Hands ‘n feet ‘n winter – winter yoga pose 

How do you wake up to “strong” on a winter morning? How do you create “strong, vibrant and warm from the inside” when your fingers and toes are getting colder, reflecting the Yin aspect for this period? How do you energize yourself without running for the closest Starbucks triple espresso? Handstand!

If you are already practicing handstands, go right ahead and make it part of your morning routine; Brush your teeth, brush your hair, go stand on your hands, then style your hair and you are good to go on many levels – complexion, metabolism, energy levels, spark, inspiration, hormone balance and more.

And whenever you feel a bit of a down in the energy levels, a bit of a chill coming from inside, finger tips feeling frozen, toes starting to go numb – find a wall (if you need one ♥) and do your next handstand.

WINTER YOGA POSE – HANDSTAND

If you are new to handstands, there is a great practice to do – usually called “1/2” handstand;

Get into Adho Mukha Svanasana/ Downward Facing Dog with your heels touching the plinth on the wall.

If you start feeling strain on your wrists here it means your fingers are not strong enough yet. What you do then is keep practicing just this part and of course also Adho Mukha Svanasana as often as possible, stopping as soon as you feel your wrists. You will still get nearly all the benefits of a full handstand here already.

Keep rooting your fingers down and forwards as if you want to push the floor down and away from you.

Put one big toe as high up on the wall as possible – “as high up as possible” being very important here to make sure you don´t make it too heavy for yourself as we want to wake the energy up and preserve it, not exhaust it.

Exhale to your center|samana vayu|dantian|hara point|mula bandha|powerhouse|core – whatever name resonates with your practice and keep it strong as you keep in & exhaling through the nose, rooting & activating on the exhalation, elongating on the inhalation.

Allow your other foot to come up and place it next to the first one. Keeping all toes active, keep breathing as mentioned. On the exhalation you are attempting to push the wall all the way in to the neighbors house – or the next room – while keeping the hands and fingers active, rooting the opposite direction (away from the feet).

When your body says “done” come down in to Balasana|Childs Pose. Rest. Do one more, starting with the opposite foot. Childs Pose again. Gently roll up to a sit. Namasté.

8 Yoga Postures That Will Give You an Instant Detox

8 Yoga Postures That Will Give You an Instant Detox

1. 
   

Seated Spinal Twist

Twisting poses are all about aiding in digestion, which encourages the elimination of wastes. Take this Seated Spinal Twist as deeply as you want to go.

• Begin seated on your mat with your legs extended in front of you. Bend both knees, and place your left heel as close to your right sit bone as you can. Cross your right foot over your left knee, and plant it on the floor so your outer right ankle is next to your left knee.
• Reach your right arm behind you, and place your palm on the floor. Cross your left elbow over your outer right thigh to gently increase the twist.
• Gaze behind you and over your right shoulder, staying here for five breaths. Then release the twist, straighten your legs out in front of you, and do this pose with your left knee pointing up.

2.

Wide-Legged Forward Bend

Not only a great pose for opening tight hamstrings, allowing your head to fall below your heart in Wide-Legged Forward Bend also reverses the pull of gravity, encouraging circulation of blood throughout the body as well as fluid to your filtering lymph nodes. The folding motion also squeezes the belly, which moves things along for digestion.

• Stand with your feet four or so feet apart, heels turned out slightly wider than the toes. Standing tall, interlace your hands behind you, pressing the heels of your palms together in a double fist.
• Take a deep breath in, and slowly fold forward at the waist, lowering your hands as far as you can. Keep your spine long and straight as you breathe for five deep breaths. Engage your legs, and slowly rise up to stand.

3.

Open Side Fierce

If you want to strengthen your lower legs, Open Side Fierce will have your quads and glutes burning. This deep twist also aids in digestion. You'll feel the gentle pressure on your kidneys, liver, and spleen, which stimulates the removal of waste.

• Stand with both feet together, bend your knees, and squat down, coming into Fierce Pose. Cross your right elbow over your left thigh, planting your right palm on the floor beside your left foot. If you can't reach all the way, just allow your fingers to hover in the air, as close to the floor as possible.
• Extend your left arm straight up toward the ceiling, stacking your shoulders, and gaze at your lifted palm. Make sure both knees are parallel. Hold for five deep breaths.
• Press into your feet, inhale to rise back up to Fierce, and exhale to repeat this pose on the right side, holding for another five breaths. Then rise back up to Fierce Pose, and straighten the legs.

