Yoga Basics: Your guide to the Practice of Yoga

Friday, July 20, 2012

by Kathleen Bryant

Restorative Yoga: Sweet Surrender
Restorative yoga is a gentle practice designed to promote relaxation. Like more familiar yoga asanas, restorative poses can be sequenced to move the spine in all directions—backbends, forward bends, twists, and inversions. But in restorative poses, gravity becomes your partner, gently encouraging release and openings while you are completely supported by bolsters, blankets, pillows and other props. It’s a recipe for surrender.
 

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

by Amber Baker

Facebook Firing Highlights Imbalances
Breaches of yoga etiquette happen all the time, and are usually quickly forgotten. That is far from the case with a recent incident that happened during a class at Facebook. Not only did a student in this class demonstrate that she felt her phone deserved more attention and respect than her practice, the instructor or the other students, she felt it was necessary to complain about the look the instructor gave her for her behavior. In an equally dazzling disregard for the entire yogic discipline, the instructor was fired for the incident. The story has blazed across the Internet as an amusing and sad commentary on our addiction to constant stimulation. Underneath the absurdity of this scenario lies a common human weakness: we are often strongly drawn towards practices that perpetuate our imbalances rather than address them.
 

Friday, July 13, 2012

by Tosca Braun

Yoga As Battleground
Two-Part Series (Part Two)
Why does disillusionment sometimes occur after immersion in yogic practices, and why does it send many of us running for shelter from our once-beloved practice? The answer lies in yoga’s seminal scripture, the Bhagavad Gita. Pandava prince Arjuna asks the Supreme Lord Krishna to drive his chariot into battle, only to face the dismal prospect of engaging in combat his family, teachers, and friends at Krishna’s behest. At the Gita’s conclusion, Arjuna surrenders fully to Krishna and takes up the sword. The Gita teaches us that to engage in the path of yoga and align with the divine, it will not be easy. Indeed, at times our inner state will feel much like a battleground, as old mental patterns (samskara) struggle to reassert their primacy.
 

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

by Tosca Braun

Falling Out Of Love With Yoga
Two-Part Series (Part One)
Oh, yoga. We love it, we leave it, and some of us may eventually come back to it with a deeper appreciation of its multi-layered complexity. Yoga instructor, JC Peters, recently blogged about going “on a break” from her yoga practice. She notes that it’s not an issue of discipline (she flosses), or lack of love for the practice (she still enjoys occasionally playing sweet tunes and rolling around on her mat for 10-20 minutes). Instead, she’s felt “insulted” by yoga: “She’s been bossing around my hamstrings and poking me in the belly. She has started telling me I’m not good enough the way I am, that I need to adjust the angle of my foot, or that I need to draw my low ribs in more, or that I should be thinking about my bikini body as summer comes.” For Peters, Yoga Barbie was the last straw.
 
As yoga becomes big business, the average class is in danger of pricing out the average yogi. You can choose not to participate in the latest designer yoga fashions, and a $15 mat works just fine, as do studio loaners. Still, most of us are at the mercy of the yoga studio’s pricing scheme when it comes to taking classes. The dilemma doesn’t fall only to students of yoga though; developing an economically sustainable practice is a challenge that affects students and teachers alike.
 

Friday, July 06, 2012

by Kathleen Bryant

Yoga for the Electronic Age
The first yoga classes I attended were $3 each, guided by an ashram-trained teacher in the dusty back room of a crystal shop. None of us had a sticky mat (not yet widely available) to put on the concrete floor, and $100 yoga pants weren’t even a gleam in some marketer’s eye. Times have changed. Classes today average $10-20, and most yogis would consider a mat a necessity. No longer counter-culture, yoga has moved from backrooms and basements to spas and studios, and it seems like everyone’s gone to the mat, from your best friend’s mom to Hollywood celebrities. Though yoga practices are still transmitted from teacher to student, technology has given us a myriad of ways to “take” a class, from streaming video to Wii Fit.
 

Friday, June 29, 2012

by Amber Baker

The Benefits of Breath Control
The breath is a reflection of our mental state and vice versa, yet often this connection goes unnoticed, even when it is ruling our behavior. If you have ever realized that you were holding your breath then taken a few full breaths, you may know the feeling of softening places you weren’t even aware were becoming tense. The connection between our breath, body, and mind is beautiful, fierce, fragile, and sometimes less under our control than we would like to believe.
 
