The Branches of Yoga
The different branches of yoga reflect the diversity of our temperaments, goals, and individual personalities.
• BHAKTI-devotion
• HATHA- physical exercise
• JHANA- wisdom
• KARMA-service
• MANTRA –sound
• RAJA-meditation
{ishvara pranidhana}
The last of our five Niyamas, our second limb of yoga, means surrender. This can mean surrendering yo your divinity- God, nature, the present moment – whatever it means to you.
Release attachments to outcomes, release yourself release yourself from judgements, expectations, your ego.
Surrender to the idea that there is something bigger than yourself. You are exactly where you were meant to be and everything is working out.
{chair pose}
We did a dozen or so of these last night in class. I'm not sure everyone enjoyed it as much as I did.
From a forward fold, lift to your chair pose.
Take a look down to see that knees are behind the toes.
Tuck the tail to take the deep curve out of the back. Bring hands to prayer or to goalpost arms and drop shoulders.
Surrender to this pose and feel how different it feels when you release the struggle to hold it.
Yoga in Relationships
Relationships can be more challenging than the most advanced yoga poses. No matter who is on the other end of a conflict- a friend, family member, coworker, schoolmate, or colleague- you can diffuse many situations by applying a yoga mindset and a few simple techniques.
BREATHE
{kindhearted meditation}
Giving to others feels great. And if it doesn’t for you, maybe you need this meditation the most. Taking time to practice wending good wishes to others is a way to acknowledge that we are all linked. We are all a part of the same picture.
Want to start a meditation practice in the New Year?
Let’s get started.
Find a quiet spot.
Take a comfortable seat (easy seated pose, hero pose with a block, in a chair…)
Start small.
When you get distracted, come back to the breath. Counting breath can be helpful to bring your mind to a focus on one thing and drown out the other stuff!)
Don’t be too hard on yourself. Your meditation practice can look however you want it to
When awful things happen to someone else, it immediately makes us grateful for all of the things that we take for granted each day. For days, maybe weeks or longer, we count our blessings. And sometimes it changes us for good.
During these times it’s important to remember that you are still entitled to have a bad morning. Or to be in a bad mood. Or to be mad that the dryer broke.
{bring your hands to heart center}
Anjali Mudra
We do it a lot. What does it mean?
When we “bring our hands to prayer” in our practice, we are using a mudra. A mudra is a gesture of devotion. We bring hands to meet to symbolize a union. It is thought to quiet your mind and open your heart.
Bring palms together in front of the heart. Press thumbs gently into your sternum.
I honor you!
Heather's Holiday Survival Guide
(how to keep feelin’ the Om.)
Holidays can be stressful! Even when you love them it’s not easy to avoid getting wrapped up in the long-lined-gift-buying-whirlwind-baking-travel-crazy-family of this month. Here are some survival tips!
It's hard for me to put into words why I wanted to teach yoga. So early on in my own practice, I found something that I didn't even know I had been searching for. It was a feeling I guess, Inside, one that filled up a space that I didn't even know needed filled.
When I walk into a class, and shut the door behind me, everything in my life, everything in my head, is gone. When I walk into a class, it's all about you. In the time that we spend together I hope that I can share even a tiny piece of what yoga is for me. Of what yoga feels like for me.
