is the dieting getting on your nerves? Do you feel deprived? I feel you. In the quest to shed a few kilos, we all try things we might not necessarily enjoy. From gulping down bitter juices to munching on tasteless greens, weight loss is more of a task than anything else.

My most memorable and doable resolution for 2016 has been to eat more fat. Yes, you read that right: Eat. More. Fat. Decades ago, fat became the villain of the America diet and carbs were king. Now the low-fat approach to eating is being blamed for the rise of processed carbohydrates and high-sugar foods — think sweetened low-fat yogurts and splenda-sweetened Starbucks bevvies.

Hey guys! It’s Jules! Today’s recipe was inspired by my sister who has a strong aversion to bananas, but for years has asked me for a deliciously creamy green smoothie sans fruit! As a self-proclaimed fruit lover and full-blown banana addict myself, to say that I’ve been resistant to ditching fruit from my diet would be putting it lightly. After all, fruit is as natural as it comes. I have thrived on a high-fruit diet for months at a time (one of my many food experiments)! Plus fruit is a whole food that comes from the earth and has been known as one of the most healing foods we have on the planet. How could it be bad for us?

Are you wondering how to improve your yoga practice? It’s one of the most common questions I get from my students and clients. It’s also one of the hardest questions to answer because there is no one answer. Improving your yoga practice is not about learning how to do the postures the “right way” or learning how to hold a handstand and master arm balances. Improving your yoga practice starts with shifting your perspective, keeping an open mind, and committing to stepping on your mat, literally or figuratively, as often as possible.

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

The energy of this extraordinary Full Moon in Libra propels us to create radical transformation in the areas of relationship, creativity, and artistry. Libra’s essential qualities of love, harmony, and diplomacy are rocked by its close association with the most powerful astrological event in the sky involving three great planets: Jupiter, Pluto, and Uranus. 

As I reflect on my humble beginnings this Spring, I give thanks for my inspirational teacher-trainer, Trevor Tice who passed away suddenly in December 2016.

We have another guest blogger for you today and she happens to be not only one of our favorite people on the planet, she’s also one of the funniest, smartest and most talented yoga teachers we know. Meet Gina Caputo.

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:

In the mood to travel but lost for the companion of your heart? Sling on your yoga mat and get going. Once you do, you'll find your practice is achieved through connection with the earth beneath your feet and the sun shining in a bright blue sky above. Go deeper into this rewarding experience of harmonizing with your core and the universe that has shelters you. Your strife to reach and feel the presence of the divine will deepen as you come to know the changing terrains, people, and colors of the lands you travel.

This is certainly a case for visuals drawing you to the plate. Served with salmon, this rice—an indigo delight—pops like a painting, beckoning you to come closer, closer . . . and that first bite seals the deal. The rice and bell pepper play delightfully against the creaminess of the avocado, while the mint and cilantro roll all around your mouth like pinballs, blasting taste here, there, and everywhere. This salad enchants all the senses—and the rice is a whole grain as well, feeding the mind in more ways than one.

Common wisdom tells you to work on the postures that bring up resistance and challenge you. Personally, I’m okay with this sentiment—after all, there’s plenty of value in exploring the edges of your comfort zone. As a practitioner and teacher, though, I tend to emphasize the opposite—I choose to indulge the postures that I love with egregious frequency. I encourage the teachers that I train to do the exact same thing. We love the poses that we love for good reasons: they awaken us, they ground us, they soothe us, they challenge us, and they nurture our mind’s ability to focus and settle down.

For many people, moving into a studio apartment is about more than just lowering their monthly rent: It’s a lifestyle choice. Downsizing forces you to examine your life and your possessions with an eye toward utility and meaning. Are you a bibliophile? You’ll have to choose which books deserve shelf space and which are headed for the storage unit. Are you an aspiring Julia Child? You might have to make some tough choices around your Le Creuset casseroles.

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.

With the Spring Equinox, we start the Zodiac year in the sign of Aries. The new moon this month follows suit, and in Aries fashion: the moon goes rogue. It’s standing powerfully in the sign of Aries with only the sun and Venus nearby. No other ties to planets in other signs, means this Aries new moon…is about as Aries as one can get.

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.

A few weeks ago I met up with a friend for a walk. We hit up our local Whole Foods for a light lunch, and they offered a healthy coleslaw option with a dressing of olive oil, AVC, and local honey. It was so delicious and it seemed pretty straightforward so I set out to recreate it the next day (it was that good). I've pretty much been making it twice a week ever since and it's the perfect, most refreshing and satisfying summer salad so I wanted to share with you.

For a long time it was a running joke in my family that no matter your ailment yoga could help with that. Over time everyone understood so it was no longer necessary to say it out loud. Unfortunately yoga doesn’t help with everything. In fact, practicing asana doesn’t in and of itself make anything go away. And, the point isn’t to make things go away. The point is to be with whatever is.

What is it about being ambitious by nature? I am always playing with the prospect of somewhere else, or something else, something new. Seeking it has always been my mindset, for as long as I can remember. Until now. Finding balance between my self-determination and so much my brain space can handle? I have to work on getting my life sorted, get a health check, or my goal of drinking more water in this moment, and I can write a list of 20-something things I want to do, or I can try to schedule (more like squeeze in) back-to-back yoga classes into my daily schedule, and I can try to become a better photographer or writer or whatever it is yet all I’d like to do is sit still.

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.

Yoga postures that can be practiced during pregnancy depend on the mother's physical condition and pregnancy stage. To determine whether it is appropriate for pregnant women to yoga, it is recommended that you first consult your obstetrician. During pregnancy, it is advisable to practice private prenatal yoga in the second trimester (from the fourth month to the eighth month) and consult your doctor in advance. Under the guidance of professional teachers, pregnancy yoga is safe. It enhances the overall flexibility of the body and strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, which are all vital in the delivery process. What’s more is that practicing these poses increases the body's blood circulation, stimulates the various organs and glands, and improves blood flow.

Now with this recipe I really cannot take most of the credit for it! I've always been a serious fan of Jamie Oliver - I find his entire approach to food to be completely inspirational (and very similar to my own)