By guest author John Falepau, Yogi John Who would have thought I’d be doing ten minutes of yoga every morning before a bowl of porridge and a cup of coffee? I’ve always been an early riser, getting up and off to work. Not that long ago I got up to heave heavy weights before going to work. There’s still a heavy weight of sorts, throw in a yoga mat, and here I am. Getting on my man mat every morning is the start of my day, and it’s what I look forward to when I turn in the night before. … [Read more...]
My Worst Yoga Class Ever
By guest author Zahir Gilani I have been doing Hot Yoga for six years. I have been nomadic in my practice and have tried many different studios and instructors. Some classes have been great, and some instructors have been amazing. I have left classes feeling tranquil, and have even carried on the rest of my day in an ineffable euphoric state. But even if I do not achieve an inner peace while there, at the very least I’ll know I have got a good workout in and had a chance to … [Read more...]
Sun Salutations Video Series: How to do Upward Dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana)
by Kara-Leah Grant Like Chatranga Dandasana, Urdhva Mukha Svanasana is a posture we usually only spend a breath or two in during yoga class. It's a posture of transition and movement. And it's a posture that's very easily to do badly, creating stress on our lower back and shoulders. For this reason, it's a posture I'm now wary of teaching in a general, drop-in yoga class. Yes, it's a staple of sun salutations and yoga, yet many of the people I see coming to class aren't yet ready to swoop … [Read more...]
Why Older Yoga Teachers are Often the Best Yoga Teachers
By Susan Grbic, Growing Younger So many younger people are taking to yoga these days, as opposed to forty years ago when I was cutting my teeth as a student and yoga was still considered way too esoteric for your average citizen. Nowadays there’s a dizzying confusion of yoga ‘styles’ to choose from. And precisely because yoga is attracting so many young people, hundreds of young yoga teachers are emerging. I started teaching when I was forty-five, pretty old by today’s yoga teacher … [Read more...]
Grief: The Shadow Side of the Heart Chakra
by Kara-Leah Grant It's all good and well to do these wonderful heart-opening or heart-balancing yoga practices, but without a proper understanding of all aspects of the heart chakra, we can easily hit a wall of resistance that stops our practice cold. The heart chakra is about our ability to love - which requires that we open to the possibility of grief, sorrow and disappointment as well as the wonderful sensations of love, joy, fulfilment and compassion. Working with this kriya meant I was … [Read more...]
Maintaining a Regular Home Yoga Practice with the ‘Stop, Drop and Practice’ method
by Kara-Leah Grant, author of Forty Days of Yoga, Breaking down the barriers to a home yoga practice One of the techniques I suggest people use in Forty Days of Yoga is something I call Stop, Drop & Practice. It's been a core reason why I've had a consistent practice the last eight years, and it still works for me now. In fact, this is one of my most effective ways of ensuring that mat resistance doesn't de-rail my daily yoga practice and works great around children, or a busy life. Stop, … [Read more...]
Sun Salutations Video Series: How to do Chaturanga Dandasana
by Kara-Leah Grant Chaturanga Dandasana is one of those postures that we often don't spend time in - either in yoga class or in our home yoga practice. It's a one-breath wonder. We're in, we're moving out, that's it. Partly this is because it's a challenging posture and we usually want to get out of it as soon as possible. And part of it is because it's not a flashy yoga posture where we feel like we get somewhere or gain a lot over time. It's easy to see Chaturanga Dandasana as just a … [Read more...]
Why We Need to Take Our Yoga Practice Back to The Basics
by Melissa Billington, Ear2Earth Yoga is a self-regulating practice. It’s a yoke, a disciplined and regular practice that harnesses our innate animal power/prowess and enables us to see our own self-sabotaging habits and tendencies. And, armed with that awareness and new tools for transformation, we are empowered to change those tendencies and habits of self-sabotage into tendencies and habits of transmutation and transformation. We can become the opposite of our deepest darkest fear, … [Read more...]
What Does it Mean to Open Your Heart Chakra?
by Kara-Leah Grant It's Day 17 of my forty days of a heart-opening kriya (see below for PDF of this kriya). Every day I hit the mat and do seven postures in a specific order. Often I do other asana, pranayama and meditation as well. But no matter what, there is always the consistency of the heart-opening kriya to anchor me in my home yoga practice. So, is it working? Is this yoga practice opening my heart chakra? Before I answer that, I want to take a step back and define what that … [Read more...]
The Five Koshas Explained: How They Impact our Yoga Practice
by Kara-Leah Grant, Do enough research, and it seems we can find evidence that regular practice of yoga can positively impact everything from anxiety, depression, and panic attacks to thyroid conditions, sciatica and asthma. In fact, it could be said that yoga can positively impact anything that has to do with the functioning of our physical bodies, minds or emotions. How can this be possible? Surely yoga’s not a silver bullet? Well no, it’s not. However, yoga works to harmonise the body, mind … [Read more...]