I don't really know many people who don't enjoy pumpkin soup-- whether 6 years old or 60, it is just one of those things which is universally loved. However, I decided that rather than giving you all a traditional pumpkin soup recipe, I'd vamp it up a little a give you the big kid recipe (calling it an adult recipe would mean admitting I am an adult...and that is far too scary a thought).
Enter the Spicy Roast Pumpkin Soup.
Pumpkin Soup Recipe
Sweet and Smokey Pumpkin Seeds
Begin by peeling, seeding and chopping up your pumpkin (hold onto the seeds as you're going to use them later on to make a seriously delicious crunchy topping for this soup!) Peel the onion and quickly chop into wedges, throw into a large bowl with peeled garlic cloves and your chopped up pumpkin. Remember, all of this is going to be zhoozhed up into a delicious soup, so there is no need to be pedantic with your cutting. Add in the oil, smoked paprika, cumin, turmeric, dried chilli flakes and salt (if you're not such a fan of spicy, reduce the chilli flakes to 1/4 of a teaspoon). Toss the spices around using your hands - way more fun than using a wooden spoon - until the pumpkin is evenly coated.
Line a baking tray with baking paper before pouring the pumpkin mix into it. Shake the baking tray a few times to ensure the pumpkin are spread out evenly - this will ensure the veggies roast really, really nicely. Place in the oven for 35 minutes while you move on to the super yummy pumpkin seeds.
Warning: these sweet and spicy roasted pumpkin seeds are crazily addictive, and there is a possibility you will have eaten them all before the soup is even ready.
These pumpkin seeds are great to just have in your cupboard, so you may want to consider making a few batches of them. Begin by rinsing the seeds under cold water, before drying them by rubbing them in a teatowel. Throw the pumpkin seeds into a bowl along with the smoked paprika, cumin and maple syrup. Toss around a few times to coat the seeds evenly. Pour the pumpkin seeds onto a small baking tray lined with baking paper and set aside. When the pumpkin is ready, turn your oven down to 150C and leave seeds to roast for 20 minutes.
When the pumpkin has finished roasting, remove from the oven. Pick out the garlic cloves and mash on a board with the back of a fork. Pull out the red onion and roughly chop with the mashed garlic - this will leave you with a seriously aromatic garlic and onion puree (it was at this point I seriously just considered adding it to some smashed avo and eating it on toast!)
Heat a tiny glug of oil in a large pot and add fry the onion and garlic mix for 5 or so minutes. Scoop the pumpkin into the pot and follow by adding in the stock. Blend until smooth using a barmix and bring to the boil. Season to taste and voila!!
I served mine with the sweet and smokey pumpkin seeds, some parsley (coriander is also delicious), as well as a few dollops of garlic cashew cream.
Corinne Marabel, creator of A Vegan Kitchen, never intended to follow a vegan diet, much less did she intend on creating what she has today. In July of 2013, feeling constantly run down and tired and after spending far too many months treating my body like a garbage bin, Corinne decided to turn from vegetarianism to veganism for a short detox. However, days turned in to weeks, and she began to find herself feeling not only better internally, but completely inspired to create beautiful and clean vegan dishes.
Check out @avegankitchen instagram page, and ebooks!
At this time, the moon is making a close relationship with the wounded healer in the sky, Chiron. He is encouraging us to explore our own healing power. Is it time to finally heal a core wound? Or, do you want to become a healer yourself? Now is a good time to step fully into the light and embrace the healing energy this moon is shining upon you right now.
On the low side, this moon’s energy may have us digging in our heels and resisting change. Any time we feel resistance, this is a signal that we are not yet free. As a spiritual practitioner, look inward and find the resistance, free it with meditation and ritual practice (try the ritual below), and move past it toward your higher purpose. Alchemical Ritual for the Taurus Full Moon
As an earth sign, Taurus loves to feel the sensual beauty all around and manifest earthly abundance and pleasures whenever possible. On the low side, however, this grounded energy makes us stuck and stagnant, disallowing growth and flow states. This full moon ritual for Taurus helps to accentuate the high side of this energy which uses the power of the earth to create beauty and abundance inside and out.
Taurus’ ruler is Venus, the great goddess of love and beauty. In her we see the energy of attraction, sensuality and connectedness. To enhance this energy in your ritual, gather green stones such as jade, tourmaline or peridot and place them in the center of your ritual space. Bring in the earth element in some way, either with a small bowl of dirt, a plant, or do the ritual outside. Rose and Sandalwood essential oil can be used to anoint your heart chakra before and after your ceremony. Use sage, sweet grass or palo santo to cleanse yourself and the space by casting the smoke over yourself and encircling your own body three times. Light a few candles and dim the lights. Sit in the center of your space and place the hands on the ground. Connect deeply to earth energy and call forth the sensual wisdom it offers. Feel the energy moving into your seat, your legs, your hands and up through your body into your heart. Coordinate the breath with the flow of energy. When you establish a consistent current, meditate on the question: What does my heart want? Your answer is not trivial, and it will likely come quietly and simply. Any running dialogue is not from the heart, but from the ego, so listen closely to the answer from the heart. Once you receive your answer, choose one stone, hold it firmly in your right hand and say the following invocation out loud:
Venus, please show me the path to manifesting my heart’s greatest desire.
Spend a few moments in quiet contemplation. Clear the mind of thoughts completely. Feel the sensation within the heart, and allow for the invocation to sink in and begin to show you your path. Allow any symbols, sensations, emotions or energy to arise and continue to quietly witness all that happens without judgement or thought.
When complete, place your hand on your heart and chant Om three times. Place your hands in prayer at the heart with the stone inside and recognize this talisman that you have now charged with the energy of your heart’s desire. Snuff the candles and place the talisman somewhere prominently enough that you are reminded daily of the path to your heart’s fullest expression. This ritual creates a connection between you and your heart, and allows you to walk forward on a clear path of manifesting abundance for yourself and all around you.
By Alanna Kaivalya
Alanna believes Yoga is for everyone and each student can develop the self-empowerment needed to embark on a personal journey to meaningful transformation. On this principle she founded The Kaivalya Yoga Method, a fresh take on yoga emphasizing the individual path while honoring tradition. Teaching students since 2001, teachers since 2003, Alanna has written and developed teacher trainings worldwide for top studios and independently. In January she debuted a comprehensive 200hr-online teacher training with YogaDownload. She holds a Ph.D. in Mythological Studies with an Emphasis in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute, has authored numerous articles and two books: Myths of the Asanas, an accessible practitioner’s guide to stories behind beloved poses; Sacred Sound, a yoga “hymnal,” illustrating the role of chant and mantra in modern practice. Look for her third book, Yoga Beyond the Mat, in Autumn 2016.She lives in New York City with Roxy the Wonderdog.
Click Here to learn more about Alanna's 200hr Online Teacher Training with YogaDownload.com
It’s always a joke to people outside the yoga world that so many yogis and meditators could be so devoted to their daily practice and still be so neurotic. But look around – it’s true, isn’t it? Embarrassingly so. And yet we show up daily to work out our neurosis through yoga and meditation. What could be the problem?
I feel this neurosis springs from our fear of life passing us by before we’ve really locked in to the experience of it.
And yet, why should life be just out of reach when we’re so present to the desire?
Why is that epic destiny we know we’re meant for always out there and never right here? Did we make a wrong turn somewhere? Maybe we need to check our navigation app.
And therein lays the pit: GPS CONCIOUSNESS.
GPS Consciousness – a term coined by my teacher Guru Jagat – refers to the lazy method of navigating the world, the one in which you can’t find your way to your own mailbox without a smartphone app barking orders at you. Yes – it has gotten that bad. And GPS Consciousness also refers to a psychology where you can’t navigate the pathways of your existence without checking in with an external directional command.
It’s a kind of psychology in which we define our priorities by the value system of Kim Kardashian or the latest “It girl.” And it’s a method of being in which we seek our destinies in the examples laid out to us by others –celebrities, religious authorities, parents, community elders or even just peers with higher status then our own.
This is GPS Consciousness. And this method of living will never yield the magical, rare, exhilarating life you’ve got the hunger for. That’s why it’s time to eff your GPS!
And now is the perfect time to do so.
As we turn from fall to winter, the nights are longer and there is literally less visible distraction. It’s a cyclically easier time to go within and develop what Guru Jagat calls, your Intuitive Guidance System. Where you begin to navigate the streams of life based on a sensory, internal estimation of things.
This is one of the reasons I love and teach Kundalini Yoga. In literally three minutes, you can reactivate your intuitive being – through glandular balance, sensory synchronicity and a clear mind. The results of living life this way are magical.
Try it. You’ll like it. And then you’ll start living.
Harmanjot Kaur is a lover of the cosmos, bad comedies, high-end health-food, beauty and the compassionate space of metaphysics. She is a lead Kundalini teacher at the RA MA Institute in Venice, CA. When teaching or writing, she is crafting her own beauty products or reading the works of high masters and dwelling in the rarified consciousness.
A cancer diagnosis, a car accident, a death of a loved one, a broken heart: any one of these can occur and knock us off of our feet. Yet, we cannot have the light without the dark. How do we see reflection without shadow?
Life is a series of twists, turns, peaks, and valleys. No matter how we manifest our dreams, they don’t usually march along obediently in a linear fashion. In the tough times, we can’t hold ourselves back or shrink from life.
One way to work through pain and suffering is by stepping onto your yoga mat. Your yoga practice is a safe haven from the perils of the everyday world. Where you can process the emotions that can feel overwhelming.
We aren’t pretending darkness doesn’t exist. No, it’s more of a recognition that we need to travel through the shadows, experience the blinding pain, even when we aren’t sure we can bear it. Only by moving through, however, by trusting in the process of the universe, by trusting in our own power to heal can we evolve and find empowering liberation.
What would it take to release the fear, to process the pain, to lift your hands up in the air in reckless abandon and accept you’re on this ride called life? Sickness, death, lost love—we all experience these realities of life. Gather your courage and enter the darkness. Trust yourself.
Remember Haruki Murakami’s quote: Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. We can all handle pain. Suffering is the identification with the pain. Learning to release it after you’ve grieved can set you free.
