| Tuesday, August 14, 2007
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The First Chakra: Root
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The first Chakra, Muladhara (root), is located at the base of the spine. Its color is red and its issues are survival, stability, and self-sufficiency. |
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The fifth Chakra, Vissudha (purification), is located at the throat. Its color is bright blue and its issues are communication, inspiration, expression, and faith. |
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The sixth Chakra, Ajna (to perceive), is located between the eyebrows, just above the bridge of the nose. Its color is indigo blue and its issues are psychic, emotional and mental intelligence, and intuition. |
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The seventh Chakra, Sahasrara (thousand petaled), is located at the crown (top) of the head. Its color is white or violet and its issues are devotion, inspiration, selflessness, and spiritual understanding. |
| Wednesday, November 14, 2007
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Challenge Yourself
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To go deeper into your practice of yoga, it is necessary to challenge your body-mind-spirit on occasion. Use these four powerful techniques in combination or by themselves to challenge yourself further. |
| Tuesday, June 19, 2007
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Yoga for Fatigue
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We all have experienced common bouts of fatigue as a normal response to over-exertion, emotional stress, boredom, or lack of sleep.This common experience of low energy and/or motivation can usually be alleviated through proper rest, exercise, stress reduction and nutrition. Yoga is an especially effective treatment for fatigue as it combines movement, rest and stress reduction with the cultivation of prana (life force energy) and the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and renew response). |
| Thursday, April 19, 2007
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Yoga for Anxiety
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While anxiety (feelings of worry, fear and tension) is a normal reaction to stress, a constant state of anxiety or excessive levels of anxiety is a primary symptom of an anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders are quite common, affecting about 18 percent of American adults, and are complex in nature, most likely occurring as a result from a combination of genetic, environmental, psychological, and developmental factors. While the traditional treatment of anxiety disorders with medication and Psychotherapy is effective, the stress reducing effects of yoga and meditation can reduce excessive levels of stress and anxiety, and can greatly enhance the effects of traditional therapies. |
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While we all are bound to suffer from the occasional cold or flu, the practicing yogi/yogini is less likely to come down with the sniffles, and when he/she does, tends to have a much faster recovery rate. This is true because of yoga’s known abilities to regulate the immune system, keeping it strong and healthy to withstand infections, and yoga’s ability to boost immune function with specific yogic practices. |
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| Friday, January 19, 2007
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Yoga for Insomnia
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Insomnia is a sleep disorder that is characterized by difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, waking too early, and/or feeling tired upon waking. Acute insomnia (lasting from one night to a few weeks) is the most common and is usually caused by stress, hormonal changes, and/or emotional problems. Fortunately, the stress reducing, calming and natural balancing effects of yoga make it a perfect remedy for mild and acute insomnia, and along with good sleep habits insomnia can often be prevented or quickly cured. |
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The most revered and pertinent texts in the Bhakti Yoga tradition are the Puranas, the ancient stories of the Indian gods and goddesses. In Bhakti Yoga the devotional aspect of yoga is emphasized, in which the practitioner develops faith and unconditional love to become united with the Divine. This faith and love is cultivated through the Puranas personalization of the Devas (gods and goddesses) with vivid and entertaining myths, stories and legends. The Puranas also serve to detail the spiritual practices and modes of worshiping and invoking the universal energies encapsulated in the Devas. |
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Purification (shaucha) is a central aim of all the yogic practices, and is the first principle of self-discipline (niyama) in Patanjali’s eight-limbed approach. The yogis have discovered that impurities in our internal body adversely affect our state of mind, and prevent the attainment of real wisdom and spiritual liberation. Through the yogic practices of asana, pranayama, tapas and shatkarma, the body and the mind become cleansed and our spiritual development is accelerated. |
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We often bring injuries with us into our yoga practice – both from pushing ourselves too hard in yoga and from overworking our bodies in other exercise or daily activities. Yoga can provide a therapeutic tool for healing and recovery from an injury – but it can also be an impediment to healing or even worsen the injury. By adhering to some simple guidelines we can safely practice yoga with an injury and utilize yoga to support the healing process by activating the body’s lymphatic system and by improving local circulation. |
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With over 100 different names attributed to him, Shiva is known to have the most complicated symbolism, qualities and representation of all the Hindu deities. Overall, Shiva is revered for three primary roles: the ideal yogi, the destroyer, and the doer of good. |
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Due to sedentary lifestyles and poor habits in daily activities, many Americans tend to have poor posture, exhibiting the traits of kyphosis, an excessively rounded upper spine, and lordosis, an excessively arched lower back. Because of its emphasis on proper posture, yoga can help reverse abnormal curves in the spine, correcting both the “hunchback” curve that occurs in postural kyphosis and the “swayback” curve that occurs in postural lordosis. And since posture has been found to affect every system in the body, yoga’s efficacy in creating optimal spinal alignment will also improve one’s overall health and well-being. |
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Krishna has become the one of the most referenced forms in the devotional and ecstatic practices of bhakti yoga. Krishna is said to be the eighth and most important avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu, and is depicted as a hansom blue colored deity with a crown of peacock's feathers, playing the flute. His peacock's feathers are a symbol of beauty and knowledge, and the flute represents the calling for God and symbolizes a pure, open heart. |
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With an elephant head and a round potbelly, Ganesha is perhaps the most popular and best known of the Hindu deities. Ganesha is most notably known as the “remover of obstacles” but also resides over the realms of wisdom, luck, doorways, the household and writing. |
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