Say What? Confession time: aparigraha is one of the yamas I really love thinking about. Translated as non-grasping, I remember the first time I heard it and thinking, “Wow that really resonates!” A few hours later I was sitting in front of my laptop. The TV was on in the background, and my phone buzzed. […]
What does feeling connected mean to you? How does this relate to your yoga practice? Read on to discover why our fourth niyama, svādhyāya, is crucial to a truly mindful practice. Say What? Svādhyāya translates roughly as self study; sva meaning self and dhyaya meaning to contemplate, or think. It’s also thought of as spiritual
Shri K Pattabhi Jois, affectionately known as ‘Guruji’ by his students, has become one of the most well-known gurus in the West over the last 30 years. He carried the lineage of the Ashtānga Yoga system, and has up until now authorised many teachers all over the world to carry on the tradition. So if
Picture this. You’re in the middle of teaching a lesson. Perhaps you’re still relatively new to teaching, maybe this is a much bigger class size than you’re usually used to, or this could just be your regular class with regular students. The class is going great, you’re in your element, when someone starts to cry.
Yoga teacher Maria Odugba is challenging stereotypes surrounding who can practise yoga. Described by the media as ‘plus-size’, Odugba is determined to embody her belief that yoga is for all body shapes and sizes. Her instagram account has 74.7k followers and counting, and is full of inspiring yoga selfies, workouts and posts describing her body-positive
Once we start to move beyond a purely physical practice, and come to appreciate the deeper psychological dimensions of yoga, we start to see that it’s not all about poses. Yoga is about finding a sense of awareness that connects us to ourselves and to life itself. It’s possible to have the most impressive asana
It’s not how much we have, it’s what we think about we have that produces happiness. Thoughts of scarcity make us function in deficit, so life begins to look bleak and that affects everything: our relationships, money, love, security, purpose, image and our overall quality of life. Scarcity is a blindness, and the media and
Learn how to build your internal heat and bring discipline to your yoga practice without getting burnt along the way with this niyama, tapas. Say What? Tapas (not to be confused with delicious Spanish nibbles) is like fire. Derived from the Sanskrit word ‘tap’ which means ‘to burn’, Ashtanga teacher Melanie Cooper calls it the
For the discerning Yogi, ancient texts are paramount to an authentic practice. The Yoga Sutras, The Bhagavad Gita, Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the Upanishads along with hundreds more all fall under this umbrella and each one has their own distinct voice within the vast collection of yogic literature. That’s not to say by turning the final
The practice of Yoga brings us face to face with the extraordinary complexity of our own being. ~Sri Aurobindo It’s been my experience that we don’t find yoga — yoga finds us. It’s only when we need something that yoga can offer us that we are presented with an invitation, and it’s entirely up to