Though yoga is not yet an Olympic event (thank goodness), there is a lot of striving and competition in yoga classes today. As a culture, we’re goal-oriented and externally focused, and our asana often reflects that. One way we can shift to internal awareness is to practice the Pawanmuktasana Series, simple joint movements or warm-ups that prepare the body for more complex postures and focus the mind on coordinating breath and movement.
 

Friday, June 22, 2012

by Tosca Braun

The Inevitable: Yoga Teacher Barbie
Barbie dolls: maligned for their tyranny of impossible proportions, yet beloved by many, these ubiquitous icons of American culture have reflected the popular Zeitgeist for decades. When first created, the dolls sported demure fashions with their eyes glancing sideways in a gesture of deference. In 1971, the eyes were adjusted to look forwards, mirroring an increasingly direct female populace. In 2009, “Totally Tattoos Barbie” launched to the outcry of parents and experts. And now, as part of a line of Barbies exclusive to Target stores, Yoga Teacher Barbie has launched, reflecting the massive recent increase in yoga practice in the US population.
 

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

by Kristin Andrews

The Unlikely Yogi Begins Studying the Sutras
I’ve started studying the Yoga Sutras, and I’m beginning to think I might be a bit of a jerk. The thought of referring to myself (or anyone else for that matter) as divine or in the pursuit of divine nature makes me cringe. All my years of cynicism and egocentricity are catching up with me, and what I read in the sutras is the exact opposite of how I’ve lived my life. To be honest, these are the aspects of yoga I avoided for some reason, and I now realize that by avoiding them, I have not been doing the work to make necessary changes in my life. I lack devotion to both my yoga practice and myself.
 

Thursday, June 14, 2012

by Kathleen Bryant

Summerize Your Yoga With Cooling Practices
Ah, summer…the days get longer, the sun gets stronger. But we can have too much of a good thing. Summer’s solar qualities (heat, projection, activity) equate to sympathetic nervous system stimulation. Obvious signs of overheating are feeling irritable, distracted and, well, hot.
 
Several recent studies suggest Bikram yoga may be effective at improving numerous aspects of mental and physical health, including improved sleep, physical fitness, mindfulness, and reductions in perceived stress. Bikram yoga refers to the practice established by Bikram Choudhury, renowned for its 105-108 degree environment and trademarked 26-pose sequence.
 
A recent tongue-in-cheek headline blares, “Yoga Quitter: Why I couldn’t say namastay in class.” Author Jenn Fields describes arriving to her regular yoga class looking forward to her “happy yogi energy” teacher Steph, only to find a dreaded sub in her stead. As an 11-year practitioner, Fields was well aware of her “unyogilike” resistance, but her “pissyness” upon arriving to discover her teacher was absent persisted. After “bitterly down-dogging and up-dogging, head and heart out the door,” she snuck out of class in a “stress-ball flurry,” hoping to find another class at a nearby studio.
 

Friday, June 08, 2012

by Amber Baker

When Yoga Is Business
Many yogis in New York City are grappling with the aftereffects of another upheaval in their yoga universe. Earlier this month Pure yoga studio fired popular teacher Marco Rojas in a manner he believes reflects their lack of adherence to yogic ethics. Pure has dismissed the act as not even very interesting, but it brings up some valid questions: is teaching yoga just a job like any other, and should studios be held to the same principles we expect teachers to exemplify?
 

Wednesday, June 06, 2012

by Kathleen Bryant

Ambassador of Bhakti Yoga to Tour N. America
Last week marked the beginning of Mata Amritanandamayi’s North American tour. Amma, as she is known, will make appearances in 10 cities in Canada and the U.S., including Chicago, Dallas, New York and Washington D.C. To date, Amma has traveled to hundreds of countries and cities throughout the world, and wherever she goes, thousands of people flock to see her.
 
Between all the news flashes, status updates, articles to read, videos to watch, and local, national, and global tragedies to track, there is a stream of information constantly wanting our attention. On top of that are the basic communications we must maintain to keep our lives in order at work and home. Yet, even a twenty minute asana, meditation or mantra practice can turn all of this noise off, recenter us, and help us focus on what is important in our lives and let go of what is not. No matter what the yoga practice looks like, we need yoga; and this need increases in direct proportion to the increasing chaos and media encroachment on our lives.
 
