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Expand Your Yogic Tool Kit: Inspiring teachers share their most supportive practices….

April 30, 2021 by Cara Butler Leave a Comment

by Cara Butler As we all continue to process and progress through this global pandemic together, I find myself wondering how it has affected personal yoga practices. I know mine has personally shifted but I was curious to hear from those around me with more experience and wisdom, so I reached out to five of the best teachers we have in Aotearoa to share their guidance with you all. This is what I asked of them...... ‘Taking into consideration all that has occurred over the past 18 … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Teaching Insights Tagged With: asana, nidra, pranayama, support, yoga

Teachers – are your cues creating dysfunctional breathing?

April 16, 2020 by Guest Author 1 Comment

by Dr Jane Hardcastle, Movewell: therapeutic yoga, massage, and movement Hearing “take a deep breath in…and out” is ubiquitous in many yoga classes, as yoga teachers encourage students to better access their breath, become aware of 'chest breathing' and use their breath as a barometer of where, and how they are. Classes are often accompanied by publicly audible ‘ujjayi’ breath. We witness bellies expanding as students believe they are ‘doing’ great breathing. But should we ever ‘do’ … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Breathing Practices, Teaching Insights Tagged With: hyperventilation, overbreathing, pranayama, ujjayi, yoga

How to Activate Your Chakras, Unlock Your Asana Practice & Make Your Heart Sing

September 29, 2016 by Guest Author 2 Comments

By Premaloka, Yoga on Waiheke Join Premloka for her Awakened Heart Yoga Retreats and Workshops: Raglan, New Zealand 28th-30th October 2016  Kovalam, India August/September 2017. Find out more here. Would you like more Happiness in your life? Would you like your practice to not only be connected to the physical body, the mind, and your breath, but to also transform you emotionally? Through working directly with the chakras and then connecting with the Bhavas (the body’s emotional … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energetic Practices, Home Yoga Practice, Meditation Practices, Physical Practices, Practices Tagged With: Anahata, asana, chakra, chakras, kundalini, meditation, pranayama

When Overwhelming Thoughts Take Over Your Restorative Yoga Practice

November 27, 2015 by Guest Author 1 Comment

By Nityda Bhakti, The Yoga Wellness Space Yoga is a practice of turning inward or pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses). It can be hard to do this at times in a more rigorous yoga class, especially for those still learning the poses and therefore needing to fix their focus to others in the room in an effort to get their bodies into the right position. Restorative yoga allows us the space to hold poses for longer, with the support of props, so that we don’t have to use physical effort to do … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Practices Tagged With: breathwork, centering, distracting, emotions, grounding, how to yoga, meditation, mental health, mindfulness, overwhelming emotions in yoga, practice, pranayama, pratyahara, restorative yoga, stress management, stress reduction, tolerating discomfort, yoga chitta vritti nirodha, yoga for anxiety, yoga for depression, yoga for trauma, yoga skills, yoga therapy

How Yoga Helped Me Deal with the Emotional and Psychological After-Effects of Trauma from Living and Working in Afghanistan

July 31, 2014 by Guest Author Leave a Comment

by Marianne Elliott When it comes to working with fear, yoga is one of my secret weapons. Fear is not just a thought or idea. Fear is a neurobiological reaction to perceived threat. This is where modern neuroscience catches up with the wisdom of yoga and meditation. The autonomic nervous system (i.e. the part you don't consciously control) is divided into two sections: the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous systems. The sympathetic nervous system acts to mobilize the body's 'fight or … [Read more...]

Filed Under: How Yoga Helped Me Tagged With: alternate nostril breathing, brave, bravery, courage, fear, nuerobiology, pranayama, stress, yoga

Pranayama – It’s Your Medium to the ‘Super Soul’

April 18, 2014 by Guest Author Leave a Comment

by guest author L. Farrah Furtado India… the place that heightens the sense of penetration into another worldly reality, or the world beyond this one; a world within a world. I am currently in Mysore, India taking a pranayama, mudra and philosophy course at the  Krishnamachar Sri Patanjala Yoga Shala with the famous Guruji, B. N. S. Iyengar. (Not to be confused with B. K. S. Iyengar). This entails taking an hour class with him every day and practicing pranayama six days a week for four … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Practices, The Foundations Tagged With: astanga yoga, B.N.S. Iyengar, Krishnamacharya, pranayama, soul

An interview with Swami Samnyasananda, a consultant neurophysiologist

April 20, 2012 by Kara-Leah Grant 1 Comment

Article courtesy Anahata Yoga Retreat Swami Samnyasananda is a consultant neurophysiologist whose research explores the effects of pranayama, meditation and relaxation on the heart, brain and autonomic nervous systems. He is a Certified Yoga Teacher, Life Member and Fellow of the World Society for Clinical Yoga (Lucknow, India), and has over 30 years of experience in classes, personal tuition & clinical counselling in yoga, meditation, relaxation and stress management (M.B.T.I. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Teacher Interviews Tagged With: autonomic nervous systems, brain, clinical counselling, effects, heart, meditation, neurophysiologist, personal tuition, pranayama, relaxation, research, satyananda, stress management, Swami Samnyasananda, World Society for Clinical Yoga, yoga, yoga nidra

How yoga helped me… enjoy a fulfilling pregnancy

March 6, 2012 by Guest Author Leave a Comment

Submitted by Mandy Lawson of Cobano, Costa Rica The day I found out that I am pregnant with my first child was one of the most astounding, emotional and happy days of my life so far. In our minds we can imagine how we will feel and react when something long awaited happens, but this was much more intense that I could have guessed. I doubt that I will ever forget the amazement and disbelief that I encountered upon seeing the two little pink lines on the pregnancy test. I just kept … [Read more...]

Filed Under: How Yoga Helped Me Tagged With: asana, costa rica, mandy lawson, motherhood, pranayama, pregnancy, restorative yoga, yoga

Pranayama in Pyjamas

March 1, 2012 by Guest Author Leave a Comment

Pranayama in Pajamas

by new columnist Gabrielle Harris, The Suburban Yogini It’s 5.30 am, I’m up to do some serious breathing. It feels virtuous and good to be up at this time, just like a real yogi, however I do note that not even the birds seem to be breathing at this hour. But I’m a yogini and I’m on a mission - to find out more about Pranayama and its reported effects. I read somewhere that you should aim for at least 5 minutes breathing, 10 minutes meditation and 20 minutes asana in your morning … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Practices Tagged With: beginner, breath, practice, pranayama

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