There are a variety of reasons why we are drawn to the different types of yoga offered in today’s society. For some, it could be as simple as wanting to get enough exercise to sustain a healthy lifestyle. For others, it could be a way to reduce stress and anxiety, and for others it could be a form of therapy for both the body and the mind.

The Ashtanga system of yoga from the Jois family is a Hatha Yoga tradition. In his book, Yogasana Cikitsa Bhaga, Yoga Therapy, Manu Jois emphasizes therapeutic yoga postures for a healthy lifestyle, especially during these modern times. It incorporates yoga and different breathing techniques aimed at energizing and revitalizing the body, as well as mudras and bandhas (locks) to stabilize the energy and the mind. According to Manju, the Primary Series is first mastered to stabilize the health of the student.

When offering Ashtanga as a form of Yoga Therapy restrictions are reduced and the healing of each individual becomes the focus.  In fact, Asanas found in Ashtanga are practiced for their healing and medicinal qualities, but they can also be used outside of the traditional sequences as well to increase the benefits. One of the purposes of practicing Ashtanga is to increase the well-being in oneself and to share this well-being with others.

One of the closing chants Mangala Mantra reminds us of how we are all connected and at our deepest core, would like all beings to be well.

Om swasti prajabhaya paripalayantam/nyayena margena mahim mahisah/go brahmanebhyay, subhamastu nityam, lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu//

May it be well with the protector of the progeny on earth,

And let them lead with intelligence for a peaceful earth,

May it be well with the connection between us and permanence.

May it be well with all beings everywhere.

(translation Greg Tebb)

 

WHY Meditate?
Many people say they can’t meditate because they have too many thoughts. I know, because that was my belief as well. Every time I made the attempt, I found myself more frustrated, bombarded with more thoughts than usual and ultimately feeling like It just wasn’t for me. Since then, I have completed a 6- month training thru the Chopra Center where I studied and learned Primordial Sound Meditation instructed by Deepak Chopra, Roger Gabriel and David Frawley. This course has changed my life and I would love to share with anyone who is interested in learning more, my passion and gratitude for this ancient practice.

During most of our waking life our minds are engaged in a continuous internal dialogue where one thought triggers another. We hear a snippet of music and suddenly we are day dreaming about something that happened 10 years ago which then triggers an emotional response and before you know it, you are carrying emotional pain from years ago. This type of thing happens in our lives all day long. We have approximately 60,000 to 80,000 thoughts per day. That’s about a thought every second and a half. That doesn’t leave much room for growth or change. We think we have free will but actually we are often controlled by the constant thoughts that trigger memories and then create an action based on our memories and desires. This pattern happens to us all until we learn how to go inward and find the peace and stillness that already exists in each of us, the perfection that is covered by the layers of stress.
Meditation is a journey from activity into silence. It is impossible to silence our thoughts but with a regular practice, we become more aware of our thoughts. When we start to discover this AWARENESS, our lives begin to change. During meditation we have the ability then to go beyond our thoughts into the infinite silence of peace and stillness.

 

Meditation is one of the best tools to counter the brain’s negativity bias, release accumulated stress, foster positive experiences and intentions and enjoy the peace of present moment awareness. A large body of research has established that having a regular meditation practice produces tangible benefits for mental and physical health, including:
• Decreased blood pressure and hypertension
• Lowered cholesterol levels
• Reduced production of stress hormones including cortisol and adrenaline which increase weight gain especially in the mid-section
• Increased production of anti-aging hormones
• Decreased anxiety, depression and insomnia
• Improve immune function
• Improve focus, memory and ability to learn

These are some of the health benefits not to mention the spiritual benefits which are unlimited. There isn’t any area of life that meditation can’t enhance… so what are you waiting for???
I will be hosting a meditation class every Sunday morning at 8 AM for 30 mins. It will be a Mantra Based Meditation that will include awareness and intention. I hope that you will join me and give this ancient practice a try.

I will also be hosting a workshop … the date TBA for anyone who is interested in diving deeper into this practice and having a clearer understanding of the benefits, deepening your knowledge of meditation, perfecting the practice of meditation, learn about the higher states of consciousness and receiving your own personal mantra.

By: Julie Kingston

Certified Integrative Nutritionist, Yoga and Meditation teacher

*for more information or for a private consult contact Julie

Join Julie on Sunday morning for Meditation and Vinyasa

HAVE YOU HEARD OF YOGA NIDRA?

Our modern lifestyle has become very demanding and fast. Spring is the time of the year, where everything returns to life, expands, and changes rapidly. When we miss to slow down during the winter – the time of hibernation – we feel even more under pressure right now. Our mind is continuously active and tense. When we fail to recognize the hectic without finding ways to balance out the negative stress, we end up fatigued and facing severe psychological problems.

 

However, there are many ways these days to seek balance. One of them is definitely Yoga Nidra. As a technique of pratyahara – internalized awareness – it not only provides our body and mind with deep relaxation and rest, it gives us countless benefits. While ‘yoga’ is known to be a way to connect and unite the physical, the mental and the spiritual, ‘nidra’ means ‘sleep’. In different words, Yoga Nidra allows us to experience a state between sleep and wakefulness, in terms of psychology called the hypnotic state – a state where the body sleeps, but our mind remains sharp and fully awake.

THE PRACTICE

The main requirements during the practice involve a preparation to remain comfortable in the posture of Savasana – corpse pose – with proper spinal alignment, the eyes closed, listening to the instructions and simultaneously feeling the body points mentioned, limiting movements and trying not to fall asleep.
The suggested duration is usually between 45 and 90 minutes, and there are basic steps that Yoga Nidra involves.
1. Starting the practice: the practitioner is guided through initial relaxation, achieved through the awareness of position, posture, stillness and breath.
2. Personal intension – sankalpa – a short, clear, positive resolve, selected by the practitioner and repeated three times mentally.
3. Rotation of awareness: the practitioner systematically travels through 61 different vital and nerve-rich body points.
4. Breath awareness: becoming aware of the natural breath without making an attempt to change anything, by watching it in the nostrils, chest, and abdomen.
5. Visualization: the practitioner is instructed to visualize some objects, situations, or to concentrate on a particular chakra.
6. Personal intention – sankalpa – chosen by the practitioner in step two is repeated mentally three times with dedication and optimism.
7. Ending the practice: the awareness is slowly externalized as the practitioner becomes aware of the external sounds, objects, and persons around slowly moving the limbs and stretching the body.

THE BENEFITS
There are countless benefits of Yoga Nidra. Practiced on a regular base, it not only relieves stress and muscular tension by bringing us into the state of deep physical, emotional, and mental relaxation. It also prevents stress and related disorders by training the mind to remain calm and quiet. As a meditative practice, it promotes our ability to concentrate the mind, therefore enhancing our memory and learning capacity, as well as awakening our creativity. Furthermore, Yoga Nidra has the potential to help us clear up the unconscious: particular techniques of visualization during Yoga Nidra can help us bring up traumatic experiences, conflicts and unfulfilled desires suppressed to the deeper layers of the mind, to consciously witness them and cut off the personal identification with those experiences. Researches indicate that Yoga Nidra can be used as a therapeutic technique to manage and cure psychological disorders such as anxiety, hostility, or insomnia, as well as psychosomatic diseases like asthma, coronary heart disease, or hypertension.