Why do you practice Yoga?

Why do you practice Yoga? Do you expect to live a more harmonious life? Does it make you feel healthier? Yoga as Sanctuary is a fantastic article about letting go of instant gratification and letting Yoga take you through the journey of achieving prosperity, pleasure, virtue and freedom.

Yoga comes from the Sanskrit work “Yuj” which means to yoke, join or unite. It is the joining or integrating all aspects of the individual to achieve a happy, balanced and useful life. The article above mentions that the aim of Yoga is fourfold. This aim, really, is using the practice of Yoga to help achieve four goals, or Purusharthas.

Please take a minute to read the article! You may just feel a little different about why you practice Yoga after!

What do you think? Come share with us on Facebook!

The Benefits of Yoga

Did you know that over the last five years Yoga was considered one of the top 10 complementary and alternative medicine practices in the United States?

If you practice Yoga you are most likely aware of the wide array of benefits provided already, but some may not know just how helpful Yoga can be. Yoga in its full form combines physical postures, breathing exercises, meditation, and a distinct philosophy. Yoga is intended to increase relaxation and balance the mind, body, and the spirit.

Formal, in depth research is being done to find out how exactly Yoga can be used to benefit our health, but so far research suggests that Yoga might:

· Improve mood and sense of well-being

· Counteract stress

· Reduce heart rate and blood pressure

· Increase lung capacity

· Improve muscle relaxation and body composition

· Help with conditions such as anxiety, depression, and insomnia

· Improve overall physical fitness, strength, and flexibility

· Positively affect levels of certain brain or blood chemicals.

Yoga Sanctuary provides many different types of services that will assist in helping you achieve better overall health through the practice of Yoga. Classes are available daily and specialty workshops are ongoing. If you are unsure doing Yoga is the best option, Thai Yoga Bodywork is also available.

If you have been questioning whether Yoga may be right for you why not visit us at Yoga Sanctuary and give it a try? Your first class is free! You can visit our website for testimonials, rates, and to contact us with any questions! Please visit us at www.yogasanctuary.com!

(some information cited from http://nccam.nih.gov/health/yoga/introduction.htm)

Wake Up!

"If we can stay awake when our lives are changing, secrets will be revealed to us--secrets about ourselves, about the nature of life, and about the eternal source of happiness and peace that is always available, always renewable, already within us." —Elizabeth Lesser “If we can stay awake…” That’s the challenge! Can we stay present, especially when the going gets tough? That’s the time when I’m most apt to over eat, over drink and just plain space out to avoid that challenge. Yet when our lives are changing is when we can receive the most learning and probably experience the most progress (and isn’t life always in transition?). Yogic philosophy teaches about The Witness, that part of us which is untainted and is always awake and aware. “What’s happening now?” is the perfect question to ask at any moment of our lives but particularly when we are changing. Remaining in witness consciousness to watch for the answers will reveal those secrets Lesser mentions. Pranayama, or breathwork, provides the support and energy to move through the emotional rollercoaster of fear that arises during changing times. Meditation allows the mind to find protection from itself and its fearful wanderings. As Lesser reminds us, that source of happiness is always available to us and that’s the good news!

To Your Health

The season has begun. No, I'm not talking about the holidays. I'm thinking about the cold and flu season. I've already encountered several germ infested folks who've warned "Don't touch me! Don't hug or kiss me! I'm sick."

After the initial contraction, I always remind myself that I am not accepting illness. That helps a lot.

If we do manage to contract a cold or the flu this year, let's not succumb to the usual notion that the world cannot operate without our rushing back to life per usual. Intead, let's make a pact to
crawl into bed or cover up on the sofa and actually receive any offers for help. Heck, let's ask for help!

Drink lots of warm liquids and REST. Use the opportunity to listen to our bodies for messages about this particular downtime and why we need it.

