Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

We've taken time this past week to process, think, listen, learn, and formulate a plan to take definitive action in regards to the #blacklivesmatter movement. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ We always have, and always will, stand in solidarity, side-by-side, with our black brothers and sisters, and vehemently fight against racism in any shape or form. We absolutely will not tolerate it.

Here at YogaDownload.com, we love to help make yoga available to as many people as we can, all over the globe. This week, we are thrilled to introduce our first dedicated Spanish Language Yoga Program: Yoga en Español. According to the World Economic Forum, the world’s most spoken languages are Chinese, Spanish, and English. As of 2018, that means Spanish is the second most spoken language, by roughly 437 million people, primarily in Spain, Latin America, and parts of the United States. Currently, most yoga classes are offered in English, Sanskrit, or some combination of the two. Many students find learning the Sanskrit names for the yoga asanas or postures to be a daunting challenge. Sanskrit isn’t a spoken language, only existing in written form, so it takes a great deal of memorization to learn the pose names. If English isn’t your first language, practicing yoga can be even more challenging due to language barriers.

Are you in need of a reset? Maybe you are feeling tired or lack motivation, or you simply woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. Perhaps external events are weighing heavily on you. Or maybe you’ve fallen into a pattern of negative thinking and need to flip the switch and find a more positive perspective. Yoga is a practice of looking within and shining a light on our true nature. Enter the yoga sutras! The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are considered the seminal text on yoga and despite the fact they are thousands of years old, their enduring wisdom is relevant today. The practical philosophy can be employed to help us uncover our best selves. In order to shift your perspective, consider Sutra 2.33: vitarka badhane pratipaksha bhavanam. When distracted by disquieting or negative thoughts or feelings, cultivate the opposite point of view and replace with the positive. This is pratipaksha bhavana. Let’s consider a few situations and see how this practice can create a true shift in your attitude.

This week, we are excited to kick off a two-week challenge designed to tone and strengthen your center and bolster your center of gravity. We’ve got the top 5 reasons to focus on your abs and booty during yoga…hint––not just for how you look in a bathing suit! Now, we aren’t saying we don’t love looking our best, but we want to remind you these benefits change how you feel, not just how you look. Ready to get motivated? Here are the top 5 benefits to working out your abs and booty! 1. A Healthy Spine: Strong, toned abdominals will help maintain a healthy back. Often, lower back pain comes from weak abdominals and who has time for that? Many of these classes focus on toning not just your abdominals, but your back muscles too. The muscles of your trunk comprise your core and keeping them in shape will help you protect your spine. By performing specific, targeted work to strengthen your center, you can avoid pain and injury.

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

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

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

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

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

This week we celebrate freedom and the right to live the lives of our dreams. Martin Luther King, Jr. was an incredible inspiration for all of us, as exemplified in his iconic “I have a dream” speech. His courage and bravery to fight for the rights of all people resonates today and for all time.

Known as the “queen” of all yoga postures, Shoulderstand is packed with healing and restorative benefits for your mind, body and spirit.  Shoulderstand is indeed the queen, or mother of asanas. As a mother strives for harmony and balance in the home, this asana strives for harmony and balance in the human system. It can be seen as a panacea for most common ailments. In Sanskrit, Sarva means “all” or “entire” and Anga means “organ” or “body part.” Translated, it means “full body pose” because of all of the many benefits for the entire body.

What does success mean to you? How do you align your values, your intentions, and your priorities to achieve the life of your dreams while being your authentic self? To create success with a yogic mindset, try meditation to clear your mind and allow your deepest dreams and desires to rise to the surface. Rather than focusing on the object of your desire, meditate to quiet the chatter in your mind and surrender to the process of discovering your true intentions and dreams. Are they personal? professional? health-related? We’re all different and at any given time, certain areas of our life shift to the forefront.

