Tag: breathe
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Ayurvedic Insights: Are You Experiencing Excess Vata? (& what to do about it…)
Are you feeling scattered, unfocussed and anxious? Have your body’s systems become a little irregular over the past couple of months? (i.e. digestive issues, constipation, irregular menstrual cycles, sleep issues or a changeable appetite?) If you’re experiencing anything like this, it’s likely you’re currently experiencing excessive Vata energy, the energy of air and wind, change and irregularity. The Three…
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Back To The Breath: Increasing Prana & Boosting Wellbeing
The more the world desires, consumes and apparently ‘needs’, the less we seem to feel we have. Indeed there’s plenty of ‘stuff’, yet we seem to feel emptier than ever these days. One of the benefits of a Yoga practice is that it begins by bringing us away from all the ‘stuff’ and back to…
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Practice: Ustrasana & Finding Courage To Listen To The Heart
The heart is often spoken of as the seat of ‘love’ and ‘compassion’, which of course it is, but it’s also a place of truth and courage, and if we dare to venture there it can reveal hidden truths about ourselves. Physically, we know that the heart is an essential muscle that pumps blood, oxygen…
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Practice: Parivrtta Anjaneyasana Variation / Revolved Low Lunge Variation
Parivrtta = ‘revolved’ Anjaneyasana = Often known as ‘crescent pose’ or ‘crescent moon’, or less poetically as – ‘low lunge’ Twists are very much the group of postures we make much more difficult for ourselves than they need to be. Physically pushing towards a deeper twist usually directs more force into one particular part of the spine, which…
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Practice: Parivrtta Prasarita Padottanasana Variation
Parivrtta = ‘Revolved’ Prasarita = ‘Spread’, ‘Expanded’, or ‘Wide apart’ Pada = ‘Foot’ Ut = ‘Intense’ Tan = ‘To Stretch’ Asana = ‘Posture’, or ‘Seat’ This name literally translates as ‘spread out feet intense stretch’ so it does exactly what it says on the tin…. The practice…
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Practice: Parivrtta Ardha Chandrasana
Parivrtta = ‘Revolved’ Ardha = ‘Half’ Chandra = ‘Moon’ Asana = ‘Posture’ or ‘Seat’ Parivrtta Ardha Chandrasana or ‘revolved half moon pose’, is a challenging combination of twisting and balancing, which also requires a lot of core strength and focus. Balancing really requires us to be totally present and self-aware, and is also…
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Practice: Ardha Matsyendrasana / Half Lord Of The Fishes Pose
Ardha = ‘Half’ Matsya = ‘Fish’ Eendra = ‘King’ Asana = ‘Posture’ or ‘Seat’ This asana is named after the great Yogi Matsyendranath Ardha Matsyendrasana is a pretty deep spinal twist in its full expression, but it’s how we approach and prepare for the posture that really makes the difference in how…
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Practice: Reverse Warrior
Also known as ‘sun warrior’ and ‘peaceful warrior’ this variation on the traditional virabhadrasana 2 gives a welcome opening to the sides of the body – notably the serratus anterior which we engage a lot during chatturangas and vinyasas, and the intercostal muscles which surround the ribs, helping to expand and open the upper body…
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Practice: Garudasana Preparation / Eage Pose Preparation
The habit of holding our breath when we enter a balancing posture mirrors the habit of holding our breath in difficult life situations. When things get a little wobbly – physically and metaphorically – it’s our breath that is the first thing to respond…. The Yoga Sutras say that the aim of Yoga is ‘chitta…