Accept the challenges. Work through them with bold powerful strokes regardless of the tremors of insecurity and doubt. You’ll emerge on the other side stronger, more powerful, and ready to fly.
Choose one of our weekly offerings to release some of the trauma trapped in your physical body. Or, just enjoy four more awesome classes designed for you:
1. Christen Bakken - Lessons From the Ladies: Ma Kali
Kali: Be Unafraid of the Dark. Kali has been somewhat falsely named, The Dark One. She is known for her black tongue, a necklace of skulls, and her overall fierceness. What I find most interesting and inspiring about Kali is she comes in to clean up the dark. So many of us run away from what is dark or uncomfortable- whether that is a deep hip opener or a painful relationship in our lives. Kali does not run. She walks in, does what is necessary, and cleans it up. She literally laps up the darkness and clears the path. Can we embody this in our practice and in our lives? Would being bold, sailing in darkness, and clearing the path be a new strategy for facing our lives?
2. Guru Jagat - Cardio Kundalini 1: Digestion
In this short but powerful Kundalini Yoga Work out you will receive a total glandular system reset through aerobic and anaerobic activity and work up a deep, cellular sweat. Ready to feel amazing and radiant? Then this class is for you!
3. Blair Bradley - Slow Burn Yoga
Do you feel like you are rushing all day? Would you like to take some time to slow down? Challenge your practice by moving through this slow paced class with your eyes closed. Enjoy slowly flowing through grounding poses and then challenge your balance with this inward practice.
4. Kristen Boyle - IndieFlow Quick Hamstring Release
In this short sequence, Kristen Boyle will guide you through a Supta Padangustasana series that will open up tight hamstrings, and relieve low back pain. This series is a perfect follow-up to a vigorous workout, or as a mid-day break at work.
What I really got from camp this year, both from my own experiences and witnessing each of the campers there, was that there are really three things we all need to live epic lives and be true to ourselves- in essence, to have total freedom and sovereignty in our lives.
The best part? You don’t have to go looking for these things. They aren’t something you have to “figure out” or wait for. They are already within you.
The 3 Things You Need To Be Free
1. DESIRE:
First and foremost, you have to want it. You have to desire becoming who you are more than you fear what it will take.
Desire can feel uncomfortable. It can feel a little unsafe. To desire something is to acknowledge that you don’t currently have it, or you are seeking it. Declaring a desire is saying you know what you want and it matters to you. You have to let it matter.
This can feel a little edgy. This is also a place that a lot of people stay. Desiring something, wanting it, yearning for it, but not doing anything about it. That’s why desire is only the first step. It’s needed because without desire, we wouldn’t feel the drive to make changes.
Ask yourself: What do you desire? What do you long for? What is your secret wish for your life and yourself?
2. WILLINGNESS:
Secondly, you have to be willing to choose differently than you have in the past.
You have to be willing to face whatever is standing in the way of being all of you and loving yourself. The stories, memories, patterns, emotions, physical and mental barriers.. all of it.
You have to choose to be in it, to face it, to question it, to FEEL it- even if you have no idea what’s going to happen next.
You have to be willing to not know, and choose it anyway.
Because when we decide step into freedom, into alignment, into authenticity, into the truth of who we are- it means that everything in our life that is not congruent and in integrity with that truth is going to become very clear. Patterns, relationships, habits, environments, thoughts- anything that is out of line with your essence and soul is going to be ready for an upheaval.
It can feel intense sometimes. It is certainly to always gentle. To be willing requires a fierce surrender into the unknown.
Ask yourself: What have I been avoiding in my life? Where have I become complacent about something I don’t enjoy? What am I willing to face right now? What does it feel like to choose ME?
3. COURAGE:
Finally, you have to choose courage.
Courage comes from the Latin ‘cor’ which means ‘heart’.
Courage literally means to live from your heart. It means choosing what’s inside you and written in your soul, even if that goes against everything you’ve been taught to keep you safe.
When you choose this path, again, even if you don’t know what it’s going to look like, even if there is no roadmap, that choice, day in and day out, that courageous decision to be you, no apologies, to face whatever you need to face- from there, everything is possible.
And you have to practice it, day in and day out. Courage (and desire, and willingness) is a living, breathing thing. It lives within you, and like anything else, needs to be tended, cared for, and nurtured. When you practice courage, both big and small, ordinary and extraordinary, you open up space for your dreams to come true.
Ask yourself: What action could I take today that is edgy for me? What does my heart say about where to go next? If I didn’t fear judgement or rejection, what choice would I make right now?
Every single human is filled with these three things. Sometimes they end up living under a layer or two (or five) of fear, self-doubt, social anxiety, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t inside of you.
Everyone, including you (especially you if you’re reading this), has the capacity to stand for their desires, to be willing to face what’s not working, and to have the courage to choose truth and love.
This is the magic you guys. It isn’t finally losing a certain amount of weight or checking boxes off a list. It isn’t always eating a certain way or being in control of everything.
The magic is in the choices you make. It is choosing that how you feel is valid simply because you feel it, and whatever it is your heart desires, you are willing to go after it simply because you want to.
You are so darn magical. And every day, every breath, is an opportunity to remember that and make choices that reflect it.
Shine bright and shine on!
Equal parts earth mama, mermaid, and magic glitter, Kate Marolt is an embodiment coach, speaker, yoga teacher, and founder of Unbound Living. Kate is a fierce advocate for women’s empowerment and wisdom, and with over 1000 hours of training in yoga, fitness, energy, philosophy, spiritual practices, and emotional processing tools, she is uniquely placed to guide you back into alignment, integration, and wholeness. Kate is dedicated to helping you understand your body’s messages and inner wisdom so you can feel ALIVE, joyful, and free to be exactly who you are, inside and out.
When you're done, pamper yourself with this nourishing hand cream.
Make one for yourself or as a thoughtful gift for friends or family!
Ingredients: 1 small clean jar ($1.50 at Michaels) 1 cup coconut oil (I like Trader Joe's Organic, Virgin oil best) 1/2 cup sesame or sweet almond oil 2 oz beeswax (ea. bar is an ounce) 1 small stove top pan and 1 large
Fill the large pan 1/2 way with water. Bring to a boil.
Combine oils and beeswax in small pan, place over boiling water.
Heat just until the beeswax melts. Beeswax burns easily so you may want to pull it off the stove just before it's fully melted. When the wax is fully melted add 20 drops of lavender and 5-10 drops of lemon essential oil. Keep in mind the lemon will overpower the lavender.
Move quickly and pour the oils, beeswax, and essential oil into your small jar as the oil will begin to set. The oil has a really beautiful golden hue when it completely sets. I had enough left over to keep one and give three other little jars away as gifts!
I finished it off with a jute tie, gift tag, and calligraphy pen. Enjoy!
Originally from Denver, Cicily moved to Boulder in 2011 where she first stepped into a Boulder yoga studio. The culture around the studio and the sense of community drew her back to the studio time and time again. She was drawn the wisdom of her instructors and the balance her practice provided in her life. She had come to the mat for an exercise but she found she was leaving with a lot more. After realizing how much yoga was changing every avenue of her life, she took a leap of faith and enrolled in a 200 hour Hot Yoga Teacher Training in October 2012 and has been teaching yoga daily ever since. Cicily is thankful she discovered yoga early in her life and she aims to inspire confidence, happiness, and joy in her students.
Before I made a conscious decision to venture into the unknown and debunk my uneducated misconceptions of yoga by making the journey down to one of the remotest little corners of the Costa Rican jungle, I knew as much about yoga as Donald Trump knows about self-censoring.
Throwing myself headlong into the deep end, I found myself at the gates of the majestic Blue Osa Yoga Retreat and Spa that sits like a treasure amongst the leaves, to live and work under their roof for an entire 5 weeks. At this point my knowledge of yoga amounted to this; I knew it was good for flexibility and on a vaguer level, I was pretty sure I’d read it could really help people suffering with sciatica, of which I was one of the unfortunates.
Gradually though, as I spent time amongst the people who had paid good money to find their way to this peaceful little haven, I heard their stories and quickly came to realise that it wasn’t all just the hippy BS that I had ignorantly dismissed it as before. Some of these people had used yoga to change their lives for the better, as part of their rehabilitation after an injury or as a restorative crutch to aid in recovery from substance or alcohol abuse.
After immersing myself in yoga for an entire month I could clearly see the positive changes in myself. It made me curious about what other benefits yoga might hold. So I decided to do some research.
Here are just 7 of an ever-expanding long list of proven benefits yoga has for our bodies:
1. CIRCULATION: LET IT FLOW!
One of yoga’s biggest benefits is an increased metabolism. Yes, you heard right…yoga keeps you thin! When we eat, our bodies break down the food into nutrients which provide the body with energy. The speed in which our body does this is called our metabolic rate (of which everybody’s is different). Our metabolic rates can differ depending on many different variables such as age, size, or gender but having good circulation is key. Good circulation provides our organs and muscles with oxygen and a constant supply of nutrients which we use as energy. Yoga helps improve the circulatory system through the deep breathing techniques we use. This opens up the arteries, releasing pressure and allowing blood to flow quicker. The advanced technique called Bellows Breath is especially effective for achieving this
2. DIGESTIVE: BURN BABY BURN!
A poor digestive system affects the whole body, including the metabolism. Since the majority of the digestive tract is in the abdomen, strengthening your core muscles can help to improve functionality. Stomach exercises are perfect for this although twists can also help massage and wring out toxins blocked in the intestines. For the abdomen think Plank, or Boat pose. For twists try Eagle, Twisted Chair, Supine Twist or the aptly named Half Gas Release pose!
3. MUSCLES: LEAN, MEAN, YOGA MACHINE!
Anyone that has ever attended a power flow yoga class can attest that it is a proper work out. A lot of the asanas we practice on our mats require us to hold our own body weight. Here, the body automatically targets large muscle groups and uses the smaller muscles to help achieve each position. Yoga tests strength, balance, and flexibility – challenging the body in a multitude of ways so it’s working as one unit. When multiple muscle groups work in conjunction, muscle starts to increase in size and density. The more muscle we build; the more calories we burn, the faster our metabolic rate.