Whatever you thought about 2016, this year is a fresh start. We’re here to help you take your life to the next level with new programs and classes to make sure you can put your best mind, mood and foot forward. While some big-picture new years resolutions are ‘head-in-the-clouds’ plans that will soon fade, this is about creating attainable daily routines and results through yoga and meditation classes that will restore, revitalize, and sustain you throughout the year.

Last week, we discussed the Winter Solstice and how when we align with nature, we settle into a rhythm that honors our own inner being. It’s easy to get off balance this time of year when the world seems focused on the holidays, and your usual schedule flies out the window. How we can maintain our self-practice or Sadhana!

During the holidays and at an year’s end, it’s normal to get off track from routines and our daily practices of yoga and meditation. We go into unfamiliar spaces in airports and places where we can’t bring our meditation cushions or altar. While traveling is exciting, it is easy to feel out of touch with our spiritual practices.

Can you feel the change in the air? December 21, 2016, marked the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. What exactly is a solstice? “Solstice” comes from Latin: sol meaning "sun" and sistere meaning “to stand still.” The Winter Solstice is the perfect time to pause, reflect, and create our dreams and intentions.

Tune into your heart and find joy in settling into Camel pose. Camel is a deep heart-opening posture that strengthens your back while freeing your neck, chest, lungs, abdominals, and thighs. Explore how good it feels to open up through the heart by breathing into the space surrounding it. Because Camel pose directly links to the Anahata, or heart chakra, practicing it allows us to tap into our energy center to foster more genuine self-love, trust, compassion and forgiveness.

You may not have realized this, but your favorite yoga poses are also the key to bringing more love, warmth and fa-la-la to your holiday season. This time, we’re not talking about using your practice for a deep and introspective personal journey toward self discovery, we’re talking about a joy break right on the surface. Keeping spirits bright, we’ve identified the very best poses for your favorite holiday activities. Enjoy the jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell bhakti and the most wonderful time of the year will be exactly that.

The recent Harry Potter yoga class took the Internet by storm, with participants pictured holding a wand as they practiced different yoga poses. They also had a sorting hat and listened to passages from the Deathly Hallows! While we might find it hard to find or attend a Harry Potter class, we can certainly bring some magic into our own home yoga practice. The Griffyndor wizards at BooKYogaTeacherTraining.com have just the right tips for you to work your magic into your own practice!

Flexibility, balance, strength, and equanimity—you’ve probably heard of all those reasons to practice yoga, right? Not just benefits for the body, but for the mind and soul as well. How about combating stress and delving into spirituality? Absolutely! The list goes on…

How’s your state of mind? We here at YogaDownload.com know how hectic life becomes this time of year. We’re right in the stretch between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve when many of us could use a shot of adrenaline or a warm blanket and a teddy bear to make it through to 2017. At the very least, we could use a rejuvenating yoga class or a calming meditation practice.

Happy Thanksgiving friends! We’re here to help you kick off the day mindfully. Before the company gets here, take 10 minutes for yourself to get grounded in a moment of thankfulness – that’s what today is all about, right? Root down by sitting or standing in a place that feels comfortable, and spend a few moments gathering all your favorite people and places and foods and pleasures in your heart. Sometimes it’s easiest to start a meditation with “I am grateful for…”

When we are in harmonious times, it’s easy to express our beliefs and our truth. Many of us yogis surround ourselves with like-minded people seeking to live life on a higher vibration. We choose to focus on the positive and live from a place of compassion and love. Practicing these principles on the yoga mat strengthens our resolve to practice them off the mat. But how do we stand in our truth when it is challenged from all sides? How do we remain peaceful and positive when there’s no choice but to fight to preserve our dignity, our values, and our beliefs? The concept of being a warrior and fighting doesn’t have to mean that we are denying our spirituality.

Reverse Warrior is a powerful standing pose that stretches your hips and groins, while lengthening your spinal and intercostal muscles. The posture also helps blood circulation, reduce stress, mitigate back pain and can be a mood-booster.

This week we’ve got some great new classes designed to help you unleash your inner Shakti energy. Activate your connection to Shakti by mixing up your usual routine— change is good!