http://yogadork.com/news/smithsonian-yoga-exhibit-seeks-to-explore-mysteries-of-yogic-art/
14 Jun
2013
6/14 Quote:
“Before you’ve practiced, the theory is useless. After you’ve practiced, the theory is obvious.”
– David Williams
Tag Archives: yoga
12 Jun
2013
Ujjayi Pranayama
What is Ujjayi Pranayama? (also referred to as Ujjayi breath)
Many beginner students often ask, “What is this strange Ujjayi Pranayama breathing technique?” As a beginning yoga practitioner, it might seem odd that some of your fellow students sound like Darth Vader while they’re practicing. Here’s the explanation:
In Sanskirt, the word ujjayi means victory. Ujjayi or victory breath is a type of pranayama (controlled breathing) in which you breathe in a constant, even rhythm through both nostrils, holding your glottis partially closed.
Yes, when done “correctly,” it can sound like Darth Vader although some advanced practitioners are able to silently utilize the Ujjayi breath.
This method of breathing can be easily learned within just a few practices.
You can practice Ujjayi breath throughout the entire Ashtanga yoga series and other yoga practices if you want to increase the lucidity of your practice.
As a great teacher once taught me, there’s really no reason to open the mouth during a yoga practice. The nose is for breathing, the mouth is for eating & drinking. (Intuitively, this makes sense as our noses have the ability to filter air whereas our mouths do not)
Here is a video of Kino McGregor teaching Ujjayi Pranayama:
Benefits of Ujjayi Pranayama include:
- increased concentration during practice
- more inward focus
- less distractions
- released tension
What benefits have you felt while practicing Ujjayi Pranyama?
12 Jun
2013
6/12 Quote:
“Yoga is learning to never say I can’t.”
12 Jun
2013
7 Physical & Mental Benefits of Cold Showers
7 Physical & Mental Benefits of Cold Showers
What are the key benefits of cold showers? Cold showers are incredible. By taking cold showers, you can improve your physical and mental health listed below.
Updated 8/9/2015
1. Increased Tolerance to Stress
Exposure to cold water gives your body a higher tolerance to stress by purposely exposing it to stress. If you can withstand a cold shower, the rest of your day’s challenges will seem like a breeze.
2. Increase in Lucidity
A cold shower turns a mundane task into a lucid practice. You begin to feel the sensation of each water drop hitting your skin. You notice an increase in gratitude for the fact that your internal organs are able to rapidly pump blood to regulate your body temperature.
3. Increased Blood Circulation
Exposure to cold water causes your blood flow to be redirected to your vital organs, it forces your body to circulate your blood more efficiently & effectively.
4. Healthy Skin and Hair
Cold water helps close pores. This keeps your skin looking smooth & healthy while not drying your skin out as hot water showers can sometimes do. The cold water will help keep your hair look shiny and keep your skin soft, rather than itchy, ashy and dried out. Just one of the many benefits of cold showers 😉
5. Immune System Supercharge
Cold water immersion has been shown to increase metabolic rates due to shivering and activating the immune system.
In Siberia, in a ritual called Rodnichok or cold springs, parents dump a cold bucket of water over the heads of children. They do this year round for ages 2-6. Again, this is in Siberia. Those kids are tough. It’s shown that about 95% of the kids who participate are healthy through the flu season as opposed to 75% of the those children in groups that don’t participate.
6. Increased Testosterone
In a world where men are increasingly willing to pop prescription pills to solve low-testtosterone problems, the solution is actually in their own bathroom. A 1993 study done by the Thrombosis Research Institute in England showed cold baths to be correlated with high testosterone levels.
7. Anti-Depressant Properties
Due to the high density of cold receptors in the skin, a cold shower is expected to send an overwhelming amount of electrical impulses from peripheral nerve endings to the brain, which could result in an anti-depressive effect. Also, cold showers have been linked to an increase in , a protein that is helpful in regulating glucose levels and breaking down fatty acids.
Two bonus positive side effects:
1. Improved Lymphatic System Functioning
The lymphatic system takes waste away from your cells to help fight disease. It’s separate from your blood vessels, but is moved around by the contraction of your muscles. Cold showers cause your entire body to contract and forces the lymphatic system to push the lymph fluids throughout your body rather than pooling in one part of your body as it would if it were compromised or inefficient.
2. Better Sleep
Doctors recommend insomniacs take cold showers to help aid sleep. It might be because the feeling you get after the initial shock of the shower helps your body calm down & relax.
It may seem daunting at first…. I promise it gets easier each time so take the plunge!! It might just change your life. 😉
Some of the tips above can be contributed to: http://impossiblehq.com/cold-shower-health-benefits
Cheers to my friend @PhilFeelsGood who first introduced me to cold showers!
11 Jun
2013
Meditation is a Lucid Practice
One of the better feelings one can come across is “pure meditation.” The closest I get to “pure meditation” is during savasana at the end of a yoga practice. Letting go of everything and being one with world is an awesome feeling.
Over time, I know meditation will aid in destroying ignorance, hate, and greed. From the practice, a great path emerges.
Many including myself at times have been led to believe that happiness can come from worldly fulfillments. When you are one with yourself, what job or material possession really matters?
When I get up from meditation, I see what really matters: the eternal gift of life. Nature starts to speak to me. Little things that I take for granted fill themselves up with beauty. I begin to see God in a lot of different places. I begin to see Love and Truth.
Do you have similar realizations during meditation and/or savasana?
-BL
11 Jun
2013
6/11 Quote:
“Body is not stiff, mind is stiff.”- Sri K. Pattabhi Jois
11 Jun
2013
Investing and Yoga
“Everything is impermanent, especially the market’s level,” says Mr. Kessel
“He is one of a breed of financial advisers who are taking yoga and meditation out of the ashram and putting them into Excel spreadsheets. The values and teachings of these Eastern-inspired traditions, proponents say, impart a special kind of financial wisdom that, among other benefits, allows them to stay calm in crises and make holistic financial plans for clients.”
9 Jun
2013
Backbend Bible
Outstanding pictorial & textual guide to beginning & advanced asana backbends:
http://www.mryoga.com/backbends
Benefits of backbends: Improves spinal flexibility and strength creating better posture, stimulates the central nervous system, abdominal organs and aids in digestion, tones the adrenal glands, kidney, pancreas and liver thyroid gland, abdominal organs and lungs, stretches the chest, lungs, upper and lower back, throat, shoulders, hip flexors, can relieve menstrual cramping and menopause for women, and calms the mind.
7 Jun
2013
Gandhi’s Yoga:
http://www.yogamag.net/archives/1983/isep83/gany1.shtml
Mahatma Gandhi was a karma yogi who tried to put into practice various yama and niyama. He tried to follow the path of truth, non-violence, self-restraint, brahmacharya, etc.
The following ten rules (1) guided him through life:
1. Truth.
2. Ahimsa (non-violence).
3. Brahmacharya (chastity).
4. Restraint of palate, which he elaborated as eating for the mere sustenance of the body, abstaining from intoxicating drinks and drugs such as opium and tobacco.
5. Abstaining from the possession of things for themselves.
6. Adherence to life’s law that one’s bread must be earned by the sweat of one’s brow.
7. Swedeshi, the belief that man’s primary duty is to serve.
8. Belief in the equality of mankind.
9. Belief in the equality of all the great faiths of the world.
10. Fearlessness.