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If you have been to a yoga class, chances are you have been invited to chant ‘om.’ Whether at the beginning of class as a way to set the space or at the end of class to close the practice, chanting om is a wonderful way to tune back into the present moment and connect...
The word prajna is a very old word, akin to the Greek word gnosis. Prajna suggests wisdom, a kind of sixth sense—or seventh sense—not intellectual but an intuitive wisdom. Through prajna one actualizes the dharma in everyday life and engages in the world...
ISHTA Yoga, or the Integrated Science of Hatha, Tantra, and Ayurveda, was developed in the late 1960s by Alan Finger and his father, Mani Finger, who was a student of Paramahansa Yogananda (author of Autobiography of a Yogi). Mani Finger transformed his home into an...
If you snickered at the title of this post because your experience of Downward Facing Dog pose is anything but resting, then you are not alone. Virtually everyone experiences some form of struggle with Downward Facing Dog, especially at first. It’s a challenging...
Sivananda Yoga is a form of Hatha Yoga brought to the West in 1957 by Swami Vishnudevananda at the urging of his Indian teacher, a medical doctor named Swami Sivananda. Vishnudevananda founded the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres based on Swami Sivananda’s...
Viniyoga™ adapts various methods of yoga practice to the unique condition, needs, and interests of the student, using tools to individualize and actualize the process of self-discovery and personal transformation. Adapted from the teachings of T. Krishnamacharya to...
From an outward perspective, the practice of yoga seems very physical. An often continual progression of movements, yoga is rightly considered to be a physical exercise. But there is one element of the practice that sets it apart from other exercises—the breath. In...
Ashtanga Yoga is a form of Hatha Yoga developed by the late Sri K. Patabbhi Jois in conjunction with his teacher Sri T. Krishnamacharya, the father of Western yoga. The practice is said to be adapted from the 8-limbed Ashtanga yoga system outlined in Yoga Korunta, an...
Iyengar Yoga is a form of Hatha Yoga based on the teachings of B.K.S. Iyengar who studied with Sri T. Krishnamacharya beginning at age 16. He began teaching in 1936 in Pune, India at the age of 18. He later authored the yoga classic Light on Yoga and is one of the...
The most familiar form of yoga practiced in the West is Hatha Yoga, which is a combination of physical postures (asana), breath work (pranayama), meditation (dhyana), and relaxation. There are many different styles, or expressions, of Hatha Yoga. In fact, there are so...
Meditation is a practice that brings about a state of mind in which the present moment is fully experienced. It can sound esoteric and even elusive, but meditation is actually very practical. Meditation helps to calm the incessant stream of thoughts flowing through...
By Jennifer French In the Yoga Sutras, one of yoga’s most sacred and oft referenced texts, Patanjali tells us that our “practice becomes firmly grounded when well attended to for a long time, without break, and in all earnestness.*” When I think on firmly grounded, I...
If you have practiced yoga for any length of time, you are likely familiar with the sound of OM. Often chanted at the beginning and/or end of class, OM is a seed mantra, or a one-syllable chant. Possibly the quintessential Sanskrit mantra due to its vibrational nature...
If you have been practicing yoga for a while, you are familiar with the relationship between breath and movement. You understand that certain movements correspond to either an in breath or an out breath, each complimenting and facilitating the other. Over time the...
Through the practice of yoga we become more aware of how we hold our bodies—how we stand, how we walk, and how we move about. This awareness takes, well, practice. In yoga class we work on lengthening the spine with a stable, engaged core while lifting and opening the...
The practice of yoga, especially asana and pranayama, not only supports our structural physical health, but also the internal physical health of our organs. One particular internal benefit of yoga is the support of digestive health, governed by the Manipura Chakra....