4.

Three-Legged Down Dog

Holding your head below your heart and your leg lifted in the air in this variation of Down Dog encourages blood to circulate throughout the body, as well as move fluid to the lymph nodes. If your upper body is strong, this pose can also be very relaxing, which aids in mental detox as well, releasing stress, fear, and sadness.

• Come onto your hands and knees, so your hands are shoulder-width distance apart, with your knees directly below each hip. Tuck your toes and straighten your legs, coming into Downward Facing Dog.
• Keeping your shoulders parallel with the floor, step both feet together and raise your right leg into the air. After five deep breaths, lower the leg and repeat this pose with the left leg lifted.

5.

Seated Heart Opener

Poor posture can stifle proper lung function, and doing this Seated Heart Opener encourages lengthening of the spine so your lungs can fully expand and contract with each breath. Healthy, deep breathing encourages the body to eliminate carbon dioxide, lactic acid, lymphatic fluid, and other wastes.

• Begin seated on your shins.
• Interlace your hands behind you in a double fist, pressing the heels of your palms together. Pull your pressed palms toward the floor, opening through the chest and shoulders.
• After five breaths, release your hands.

6.

Head to Knee C

As bizarre as this pose looks, folding forward over your heel in this variation of Head to Knee Pose is meant to gently massage and stimulate your inner organs.

• Begin in a seated position with both legs straight out in front of you.
• Bend your right knee, and hold your right foot with your left hand. Bring your right arm under your right leg, and reach around to grab on to the arch with your right hand.
• Pull your right toes down gently, and place the sole of your right foot against your left inner thigh so your right heel is pointing up.
• Lengthen through the spine, and fold your torso over your left leg. Place your hands on the floor on either side of your leg or on your shin. If your hamstrings and hips are more flexible, reach for your foot — the right hand holds the left wrist.
• Rest your forehead on your leg, and stay here for five breaths. Continue lengthening the spine as you relax the shoulders away from your ears.
• Then release your hands, sit up, and switch sides.

7.

Locust

This pose strengthens the back of the body, but the pressure on your abdomen also encourages digestion.

• Lie on your belly with your legs together. Place your arms by your sides with your palms facing up.
• As you inhale, lift your legs, head, and upper body off the floor. Your hands remain on the floor for support.
• As you breathe, relax your shoulders and the muscles in your bum. Extend the crown of your head away from your toes, lengthening as much as you can through your spine.
• Hold for five breaths, and then release back to the mat.

8.

Bound Headstand

Another pose where your heart is above your head, Headstand removes toxins in the circulatory and lymphatic systems. This is also a pose that's typically held for 10 breaths or longer, and focusing on deep breaths clears out carbon dioxide from the lungs.

• If you're new to this pose, sit facing a wall. Place your clasped fingers and head on the floor about eight inches or so away from the wall.
• Straighten your legs, and walk your feet toward your head. Bend one knee, and tuck it into your chest. Using your abs and hamstring flexibility, lift your other leg off the floor so both knees are tucked into your chest, in a pose called Bound Headstand Prep: Tuck.
• With complete control, slowly lift and straighten both legs up, coming into Bound Headstand. If balancing is hard, bend one knee and place the sole of your foot on the wall.
• Hold for five, 10, or more breaths. Then slowly bend your knees into your chest, lower your feet to the floor, and rest in Child's Pose.

     Yoga for Stress

Do you feel great? Alive and vital? If not, consider the role that stress might be playing in your life.
Stress can greatly diminish our energy. Stress quite literally robs us of our vitality. We live in an
increasingly stressful world and the potential for the experience of stress comes at us from many
places: work, relationships, current events, life events, social media and information overload can all
create the sensation of stress in our bodies and minds.

Thankfully, yoga and the tools of yoga offer us a way forward to a healthier and happier way of
being. There are three simple steps that you can take right now, utilizing what you’ve already
learned from your practice.

#1 – Shift your attitude. Studies have found that those people who believe that stress will kill them,
do in fact die from stress related and stress induced illnesses. Rather than allowing yourself to hold
such a powerfully negative view, shift into seeing the power of the positive. When you feel yourself
experiencing stress, rather than freak out- affirm that this is what it feels like when your healthy body
responds to challenge. This one simple shift could save your life.

