We are all searching on some level for happiness aren't we?
I know we are.
How to find and maintain happiness seems to be a journey for most people. There is a reason that 'self-help' books that focus on searching for happiness and contentment are some of the most popular books. In western society, we are focused on find out purpose and meaning. We seem to have lost our direction somehow.
We have noticed that in our own experience, the only person who can tell you what will make you happy is you!
YOU!
You are the only one who decides what makes you happy and where your life needs to go for you to feel joy.
A great way to connect with your inner self to establish your resolutions to happiness is through yoga and meditation.
Through the physical asanas of your own yoga practice, you connect with your body. You creating power, strength, balance, grace and beauty with your body as you hold and connect with each pose. It allows you to feel proud of you. To feel proud of your body. You create your confidence and strength to realize that finding joy is important to you.
Through mediation and relaxation, you re-establish your bond with your mind and spirit. Allowing yourself to take a moment to remember what is important in your life and for your happiness.
Allow yourself to come down from the sensation of floating over your life and reconnect with it.
You are the own who dictates what has to be done to embody contentment in your own life.
We hope you all have a joyful day!
Namaste,
Jessica and Lindsay
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
52 weeks of yoga: Week Three (Adho Mukha Svanasana)
We probably all remember our first downward dog we ever experienced. The first time we felt our hamstrings pull that way, how our hips felt so free pressing up towards the sky and the stretch in our spines as we create a natural space between each vertebra. Downward facing dog creates the feeling of complete 'togetherness' as we have instant connection to our body. The first downward dog of the any yoga class usually elicits an 'a ha' moment for most students. Downward dog allows you to remember why you love yoga so much.
Downward facing dog is one of the most common and well known poses in a hatha yoga practice (to see a picture and description of downward dog, click on this link) Most people who have ever attended a yoga class can instantly say they know this pose.
Like anything that is well known we start to take it for granted. We forget the vast benefits of Adho Mukha Svanasana. It is such an amazing physical stretch for the whole body, especially focusing on hamstrings, shoulders and spine. It has great benefits on our circulatory system and aid the digestive system in its job in the body. This pose is also connected to the 1st and 2nd chakra (for more information on chakras, We found a great website: chakra energy)
Not only does downward facing dog create significant changes in our physical body but it is a great asana to come to for centering the mind. By allowing ourselves to embrace this pose during our practice we can create a natural 'resting' pose for our bodies and minds. Downward facing dog allows us to reconnect to our practice.
Try this week to embrace Downward facing dog in your practice!
Remember our winter session has begun and there is still room in our classes. We hope to see you there!
Namaste,
Jessica and Lindsay
Downward facing dog is one of the most common and well known poses in a hatha yoga practice (to see a picture and description of downward dog, click on this link) Most people who have ever attended a yoga class can instantly say they know this pose.
Like anything that is well known we start to take it for granted. We forget the vast benefits of Adho Mukha Svanasana. It is such an amazing physical stretch for the whole body, especially focusing on hamstrings, shoulders and spine. It has great benefits on our circulatory system and aid the digestive system in its job in the body. This pose is also connected to the 1st and 2nd chakra (for more information on chakras, We found a great website: chakra energy)
Not only does downward facing dog create significant changes in our physical body but it is a great asana to come to for centering the mind. By allowing ourselves to embrace this pose during our practice we can create a natural 'resting' pose for our bodies and minds. Downward facing dog allows us to reconnect to our practice.
Try this week to embrace Downward facing dog in your practice!
Remember our winter session has begun and there is still room in our classes. We hope to see you there!
Namaste,
Jessica and Lindsay
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
52 weeks of yoga: Week Two (Vrksasana)
Vrksasana (Otherwise known as Tree Pose) is a wonderful pose to incorporate into your practice for balance and centering. It is strongly connected to the root chakra. The root impose characteristics of security and safety.The chakra allows us to create individuality and a connection to self. By incorporating Tree Pose into your practice, you are allowing yourself to deepen your connection to your root chakra.
On this link (Tree Pose) is the description of how allow your body to achieve Tree Pose.
Try this week to practice tree pose in your own personal yoga practice. We will also be incorporating it into our classes as well. See how much more grounded it makes to feel. Embrace the connection to your mind and to the earth.
We are going to leave you with a poem of ones woman's experience with Tree pose.
Vrksasana
Written by Leza Lowitz
how difficult it is
to stand straight and tall
to do it on one leg.
God knew what she was doing
when she made us bipedal.
Yet we spend most of life
hunched over,
denying the true weight
of the gift we were given.
Now the trunk aches
as it tries to expand to full height-
buried, as it's been,
in the bone
Gain and loss
victory and defeat
fame and shame
body and mind
mind and soul-
dualities vanish.
The tree grows green
against the blue sky,
drawing the sun's rays
through the slated shutters
of the ribs.
We are the roots.
We are the forests and the trees.
Here, there is only one trunk.
On it rests the world.
Namaste,
Jessica and Lindsay
On this link (Tree Pose) is the description of how allow your body to achieve Tree Pose.
Try this week to practice tree pose in your own personal yoga practice. We will also be incorporating it into our classes as well. See how much more grounded it makes to feel. Embrace the connection to your mind and to the earth.
We are going to leave you with a poem of ones woman's experience with Tree pose.
Vrksasana
Written by Leza Lowitz
how difficult it is
to stand straight and tall
to do it on one leg.
God knew what she was doing
when she made us bipedal.