4. REDUCED STRESS AND ANXIETY: JUST BREATH!
Take it from someone who has been there. Stress and Anxiety disorders are no fun. Yoga has been accredited as a great way to relieve the symptoms related not only with these disorders but also the day to day stress we pick up at work and in our social lives. Meditation and seated poses are often recommended for the best results. Deep breathing techniques are regularly used to counter feelings of anxiety or panic. Sitting on a chair, Sun Pose, has been proven to calm the amygdala, the brain structure that can be hyper alert to threats, while it’s cousin Sun Breath pose or Sun Breath twist, helps by lifting the ribcage to promote a deeper calming breath while at the same time twisting to relieve abdominal stress.
5. FLEXIBILITY: FLEXIBLE FRIENDS!
The obvious one! Everybody knows that yogi’s increase their flexibility by gradually practicing yoga. Though form and breathing are incredibly important for proper results, even I myself have experienced noticeable improvements in this department. Especially those troublesome short hamstrings! Using aids such as straps and blocks can help beginners in the early days.
6. BRAIN FUNCTION: ALL IN YOUR HEAD!
The old adage tells us ‘Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise’. Although unfortunately, I can’t tell you that yoga has increased my wallet size, I can report that falling into a routine of an early morning yoga class with a restorative class at the end of the day has not only left me energized and creatively charged (remember I’m a writer) but also left me nicely relaxed and ready to roll in for an early night. A 20 minute Hatha yoga routine has been proven to improve cognitive functions such as focus and information retention. The stress relief it brings can improve our moods which makes us more receptive to learning.
7. POSTURE: HEARD IT ON THE STRAIGHT SPINE!
Many of the yoga poses we find ourselves practicing on our mats are designed to improve suppleness and flexibility in our bodies. We also pay a lot of attention to the alignment of our pelvis, spine, head and shoulders, making sure our bones are stacked correctly. Making sure we do this relieves tension, strengthens our muscles, and promotes the natural curvature of the spine.
Chris Barkess is a blogger and aspiring author in his thirties. He also drives trains in his hometown of Newcastle, England. His love of travelling brought him together with his fiancé, Holly, another like-minded travel nut, and the love of his life. Together they embarked on an adventure in 2015 to explore Latin America where they fell in love with the culture. Aside from writing – his undisputable first love, Chris enjoys reading, running, football, and being fully immersed in nature. He is a self-proclaimed Stephen King fanatic.
Chris admits to having been initially sceptical and openly dismissive of Yoga until he realised the benefits it had to offer him; physically, mentally and spiritually. He now recognises the depths to his ignorance.
“The ultimate ignorance is rejecting something you know nothing about, yet refuse to investigate” – Dr. Wayne Dyer
Follow Chris and Holly as they continue on their adventures!
The potential for Yoga happens every second of every day, whether you realize it or not.
As I examine my path, I realize I’ve always been practicing.
You see, my practice is to examine and to analyze and to experience and to contemplate and to synthesize. That’s what I’m uniquely predisposed to do naturally in this lifetime. However, this creates a near-constant inner tension between my highest self yearning for freedom and my ego yearning for certainty. I can choose the path that will give me the most satisfaction but will pit me against every fear and doubt I can imagine or I can choose the path that will give me the most money and I’ll still be good at it and get lots of praise and appear to be “doing really well.”
I’ve come to believe we all have these two competing Selves battling for survival. Our practice is about figuring out which one is truly right for us and then being content with that choice.
The first reason I came to yoga
I don’t really remember my first yoga class ever. I rented DVD’s from the library in high school and maybe dilly dallied here and there with some yoga. In college I took a yoga class because I was feeling really stressed out and I needed to figure out how to self-regulate and calm myself down.
In the beginning, I came to yoga because I was seeking self-control. I was trying to find a way to help me calm myself down so I could stop having panic attacks.
Somewhere along the way, I started to become interested in DVD exercise programs. I started practicing a more physical form of yoga from the P90X DVD and knew that I wanted to continue taking yoga classes to help me maintain the level of fitness I had achieved during the DVD program. This is when I started going to a yoga studio.
Now, I was taking yoga to stay in shape, with the added benefit of it helping me calm down.
Secretly, and only apparent to me in hindsight, yoga was also introducing me to a sense of community I didn’t have at the time. I got involved in the studio and took programs that allowed me to develop closer relationships with teachers and fellow students.
Going all in and then retreating
Then, I got an internship at a yoga company. My panic attacks were getting better, I was in the best shape of my life and I got excited, so the yoga industry became my career. I was still using my English, marketing, PR, journalism, and writing skills that I worked so hard to hone but now I was applying those skills for a cause I really believed in. Plus, I was continuing to feel safe and supported in an incredible community.
I was getting closer to yoga as a way of life but at some point, I got disenchanted with the whole yoga industry career thing and I quit. I started my own business continuing to use my marketing skills to help others in all sorts of small businesses. I had also just finished my yoga teacher training. At the same time my professional corporate yoga career was dying my teaching career was being born.
Yoga became a hobby. I continued to work away at my business while teaching a couple classes on the side. It was during this time that teaching yoga became my passion. It was also during this time that I was overwhelmed and exhausted and I started to explore more gentle and therapeutic practices. Yoga became nourishing and not just about the physical fitness.
Yoga off the mat
Then I moved. Yoga became my lifesaver. The practice reminded me how to thrive in a place I didn’t think I could live in and be happy. Yoga, again, created community in a place I didn’t feel I belonged. I got excited (again) and chose teaching yoga as my career. But it was unsustainable at the time where I lived so I picked up more marketing work and split my time.
I moved again. Yoga allowed me to find a community, but it quickly became a job. I lacked inspiration as I continued to be distracted by other opportunities.
I moved a third time. This time I had a lot more opportunity to teach yoga based on where I am living. The possibility of teaching yoga as a career re-appeared and I pounced. Yoga was/is again my career.
But some of that disenchantment started to creep back in. I could see myself easily being tempted by paths that I knew in my heart didn’t fit what I really want to do. This time I stood strong, turned down opportunities, and quit gigs that no longer fit. I kept refining and learning and teaching as I figured out who I wanted to be as a yoga teacher. Yoga became my lab.
Somewhere along the way, yoga became my life.
Yoga as a way of life
That doesn’t mean that I practice postures all the time. That doesn’t mean that I spend my days in studios, although I do spend a lot of time in studios because I enjoy being there.
Yoga, as a system, has become the structure that I’ve needed in my life — the container — from which I’ve gained the confidence, inspiration, and conviction to show up fully as me.
And let me tell you, it’s been a journey getting here.
Also, I’m only here for this moment. Tomorrow is another day and yoga will continue to evolve for me as my life continues to unfold. It’s supposed to be that way.
I don’t know why you need yoga, which is why I don’t particularly like telling people exactly what to do. But I do know that if you feel like you’re floundering around in your life and you’re looking for some type of structure that will still give you freedom, yoga can be that framework that gives you permission to thrive, to live, to heal, to nourish, to explore, to be.
Yoga won’t fix you
Yoga is complex because our lives are complex. At the same time it’s a simple system that we make complex because we try to make yoga be more then it is. We try to make yoga be the thing that will fix us. It won’t.
We try to make yoga be the thing that will save us. Ultimately, only you can save yourself. Yoga can help you get there, but yoga itself won’t save you. You showing up to do the work will save you. You being open to new possibilities will save you. You having faith and hope will save you. Yoga gives you the structure and permission to show up, to become open and stay open, to find faith and hope, and to believe in yourself as a divine being. You save you.
The original intent
Yoga, traditionally, was a practice derived to help us transcend consciousness.
Truthfully, that’s not why I practice yoga. I believe that if you practice yoga devoutly you can transcend consciousness. But I’m not sure in this moment that this is what I’m after.
Yoga has certainly evolved my consciousness and will continue to do so. If my path towards transcended consciousness is a gradual slope of evolution, I’m okay with that. I’m not trying to transcend. I’m only hoping to evolve.
Just like in the beginning, I wasn’t trying to transcend, I just wanted to relax. I just wanted to be fit. I just wanted to fit in and connect with people who get me and accept me for who I am. I just wanted a job. I just wanted to help others. I just wanted to teach. I just wanted to learn.
I just want to live.
Yoga let’s me live.
It’s my hope that yoga lets you live too.
So why did you come to yoga? And how, if at all, has this practice changed for you over time?
Namaste.
By Ashley Josephine
I started practicing yoga to stay in shape and release stress. What I learned was how to love my life. How to have faith. How to find your community of people who support you and love you unconditionally. How to get back control. Today, it is my mission to help busy Type-A overachiever women like me gain back control of their lives, live pain-free, and love the life they want to live through yoga lifestyle practices. Visit www.ashleyjosephine.com to get free yoga lifestyle tips to help live healthier, happier, and pain-free.
Click here to download or stream one of our Office YogaDownload classes!
Ask a teacher. Starting your home practice can seem overwhelming at first. There are so many different poses to choose from and even more videos and online programs. Unless you're familiar with the poses or teacher already, it will nearly be impossible to navigate through all these resources. My suggestion is to ask your favorite local yoga teacher, who already knows you well, to help you develop a short home practice. Make sure you are clear that it has to be accessible and no longer than 10 to 15 minutes, or about 15 poses. Even if your instructor simply writes the poses for you via email, that's a great way to get started.
Make space. Have a spot designated in your house or apartment for yoga. It doesn’t have to be anything glamorous or “zen,” but it should be able to fit your mat and allow you the freedom to move around comfortably. Have a free wall nearby to help with balance, inversions and other modifications. Reserving a spot for yoga makes it easier to practice at home regularly. Mentally, a yoga space helps you commit to sticking with it.
[Read: 7 Benefits of Yoga for Men.]
Have a routine. Pick a time during the day to set aside for yoga. Make it a priority for yourself. Just like brushing your teeth, it’s not negotiable. It is your health, after all. The best time for a home practice is in the morning, before anything else comes up and derails you. Have a core sequence of poses that you practice every time. A sequence that you repeat is a great way to keep you focused, strong and flexible. If you’ve been practicing and making progress, you don’t want to lose it. Stick with a regimen, and it will make you feel more at home and yourself when you practice it.
