related to yoga world
If I said you should not practice yoga for weight loss, would you turn to aerobics or the boot camp at your local gym? I hope not (unless you enjoy those activities), because if you need to lose weight, you probably will probably if stick with your yoga practice. Yoga is a lifestyle. It doesn’t […]
If I took an informal survey of yogis to find out why they started their practice, I’d expect many responses to be, “I started doing yoga to manage back pain.” Stress relief would probably be up there too. And since stress often contributes to back pain,people who use yoga to manage stress may have less […]
For the most part, we don’t think of bending over backwards in a positive way. That is, unless we’re talking about yoga poses! And even then, backbends may not be your favorite thing to do. No matter how you feel about practicing backbends in yoga classes, the fact is they’re part of most sequences for […]
The other day while practicing triangle pose, my yoga teacher mentioned the pose is a hip opener. It got me thinking about why we do hip openers in yoga. What’s the benefit of having open hips? And what does it even mean to have them? According to Yoga Journal, our hips are physically connected to […]
If you study classical yoga or consider yourself a traditional yogi, you know yoga is much more than a physical practice. You may even like to point that out to other yogis who seem to only do yoga for fitness. Asana (the “exercise” part of yoga) is just one of the eight limbs mentioned in […]
There are a lot of yoga poses. Some we do in most classes. Others we do intermittently depending on the level and style of yoga we practice. It’s a good bet you do at least one variation of virabhadrasana most times you practice. The group of poses known as warrior are unique both in the […]
Over the past few weeks, we’ve had a major heat wave where I live. From what I’ve seen on weather maps, we’re not alone in the northeastern part of the U.S. It’s July in the northern hemisphere, which means hot, humid days for many of us. So, how can you tailor your yoga practice for […]
Yogis, like all people who try to live well, practice the golden rule. In fact, the yoga of kindness is the very first step on Patanjali’s eight-limb path. Kindness, or ahimsa, is referred to as non-harming or nonviolence in the Yoga Sutras. Practicing the Yoga of Kindness I won’t spend time making a case for […]
If I asked a group of yogis to name the first pose that comes to mind, how many would say downward-facing dog? I haven’t taken a survey like this, but my guess is more than half—probably a lot more. It would at least be in the top three (along with child’s pose and savasana). Again, […]
According to ancient wisdom, our bodies have seven main energy centers called chakras. The chakras are channels for the life force, called chi. When they are open, chi flows easily throughout the energy system. Each of the seven chakras has a specific purpose, and you may find your yoga teachers referring to these hubs of […]