Yet we spend most of life
hunched over,
denying the true weight
of the gift we were given.
Now the trunk aches
as it tries to expand to full height-
buried, as it's been,
in the bone
Gain and loss
victory and defeat
fame and shame
body and mind
mind and soul-
dualities vanish.
The tree grows green
against the blue sky,
drawing the sun's rays
through the slated shutters
of the ribs.
We are the roots.
We are the forests and the trees.
Here, there is only one trunk.
On it rests the world.
Namaste,
Jessica and Lindsay
Winter session is upon us!
Hello Everyone,
The winter session starts next week! Finally! We can get back to our yoga routine. Our connection to our inner self.
Our classes are posted to the left and if you need any more information about our classes, feel free to email us at namasteyogastudio@live.ca. We are here to help you figure out what is best for you when it come to yoga a meditation.
We really hope to see some of you at the classes. It is a great way to reconnect with your body and spirit, just want we all need, a little more personal connection!
We leave you with a wonderful poem, take it as you feel is right for you.
Viparita Karani (supported inverted pose)
Written by Leza Lowitz (Yoga poems: lines to unfold by)
flipping though the pages of life's diary,
we come to this day,
and the next,
and the next
Open yourself to the world
and life writes itself on the heart
Close your eyes,
look inside
and read it's poetry
again and again
slowly
the share it with someone else
Your neighbor is you.
Namaste,
Jessica and Lindsay
The winter session starts next week! Finally! We can get back to our yoga routine. Our connection to our inner self.
Our classes are posted to the left and if you need any more information about our classes, feel free to email us at namasteyogastudio@live.ca. We are here to help you figure out what is best for you when it come to yoga a meditation.
We really hope to see some of you at the classes. It is a great way to reconnect with your body and spirit, just want we all need, a little more personal connection!
We leave you with a wonderful poem, take it as you feel is right for you.
Viparita Karani (supported inverted pose)
Written by Leza Lowitz (Yoga poems: lines to unfold by)
flipping though the pages of life's diary,
we come to this day,
and the next,
and the next
Open yourself to the world
and life writes itself on the heart
Close your eyes,
look inside
and read it's poetry
again and again
slowly
the share it with someone else
Your neighbor is you.
Namaste,
Jessica and Lindsay
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
52 weeks of yoga: Week one (Savasana)
Here we begin. It is a new year, a fresh start. A reason to start it off better for your soul.
A quote I read just last night said "True nobility isn't about being better then anyone else, it is being better then you used to be " (Dr. Wayne Dyer )
Do not take this in a negative way, as in "I need to change who I am because the original me is not good enough", that is not the case at all. The original you is beautiful and unique.
Use this quote as is inspiration to make this year the year you nurture your soul. The year in which you finally give yourself time to grow and become the person you know is inside you. The year in which you slow down and realize just how beautiful your existence is.
A great way to connect to your true self is with relaxation, meditation and reflection. The one yoga pose in which this is best done in is "Savasana" (It is the lying down pose usually at the end of a yoga class or practice, and it alot of peoples favorite part of their yoga practice :).
Savasana is not usually recommended for meditation as it tend to lead to sleepiness but we find that if you are trying to begin your meditation practice, Savasana is a great pose to meditate in as it is comfortable and you have a great connection with your body and breath.
A very helpful tool with meditation when you find your mind drifting away from your focus, is to place your hand on your tummy and feel your breath. You'll feel your abdominal muscles rise and fall. The repetition of the rise and fall can help you to stay connected to your mediation and your body.
The steps to achieve savasana pose are well documented on this link I found through The Yoga Journal (The Yoga Journal has great "step by step's" for poses. They quite detailed which can be confusing at times but it is helpful to know how every part of your body should be in the each pose.)
Savasana is wonderfully transformational pose. It can bring you up if you are down and reconnect you to your true feelings by just allowing you to reconnect for a moment.
This week why not make the time to reconnect with savasana?
Namaste,
Jessica and Lindsay
A quote I read just last night said "True nobility isn't about being better then anyone else, it is being better then you used to be " (Dr. Wayne Dyer )
Do not take this in a negative way, as in "I need to change who I am because the original me is not good enough", that is not the case at all. The original you is beautiful and unique.
Use this quote as is inspiration to make this year the year you nurture your soul. The year in which you finally give yourself time to grow and become the person you know is inside you. The year in which you slow down and realize just how beautiful your existence is.
A great way to connect to your true self is with relaxation, meditation and reflection. The one yoga pose in which this is best done in is "Savasana" (It is the lying down pose usually at the end of a yoga class or practice, and it alot of peoples favorite part of their yoga practice :).
Savasana is not usually recommended for meditation as it tend to lead to sleepiness but we find that if you are trying to begin your meditation practice, Savasana is a great pose to meditate in as it is comfortable and you have a great connection with your body and breath.
A very helpful tool with meditation when you find your mind drifting away from your focus, is to place your hand on your tummy and feel your breath. You'll feel your abdominal muscles rise and fall. The repetition of the rise and fall can help you to stay connected to your mediation and your body.
The steps to achieve savasana pose are well documented on this link I found through The Yoga Journal (The Yoga Journal has great "step by step's" for poses. They quite detailed which can be confusing at times but it is helpful to know how every part of your body should be in the each pose.)
Savasana is wonderfully transformational pose. It can bring you up if you are down and reconnect you to your true feelings by just allowing you to reconnect for a moment.
This week why not make the time to reconnect with savasana?
Namaste,
Jessica and Lindsay
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