Keep it short and simple. Have a home practice that you can complete in 10 to 15 minutes. While practicing for an hour is preferable, the idea is that you get what you need in your session, even when you’re short on time. A few poses I suggest: down dog, hip-opener, thigh stretch, hamstring stretch, back-bend, twist, seated forward-fold and standing poses, such as side-angle and triangle. They are infinitely deep and powerful when opening and strengthening your body.
[Read: Yoga for People Who Are Overweight or Obese.]
Mix it up. Always have a core set of poses you practice. However, if you find yourself getting bored with your sequence, include different poses and variations. Keep it fun and light-hearted. Just be sure to know your limitations and when to practice humility and patience.
Challenge yourself. When you work hard on something that you love to do, it's rewarding, and that's the key to keep your mind clear and happy. There is no limit to the ways to challenge your yoga practice. Work toward a new pose. Start a timer, and hold poses for a minute or two. If you work at your physical edge without crossing it, then you’re making progress. The payoff is worth the sweat and effort you put in. (Note, however, that if you’re short of breath, clenching your jaw or in pain, you’ve gone too far.)
Gather the proper supplies. Safety is key. For healthy alignment, have these props: a yoga mat, two yoga blocks, a blanket and a strap to allow for modifications in the poses. Every pose can be adjusted with or without props. The props make the postures accessible and offer more options to continue to advance while staying safe. As you become knowledgeable on how to carefully place more injury-prone parts of your body in the postures, like lowering your knees to the ground, you only need the mat beneath you and the space to move freely.
[Read: Save Money on Yoga by Making Your Own Props.]
Get inspired. A great resource for all levels of yoga practitioners is the "Yoga Resource Practice Manual" e-book by Darren Rhodes. Darren is an excellent teacher and yogi. His e-book is thorough yet concise, and it provides pictures of each posture. The pictures alone are inspirational. If you’re in it for the long haul, this is a great home-practice tool.
Have no shame. Own it. Get your practice in anytime and anywhere. Bust out a down-dog or forward-fold in the airport, the office or in the hotel room.Take care of yourself first, and everyone around you will benefit from you being more grounded and happy.
Make it work for you. No matter what technique you use to continue your practice, stay with it. Do more of what works and less of what doesn't. Believe in yourself and believe you are worth it!
[Read: 5 Yoga Poses You Can Do on an Airplane.]
By Jake Panasevich
ERYT-200
Drawing from over seven intensive trainings, Jake Panasevich threads the most beneficial practices from different modalities into a unique yoga experience for inflexible, stressed, over-worked regular Americans. Jake is a yoga and wellness mentor and teacher to a large, committed group of beginners and advanced students alike. With a strong wrestling, coaching and writing background, Jake inspires students to get committed, get stronger and learn to love life and flourish in it.
Jake works with:
Guys who want to live healthy and pain-free Former athletes who are tight and injured Those who want to avoid surgery and expensive alternatives to yoga Those who love to be challenged in a way that supports them
Visit www.yogawithjake.com to get motivated, feel great and get committed!
Ingredients:
(and this is what I had on tap this morning. It changes, so feel free to use what's available in your kitchen)
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup almonds
1 cup pecans
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1 cup coconut flakes (I added a bit more because I love the texture of coconut flakes)
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup maple syrup (this time I added about 2 more tablespoons as I'm feeling sweet this morning)
1 tsp. vanilla (sometimes I pour a little over)
Directions:
Mix first 7 ingredients together in a bowl (oats, nuts, seeds, coconut, vanilla and salt). Set aside.
In a small saucepan, heat up 1/4 cup coconut oil. Once it has melted, add the maple syrup and vanilla. Stir into bowl that was set aside with granola mixture. I use a rubber spatula to really get in there and make sure everything is mixed nicely.
Next step is not necessary, but makes for a great texture: Get out your high speed blender or food processor. Transfer about 2/3 of the granola mixture to the blender/processor and pulse. Just make sure you don't turn this into dust. You still want some chunks. The purpose of this is to break down the mixture a little bit.
Once you are satisfied with what your blended/pulsed mixture looks like, transfer that back to the bowl with the other 1/3. Mix well.
Spread mixture onto a cookie sheet that has been oiled with coconut oil (today I used a deeper set pan). Use a rubber spatula to push down the mixture firmly.
Place in oven for 20-25 minutes on 325 F. Do continually check on your granola -- as it can easily burn.
Enjoy in your favorite way. I love to add it to a bowl of yogurt, with blackberries and line the outside of my bowl with honey.
By Meredith Cameron
Learning that she and we are more capable than we give ourselves credit for, Meredith Cameron creates space for students to reach out, dig deeper, and not take themselves too seriously. Yoga and traveling are two life loves that seem to go hand and hand. Follow Meredith around the world with her workshops and retreats - 500+ hour CYT. To find out more about Meredith visit www.mcameronyoga.com
Shakti is the creative energy of the universe and exists both inside and outside of us. In Hindu philosophy, Shakti means divine female energy. We all have a combination of the feminine Shakti and Shiva, or masculine energy.
The goddess Shakti is constantly moving, changing, transforming and is often referred to as Prakriti. Her counterpart, Shiva, often referred to as Purusha, represents stability or the unmoving.
By tapping into your own Shakti, you empower yourself to be your most creative self, and to make changes that help you become the best version of yourself. Magnifying the power of change within unifies us with the universe around us. When we’re in tune with nature and the natural flow of the world, we feel more vital, energetic and spiritually in tune. Deb Rubin’s Shakti Flow: Yoga & Dance will get you moving!
A Shakti-focused yoga practice emphasizes flowing, almost dance-like movements. Digging into the core and creating heat in our navel chakra or center builds heat to encourage change. Try Nothing But Core by Claire Petretti Marti to see what we mean.
Focus on fluidity, grace, and power not just in the asana, but also with pranayama or controlling one’s breath. Choosing a mantra or mantras dedicated to manifesting the change we wish to see in our lives is another important element of a Shakti yoga practice. Mark Morford’s Firestarter will shake up your routine and maybe even your life!
Courage comes when we act despite any fear. Move your personal blocks with Kristen Gibowicz’s Courageous Flow.
Try one of this week’s classes to see how luminous and alive you can feel. If you don’t have time for a full class, try dancing around your living room and let your inner glow shine!
Yogic binds involve trying to bring hands together by opening the shoulders and rotating the torso. There are many different types of binds, and as with all things yoga—different levels appropriate for anyone, no matter how bendy they are or how fit they are.
Binding is great for increasing mental focus and deepening postures. There are also lots of variations of binds. There are sitting binds and standing binds, binds that may remind you of such twists as a pretzel. If you want to learn more about yogic binds and perhaps add some to your practice, this graphic can help.
Be sure to warm up the body with easier postures BEFORE moving into the deeper openings. It is extremely important to stay tuned into your body and know if binding is not for you. Pushing yourself and your body isn't worth injury-- so if you're going to try it, stay present with the breath and mindful of your body.
Health Perch is a digital health magazine focusing on physical and mental wellness, as well as ways to fight signs of aging. They aim to make health and wellness easy to understand and fun to read. With Health Perch, keep up to date with the latest health articles, tips & advice. Catch them on Twitter (@HealthPerch) for even more health news, and continue learning how to become the healthiest version of YOU.
While I’ve never shopped at Nastygal and don’t have a career in fashion, I completely relate to this book’s practical advice. Sophia’s writing style is blunt, contagious and she definitely keeps it real. As a #GIRLBOSS in training, I feel totally motivated.Here are my 5 takeaways from the book:
1. A #GIRLBOSS Works Hard
No matter what you do, you have to put your heart and soul into it. No half-assing. Whether you’re vacuuming your living room floor, or teaching a yoga private, making soup for your neighbor, giving legal advice or managing a pharmaceutical company, you have to mean it and do it well with 100% of your effort. And effort doesn’t go unnoticed. You may feel as if it does sometimes when you don’t get immediate gratification, but people who matter will eventually notice. And you will be rewarded. The golden rule is: if you put effort into something, it will show results. Maybe not in the way you expected, and maybe you still don’t feel that you succeeded, but if you do the best you can, you won’t have any regrets.
2. A #GIRLBOSS Values Every Experience
For as much as we all love to hear about our cousin Laura who knew in kindergarten she wanted to be an eye doctor, and goes and does exactly that, we have to realize that not everyone has the same path. And although it seems easier for Laura the eye doctor to have it all figured out while we are to struggling talking to college advisors and taking the Myers-Briggs 5 times, it doesn’t mean that she’s not busting ass in med school and having to sacrifice years of her life to study rounded over her desk in the library so that she can one day fix our eyes. So maybe we didn’t have an epiphany in kindergarten and we still don’t know what we want to be in life, but the good news is there’s other people like us out there. In fact the majority of people are confused on what to do. The key lays in appreciating every single job and every single experience that comes across. IF anything, it will teach you what you DON”T like, and that’s start.
For example, that job you had in high school standing outside Whole Foods getting people to donate for Greenpeace? And you hated it because everyone took the long route to get in the store even at the cost of stumbling in the grocery carts just so they wouldn’t have to talk to you? You can probably thank that job because it motivated you to find a different job that you enjoyed more.
Did you know I had a lot random jobs? I picked lavender, worked in a cheese factory, worked in a costume shop, fed elderly in a nursing home and taught Italian to drooling pre-schoolers all before I even finished college undergrad in Legal Studies, which has nothing to do with yoga.
Earning my college degree was a struggle but I wouldn’t change it for anything. I didn’t like having to sit through classes, the all-nighters before finals, and being permanently broke. But at the same time I really thrived from being in an educated environment which forced me to think critically and learn to write properly. At the end of the day, I can look at that piece of paper that constitutes my BA and say: ”I did it. And if I did that (and it was hard), I can do anything else I put my mind to.” Right now I’ve been teaching yoga and barre for two years and have successfully been leading yoga retreats in Costa Rica.
3. A #GIRLBOSS Has a Vision
Having a vision is so important. Don’t be afraid to vocalize what it is that you want in the future. It is by saying it out loud that you begin the build momentum and create energy around it. And if you don’t talk about it, or write it, or dream it, or think about it, how will you ever start? Although Sophia Amoroso speaks of this concept in depth and vividly, I have to give credit to Yogi Aaron of Blue Osa for first introducing me to this idea. :) So have a vision, hold onto it, but don’t make it too narrow that you can’t take a detour and jump on the bandwagon of opportunity when the chances arise.
