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Do you ever find yourself in yoga class struggling to maintain a pose, or to get into a pose, or to keep up the pace during flowing sequences? Do you notice your mind gets agitated with thoughts like, “Why can’t I just keep up,” “Will I ever be able to do this pose,”...
Apana is the prana vayu that governs the downward and outward flow of energy from the body. It is the energy of release, responsible for physical elimination, as well as the release of mental and emotional waste. Apana vayu plays a crucial role in keeping us clear, balanced, and grounded.
The yoga practice is designed to promote a feeling of calm, peace, and equanimity. The movements are fluid and synched to the breath. The mind finds relative ease and less distraction. The atmosphere is usually relaxing. While the environment in which we practice yoga...
The individual prana vayu, not to be confused with the entire category of prana vayus, represents the specific movement of prana, or life force, inward into the body. Prana vayu governs the intake of energy through breath, food, drink, and even through mental and sensory perceptions.
The hustle and bustle of the holiday season brings with it a seemingly contradictory mix of joy and distress, love and fear, compassion and selfishness, and love and disdain. Life gets busier and expectations run high as time runs out. Emotions go up and down, to do...
The holiday season is upon us with busier-than-ever schedules, endless to-do lists, and one get together after another with delicious, rich, waist-expanding foods at our fingertips. It’s easy to see how the average person gains 5 to 10 pounds during the holidays. Food...
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...
At The Yoga Sanctuary you will find a community of like-minded individuals and friends who come together to practice yoga. This aspect of yoga practice—coming together as a group with similar intentions—is known as sangha, or community. Sangha originates from Buddhism...
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....
The practice of yoga brings an array of experiences and feelings. Many are pleasant, and some, well, not so pleasant. The not-so-pleasantness shows up as resistance—physical, mental, and emotional resistance. This is a natural part of the practice. The tendency is to...
Sometimes all we want is a nice quiet space to practice yoga. We come to class and set down our mat in the perfect spot—with plenty of space in every direction. We enter a relaxing posture as we wait for class to begin. Then, someone sets down her mat to our right, closer than we might like. Then, someone else sets their mat down to the left, closing in. Soon, the entire room fills up with mats squeezing closer and closer together until it seems like no one else could possibly fit—until someone else does.