Yoga For Beginners Blog Posts
10 Yoga Words You Need to Know
Committing to any new activity can be intimidating, and yoga is no exception. In fact, your first few yoga classes may be downright overwhelming as your yoga teacher may use words that seem completely foreign to you…and that’s because they are! Many yoga teachers may use the traditional words to refer to poses, gestures, and breathing techniques throughout your session. Fear not! … [Keep Reading...]
The Importance of Breath
Breathing is a key component to your yoga practice. Not only does focused, conscious breathing allow you to deliver more oxygen to your body, but it also allows you to hold difficult poses longer. In addition to these main benefits, controlled and deep breathing encourages your body to relax both physically and mentally, further enriching your practice. Think of these three breath-related … [Keep Reading...]
Honor Thyself: Why It May Take Awhile to Master that Pose
No one likes to be the newbie in the room; however, pushing your body beyond its limits may result in injuries that could delay your mastery of yoga poses. One of yoga’s core principles is respect of the body. Don’t worry if your warrior pose isn’t as deep as the person’s in front of you; nor should you worry if your uplifted root needs to touch the ground for balance during tree … [Keep Reading...]
What is an Asana?
If you are at all familiar with yoga, you've at least heard the word asana used. But what exactly does it mean? The Merriam Webster definition doesn't offer much information: Asana (/ˈäsənə/) - any of various yoga postures. Now let's look at the word's origin to see if we can get more clues. Asana is Sanskrit for "manner of sitting" or "a sitting posture." Originally, asanas were used … [Keep Reading...]
Hoo Rag (Product Review)
The people over at Hoo Rag contacted me asking if I'd review their product. They sent me a Hoo Rag and I've tested it out for you. This is an honest review, they have not asked me to write a positive or negative review, just an honest one.Here is my review:I must say, when the Hoo Rag people asked me to review their product, I was a bit skeptical. First, I wondered how could anyone … [Keep Reading...]
The Easiest Way To Start Practicing Yoga is…
Throughout my journey with yoga I've met so many people who say something like,"Oh you practice yoga? I'd love to start but...(insert a multitude of reasons)." Such as:I'm too tired all the time I don't have time I'm too busy I'm not flexible enough I don't have a place to do it I can't afford classes. Ect.What do I say to these folks? Don't think about it, just start doing … [Keep Reading...]
Controlling Fear in Your Practice
Yoga is learning the delicate balance between control and surrender. In order to hold and flow from pose to pose without falling, we must exert a level of concentrated control. Yet in order to truly let our body move, release and breathe, we must allow ourselves to surrender.This balancing act of control and surrender is something that can make yoga difficult, especially for the … [Keep Reading...]
Turn Your Yoga Practice into a Concentrated, Moving Meditation
Concentration is the sixth limb of Pantajali’s eight limbs of yoga. Pantanjali’s sutra’s define concentration as,III.1 “When the attention of the mind-stuff is directed in a single stream to a chosen field without being dissipated and thus distracted – that is concentration.”Let’s break that down a bit further,“When the attention of the mind-stuff…”What is the … [Keep Reading...]
Not Sleeping Enough? You May Be Gaining Weight As A Result
Researchers at the University of Chicago conducted an experiment to see what the effects of sleep deprivation are on our fat cells. They recruited several healthy individuals to sleep 2 weeks in a sleep lab. For the first week, the individuals were allowed to sleep for 8 1/2 hours per night. After this week was over, researches sampled their fat.A month later, the participants came back to … [Keep Reading...]
Arsenic in Our Food
This article has nothing to do with yoga – but everything to do with our health. In general, I’ll be writing more articles about food and our food supply as I feel just as passionate about it as yoga. Most people turn to yoga to improve our overall health and well-being. But it’s important to remember that the food we put in our bodies is critical to our overall health and … [Keep Reading...]