4. A #GIRLBOSS Owns Her Style
I live by this rule. Wear what you want and own it. Create your own style. Please don’t ever let the latest edition of Cosmopolitan dictate which color you should wear this summer. You can get anyway with anything so long as you do it with confidence. You could wear a Moschino dress, but if you feel uncomfortable in your own skin you’ll look awkward and everyone else will know it too. Or you can wear a Target tank top along with your mom’s vintage shorts and own it and look amazing. And everyone will stop you on the street to ask where you got your outfit.
5. A #GIRLBOSS Charges Ahead
If there’s one thing that social media can bring, along with tons of inspiration and worldwide connections, is discouragement and isolation. When you’re having a bad day and you look at Instagram, you will become even more depressed because so-and-so can do handstands better than you, and so-and-so has more followers than you, and so-and-so is is frolicking on a tropical beach and you’re not, and so-and-so has a good looking boyfriend and instead you’re sitting on your couch eating muffins like a lonely fatty and even the mailman won’t say hi to you. That’s when you shake it off, say “enough”, and wipe all that crap off your mind entirely.
A #GIRLBOSS charges ahead and doesn’t let anybody stop her. You are on your own mission, which will be different than any on else’s. And you should not wish to be someone else, because, well, then you wouldn’t be you. And you don’t really know what is going on in people’s lives behind one amazing photo on Instagram. They could be struggling with depression but you would never know it from their cheery blog posts.
Also, you have got to ignore your competition and the debby-downers. Don’t let them take energy that you should instead devote to carrying on your projects. Remember that people who criticize are either afraid of you, ignorant or down right envious.
By: Valentina Rose
Born and raised in Italy, Valentina is a full time yoga instructor who divides her time between Marin County, California and Matapalo, Costa Rica. When she isn’t hosting yoga retreats or blogging Valentina can be found trail running and baking quiche.
Valentinarose.me
Instagram: @valentinarose1111
INGREDIENTS makes a 12 ounce serving
Juice of 1/2 a lemon 1 teaspoon finely grated ginger 2 tablespoons of honey turmeric paste (recipe below)
Turmeric Honey Paste
1 cup honey 2 1/2 tablespoons powdered turmeric Stir honey and turmeric together until fully blended. Store in a jar at room temperature to use as desired.
1. Juice your lemon and grate your ginger into a mug. 2. Add the turmeric honey paste. 3. Add hot water. 4. Stir, stir, stir and savor.
PS: If you like this recipe, you might like our Yogaland podcast with self care ideas for balancing the vata dosha.
I was extremely stressed out, working non-stop, traveling non-stop, and I just needed a break. Once I decided to take the break, it was easy. I didn't struggle with guilt, or feeling like I was missing out on anything. I read, I hiked, I spent time with family, I took long baths, I went out for runs. I just did me, and it was so what I needed. I came back to work feeling so much better.
Quote above from The Untethered Soul
Sometimes, when you come back to work and real life feeling refreshed and ready to rock and roll, it's easy to fall back into your old ways. So last summer, when I got back to work, I created some resolutions to stick to:
1) Social media shut down - With the majority of my business being social media related (we're now up to 229,000 social media followers across a few platforms including instagram (and don't forget to follow the BTS account!), facebook, youtube and twitter), it's hard not to want to check posts and answer comments. But for the sake of my sanity and the people around me (who wants to be around that one person who is always checking their phone?!) it's important that I stick to only checking my phone during work hours.
What's interesting is that a few weeks ago I was out to breakfast with my friend Kat. I broke my rule of checking my phone and she said, "Do you realize that every time you check your phone, you sigh?"
I had no idea! I think of yawing as either a silent scream for coffee, a sign of sleepiness or a sign of stress. I think in this case, stress would be the culprit.
2) Be more thankful - According to this book, manifesting a sense of gratitude can physically change what's going on chemically inside your body. It lowers stress levels, which helps you to sleep better, digest your food better, and so much more. It seems kind of ridiculous that just being thankful can impact your health so much, but it does, so I've focused on being thankful for the little things every day.
3) Stop negative self talk - This is a huge one for me because I am admittedly really hard on myself, but I really needed to change. Life is hard enough without us being our own worst enemies, you know? So whenever I catch myself taking a turn to negative town, I try to shut it down right away.
Now, being alone and hitting the reset button has never been difficult for me, but I know it is something that many people struggle with. I definitely have friends and family who don't really know what to do with themselves when they're alone, or they can't relax. If you're one of those people, here are my suggestions:
1) Develop a deeper yoga practice: We all know that yoga is not just about the handstands and backbends. If I were to define it, I would say that yoga is truly knowing who you are, what you need, and honoring that. This can be tricky because there is a fine line between knowing what you need, knowing what you want, and then making the right decision. In my own personal practice, I used to be in love with very athletic practices. I wanted to do power vinyasa exclusively. But I knew myself - I am a little ball of stress half the time, so I what I needed was more yin, more restorative, and more calming practices.
2) Make silence a part of your day: One of the most transformative changes I've implemented into my life has been taking a moment every morning and evening to just sit in silence. Sometimes, if my brain won't shut off, I will just silently count my breaths for ten full breaths. Other times, I'll just sit and breathe, and think nothing. I find it so relaxing, and such a great way to start and end each day.
3) Make laughter a part of your day: I actively seek out laughter. I know that might sound like a weird thing to say, but oh my goodness, how good does it feel to laugh?! And laughter is crazy good for your health, too. I'll do stupid things like stoplight karaoke or practice my accents on snapchat with a ridiculous filter, or I'll watch funny clips on youtube (this is always a good one) - really, I'll do whatever it takes to get in a good laugh.
4) Reflect: I really believe that everyone you meet has something to teach you. Even the most idiotic of encounters can teach you something (patience?). I always like to take a minute to be reflective about my day, the interactions I had, the things I said and did, and just take a little mental inventory of what's going on, how I'm feeling, and if I'm not feeling great, what I can do to improve my mood. I think this goes hand in hand with yoga (it's actually called svadhyaya, or self-study) because the more you get in touch with what's going on internally, the better you know yourself and can make the best decisions for your life.
5) Do what you love: If you're taking an active role in finding ways to eliminate stress and bring more joy to yourself, I love the idea of finding something that you love, and dedicating time to doing that said thing. For me, I've realized that what I loved (yoga, working out) has become part of my job, so they are less enjoyable for me, for the most part. (Womp, womp.) These days, I'm trying to find other things I enjoy doing and then actively looking to incorporate them into my life. I used to dance as a kid, and in LA a few summers back, I started taking hip hop dance classes again and absolutely loved it. That has nothing to do with my job, so I'd love to start taking them again.
Put Yourself First
I can't stress how important this is. Regardless of what responsibilities you may have as a parent, spouse, whatever - it's so important that you get some YOU time to recharge and take care of yourself. There's a saying that goes something like, "You can't pour from an empty cup," so it's vital to put things on hold and take a minute or two for yourself daily. When you're feeling your best, you're better able to be the kind of parent/spouse/friend/employee/whatever you want to be.
I'd love to know what you do to reset, recharge, how you spend time being alone, and ultimately how you take charge of your life. Let me know down in the comments below.
Candace Cabrera Moore is an entrepreneur who believes nothing is impossible. She is an international yoga instructor who runs luxury yoga retreats, healthy living blogger, and author of Namaslay. She is passionate about modern yoga, delicious food, and living your absolute best life. After a very long battle with Lyme disease, she is so grateful to have her health back, and that was the inspiration behind founding YogaByCandace, a modern yoga lifestyle company that creates weekly yoga and hiit workouts, and curates Mantra Box, a seasonal discovery box program that supports small business.
Derived from Sanskrit word natar-rajan, meaning “dance king”, Natarajasana is a gesture of Shiva’s dance. The Hindu god, Lord Shiva is commonly seen in a circle of flame, with his four arms engaged in a dynamic dance representing the eternal cycle of life, death and rebirth.
In the same way Shiva embodies power through movement, we can learn to embrace the process of growth between different stages of life. It's the perfect time of the year to reflect upon and honor the changes that largely guide us in our paths. We celebrate the dance of life-- with its ups and downs, challenges and rewards, cycles of day and night, and turning of the seasons.
Channel your inner Shiva and his cosmic dance of creation and elimination. Practice Dancer's Pose to cultivate grace, improve focus, increase energy and remain open-hearted.
- Stand with your feet together. Shift your weight into your left foot. Bend your right knee behind you, and bring your right heal towards your right glute. Reach your right hand behind you (with the eye of your right elbow facing out) and take hold of the inside arch of your right foot. - Continue to balance on your left foot and reach your left arm overhead. Lift your chest as you kick your right foot upward, until your thigh is parallel to the floor or higher. Keep your hips square, and draw your right knee inward towards midline. - Look up and stretch your left arm forward and upward. Keep your eyes steady on one point of focus and breathe deeply as you hold. - Hold for 30 seconds or more. To release, gently release your grip on your right foot and return to standing. Repeat on the other side. - For a more intense variation you can reach your right hand back to take hold of the top or your right foot or toes, and rotate your shoulder so your elbow swivels outward and then points toward the ceiling. From there you can reach your left arm over your head, and then behind you to grab ahold of your lifted foot. You can also use a strap for this variation, and climb your hands up the strap until you are able to grab your toes. This variation requires a lot of shoulder mobility and spinal flexibility.
As we balance between reaching and letting go, there is beauty in embracing the polarities of life. We can find lessons to be learned even in what seems like the smallest of moments-- and remember to always breathe through each of them.
As the days are getting shorter and darker, it’s the perfect time to do as nature does and turn inward. Let go of seasons of the past and make peace. We never see trees holding on to their old leaves, or complaining as they fall to the ground, because that’s the only way to make room for growth. So what will you allow to fall away?
We have four classes to get you free of the past and reset for the present:
Dave Farmar - Empower Your Potential, Part 4: Ready for Launch
Throw on your superhero pants and break through those self-imposed limitations as you get ready for flight in this power vinyasa class. No cape necessary.
Kylie Larson - Flow and Let Go
Do as the trees do, and let go in this power yoga class designed to get you out of your head and into your body, leaving you open, grounded and relaxed.