Meditation is “making its way back onto the yoga mat,” proclaims a recent NY Times article, following years of yoga’s frenetic usurpation by the fitness industry. The New York yoga community is cited as an example of practitioners maturing in their practices, evidenced by an increased interest in seated meditation. While an encouraging trend, the Times makes an unnecessarily rigid delineation between asana (postures) and meditation. Some tantric and kundalini yoga paths—for instance, Kripalu yoga—teach that asana may reflect and serve as a path to higher states of consciousness. However, asana can be a hindrance and source of mind disturbance if practiced in the absence of mindful, compassionate awareness.
 

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

by Kathleen Bryant

Anusara: A Breath of Fresh Air
Who isn’t familiar with the old adage that when a door closes, a window opens? It’s been four months since the John Friend scandal broke, and with developments of these past two weeks, it looks as if Anusara is ready to throw open a window. A letter posted by the Anusara Leadership Committee (LC) on May 19 announced that Friend was stepping aside from Anusara and its trademarks, clearing the way for a teacher-led school.
 

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

by Amber Baker

Not Your Typical Rave
Forget everything you think you know about raves—unless you think of them as a conscious gathering of like-minded folks striving for enlightenment. The new raves are drug, alcohol, and smoke-free yoga-oriented dance parties, and they are gaining popularity as an alternative to traditional nightclubs.
 

Friday, May 18, 2012

by Tosca Braun

Has Yoga "Lost Its Soul?"
A recent op ed in Forbes Magazine gives voice to several differing perspectives on the topic of the evolving “soul” of western yoga. Centered in an ideologically diverse culture that shares the primacy of physical appearance, it is more homogenous (asana-centric) than the multi-faceted, rich tradition of yoga as practiced in its motherland. Yet practitioners here are more heterogenous, and yoga means something different to every person (sparking routine protests from Hindu advocacy groups).
 

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

by Kristin Andrews

The Unlikely Yogi
I'm not exactly your typical yogi. When I’m stressed out and need to blow off steam, I grab a bottle of wine and a pack of cigarettes. I’ve tried a few yoga classes over the years—any exercise involving a ten minute nap at the end is my idea of a good workout session. But I’m the one in the class who likely ate a cold piece of pizza for breakfast. It’s probably fair to say that I’m an unlikely yogi. Basically I’m the Bridget Jones of the yoga world, and this is my diary.
 

Monday, May 07, 2012

by Kristin Andrews

Untangling the Drama at Diamond Mountain
Geshe Michael Roach, spiritual director of Diamond Mountain University and Retreat Center, has broken his silence regarding the death of Diamond Mountain University student Ian Thorson. The incidents of which read like a Hollywood thriller--a three year spiritual retreat in the desert and a married couple dealing with issues of alleged domestic abuse said to be fueled by spiritual influence. Both are asked to leave the retreat grounds, their whereabouts are unknown for two months until an emergency phone call is made from a cave in the middle of the desert.
 
Remember how it felt to be a teenager—the hormonal fluctuations you didn’t understand, the social pressure from peers, teachers, and family members, your looming emergence into adulthood and the ultimate responsibility of yourself? Whether you were the type to act out or to tow the line, these years are often hard in a way that we can only recognize in retrospect. Imagine if someone pulled you aside during this time and taught you to meditate. In Brooklyn, a unique partnership is doing just that.
 

Tuesday, May 01, 2012

by Tosca Braun

Yoga and Fashion: Common Ground?
A recent article by yoga instructor and fashionista Meghan Blalock sets out to establish the “shared truths of fashion and yoga.” She argues that “contrary to appearances, the two enterprises share a core truth: they are vehicles by which one can both discover one’s core self and endlessly re-shape one’s identity.” Blalock then describes preparing to take a 5:30am hot yoga class during her teacher training, for which she found the most crucial aspect of preparation not adequate sleep, sustenance, or hydration, but finding the “perfect outfit;” something that “helped [her] feel fierce, strong, nearly invincible.”
 