#2 – Move! Get out there and move! Move your body in yoga- any yoga practice or run or walk or
skate or swim or- you get the idea. Our stress response is created through our sympathetic nervous
system. This system reacts to a true life threat in the same way as the experience of traffic making
us late for work. There is no distinguishing the levels of threat- just the same reaction. Our bodies
prepare us for stress by enabling us to run or fight. One of the ways that we can release some of
that response is by moving our bodies.

#3 – Breathe. Allow yourself to not only notice your breath but also begin to work with it. Simple
pranayama (breathing techniques) are incredibly effective in shifting and handling the energy of
stress. Next time you feel stressed- shift your breath- begin to breathe long and deep. Do a practice
of equal inhale/exhale. Allow yourself to inhale for a count of 5 and exhale for the same count. A few
minutes of this will shift your entire perspective and you will begin to feel better right away.

YOGA FOR LIFE: AN INTEGRAL                                  APPROACH

Brief History of Yoga

Yoga was developed in ancient India, approximately during the period of 3300 to 1900 BCE. For several centuries it was an oral tradition only – and in some aspects it continued to be like such for millennia to come.

The earliest written material about yoga is found in the Rig Veda, which was first written down between 1500 and 1200 BCE. On the other hand, some scholars point out that astronomical references in that book indicate that is must have been at least partially written in the fourth millennium BCE.

Yoga deeply influenced the development of several religious movements in Asia, including Buddhism (Buddha was a disciple of two Yogis), Jainism, Taoism, Sikhism and Sufism. Throughout the centuries, many different schools or types of Yoga have developed. The main ones are:

• Raja Yoga / Patanjali Yoga
• Jnana Yoga
• Bhakti Yoga
• Karma Yoga
• Hatha Yoga (including all it’s modern developments)
• Kriya Yoga
• Tantra Yoga (including Mantra, Kundalini, Laya, Nada, and Hatha yogas)

Here is an interesting documentary covering some basic concepts in each of these paths.

In the late 19th century, Yoga made its way to the West through Swami Vivekananda, who spoke at the Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in 1893. This kindled a strong interest in Yoga, and opened doors for many other masters to visit the US and Europe.

If you want to learn more about the history of Yoga, check out this article and this video. Or go through the most complete book on the subject, The Yoga Tradition.

Many Levels of Yoga

There are four core aspects of Yoga practice: body, breath, mind, and life. These levels are an alternative reading of the eight “rungs” of Yoga, codified by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras.

BODY

The yoga postures (asanas), together with the practice of certain body locks (bandhas) and purification exercises (shatkarma), help us keep our body healthy, strong, flexible, and full of vitality. This aspect is what is most commonly known of Yoga, but it’s far from being the whole of it.

Some of the general benefits associated with the practice of asanas are:

• Lowers blood pressure
• Lowers blood sugar levels
• Lowers production of cortisol (stress hormone)
• Increases flexibility, core strength, and balance
• Increases vitality and energy
• Boosts your metabolism
• Calms down the amygdala (the center of fear and anxiety in your brain)
• Improves sleep quality
• Improves posture
• Improves immune system
• Reduces chronic pain

Each pose also has particular health benefits and therapeutic effects. For example, the shoulder stand pose (sarvangasana) stimulates the thyroid gland, revitalises the ears and tonsils, and balances the digestive and endocrine systems.

From a secular point of view, a daily and well-rounded practice of Yoga postures is great preventive medicine, packed with several health benefits.

From a spiritual point of view, the goals of the physical practices are to:

• Calm your body and mind before meditation
• Prepare your body for sitting motionless during long meditation sessions
• Free your body from disease, so that the practice need not be interrupted or weakened
• Make you more resistant to cold, heat, hunger and pain, so that you are less distracted in practice
• Increase your vitality (because going into deep meditation requires tremendous energy)
• Increase your life-span (so you can meditate more)

Indeed, a healthy and strong body is a great foundation for deep meditation practice. It is also a benefit in itself, regardless of any interest in spirituality, for people of all walks of life (including kids).

On the other hand, when we practice the asanas carefully, these yoga poses themselves are a form of dynamic meditation. For that, turn off music and distractions, keep your mind focused on your body and breath, relax into the asanas, and remain at ease in the present moment.