Cicily Carter - Classic Hot Series
Sweat out what is no longer serving you in this 90 minute hot series. Get to know yourself all over again by staying in one place through 26 postures.
Dana Damara - Be Still and Reflect: Evening Yoga
No nightmares after this class– you’ll unwind with a calming sequence where you wrap your mind around nothing and experience the freedom of long deep breathing and gentle restorative poses.
The lesson of Scorpio is that what we try to hide away and leave in the dark rarely remains there for long. Either we bring it forth ourselves with our own depth work, or it comes forward on its own as our struggles, triggers, and negative patterns. What we leave in the darkness destroys us, but what we bring into the light ultimately saves us. The darkness of the new moon in Scorpio means that we cannot hide anymore, we must make friends with the darkness—our darkness—if we yearn for personal freedom.
A tight relationship to Mercury at this times suggests that we must speak our truth as clearly as possible. This may cause offense to some that need to hear it. Our best bet is to speak in such a way that serves the highest good of all involved. Make sure that what you move toward at this time is in alignment with your soul’s purpose, as this is a new beginning for you that signals a great step toward it.
Chiron (the wounded healer) is also in the mix with this new moon, further encouraging us to do our shadow work as it may result not only in personal transformation, but also in change that inspires others to walk the shadow path. If you are destined to be a mentor, you can only lead people as far as you have gone yourself…make sure you do the work required to dig through your own darkness in order to bring to light the gold that is so valuable to you, and those around you. Alchemical Ritual for the Scorpio New Moon
As a water sign, Scorpio often soaks in the watery depth of emotion. On the high side,Scorpio revels in deep transformation and shadow work and loves blending energy—whether through intimate partnerships, sacred sexuality or joint finances or business ventures. On the low side, Scorpio’s energy turns to moodiness, brooding, and a tendency to play the victim and lash out with others. This new moon ritual for Scorpiohelps to accentuate the high side of Scorpio which transfigures our shadow into powerful healing energy.
Scorpio’s modern ruler is Pluto, the king of the underworld, who also respects those who can escape the darkness. Our work here is to get to know our own underworld so we can undergo a resurrection and once again see the light. Scorpio is not afraid of the challenge, so our challenge is to move toward what is uncomfortable in the ritual, in the hope of shedding some light on it.
Gather a black stone (onyx, lava, kyanite) or a red stone (malachite, red hematite, rhodochrosite) and place it in the center of your ritual space. If you have some ginger, you can place it in a bowl nearby, or sprinkle it around your space. Ginger essential oil also works, and you might anoint your solar plexus with it before and after your ceremony. Use sage, sweet grass or palo santo to cleanse yourself and the space by casting the smoke over yourself and encircling your own body three times. Light a few candles and dim the lights. Place a pen and paper nearby and come to sit quietly inside the circle. Close the eyes and contemplate a current challenge in your life. What is the belief system that this triggers? What negative thought patterns swirl around? Finally, what do you feel? Do not immerse yourself in the emotion, simply observe and witness it like a silent bystander. Locate it in your body. Place your hands on the part of the body that you feel activated and simply watch. Breathe into that space, the emotion, and the body. Stay here, silently witnessing, until the emotion transforms, dissipates, changes shape, or shifts quality. Once it does, say the following invocation out loud:
Scorpio and Pluto, please allow me to feel what is necessary in order to invoke the source of empowerment and healing.
Spend a few moments in quiet contemplation. Clear the mind of thoughts completely. Feel the sensation of healing in the body. Allow a new thought or belief to arise that replaced the old one that you started the ceremony with. When it arises, write it down on your piece of paper.
When complete, chant Om three times, and snuff the candles. Place the piece of paper in prominent view and whenever you see it, feel the sense of empowerment in the body you discovered in this ritual. This ritual catalyzes the unconscious into deep shift and transformation. In doing so, a part of you is resurrected and brought into the light where you shine for all to see.
We’re just wrapping up another live cleanse and know that many people (ourselves included!) will be looking for healthy alternatives to their old standbys. Well friends, today’s recipe is a superfood homerun.
Try it out for yourself and be sure to leave us a comment below. Are you a chocolate lover? Have you been able to replace your chemical-laden Hershey kisses with a superfood alternative?
With love and chocolate bites,
Raw Cacao Bites
Yield: 16 bites
½ cup of raw cacao butter 2 TB. olive oil ¼ cup + 1 TB. raw cacao powder 2 TB. raw honey 2 TB. – ¼ cup each of toppings of choice (goji berries, dried blueberries, bee pollen, or cashews pieces)
Instructions: In a double boiler over low heat place a medium sized bowl, careful not to get any water inside the bowl. Add the cacao butter, olive oil, and raw honey to the bowl and whisk to melt, being careful not to over-heat it and destroy some of the nutrients. Ideally you want to keep this mixture at below 110 degrees F. Once these ingredients are melted, whisk in the raw cacao powder. Whisk until no lumps remain and mixture is smooth.
Set the bowl with the cacao mixture over a separate bowl of cold water, being careful to not get any water inside the bowl, and continue to whisk this constantly until the mixture starts to thicken. The raw honey and the oil tend to separate so keep mixing them until the mixture has cooled off a little bit.
When the mixture is thick enough to hold a little shape, spoon it onto a piece of parchment paper in small circles. Place topping of your choice on top of the cacao rounds while they are still slightly soft.
If the cacao mixture starts to harden too much put the bowl over hot water again and melt to the correct consistency.
When finished place the raw cacao bites in the freezer for a couple of minutes and enjoy! The bites can be stored in the freezer or refrigerator for 1 week.
Jo Schaalman and Julie Peláez are co-authors of the book The Conscious Cleanse: Lose Weight, Heal Your Body, and Transform Your Life in 14 Days, a best-selling, step-by-step guide to help you live your most vibrant life. Together they've lead thousands of people through their online supported cleanse through their accessible and light-hearted approach. They've been dubbed “the real deal” by founder and chief creative director Bobbi Brown, of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, beauty editor of the TODAY show.
To learn more about “Jo and Jules” and to download a free e-cookbook for a sampling of the delicious food served up on the Conscious Cleanse, please visit their website.
Conscious Cleanse Detox Flow - Jo Schaalman
Heart Opening Forrest Yoga Flow - Jo Schaalman
Traditional Hot Yoga - Julie Peláez
A user-friendly dashboard tool to help you make it to yoga class, our NEW ROKU channel lets you conveniently access our entire library right on your TV.
What is ROKU? It's the most popular streaming television device available today. You can stream free and paid channels, including your YogaDownload.com subscription to your television, computer, and phone. It’s simple, easy to use and affordable. There are different types of streaming players and devices as well as ROKU TV.
Consider it one more tool in your arsenal to create more energy and space. ROKU helps to simplify your repertoire, easily choose and save your favorite classes, as well as constantly access new content. We can use the technology boom to our advantage to create the daily life we want. With a few simple tools, you can find more time in your day to focus on what makes you happy.
At YogaDownload.com, we offer a wide variety of embodiment practices like yoga, meditation, and pranayama so you can make sure you get in your mindfulness every day, even with a busy schedule.
Self-care is vital. Yoga and meditation are two tools that will help keep you at the top of your game physically, emotionally and mentally. Moreover, creating routines or rituals can empower you to fill your days with more of what you love and less of what you don’t. Make time for yourself to find your strongest most centered self and the life you desire.
Consider trying these new class releases on ROKU:
1. Dave Farmar - Empower Your Potential, part 3: (subtitle: Float to a Higher Level)
Take on this opportunity to take your practice to a higher level as you learn to float your poses and your transitions. More importantly, the journey this practice provides will teach you the lessons needed to approach all you do at that higher level as well!
2. Guru Jagat - Kundalini Yoga for Everybody: Quick Tune Up
Preparing for a big day, or in need of a little something to center yourself? Try this short, effective, and to the point sequence of exercises and meditation for a well-rounded quick practice to tone your body, deepen your breath, and center your mind.
3. Dia Draper - From Frustration to Focus (Feeling Argghhh!)
This short practice is designed as a resource for when you're feeling frustrated or just need to focus at work. The practice is releasing and calming and will, in just 5 short minutes, get you centered and ready to get back at it!
Location Suggestions: visual privacy recommended (office, cubicle, conference room)
Clothing Suggestions: any work clothes, shoes off recommended for grounding (not required for movement)
4. Alex Cordoba - Enter the Stillness
Movement -- quick movement at that -- is often thought to be synonymous with yoga in that it can be months, even years before we finally recognize not just the importance of, but the true gift that cultivating and sitting in stillness can be. It is in the sacred equation of yoga and amidst the busyness of our lives. Let this class be just that for you: a gift. To slow down. To enter the stillness so that you can reenter the world feeling refreshed and renewed.
Continue getting your yoga in daily and don’t allow the frenetic pace of our modern, highly technologized world, overwhelm you. Choose to harness the power of technology and make it work for you!
Simply maintaining a steady and consistent pattern of teaching 12-15 classes per week brought with it many a boon.
For the first decade, I taught under the auspices of others. I got in just before the craze of the nineties and rode the wave of independent centers that paved the path for yoga in the west. Initially, it was either the YMCA or the hip studios that started popping up everywhere. There were no classes at the gym yet. You earned your cred on the mat. People saw you there every day. They saw your practice. Eventually, you got asked to teach. And you took every opportunity you were offered for whatever money they would give you. At least I did. I was hungry and fueled by an unexplainable drive to practice and learn.
Eventually, I developed a bit of skill and a following. It became a logical next choice to open my own place; to expand upon what I had established in practice. It led to my finding the resources and freedom to do things my own way. The forces that be put me in just the right place at just the right time to actually make that happen. I opened a yoga center over eight years ago and it has been a thriving venture, enabling me not only to codify my teaching in ways I never could have otherwise, but also to provide a modicum of stability that has enabled me to develop as a writer and, more recently, a podcaster.
But the scene that I came up in no longer exists. When I look around outside of the bubble I created for myself, I face a crucial impasse.
