Written by Hillary R. Hoff This is a poem I would like to share. I first wrote this poem for an assignment while finishing my first yoga teacher training in 2013. Before beginning the training, I didn’t resinant with this poem and even now before sharing I had to adjust a few lines because my … Read more
What is your Yoga? #1 Written by Hillary R. Hoff While being a yoga instructor many people comment to me with responses such as, “I’m not flexible, I have no time for yoga right now, or I’m just not a yoga person.” The funny thing is I believe everyone does yoga all the time without … Read more
A break! From negative spiral thinking #3 Written by Hillary R. Hoff Part III: What can we do to change these thoughts and patterns? There are numerous options that trace back thousands of years to how we can heal our thinking patterns and break the negative spiral from repeating. There is plenty of research encouraging … Read more
A break! From negative spiral thinking #2 Written by Hillary R. Hoff Part II: Why do we continue with these patterns of attracting negative thoughts and outcomes? Dr. Alice Boyes explains how we continue giving energy to unwanted behavioural patterns because we find the “payoffs” within each pattern. Payoffs that are physical, situational, and established … Read more
What are the benefits of pranayama? In his book, Prana and Pranayama, Swami Niranjanda Saraswati writes: “In the yoga text is written that through pranayama one can control one’s circumstances and character and harmonize the individual life with the cosmic life. The aspirant who practises pranayama in a sustained manner will find that every aspect … Read more
The koshas as map to balance yourself In his book Prana and Pranayama, Swami Niranjananda Saraswati, writes: One who identifies with anandamaya kosha is a yogi. He has evolved to the spiritual realm, where all the experiences are spiritual experiences’. Let’s try to understand this Swami. He writes: “However blockages in other koshas still exist … Read more
Prana Let’s talk a bit more about prana. The Sanskrit word prana is a combinatation of two syllables, pra and na and denotes constancy, a force in constant motion. The chhandogya Upanishad (1.11:5) says: “ In prana all moveable and immoveable beings merge during dissolution and rise out of prana (during creation)”. Prana is the … Read more
We can differentiate three types of breathing. 1.Clavicle breathing is the most shallow and worst possible type of breathing. The shoulders and collarbone are raised while the abdomen is contracted during inhalation. Maximum effort is made, but a minimum amount of air is obtained. 2.Thoracic breathing is done with the rib muscles expanding the rib … Read more
‘Tasmin sati åvâsa-praåvâsayor gati-vicchedaï prâñâyâmaï’ (YS 2.49) ‘The asana having been done, pranayama is the cessation of the movement of inhalation and exhalation” The fourth limb of Ashtanga yoga is pranayama. Georg Feuerstein explains this sutra as following: “When the posture is mastered, the breath control can start. Breath controls is not mere rhythmic … Read more
THE BHAGAVAD GITA: KARMA YOGA #3 Written by Estella Vall The Bhagavad Gita’s yoga is something nearly every human participates in, to one degree or another, in one form or another. But people just don’t know it. These are the characterizations Krishna gives to yoga in the Bhagavad Gita: Clear, discerning, totally voluntary, dynamic … Read more