Sunday, April 22, 2012

by Amber Baker

Oprah Interviews Ram Dass
Listen to spiritual icon Ram Dass as he shares stories from life, talks about his new book, and continues inspiring people to live to their full potential.  The author of the popular book Be Here Now will discuss his own spiritual journey, from working with Timothy Leary at Harvard to meeting his guru, Neem Karoli Baba. The special three-hour interview with Oprah Winfrey will include a full showing of Fierce Grace, the documentary that illustrates how his faith helped him recover from a massive stroke.
 

Friday, April 20, 2012

by Timothy Burgin

Our First Book: Yoga for Beginners
Yoga for Beginners YogaBasics’ founder, Timothy Burgin, has just published Yoga For Beginners: A Quick-Start Guide to Practicing Yoga for New Students.

This book's unique approach first takes you through the basics of practicing yoga and then teaches you the poses in the context of a yoga practice sequence. With this sequence based learning approach, you can easily jump from section to section and learn only as much as you wish to practice, or you can progress page by page to begin and deepen your practice of yoga in a linear progression.

 
According to a pilot study by Jessica Noggle and colleagues at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, yoga classes have positive psychological effects for high school students. Given that mental illnesses often begin to develop in the teenage years, “yoga may serve a preventive role in adolescent mental health,” shares lead author Jessica Noggle, PhD.
 
Muhammad Rashid, a prominent Muslim community activist in Queens, has stirred controversy in Muslim communities by publicly extolling the benefits of yoga. Many of the immigrants in Jackson Heights, Queens are first-generation immigrants who consider yoga to be a Hindu (and forbidden) practice. Yet a fatwa issued by a council of Malaysian Muslim clerics four years ago which sought to forbid yoga on the basis of Islamic law was forced to amend the edict to allow “yoga as exercise” and prohibit only the use of Sanskrit and chanting, following demand by the Sultan of Malaysia and popular outcry.
 
A recent Hindu endorsement of Colorado elementary schools’ inclusion of yoga into elementary schools has raised questions about yoga’s alleged status as a secular practice. Rajan Zed, President of the Universal Society of Hinduism, urges “all elementary-middle-high schools of the nation to incorporate yoga in the lives of the students.” Colorado's inclusion of yoga into elementary schools vis a vis “yoga themed recesses” and “brain breaks” is being spearheaded by The Wellness Initiative, which offers yoga classes for students and has partnered with 34 schools and institutions in Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, and Jefferson counties. While Colorado may be the first state to systematically offer yoga classes in multiple elementary school settings, other states and programs have quietly been making in-roads.
 

Monday, April 09, 2012

by Tosca Braun

It's Getting Hot In Here
If there were a metaphor for the driven, hectic pace of urban life in the twentieth-century it well may be heat, produced by the friction of ever-increasing intensity, mounting to-do lists, and competition that can characterize and accompany “success” in these environs. Little wonder, then, that hot exercise, including yoga, has taken urban regions NYC and LA by a storm. A recent NY Times piece cites a number of increasingly hot upscale fitness classes formed to satisfy obsessive devotees who prefer to exercise in sweltering temperatures. Why, pray tell? Beliefs about the alleged detoxification of heavy sweating, increased challenge and accompanied caloric expenditure of heat-based exercise, and the appeal of heat melting muscular tension are all popular draws.
 
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Deviated Nasal Septum And Pranayama - Yoga For Beginners: Adopt ...

by Anonymous

I have deviated nasal septum issue due to which my left nostril is almost blocked. I feel that my inhaling of breath is affected such that the air actually bounces out when it hits my nose. Hence its no use breathing through my nose I feel. Instead, I feel comfortable breathing through my mouth which is not correct as I know it. Please advise.

I am 40 years female and I suffer from hypothyroidism, panic and anxiety attacks due to improper breathing and stress. I am working in front of computer for 8 hours. I am 5' 7 inches tall with 62 kg weight. I am slim but have a pot belly probably due to stress and lifestyle.

I do spiritual meditation and gayatri mantra. I am as such a happy person but needs to get healthier to live a happy life..Please advise. Thanks in advance.

Answer
Breathing through the mouth is not advisable. It is not the optimal way of breathing. Also, as one nostril is blocked, breathing continuously through a single nostril is detrimental to your health. Hypothyroidism is also bound to tax your breathing and heart. There is an urgent requirement for you to correct your breathing technique.