I have eighteen months left on my current lease for the yoga center. Since the lease started, my neighborhood has seen a quick shift from a network of local bodegas and art-inspired businesses to La Quinta, Starbucks, Whole Foods, Levi’s, G-Starr, and an Apple store. I plan to negotiate with my landlord in six months and I know that he likes us and will probably do his best to give us a good deal. But when commercial real estate in the neighborhood is being valued according to the budgets of corporate chains, even a good deal might be too much for the humble offerings of the sole-proprietor yoga center.
Inquiring into where the next enclave of artists may have migrated to, I can find no discernible pattern. It’s as if there has been a mass exodus and everyone just took off in all directions. Detroit, Germany, Maplewood NJ, Philadelphia, who the f*** knows? Not me. And my apartment around the corner from the center, which I secured on a rent-stabilized handshake back when, was transferred to a management company two years ago and now goes up every year so I definitely have to move my family, even if I keep the center.
Where corporate models successfully take hold of increased market share, it’s not clear whether the old-school model can compete and survive.
I followed those who came before me. I observed how they opened their own spaces, developed their teaching, and built niche platforms for themselves. Some ended up being embraced by the “mainstream” and others did not. Regardless, it was possible to make a way for yourself. But this model was contingent on having a place to settle where people desired an eclectic place smelling of Nag Champa more than the quaffed amenities of a highly designed spa. Yoga centers were places of counter culture where people came more to learn than to purchase a service.
Sometimes I wonder if such places exist anymore. I’m betting they do. Perhaps not in the cities, but in micro-communities who are happy to maintain a low profile? Or has yoga become so mainstream now that the yoga center with old-school charm that I hold so reminiscently dear, just looks like a dump without shower rooms to the new-school yoga connoisseur? And it is undeniable that the internet has changed the way people come to yoga. The income I receive from online offerings, and traveling to meet people who only know me from those offerings, has become almost equivalent to the profits I see from the center, which was always my bread and butter up until only a few years ago.
Things have changed. Now that the environment which inspired and fueled my little niche has transformed and no longer resembles the same place I originally settled, I face the prospect of either attempting to hold out and stay my ground against a stemming tide, or venture out and see if i can find the remnants of what I once knew. I can only trust that the place of knowing in myself, that which my practice has fostered, will not fail me when I need it most.
By J. Brown
J. Brown is a yoga teacher, writer and founder of Abhyasa Yoga Center in Brooklyn, NY. His writing has been featured in Yoga Therapy Today, the International Journal of Yoga Therapy, and across the yoga blogosphere. Visit his website at jbrownyoga.com
Controlling your energy can be taught through breathing practices but is hard to convince people to do because it involves the unknown element of energy and people will always argue they already breathe every second of every day anyway.
Here’s a little secret about the steps on the path, though. It’s not linear AND as you strengthen your abilities in one step, your abilities in all the other steps gets stronger too. In other words, practicing ONLY posture isn’t good enough to get you to the end of the path.
Expanding Pranayama
I’m going to teach you how to breathe today, because it’s time to bring pranayama out of the closet and elevate it to the same status as posture and meditation in today’s mainstream trends.
Yes, I know you already know how to breathe. But I’ll wager with you that you don’t actually KNOW how to breathe. You just do it automatically without thinking about what you’re actually doing. You don’t have to control any muscles consciously to breathe. But you can. And when you do, your entire experience changes.
First, let’s break down the word Pranayama. Prana means energy or life force. Yama means to control. But ayama means to expand. So you can define pranayama as controlling the life force or you can define it as expanding the life force. I’ll let you decide which one you like better🙂
Physicists would agree that everything in this world can be broken down into molecules of energy – thus we are all energy. When the molecules combine in such a way that they create life as we know it, this is considered the life force – prana.
Prana is sometimes mistakenly defined as the breath. The breath is the action by which we bring energy into our body and expel waste out of our body. Thus, the act of living is to acquire energy and release the byproducts that we no longer need to sustain life. The act of breathing then is really the act of managing our life force.
If we don’t consciously pay attention to this process we won’t necessarily die but if we do consciously pay attention to this process we have the ability to expand our opportunity to live optimally.
Of course, it’s hard work.
The warning
In front of every pranayama exercise is always a warning: This is potentially dangerous. You must not practice pranayama without the guidance of an experienced teacher or guru. This always frustrated me because 1.) how do you know if your teacher or guru is experienced enough? and 2.) what did they have to do to become experienced enough? and 3.) how can breathing practices be so dangerous!?
But you know what? I respect the process. The fact is, controlling the very energy that sustains our life is risky business and therefore it’s important to proceed with caution, start slow, be patient, and don’t try the really advanced stuff at home without the guidance of someone who is far more experienced then me.
So what I am going to teach you today is the simplest of the simple yoga breathing techniques. The foundation of pranayama. The non-dangerous way to breathe at the same time that you’ll still experience expansion.
This breath technique is referred to as Dirga Breath, the Three Part Breath, or Abdominal Thoracic Breathing.
You have probably been taught this technique before, but I’m going to add in a few pieces here and there with some more explanation then you might get in a yoga class.
Understanding Bandhas and Chakras
Before we start, a few words on bandhas and chakras.
Since we’re in the land of energy, I’m going to introduce some energetic concepts to you. In yogic anatomy (non-Western anatomy) there are three main energy channels (nadis) in the body. These are the Shushumna, Ida, and Pingala channel. Think of the Shushumna nadi as the main superhighway that all energy needs to pass through to get where it wants to go. The Ida nadi is the main channel for all the energy that lives on the left side of the body and the Pinagla nadi is the main channel for all the energy that lives on the right side of the body. Where the Ida and Pingala nadis intersect in the main superhighway of energy travel, you have Chakras.
Bandhas are considered energetic locks, or specific actions you can take to hold energy in a certain place (if you want to be all technical, bandhas actually fall under the category of mudra, but don’t worry about it for now). For the purposes of teaching Dirga breath, I’ll be referencing Mulabandha (Root Lock) and Jalandhara Bandha (Throat Lock).
The Three Part Breath
Now for the practice.
- Sit in a comfortable position, a place where you’ll be able to sit up tall for a few minutes without slouching. If you need the support of the wall to help you at first, you can use it.
- Practice engaging Mulabandha, or the Root Lock. Anatomically, this bandha is located at the perineum and is an engagement of the pelvic floor muscles. Imagine you really have to pee and you’re trying to hold it in until you can get home to a clean bathroom🙂. That’s your Mulabandha. Practice engaging and disengaging this muscle a few times. When you’re comfortable with this, move on to the next step.
- Begin to bring some awareness to your breath. Start by noticing your natural breath. Then, gently engaging Mulabandha, begin to inhale and successively feel the abdomen above the belly button expand, the rib cage expand, and the region around the heart expand. As you exhale, follow the same pattern, releasing the breath from the abdomen, rib cage, and then the chest.
This step might feel weird because 1) you are actively engaging the pelvic floor muscles as you breathe and 2) you are exhaling at the belly first and not the heart, which may seem more intuitive.
Using the bandhas helps concentrate the energy in between the 1st chakra and the 5th chakra (if you’re also engaging Jalandhara Bandha (throat lock – draw your chin back so that your neck is in alignment with the rest of your spine)). The 1st chakra happens to be right at the base of the spine where you are engaging Mulabandha. The 5th chakra is in the throat. Using the bandhas is a way for the energy to be more concentrated. When the energy is more concentrated, we are better able to control where it’s going.
Here’s why you want to exhale from the abdomen first. I read this description from Marion Mugs McConnell’s book Letters from the Yoga Masters and really loved the explanation. When you inhale and expand the abdomen, rib cage, and chest, you are filling up and stimulating different chakras. You start with the 3rd chakra, your seat of power, then breathe into your 4th chakra, your seat of love and compassion, and then into your 5th and higher chakras, your seat of communication and spirituality. If you exhale starting with the chest, you are depleting energy from the 5th and higher chakras first, leading this area of the body to get the least amount of energy and your third chakra, the abdomen, the most amount of time to absorb energy. This can lead to an imbalance. When you exhale from the abdomen first, all of the chakra centers get equal amounts of energy. This leads to a more balanced effect. As Pranayama is a practice meant to help us bring our energy into more balance, it doesn’t make sense to create imbalances while practicing.
- If you enjoy visualizations, visualize the breath moving down as you inhale and the breath moving upward as you exhale, mimicking the actual movement of the diaphragm when we breathe. You can also imagine that you are reaching down to to gently awaken Shiva, the name of the energy that resides at the base of the spine, and as you exhale you are gently guiding Shiva to meet Shakti, the name of the energy that resides at the third-eye in between the eyebrows. When these two energies meet, that is when we experience union, liberation, and bliss. If that visualization doesn’t work for you because you don’t like Shiva and Shakti, forget about it 🙂
- Practice this breath technique for a few minutes and then return to a natural breath without the engagement of the bandhas before moving on to your next task. Take some time to notice how your body feels and how your energy has shifted. If you’re ajournaler, I highly recommend writing down your experience so you can keep track of your pranayama progress.
Spend a few minutes each day practicing this breath. Pranayama is meant to be a practice in and of itself, so don’t worry about trying to combine this with your asana practice. This is a special way to breathe specifically to manage and balance your personal energy.
This is technical, subtle, and difficult, so don’t worry if you are confused or feel like you’re still not understanding the very first step. Typically Pranayama is not practiced or introduced to students until they’ve already experienced and started to master some of the previous steps on the path.
Here’s my Facebook Live video demonstration for a closer look at how all this works:
My recommendation is to do this sequence several days a week. It’s only going to take 10-15 minutes and it will be worth every moment. If you have a regular yoga practice, sneak this in at the end of your sequence. If you train, run, workout, or ride a desk all-day long, do this sequence in the evening before you go to bed. Just figure out a way to put this into your routine.
POSES 1-3
Child’s Pose and Cat Pose gently round the upper-back and release tension in the muscles that lay between the shoulder-blades. Since the head hangs freely in these postures, the muscles in the neck don’t have to work to support the weight of the head. This creates a nice, much needed rest for these often over-worked muscles.
POSES 3-6
If you practice with me live, online or with these illustrated sequences, you’ll recognize this straightforward, 4-pose shoulder-opening combination. I use this mini-sequence all the time. In fact, you can think about these 4 poses as a “mini shoulder-opening sequence” within a sequence. If you don’t have time to do this entire practice, these 4 poses will knock plenty of the rust off of your shoulders by themselves. These postures will help create mobility in your shoulders by taking them through a significant range of motion. If sitting in virasana is difficult for you—or, you want a little more movement in your practice—you can do this combination of shoulder openers in Tadasana, Warrior 1 or Warrior 2.