BREATH

Another element is the yoga breathing exercises, called pranayama.

The breath and the mind are very tightly connected, so by working on the breath you can change your mental states, and vice-versa. Also, it is also much easier to calm your breath than to calm your mind, because the mind is rather subtle and volatile. So breath work is a powerful tool for physical health, emotional wellbeing, and meditation.

There are many different pranayama techniques, for different purposes. In general, though, they all involve taking a seated posture and breathing deeply (usually through the nose), in a specific pattern. In pranayama we

• use abdominal breathing rather than chest breathing
• make our breath as even, deep and smooth as possible
• usually make our exhalation longer than the inhalation, to induce relaxation
• learn to work with breath retention for extended periods of time (more advanced)

Below are some instructions for a very simple pranayama practice that anyone can do. I call it “Square Breathing”.

• Breathe in counting 4 seconds
• Hold your breath for 4 seconds
• Breathe out for 4 seconds
• Hold empty for 4 seconds

That makes up one cycle. Do 12 cycles like this, and your mind will be in a different state. It takes only about 4 minutes, and you can do it anytime, anywhere.

In this practice, breathing in and out should be done through the nose, and be as deep, even and silent as possible. If 4 seconds is too hard, you can do 3 seconds; if it’s too easy, you can increase the count to 5 or more.

From a secular point of view, the goal of pranayama is to oxygenate the blood, regulate your emotions, calm down the nervous system, and strengthen your rational brain (prefrontal cortex). Among other things, pranayama has been proven to help recover from PTSD (here and here).

From a spiritual point of view, the goals of pranayama are to:

• Pacify the mind, making it calm, focused and introverted (pratyahara);
• Increase your lifespan and health;
• In the traditions of Kundalini Yoga, Kriya Yoga and Tantra Yoga: to purify the nadis,balance the vital energies of prana and apana, make prana flow through the center channel (sushumna) and awaken the kundalini. For these purposes, pranayama is accompanied with specific visualisations, mantras, locks (bandhas) and other yogic processes (all too technical to explain in this short article).

If you are looking to get started with pranayama, have a look at my Breath of Life program featured on Daily Yoga app (iOS, Android).

To explore some of the scientific reasons behind pranayama, I recommend this video, by Dr. Roger Cole PhD.

MIND

The major focus of Yoga is actually meditation, not postures. All yoga practices exist to prepare you to meditate effectively, and to support your meditation practice. When there is stillness and ease in the body (asanas), and evenness in the breath (pranayam), the mind is in a much better position to meditate properly.

As you can imagine, there are many methods of Yoga meditation. The most typical ones are:

• Chakra meditation. This means focusing the mind on one of the seven main energy centers in the body, called chakras. This focus is usually accompanied with specific visualizations or mantras.
• Mantra meditation. Also called japa, in this meditation the yogi keeps repeating a sacred word during the whole session, while at the same time focusing on a particular feeling related to that word. Examples of mantras are OM, So-Ham, Ram, and Om Namah Shivaya.
• Trataka.  This involves fixing the gaze on an external object, typically a candle, image or a symbol (yantras). It is done with eyes open, and then with eyes closed, to train both the concentration and visualization powers of the mind. After closing the eyes, you should still keep the image of the object in your “mind’s eye”.

The techniques also vary depending on the yogic tradition. In Tantra Yoga there is a great variety of meditations involving visualisation and energy work. In Bhakti Yoga, God is the object of concentration. In Jnana Yoga, it is the Absolute, or pure awareness.

Generally speaking, the yogic tradition has great flexibility as to meditation methods. It is said that the yogi can meditate “on whatever he/she prefers”. The general approach, though, is always concentration meditation.

From a secular perspective, the purpose of meditation practice is to improves one’s health, well-being, and performance (see here for meditation benefits).

From a spiritual perspective, the goals of meditation are to

• (1) Purify the mind from negative emotions and thoughts;
• (2) Liberate you from limiting beliefs and identifications;
• (3) Achieve the superconscious state of Samadhi, which is Yoga’s highest tool;
• (4) Ultimately achieve realization/enlightenment/liberation, which is also termed Self-Knowledge or union with God, depending on the philosophical metaphysics behind each Yoga style.

LIFESTYLE

Adopting Yoga as a way of life or a serious spiritual practice, invites us to integrate its core values  into our daily activities. This will support our practice goals, be they secular or spiritual.

