My first experience with the power of avidya came about twenty minutes into my third ashtanga yoga class. Or maybe my second. The exact number is not important, just that I was a broke backpacker partway through a pre-paid ten week yoga course. The teacher, a long, lanky woman in her early forties, brought us into Warrior One - Virabhadrasana I. My hips were skewed decidedly sideways. My back heel struggled to connect with the floor. My arms were crooked and screamed in protest as I … [Read more...]
Physical practices are a huge part of any yoga practice! Here you'll find all the best advice about different types of physical practices, and how to find what works best for you.
What’s it like to do 108 sun salutations in a row?
by Kara-Leah, Mention doing 108 sun salutations in a row to most people, even regularly practicing yogis, and their eyes widen as their mind says "No way!" Yes way! Not only can your average yoga practitioner easily complete 108 sun salutations, but it's such an energizing practice, that at the end of 108, some people actually feel like they want to do more. Remember, yoga is not "exercise". It doesn't wear out the body, but energises the mind, body and soul. Sun salutations open and … [Read more...]
Is asana practice a totally over-rated part of yoga?
Think yoga, and likely you'll think of a person bending their body into a posture. You'll imagine the cover of Yoga Journal and think, that's yoga. Except it's not. It's one aspect of Yoga - Hatha Yoga, or physical yoga. Yoga has many paths one can walk, including Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Tantra Yoga, Mantra Yoga... some of these paths don't involve twisting and turning of the body at all, yet they are still yoga. … [Read more...]
How to introduce your children to yoga
The power of yoga to improve the quality of life for our children is an untapped resource. by guest author Amanda Reid of Samadhi Yoga Although yoga has enjoyed popularity with adults for many years, it is only recently that we have come to understand how helpful it can be for children in their formative years, increasing their self-awareness, building their self-esteem, and strengthening their bodies - truly a welcomed oasis in a culture that offers little in the way of mindful yet … [Read more...]
The Joys of Introducing Yoga to Children
By guest author Theresa Bowen Kids love movement and love exploring the potential of their bodies. It is so much fun to offer them different options for doing so and watch them delight in the outcome. Yoga enhances children's strength, flexibility and general body awareness. It is quite powerful when kids explore and experience the effect of the breath as an extension of body awareness, and begin to use it as a tool to relax or energise themselves. Start with feeling where the breath comes … [Read more...]
How to use the creativity of yoga to unleash the child within
We’re all too often wrapped up in the tasks of life. As we age, we run the risk of diminishing our natural creativity for the sake of ‘being a grown-up’. The practice of yoga will help keep the inner child alive, and creativity flowing. By Seka Ojdrovic Children can be our best teachers Nearing the end of a particularly child-like weekend (spent tumbling down a waterslide, enjoying a double-scoop ice cream cone and visiting a toy store), I was thrilled when the sun shone bright so … [Read more...]
My nine favourite places to practice asana, pranayama and meditation
Part of my mission as a yoga teacher and writer is to show people that asana, pranayama and meditation can happen anywhere, anytime - not just in a yoga class, at a yoga studio, in a gym or on your mat at home. Breaking free of our ideas of how asana, pranayama and meditation "should" be practised gets yoga off the mat and integrates it into your everyday daily life. And when you integrate your practice into your everyday, daily life, you will see great gains, giant leaps, and experience … [Read more...]
How to approach challenging yoga poses with patience and self-kindness
Though we all know, as good yogis should, that the purpose of our practice is to create a greater sense of inner peace and self-actualization, it’s sometimes difficult to not push ourselves past our physical limits. by guest author Seka Ojdrovic It’s often said that we are our own worst critic. Part of being human is striving to attain the unattainable and not being satisfied until it’s within our grasp. The practice of yoga is no exception, as we often literally stretch … [Read more...]