Related Posts

• Be Vigorous : Strong, Healthy, & Full of Energy

  

  How is 2018 treating you so far? Are you brimming with energy and excitement and making the most of each day? If you need a boost so you can feel like the strongest, most vigorous version of yourself, we’re thrilled to offer four new classes and five tips to motivate you. We step onto the yoga mat for different reasons at different times in our lives. Sometimes our needs center on a spiritual practice, sometimes we need to release mental stress and tension, and sometimes we simply seek the physical benefits of strength, flexibility, and balance. The beautiful thing about yoga is with all the various styles; you can find classes suitable for whatever you need. This week, our focus is on practicing yoga to cultivate a sense of vigor, which is defined as being strong, healthy, and full of energy. When you feel strong physically, there’s a direct correlation to how you feel emotionally and mentally as well. It’s all connected. Building strength takes tapas or discipline, dedication, and inner fire. Here are the top five reasons focusing on your asana practice pays off for your overall health and well-being:

• How to Manage Your Energy

  

  In the past 2 months I have: Taught 63 yoga classes Taught 31 private yoga sessions Led 6 workshops Traveled to Ohio 3 times, twice unexpectedly and at the last minute Spent 35+ hours learning in yoga training Attended a funeral of a family member Decided to give away our puppy Learned that the foundation of our house needs to be replaced…now Learned that the people who renovated our house quite possibly took down a load-bearing wall, leading to the imminent collapse of our kitchen ceiling Cried Laughed Gave myself secret pep rallies in my mind to show up when I didn’t want to or felt like I couldn’t Surrendered to the universe Reminded myself I am human Practiced yoga Slept Meditated Indulged in a Nora Roberts book, a guilty pleasure Enjoyed Ben & Jerry’s ice cream because I needed to soothe my soul (see Amanda, we’re not so different) And much more If you’re tired just from reading all that, you’ll understand that I’m tired too.

• Staying Svelte in a Studio: Working Out While Staying In

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

• Yoga Breathing: The Three Part Breath

  

  Yama Niyama Asana Pranayama Pratyahara Dharana Dhyana Samadhi. In English (my translation): Be a good person, take care of your Self, be aware of your posture, control your energy, withdraw from your external senses, concentrate, meditate, allow total integration. These are the steps on the path, outlined in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, to enlightenment. I have talked about the Yamas and Niyamas a little bit, the whole world is obsessed with posture, albeit not always healthy posture, meditation is gaining popularity, and the other steps are pretty much forgotten. There are many reasons for this. It’s hard to teach the Yamas and Niyamas unless you’re ready for a self-help course with a philosophy book as a reading requirement. Sense withdrawal is the nicer way of saying sensory deprivation and that is being sold the same way tanning is sold these days. Concentration sounds boring, even though we all know it’s necessary and we could probably use it more then ever what with all the distractions of the internet. Total integration is admittedly optimistic, unrealistic, and metaphysical sounding all at the same time, so I get why people stay away.

• Energy Infused Yoga

  

  Yoga has many facets to reveal. One facet might be more prominent than another based on a number of factors including: your ability to adapt and your teacher’s ability to reveal. One facet not well known is the energetic aspect of yoga. This is not to be confused with the “physical intensity” of the practice. The energetic aspect I refer to is the unseen part of what happens to you in your subtle body and in the room, as a result of the yoga.

• What are the Nadis? A Beginner's Guide

  

  According to eastern health sciences going back decades, every living being is alive and functions because of the life force (or pranic) energy that is circulating throughout their bodies - through channels known as Nadi channels. Nadi channels follow the same path around the body as our sympathetic nervous systems. There are so many energy channels that are flowing around our body, connecting every part of our bodies to each other.