Articles
Thoughts and Expert Advice on Yoga & Meditation
A Portrait of Vigyana Shakti
In the early 2000s, I trained to become a yoga and meditation teacher under the guidance of Swami Janakananda. We were a small group of particularly motivated teacher aspirants who lived at Haa Retreat Center. The training was intense, and most who attempted it gave up within a year or two. This is a portrait of my friend Vigyana Shakti, one of those who made it through Janakananda’s teacher training at the same time as I did.
What to do if you get frustrated while meditating?
As beginners, many of us have. Frustration builds on a misconception of what meditation is and on unrealistic expectations. What you need is a slight but crucial shift in your attitude. In this article, we will explore how you should relate to the frustration and how you can overcome it.
Benefits of Neti – Yogic Nose Cleansing
Do you have problems with recurring colds, sinusitis or allergies? Nose cleansing, or neti, is part of the cleansing processes of hatha yoga. You rinse your nose with lukewarm salt water and it helps to keep your nose in good health. It is so easy to do that everyone can benefit from it.
How long do you need to meditate to get real effects?
If you just started out meditating or are considering starting, you might be asking yourself how much you need to meditate to get real effects. Read this article to understand how long time it takes for you to benefit from meditation and how to get an impact quickly with the help of complementary practices.
Review of the Three-Month course at Haa Course Center
During the three-month course at Haa International Course centre, the most advanced practices from the Satyananda tradition are revealed during optimal conditions. You might be wondering if this retreat lives up to its reputation and you might be wondering if it is right for you. This article will give you the full picture.
Can you improve your concentration with meditation?
A lot of people want to strengthen their concentration. Many meditators say their practice gives them just that. But is it scientifically proven that you can improve your concentration with meditation?
What is the best way to learn pranayama?
If you have tried the original breathing exercises of hatha yoga, chances are that you have had an uncomfortable experience. The bliss-inducing breathing you expected might instead have felt like a near suffocation experience. The truth is that pranayama is both challenging and subtle and that you can easily miss the target. To avoid frustration, you need the right guidance. Let me share my take on the best way to learn pranayama, how to bypass the traps and benefit from it from day one.
Can you learn yoga alone at home?
You might have heard that the best way to learn yoga is with a master. But what if you don’t have access to a one and want to start yoga on your own? Is learning yoga alone at home a lesser way of learning as many yoga teachers will have it? What are the obstacles and disadvantages? Could there even be advantages?
Bhramari Pranayama
Bhramari pranayama is a breathing exercise where the practitioner closes his ears. While slowly exhaling the yogi then makes a deep humming sound that vibrates in the head. With a bit of imagination, this sound resembles that of a flying bumblebee. Through the calm that it establishes, bhramari pranayama allows you to reduce stress and anxiety.
Should you practice pranayama before or after asana?
I keep getting surprised when I come across yoga teachers who teach pranayama before yoga poses. There are several good reasons why you should place pranayama at the end of a yoga session. If you do them right, pranayama takes your yoga practice to another level. You don’t want to miss out on that by misplacing them.
What is hatha yoga?
Hatha yoga is a term that people use to describe the yoga from which modern postural yoga is derived. When a yoga class is called “hatha” that generally means that it will be slow and gentle. Yet, modern postural yoga is confusingly different from the methods from the medieval hatha yoga manuals. Let’s have a look at what hatha yoga was to the yogis who invented it. It is quite different from that which is taught in modern studios.
The Relaxation Response
In a threatening situation, the nervous system reacts to make us capable to take action. However, psychological pressure and the normal frictions of modern life can trigger the same physical reactions. When stress is long-lasting, the nervous system loses its capacity to reestablish balance. Meditation can set off the relaxation response which can be the way to stay healthy.Load More