The Value of Keeping A Journal

Check out what I wrote in my journal on 10/28/03 :

"It's imperative to tune in to the current of life - our "aliveness," as Eckhart Tolle terms it, to know and remember the True Nature and the connection with each other, with all that is, with God/Goddess. It's not about being "happy," which is elusive and impermanent. It's about joy, bliss, ananda, svaroopa - the eternal, unchanging, immortal being that is always present. In the most difficult, painful moment, you are still alive, present, joyful, but only if you choose to be. It's always a choice. So decide NOW to choose life and to notice it again and again."

So I'm making yet another intention to write in my journal on a regular basis. Actually, I've been
reading The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron and I've been faithfully writing "Morning Pages." The benefits of this practice are numerous and I highly recommend doing it!

So You Think You Can't "Do" Yoga!

All you need to begin practicing Yoga is a sincere desire to improve your life. No new outfits or elaborate equipment are needed. Simply arrive in loose, comfortable clothes that allow you to move and stretch.

Finding a certified teacher who will assist you and offer variations for your body type is of prime importance. Practicing at a studio that provides props (Yoga mats, blocks, straps, bolsters, blankets, etc.) will teach you to modify postures so your body will open gently at its own pace. As your practice progresses, props eventually may not be needed but, in the beginning, they allow safer practice and lessen the chance of injury.

Regular yoga practice offers numerous benefits to body, mind, and spirit, including:

Tones and strengthens. As a form of isometric exercise, the prolonged holding of yoga postures tones the muscles as well as internal organs.

Increases flexibility. Gently holding yoga poses at the edge of comfort stretches and lengthens muscles, tendons, and ligaments allowing them to become more flexible.

Improves respiration. Deep breathing during yoga practice opens the chest and strengthens the diaphragm.

Improves concentration. Moving mindfully while maintaining awareness of the body and breath develops focus, attention, and concentration.

Promotes relaxation. The combination of gentle stretching, deep breathing, meditation, and guided relaxation releases body tension and calms the nervous system and emotions, giving a sense of renewal to the body, mind, and spirit. A serene studio setting with relaxing music creates an even safer atmosphere for letting go.

Builds internal and external awareness. As a focused practice, yoga builds awareness of the body and feelings, along with increasing awareness of the needs of others, our communities, and our world. Increased awareness also lends toward weight reduction where needed.

Facilitates improved health. In addition to exercising the mind and muscles, yoga exercises and massages the glands and organs and increases circulation throughout the body, resulting in improved digestion, elimination of toxins, and the promotion of overall health. Many students also find that Yoga regulates blood pressure when practiced over time.

Anyone can do Yoga! If you’re breathing, you can practice. Men, women, children, athletes, “couch potatoes,” young and old all practice and benefit from this 5,000 year old technology of self transformation. Yoga is really a science and people of various religious and philosophical beliefs find that practicing Yoga enriches their lives immensely.

Here's an easy practice to try right now ~Sit comfortably in a chair with your spine long and your legs at a right angle to the floor. Breathe through your nose and allow your in breath to expand the belly gently. Now allow the out breath to leave through the nose and to flatten the belly gently. Allow the breath to be long and slow. Try this for five breaths, feeling the body expand and contract and following the path of the breath into and out of the body. After the fifth out breath, pause and notice your body and your mind.

Do you feel more relaxed?

You’ve just begun practicing pranayama or breath control. You are becoming a yogi/ni!

Last week, at the end of each class and before Savasana, I invited students to practice seated forward bending with a partner. Many have previously practiced this way in my class but it was also a new experience for some. A pair of Yogis meet on one mat, sit back to back and one of each pair is led (by me) into breathing and forward bending while the partner merely supports with breath and body and actually comes into a backbend. Then they switch and explore the counterstretch.

Discussion following this practice is always interesting. Some yogis notice the deep intimacy created while breathing with another. Other yogis notice greater ease and that their forward bend is so much deeper with a partner at their back.

Since Yoga is always a metaphor for life, these awarenesses are always a brilliant reminder for us
that being in relationship is in contrast to solo experiences. Try breathing side by side or back to back with your significant other for 10 minutes. Notice your reaction when someone offers you help and you accept graciously. Notice the experience when you say "no thanks!"

Please share your insights and comments after practicing in your own life.

Ah, The Yoga of Relationship!