Yoga Practice Tips
Surya namaskara (sun salutation) practice is awesome! I love linking breathing and movement in each transition. Stepping back to high plank > chaturanga > upward facing dog is strengthening and lengthening when done mindfully.
Yoga: A Spiritual Path and Practice
Yoga isn’t only about getting a stronger core, and learning to stand on your head or hands. It’s also about calming your mind, opening your heart, and finding peace within you. In the big picture, yoga connects you to the truest part of yourself. At its root, it’s a spiritual practice.
What’s Up with Moon Days?
Moon days are simply opportunities for rest. Over time, yoga practice grows your awareness. You become more aware and attuned to your body, its rhythms, and eventually to nature. The more you connect to the rhythms both in and around you, the more balanced you will feel.
Tips for a Consistent Yoga Practice
It’s best to practice yoga with your teacher at the shala or studio. Though, as you know, life happens and we need to learn how to practice at home to stay consistent. It can be simpler than it seems, and as routine as brushing your teeth.
Yoga Is an Anchor
An anchor is something that provides strength and support. It helps keep you grounded and connected to what matters most. It gives you a safe space, away from busyness and distractions, to simply breathe and be.
Breath: The Sweetness of Yoga Practice
When was the last time you felt completely renewed after practicing yoga? I bet you were deeply connected to your breathing. Zoning inward to the breath can make all the difference. The breath is a gateway to greater awareness and enjoyment in your yoga practice.
Yoga Practice: Quality Over Quantity
Yoga is adaptable. It meets your needs at the present moment. Your yoga practice will look and feel different at various points in your life. And, that’s okay. Your practice is meant to support you—increasing your energy, steadiness, and overall well-being.
Ahimsa: Living with Peace
Can practicing yoga inspire peaceful living? Yes! Each time you practice yoga and meditation is a step in building self-awareness and peacefulness. Practicing the five yamas (the first of eight limbs) also cultivates peace. These are ethical guidelines about interacting with yourself and others.
Mind the Mind
Mind is powerful. Your beliefs shape your world, especially the ones you have of yourself. It’s been said—whether you think you can or think you cannot, you are right. If you believe something is possible, you move toward it.
Move a Muscle, Change a Feeling
Every experience you have, even at the subconscious level, makes a physical deposit into the body. You may be carrying around baggage from weeks or years that’s weighing you down. That’s where yoga comes in.
Relax Your Grip
Whatever you’re working toward or hoping for—relax your grip. When you try too hard or hold too tightly, you end up pushing the things you want further away. Imagine a tightly closed hand. It’s full of resistance and repels with its clenched nature. Though a soft, open hand is able to receive.
Challenge Is a Requirement for Growth
What if you looked at your challenges simply as a requirement for growth? Would it make it any easier? In a way, yes. It’s been said—accept whatever happens to you as if you chose it to be that way, and you take out much of the stress.
Rooted in Love
Valentine's Day, February 14, 2001—I stepped into my first yoga class. The practice drew to me like a magnet and continues to enrich my life. Yoga points you inward, to the truest part of yourself.