New research is bringing yoga one step closer to becoming a medically recommended treatment for depression. Findings show that yoga practice can help reduce symptoms of the condition, which is one of the most common mental health disorders in the United States and worldwide, with around 16.1 million American adults alone experiencing at least one […]
Practising on the edge. For those of you old enough to remember, the Edge used to refer to the lead guitarist of U2 (Showing my age? Perhaps!), but for those of us in the yoga world, the edge means something entirely different. Practising on the edge is a relatively recent term in yoga. It refers
You move through the city cheek by jowl with your neighbours, playing by the rules, a small part of a larger sum. Cars are driven, money is spent, connections are made. You accept employment, pay taxes and social conventions are obeyed. Each morning you wake up, put on your everyman uniform and make your way
The yoga of finding joy in the midst of suffering. The capacity to feel joy is a gift we all possess. You only need hear a baby laugh to know that the ability to be joyful is a natural and innate thing. But, life being life, we all inevitably go through periods where we can
I am an Iyengar yoga teacher, so props are part of my practice, day in, day out. In Iyengar yoga, they are used as an extension of the body, a guide for alignment and a support to hold a pose for longer – and countless other things. They are not cool accessories to make yoga
Most people learn early in their yoga journey that pranayama, the fourth of the eight limbs of yoga, refers to breathing exercises. This definition works to begin with, but it is not the full story. Let’s unpack some key concepts to paint a more complete picture, shall we? Let’s Start With The Breath We are
As mental health issues become more prevalent in our fast-paced society, many UK doctors are warming up to embracing yoga as a powerfully healing modality. Has it finally been given the kudos it deserves by Western medicine? We look at the huge potential of yoga being offered as a mainstream health practice in the treatment of conditions
Have you ever been told to keep your Mula Bandha locked in class? Has a teacher ever asked you to pay attention to your bandhas? Have you ever wondered what in the name of all that’s yogi do they mean? Wonder no more! Bandhas are a set of exercises designed to strengthen the core, lift
Ever wondered how your yoga teacher knows when to breathe in or out as you move through a sequence of poses? Do you know how hard to push that stretch – I mean, how much stretch is a good stretch after all? And what is that ‘microbend’ in knees and elbows all about? I know
Ever wondered why you feel so good after alternate nostril breathing ? Let me explain… Alternate nostril breathing, or nadi shodhana prānāyāma, is the first of the prānāyāma practices described in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika (one of the ancient texts of yoga). Nadi Shodhana literally means ‘nadi purification’ and the practice is believed to balance