POSES 7-10
Poses 7 – 10 are included to get you moving a little bit more. Even though this sequence mellow, it’s nice to have a few poses where you can feel your body work. If you externally rotate your upper-arms and broaden your shoulder-blades properly, you will release the weight of your head and neck in down dog. This will help stretch the space between your shoulder-blades. Low lunge with your fingers interlaced behind your back will stretch your the front of your shoulders and chest. The two wide-legged standing forward bends will stretch your entire back-body and release tension in your upper-body by letting the weight of your head and neck to drop.
POSES 11
Down Dog with the elbows on the floor and the hands on the wall is one of my favorite shoulder openers. It creates the same effect as Down Dog, but it increases the amount of leverage that you can stretch your shoulders with. To do this posture effectively, place your hands on the wall with your fingers pointing away from each other (your thumbs will face the ceiling). Keep your elbows shoulder-width apart. The most common mistake that people make when they’re practicing this pose is to lean their shoulders toward the wall. Instead—just like you do in Down Dog—press your shoulders toward your legs.
POSES 12
Legs Up The Wall. Need I say more?
Want to practice this sequence at home? When you sign up for our newsletter, we’ll send you free printer-friendly PDF of the sequence above!
AND, if you want to feel more confident and knowledgeable about your sequencing skills, check out my e-course, The Art of Yoga Sequencing. It’s great for yoga teachers and students who want to better understand how the body works and how to stretch and strengthen effectively.
{illustration by MCKIBILLO}
By Jason Crandell
Jason Crandell and Andrea Ferretti are a husband and wife team who have been teaching, writing about, and living their yoga for nearly two decades. Andrea is the former executive editor of Yoga Journal and is now creative director for Jason Crandell Yoga Method. Jason is an internationally recognized teacher known for his precise, empowering, down-to-earth approach to vinyasa yoga. They live together in San Francisco with their full-time boss, Sofia-Rose Crandell, age 3. To read their blog or to learn more about Jason's upcoming teacher trainings, please visit their web site www.jasonyoga.com
Our yoga practice on the mat mirrors how we live our life off of the mat. Applying #GoYourOMWay to yoga means that we all come to the mat for different reasons, but we all stay for the same one. Despite why we initially discovered yoga, we are united by our search to fully connect with our highest self, to be courageous enough to live our truth and to live a life with purpose. It’s not for the faint of heart!
The yogic path is a journey to live up to our full potential and to be brave enough to buck convention. Seeking our truth means being willing to fail. Being willing to try on different hats and to remain dedicated despite huge obstacles. In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali stated that the path is simple, but not easy. He couldn’t be more correct.
When I fell in love with yoga back in 1999, I had no clue. I’m not going to pretend that my first few years practicing Ashtanga yoga were about anything but the physical benefits. I was a recovering attorney seeking a life with meaning outside of the corporate rat race that I despised. Practicing yoga helped tame my Type-A personality. Without consciously trying, I became a little softer, kinder, and happier. The light of connection between body, mind and spirit began to dawn on me.
Understanding this connection on the mat helped me acknowledge some of my own behavior patterns personally and professionally. Recognition led to acceptance. My people pleasing tendencies started young. So, despite loving writing and health and fitness, I jumped into a career that was practical. Or, so I mistakenly believed.
If you could find the opposite of following your bliss, you’ve got practicing law for me. Every aspect of it chafed against my heart and soul. So, after three years of litigation, I quit.
People thought I was insane after investing three years and $100,000 in school. I wasn’t willing to sacrifice my identity. I had a pattern of switching gears anytime something wasn’t working for me. In those days, I didn’t understand what I was seeking.
Leaving law led to a flurry of careers over the next decade: outside corporate software sales, running an animal rescue charity for a Hollywood actress, pet-sitting, personal trainer, you name it. Again, I was searching for my true self that I’d buried along the way. Despite external pressures to conform, I never gave up and believe me I was tempted.
Finally, teaching yoga clicked. Gradually, I shed the layers I’d accumulated over the years to please people. I committed to listening to my heart, to the wisdom within. When I was my truest self, other people with whom I truly resonated began to appear.
I realized yoga is about uncovering your authentic self. About polishing off all the layers obscuring your true beauty and once again shining as brightly as you did the moment you were born. We’ve all got different life stories, different families and communities in which we were raised, different obstacles to overcome.
Today I’m proud to say I stuck to my heart’s desires and am living a life that is true to me. It’s been a long, winding path with lots of twists, turns, failures and joys. I wouldn’t change a thing.
Photo Credit: Micaela Malmi
Claire Petretti-Marti has been practicing, studying, and teaching yoga since 1999. Like many fitness enthusiasts, she was initially drawn to yoga for its physical benefits of strength, balance, and flexibility. Once Claire realized that serenity, peace of mind, and a general sense of happiness were predominant results of the practice, she was hooked. A RYT-500 Yoga Alliance instructor, Claire teaches a dynamic vinyasa flow with the intention of creating a moving meditation. She encourages students to find the lightness and the joy in their own practice, both on and off the mat. She is a certified Pilates instructor, a Reiki Level 2 Practitioner and also holds a NASM-certification for personal training. She has significant experience with spinal injuries and frequently works with students recuperating from injuries. She leads international yoga retreats every year. Mind-body fitness is her passion.
Check out Claire's YogaDownload classes as well as our Yoga for Runners classes and packages!
B.K.S. Iyengar: Light on Yoga
Not a surprise choice as this is the book on yoga posture practice. Although it is hard to sit down and read for pleasure, it is a handy resource I go to time and time again when I’m trying to understand a complicated pose or just trying to bring a bit more clarity and precision into the poses that have become habitual. Or, in a broader view, I go to this book when I wonder why on earth I’m bending myself into these shapes. In contrast to other books and teachers that can be non-committal and wishy-washy, Iyengar is unapologetically confident and clear. For example: “Practice of asanas without the backing of yama and niyama is mere acrobatics.” My favourite passage however comes in his hopeful advice to those facing obstacles along the path:
“The attitude of the aspirant is like that of a lover ever yearning to meet the beloved but never giving way to despair. Hope should be his shield and courage his sword. He should be free from hate and sorrow. With faith and enthusiasm he should overcome the inertia of body and mind.”
Erich Schiffmann: Yoga: the Spirit & Practice of Moving into Stillness
Schiffmann’s prose makes me feel alive and want to go out give out free hugs. I can’t think of more moving descriptions of how poses feel and what they can awaken inside of you. Time and time again I go to the gorgeous opening chapters of this asana guide to address the questions of why we need to move and breathe to get to our spiritual heart and why we need to push our edges to continue to grow. My copy is dog-eared and highlighted with many passages, like this one, that get to the heart of the matter:
“Each breath you take can remind you to be here now, to treat this moment as important, and repeatedly to affirm the fact that right now you are exactly where you want to be, doing exactly what you want to be doing. You will probably be amazed at how much energy is suddenly at your disposal the moment you realize this. When you are no longer wishing you were somewhere else, doing something different, you will discover that energy is the given and that energy is abundant. What would you expect but the fullest enthusiasm and response when your body, mind, heart, attention, and interest are all in one place? “
Donna Farhi: The Breathing Book
If you read this book, you’ll never think about breathing in the same way. Farhi has filled this text with anatomical detail, poetic inspiration, and loads of practical inquiries to experience rather than simply think about it. My first yoga teacher training assigned this book along with a homework assignment to watch our breath throughout the day and notice when, why, and how it changes and how that affects us (for example: “On a tense conference call. Not breathing. Pissed off.”). As Farhi gets to in my favourite passage, the breath is not just breath:
“Our breath is constantly rising and falling, ebbing and flowing, entering and leaving our bodies. Full body breathing is an extraordinary symphony of both powerful and subtle movements that massage our internal organs, oscillate our joints, and alternately tone and release all the muscles in the body. It is a full participation with life.”
Judith Lasater: Relax and Renew
I like to seek solutions. I like to know what to do and do it. My vinyasa flow practice is strong, and deliberate, and very much about finding equilibrium through challenge. I use the rhythm I create in that practice to work out my neuroses and begin the process of stabilising my nervous system. But the fine-tuning and balance comes largely from my restorative practice. Judith Lasater’s teachings have taught me to trust in the natural rhythm of my body and brought me to understand that sometimes slowing right down and accepting comfort and support can be the most radical practice of all. My favourite passage summarises it neatly:
“Restorative poses are poses of being rather than doing.”
H.H. The Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler, M.D.: The Art of Happiness
Like many people, some of my first exposure to Buddhist thought was through the popular writings of H.H. The Dalai Lama. The first time I saw him speak in person was at Rutgers Stadium (!) in New Jersey and even though I was up in the rafters, his words and his heart cut straight into me. I’ve always struggled a bit with the Buddhist viewpoint that our underlying nature is good. Perhaps I read too many history books, or lived in New York City too long, but I can often veer into pessimism. The Dalai Lama’s unflinching optimism and belief in our goodness always jolts me back, and this precise analysis of the seeming disconnect with our inherent nature and our actions throughout history helps me stay positive and committed to practice. Beyond the more obvious passages about our fundamental quest for happiness, I hold on to this favourite passage:
“Although I personally believe that our human nature is fundamentally gentle and compassionate, I feel it is not enough that this is our underlying nature; we must also develop an appreciation and awareness of that fact. And changing how we perceive ourselves, through learning and understanding, can have a very real impact on how we interact with others and how we conduct our daily lives.”
By Adam Hocke
Adam has been practicing vinyasa flow yoga since 1999 and has trained extensively with Jason Crandell. He offers precise, strong, and accessible classes to physically awaken the body and develop mindfulness both on and off the mat. His teaching is down-to-earth and direct, exploring traditional practices from a modern perspective. A native of South Florida, Adam spent ten years in New York City before becoming a Londoner. He teaches studio classes, workshops and courses throughout London, and retreats across the globe. As a writer, Adam contributes regularly to magazines and web publications on yoga. Visit Adam at www.adamhocke.com