Here are the 10 Life Principles of Yoga. These principles are not imposed. Rather, their value must be discovered by each person individually, in one’s practice and life.

Five Principles (yamas)

• Nonviolence (ahimsa). Not causing harm to other beings or to ourselves through our body, words, and thoughts. Related virtues: compassion, kindness, modesty, love.
• Truthfulness (satya). Not speaking falsehood. Also involves being truthful to yourself and sincere in your relationships. Related virtues: honesty, integrity, sincerity, reliability.
• Non-stealing (asteya). Not taking what is not given. Related virtues: fairness, respect.
• Continence (brahmacharya). For monks and ascetics (who invented Yoga), this means celibacy. For “city yogis”, it means not obsessing over sex, and also being responsible in ones sexual relationships. Related virtues: self-control, moderation, contentment.
• Non-possessiveness (aparigraha). Not being attached to things, and living a simple life. It also means cultivating a mind free from greed and cravings. Related virtues: non attachment, contentment, simplicity.

Five Disciplines (niyamas)

• Purity (saucha). Keeping the body clean, and the mind free of negative emotions and thought patterns.
• Contentment (santosha). Cultivating an attitude of acceptance. Being cheerful and satisfied, here and now, regardless of external circumstances.
• Self-Discipline (tapas). Intensive practice that stretches your limits and creates inner transformation. “Tapas” literally means heat.
• Self-Study (swadhyaya). Introspection and self-reflection. It is the study of oneself, of one’s behavior patterns and intentions. It also means study of yogic texts.
• Self-Surrender (ishvara-pranidhana). Surrender to a supreme Reality. For some this means faith in God; for others it is surrender into the source of being, the Self or Awareness.

In the beginning these principles might be felt as a limitation, or a sacrifice. But as you progress in your practice, you see that they are intelligent guidelines to help you make the best decisions in every circumstance, both for yourself and for those around you.

With time we start seeing that whenever we don’t follow these guidelines, we experience some sort of trouble as a result. When that happens, following these life disciplines becomes the same as following your bliss.

Yoga For Life

Yoga can give you much more than a flexible body. If you are ready to go deep, you will find a system of practice that can help you achieve mastery over yourself and great inner transformation. This is yoga for life!

Yoga is already quite popular in the West. My hope is that during this International Yoga Day we can help the deeper aspects of this art be more widely known and practiced. Especially meditation and the lifestyle disciplines.

WHAT YOGA MEANS TO ME

The first question we got asked during our yoga teacher training was “what does yoga mean to you”? Now don’t get me wrong, I had plenty of reasons to why I practice yoga, but I couldn’t find the words to answer this question. It wasn’t until recently that I found the answer to this question.

Before I would have told you that yoga helps you to find some peace of mind, balance even, and besides being great for the mind, yoga also does wonders to the body. Apart from this I would struggle to explain the deeper meaning of yoga. 

Note: Keep in mind that yoga could have a completely different meaning to you, which is ok. Yoga isn’t a fixed thing, neither are we, our perceptions are different, which makes us unique, yet the same. 

Now, my answer would be quite different. The thing that transforms a simple gymnastics class into a yoga class is the connection to the breath, making it mindful. Working with the body to find resistance, while maintaining the breath, finding silence in the midst of a storm.

The mind and body will react to the postures creating resistance, some postures ask us to challenge ourselves and find our limits. Connecting to our breath helps us observe the body in these postures, what do you feel, and can you let it go?

In the end I can talk about this topic for ours, but you really have to experience it for yourself. You have to be ready to transform and grow. Because yoga isn’t just an exercise you do, a real yoga practice challenges us. You might even feel sensations or emotions you were unaware you had, stored deep inside ourselves.

So what does yoga mean to me? Yoga to me is a lifestyle that isn’t limited to the yoga mat, my teacher would say that “the real yoga practice starts the moment you leave the yoga mat”, to which I’d have to agree. Yoga has transformed my life, helping me to be present and aware in everyday life. It challenges me, shakes me to my core, and there’s a lot of resistance, which I observe, and ultimately helps me grow.

Yoga helps me to find balance at times where I have non. It helps me breath and flow through life and be present to experience life as it is. But most importantly it has given me moments of bliss which I experience during and after my practice.