Yoga and Gratitude
Gratitude is more than saying thank you out loud; gratitude is a way of seeing life, leading us to be more mindful about our thoughts, actions and speech, in order to attract more positive occurrences, people and situations, aligned with our values. Being thankful exists in the mind but gratitude comes from the heart.
Yoga and the importance of the present moment
When you get those blissful pauses in your practice, let yourself settle instead of anticipating the next cue. Take your time and when it gets hard, notice how your mind reacts. Notice the miracle of breath flowing in and out. Notice what the mind says, how it talks to you, and just like in your meditation practice, gently guide it back to the body and breath.
About Integrity
Integrity is essential to all practitioners of Yoga because it creates a foundation of deep honesty upon which a practice can best be built. Moreover, integrity is fully expressed in the relation with oneself, in the way we honor commitments to ourselves, take time to be considerate of our actions, and represent our practice also outside the Yoga class.
Tension vs Compression in YOGA
Yoga is teaching us to practice ahimsa (non-violence) in our practice, to meet tension with kindness, respect the capacity of our bones, and help find our own intention (optimal health) and personal alignment by shaping the poses into our bodies and not the other way round.
Why Yoga is not always the answer
It could be that the reason for learning Yoga, like being able to touch our toes for example, grows to be completely different in a few months or years; just like we evolve constantly, so is Yoga and what Yoga was for me yesterday, might not mean the same today. Improvement is not always a straight line or clearly defined; often, the smaller, more subtle things are the real clues of our development or progress, maybe the quality of our breath, the posture of our backs or the capacity to listen more.
Yoga for grief
Whenever we feel like we need to numb or ignore our feelings, Yoga is a reminder not to shy away from those feelings. The only way to deal with uncomfortable emotions is to stay with them and learn to embrace them, knowing that feelings are temporary.
Taoism in relation to YIN YOGA
The pain and suffering that people experience often in their lives comes from the resistance to what life is and not from the actual happenings that are part of it. Overcoming all challenges with this mindset of allowing things to be and responding accordingly to the events around us, we are reminded of the beauty and simplicity of life in its essence.
The REBOUND feeling in YIN YOGA - what it is and how we can experience it
This sensation in the body of both fragility yet flowing energy is often referred to as the rebound effect or the echo of the pose, a bridge between poses that carries forward their resonance and that can last from one minute to as long as it feels good.
Strength vs. Softness in Asana practice
Just like life itself, our Yoga practice is also a game of balancing strength and softness, pushing forward and letting go. I often see it as an invitation to welcome both of these states and not resisting to any of them.
Yoga for anxiety and panic attacks
The relation between the breath and the nervous system goes both ways. Just as emotions can disrupt the breathing, so changing our style of breathing can change our emotions. The way we are breathing is often involuntary and taken for granted but it can be easily grasped and voluntarily controlled. During times of panic, relaxed, controlled breathing will give us immediate access to the nervous system. This means that by changing our breathing, we can potentially change our relation to tension.
Working with the HARA in Yoga
Learning to tap into this life force, activate our Hara centre during our Yoga practice, can strengthen our energy, presence, vitality as well as create mental well-being, deeper awareness, a smoother connection to the breath, better emotional self-regulation and last but not least, a better quality of sleep.
The role of a teacher
The relation between a student and a teacher is not something hierarchical or forced, I view it as a natural, organic bond between two individuals willing to learn from each other in the end, sharing a safe space of practice and presence and joy.
Yoga and perfectionism
It is important for a perfectionist to embrace being a beginner at something and not to expect immediate mastery, Yoga class included. To first find the edge, get comfortable there and then move past it, all this without taking oneself too seriously.
Yielding in Yoga practice
When we yield, we are adaptable in our bodies, thoughts and speech: firm but able to bend without breaking. We respond adequately to any situation, be it in our everyday life or in a Yoga practice.
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