Embodying Spirit: Deepening Your Practice On and Off the Mat

Yoga is more popular than ever, but as yoga has become a household word, has it also become a mile wide and an inch deep? Are we missing out on the essence of yoga, even as the practice has become a household word? What can we do to capture the deepest aspects of yoga and … Continued

Yoga for 50+ — Feel Your Best for the Rest of Your Life

As baby boomers reach 50 and beyond, they are increasingly looking for ways to retain energy and vitality in the second half of life. Yoga offers a unique way to slow aging, restore well-being and vitality, deal with the changes of the maturing years, and even bring greater peace to mind and body. Yoga can … Continued

The Wisdom of Jalandhara Bandha: Neck Health and Why It Matters

The yogic action of Jalandhara Bandha, while it is designed for the practice of breath retention during pranayama, contains vital insights into the subtleties of how we hold our head, and how that in turn affects our breathing, muscle tone, and even the functioning of our nervous system. How we hold our head isn’t just … Continued

Mula Bandha and Uddhiyana Bandha: Keys to Core Integration in Yoga Asana

The original texts of hatha yoga cite the bandhas as being crucial to having a fruitful yoga practice. The bandhas are simple yet powerful muscular actions in the area of the pelvic floor (mula bandha), lower abdominals (uddiyana bandha), head, neck and shoulders (jalandhara bandha). Their original significance centered around pranayama and the movement of … Continued

Pratyahara and Yoga Asanas – The Significance of the Fifth Limb of Yoga

Our yoga practice offers a path to draw awareness inside and bring attention into the subtle movement in the body and the sound of the vibration of the subtle body. This is also referred to as Pratyahara, the Fifth Limb of yoga. Pratyahara is the softening of sensory awareness and is foundational to working with the … Continued

Earth to Sky: Embodying the Elements in Yoga

Everything in nature is made up of five basic elements: earth, water, fire, air, and space, according to Ayurveda and yoga philosophy. The five elements are viewed not just as external forces, but vital forces of life interweaving with our physical, mental, and emotional being. Knowledge of the five elements, or tattwas, as they pertain … Continued

Expanding Your Yoga Teaching Skills: The Art of Teaching Mixed Level Classes

At the heart of the practice of yoga is a very important relationship: that between the teacher and the student. The practice of yoga is a quite personal and intimate practice. Traditionally the student lived with the teacher and there were many opportunities each day for interaction and learning. Yoga teachers today face a very … Continued

The Primordial Song of Life – Introduction to Tantra Cosmology

Are we born from a universal intelligence, which gives birth to and is intertwined with the entire creation, as we know it? And if so, are we in our essence an indistinguishable part of this divine intelligence, much like a drop of water is distinct from and yet a part of the ocean? Join Yogiraj … Continued

Releasing the Knots that Bind Us: The Granthis

According to yogic science, the granthis are energetic knots located along the central pathway of the spine. These knots hold the life force (Shakti) in the body as a means to help us navigate through this plane of existence, but they can also tighten due to belief patterns and life experiences. The granthis are located … Continued

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