Photo by Francesco Ungaro Cultivating Energy, Attention, and Appreciation through Home Practice When I began practicing yoga more than a decade ago, I had no intention of starting a home practice, even though each of my teachers had encouraged me to do so. Most of the time I felt lost on my mat, uncertain [...]
How New Parents Can Keep up their Personal Practice I was completely unprepared for the total lifestyle shift of becoming a mom. Those first few days and weeks postpartum were a major shock to my system. My body felt completely foreign to me, my days were no longer my own, and I wondered if my [...]
There are a lot of new poses out there on Instagram, like this pose, which some call "Pistol Squat Compass Pose," or "Eka Pada Parvritta Utkatasana Surya Yantrasana." Many yogis used to put these shocking shapes as "after" pictures, but for other seasoned practitioners, these types of shapes have become the "before." Photo of [...]
How your words can either empower or disempower you The subconscious mind is getting a lot of buzz these days. The folks leading the personal development/human potential movements have honed in on it as the method behind our proverbial madness (i.e. how and why humans operate the way we do). You see, the subconscious mind [...]
Aquarian Sadhana in Kundalini Yoga You’ll hear this phrase (Aquarian Sadhana) used by Kundalini yogis often. It’s a core part of the practice of Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan. You might take a class at a Kundalini Yoga studio and they invite you to attend sadhana, and you do a double take [...]
Sarah Ezrin and Hands-On Adjustments with Students. Photo by Scott Mitchell Fine-tuning hands-on adjustments I participated in injuring a student once. There was no pop. There was no scream. In fact, in the moment, there was nothing that told me I had done anything wrong, including the student. I remember her body moving [...]
Andrea Marcum, Author of Close to Om Savasana is one of our most important practices. In relaxation, we can take time to stop in order to get started. Awaken to the fact that you must stop in order to start. You most likely know savasana (or corpse pose) as that moment at the [...]
Seventh Chakra Practices to Develop Mental Clarity Yoga, meditation, and polarity exercises combined with aromatherapy can help us integrate mind, body, and spirit while promoting mental clarity and simultaneously releasing stress and angst. The language of the chakra system offers a vocabulary to help us navigate this process. The Chakra System The chakra system is [...]
Yoga Teacher Grace Flowers is wearing clothing by Silly Yogi. Photo by David Young-Wolff. The Fourth Chakra: Lighten Up and Feel Joy With Essential Oils, Yoga, Polarity Therapy, Meditation & Affirmation for Heart Chakra Aromatherapy The heart is our point of internal connection. The relationships to ourselves and to others originate from the [...]
Grace Flowers is wearing clothing by Silly Yogi. Photo by David Young-Wolff. Sixth Chakra Aromatherapy Practices Help Us Stay Grounded in Turbulent Times Just as the tempestuous winds and rains of a storm incite upheaval and destruction in nature, the elements of stress, trauma, loss, and grief can create turbulence and discord in [...]