A healthy mind can only exist in healthy body. Therefore to overcome your problem of mouth breathing consult an ENT specialist and get operated if surgery can solve the problem.

Although, it is not advised to do pranayama with nose blocked. You can do yoga asanas provided you do not feel uncomfortable.

Meanwhile, you can practice rhythmic breathing, shava asana, yoga nidra and continue practicing meditation to relieve stress.

I advise once again to consult ENT specialist and an experienced yoga therapist.

Hope this helps.
Daljit

References
How can I do pranayama if my nose is blocked

Nose breathing or mouth breathing

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iTunes - Podcasts - Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga with Kinndli by ...

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By Kinndli McCollum

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Description

Kinndli is a Certified Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga Teacher and has recorded live studio classes for you to flow along with at home. You will need a yoga mat, block and you will want to heat up your room best you can. These classes are based on the 'Journey Into Power" yoga flow as found in the best selling book by Baron Baptiste. The "40 Days to Personal Revolution" classes are both yoga and meditation sessions that correspond with the program based on the book by Baron Baptiste. You can use the weekly recordings to guide you along your transformational journey! To catch a live class with Kinndli connect at www.kinndli.com.

  Name Description Released Price  
1 CleanMeditation for 40 Days -- 9/23/10 Free View In iTunes
2 CleanLive 90 min class Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga 7/28/09 Free View In iTunes
3 CleanLive 90 min class Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga 7/17/09 Free View In iTunes
4 CleanLive 90 min class Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga 7/16/09 Free View In iTunes
5 CleanLive 90 min class Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga 7/16/09 Free View In iTunes
6 CleanLive 90 min class Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga 6/16/09 Free View In iTunes
7 CleanHour of Power Live 60 min Class Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga 6/16/09 Free View In iTunes
8 CleanLive 90 min class Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga 3/24/09 Free View In iTunes
9 CleanLive 90 min class Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga 1/29/09 Free View In iTunes
10 CleanMeditation 20min for 40 Days to Personal Revolution 40 Days to Personal Revolution 1/29/09 Free View In iTunes
11 CleanChicago 2hr Master Class Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga 1/24/09 Free View In iTunes
12 CleanHour of Power Live Class Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga 1/21/09 Free View In iTunes
13 CleanYoga 30min for 40 Days to Personal Revolution 40 Days to Personal Revolution 1/20/09 Free View In iTunes
14 CleanMeditation 10min 40 Days to Personal Revolution 40 Days to Personal Revolution 1/12/09 Free View In iTunes
15 CleanYoga 20min for 40 Days to Personal Revolution 40 Days to Personal Revolution 1/6/09 Free View In iTunes
16 CleanHour of Power Live Class Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga 1/6/09 Free View In iTunes
17 CleanMeditation 5 min for 40 Days to Personal Revolution 40 Days to Personal Revolution 1/6/09 Free View In iTunes

Customer Reviews

Thanks Kinndli!

     

I've tried several Power Yoga podcasts and find Kinndli's to be my new favorite. She keeps with the standard Baptiste style flow--a very powerful and challenging practice that builds to some major intensity, but winds down on a soothing, relaxing note. Plus, I love the way she says "two". All in all, a true treat. Thanks so much and please do keep them coming!

Good classes but instructor talks too much.

     

I've been looking for a good yoga podcast and downloaded a few of Kinndli's. They're nice because they vary in length from one to two hours and she does a decent job of changing the sequence of poses from class to class. Unfortunately, she is pretty chatty. There's nothing wrong with a teacher inserting their personal philosophies of yoga and life into their instruction, but she talks almost nonstop. It gets annoying.

Best power yoga podcast

     

I just finished practicing the latest episode of Kinndli's class. This is the best power yoga class I have ever tried online (I practiced Yogadownloads, Dave Farmer Power Yoga, and other power yoga classes online in the past four months). The class is detailed, well instructed, and has the closest flow I am used to practice in a Baptise Power Yoga studio. I felt I was able to follow the instructions easily, not distracted by what else was happening in the studio (that were non-relevant to my practice at home), and focus on trying the best without getting frustrated with the instruction. Very very good and effective class in my opinion. I highly recommend the classes to anyone who are used to practicing power yoga and need an online alternative to practice outside a studio. Thank you, Kinndli. I hope to see more classes released in podcast in the near future.

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