Yoga Traveler

We all hear that yoga can help with flexibility and muscle tone, calming and stress relief, back pain and muscles aches.  But there are loads of other things that yoga can help with!  Here are a few: Yoga can help Digestion: - Yoga helps with bloating and constipation by stimulating the internal organs and circulation in these areas.  -Try Ardha Pawanmuktasana (half gas relief pose) Yoga can help with Skin conditions : -Yoga helps lower stress and inflamation which could help manage eczema and acne. -Yoga inversions bring blood flow and circulation to the face to help ease pimples, wrinkles, and dullness. -Try Salamba Sarvangasana (shoulder stand) Yoga can help Migraines: -Yoga lessens the tension in the area of pain or where the pain stems from.  Common areas are neck, shoulders, and head. -Yoga loosens the stiff muscles which hold stress. - Try Adho Muhka Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog) Yoga can help the Immune System: -Yoga can help fight oxidative stress which poses a risk to healt

 Yoga can fill me with so many emotions- joy, calm, energy, peace.  Since yoga is such a part of my life, it comes full circle that I would seek out yoga to elicit gratitude.  Let's practice five asanas together this week to feel gratitude. Humble Warrior- Clasp your hands together behind your back in Warrior II.  Inhale, look up, exhale fold forward toward the bent leg with the crown of head reaching toward the floor.  This will stretch the inner thighs, hips, and shoulders.   Dedicate this pose to someone you love and feel grateful for them. Anjanyasana- Sink hips down, draw in the lower belly, and reach the chest open as you gaze to the sky.  Try to close your eyes and focus on the breath to sink deeper into the pose. Dedicate this pose to a place you love and feel gratitude for the time you have spent in that place. Wild Thing- From Downward facing dog, lift R leg into the air.  Bend the R knee and let the foot guide your body to flip.  Lift the hips to the sky and feel the hea

 A mantra is a sound, vibration, or word repeated to focus one's mind on one point.  The purpose of the mantra is to connect to something higher.  Mantras were originally meant to be chanted in Sanskrit, making them more powerful because of their vibrational connections with the Divine.  Mantras make the mind calm as we focus on one phrase.  We could think of them as affirmations that serve to reprogram our thoughts.  It would be like telling ourselves, "I love me," daily.  Maybe at some point, we would start to believe it!   Whether we admit it or not, words have power, and when we speak them or write them, we give meaning to those words.  The mantra should mean something to you, and when expressed, that is when they have true power.  We are sometimes guilty of speaking negative thoughts to ourselves.  How wonderful it would be to "brainwash" ourselves out of these negative thoughts with a positive mantra.   Traditionally, you would chant a mantra with a mala,

We are all made up of parts of the Three Gunas (mental state): Tamas (inertia), Rajas (activity), and Sattva (purity).  See the chart below for a description of three gunas. Take this quiz to see what is your defining guna right now:  http://www.quiz-maker.com/QJSBDKAQ9 We all want to move ourselves toward Sattva so here are some practices you can do to shift your mental energy from the book The Yoga Mind by Rina Jakubowicz: Tamas Sit on your couch and mindlessly watch TV.  Notice how you feel physically, mentally, and emotionally after spending time being lazy.  Grab your journal and pen and make a list of three areas of your life in which you tend to procrastinate.  Reflect on how you feel daily when you take no action.  Now reflect on how you will feel if you decide to take action and accomplish your tasks. Rajas Get your yoga mat and come into plank .  Push the floor away and round the upper back.  Exhale and lower into chaturanga. Inhale and straighten the arms for upward facing