The Power of Community in Yoga

Yoga is undoubtedly starts as an individual pursuit. The practice is personal, and although we follow the same path, each person’s journey is ultimately unique.

Yet, even when practicing alone, there’s a pervading sense of connection to a wider community, united by a shared love of Yoga. The power of this connection is almost tangible in a group class, when your breath and movement is synchronised harmoniously with others around you, and there begins the sense of community within Yoga.

The desire to connect with others is a fundamental part of the human experience.

Whether we like it or not, we are hard-wired to crave and seek a sense of belonging.

This biological reassurance is the driving force behind the many roles and relationships in our lives, and the bonds we create with others undeniably accelerate growth and development.

Research has demonstrated that social support increases survival and longevity by some 50%. Holt-Lunstad and Smith’s meta-analysis of 148 studies found that not only is the risk of mortality from loneliness in the same category as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, but the benefits of community and interpersonal social networks are as important to physical health as beating obesity.

Community is clearly as nourishing for body and mind as yoga is itself, and the common ground doesn’t end there. Just like yoga, community is about connection and unity. Merge the two together and their power is amplified, allowing us to feel safe and supported in our journey, regardless of whether or not it’s a solo one.

In fact, it’s impossible to separate community and yoga; whether you’re practicing alone or in a hoard of hundreds, you are part of a worldwide network of likeminded and beautiful beings, whose connection transcends imagined boundaries of race, religion or nation.

This is one of the many incredible things about yoga; that something so personal can unite so many people.

After all, it is within others that we are able to most clearly see ourselves.

Without community, it’s easy to feel isolated and disengaged. But when we surround ourselves with like-minded and uplifting people, our shared experience builds strength and encourages growth.

The coming together of people of all cultures, backgrounds, shapes and sizes to find union in yoga ultimately has the power to influence a wave of positive change in communities across the world.

Even when we feel alone, this connection reminds us that we are always together, united as one.

Original article by Yogapedia

How to Build Strength with Your Yoga Practice

When people think about yoga, strength isn’t always the first thing that comes to mind. But this doesn’t mean it can’t or shouldn’t be a part of your practice!

Traditional asana practices often feature long holds (which build endurance) and passive stretching (which increases passive flexibility). However, as yoga evolves we’re seeing a shift towards building power and increasing active flexibility through dynamic movement. Perhaps the most distinct shift is the strength that yogis are now cultivating. This is partly spearheaded by yogi’s bringing in lessons and knowledge from other athletic disciplines such as dance, martial arts, and calisthenics. 

The physical practice of yoga is actually quite well-suited for strength building for two reasons. The first is that it utilises repetition  When we repeat a motion, whether it be a Chaturanga or Warrior II, we progressively fatigue our muscles which allows them to grow back stronger. Secondly, each posture in yoga has numerous modifications that allow us to make it easier or more difficult. Therefore, as yogis build strength, it’s easy to find more demanding and difficult progressions that will allow us to continue that growth. By utilising reputation and adaptation, we’re able to achieve the principal of progressive overhead (i.e. increasing demand on the musculoskeletal system to gain strength, size, and endurance) just as we would in any other athletic discipline.

However, gaining strength in yoga requires us to actually incorporate principles from exercise science into our approach to structuring our yoga practice. So let’s discuss how learnings from gymnastics and strength training can help us create yoga flows that build strength (and allow us to master fun new skills). 

The Science

To very quickly summarise (before we get into what it all actually means) –– to gain strength with yoga, we first need to think about how strength is built. Let’s try and simplify this as much as possible. 

Exercise science tells us that strength is equal to neural adaptations –– how our body responds to stimulus, plus cross sectional muscle growth –– the size of our muscles. The former is more influential on our overall strength. When talking about neural adaptations, we can think in terms of motor units (motor neurons sent by the brain to the muscles), and the type of muscle fibers being activated. The two ends of the motor unit spectrum are Low Threshold Motor Units (LTMUs) and High Threshold Motor Units (HTMUs). LTMUs correspond with slow twitch, endurance focused muscle fibers and take a weaker electrochemical brain signal to activate. HTMUs correspond with strength and power. These innervate fast twitch muscle fibers and are activated by a higher-intensity electrical impulse in the brain. Put simply, this means that if we want to gain strength (and nail that press to handstand), we need enough stress to activate HTMUs and fast twitch muscle fibers. Still with me? Great, let’s get started!

Putting this into practice

First, let’s get this out of the way–-building strength will not make you overly muscular or necessarily decrease your flexibility (unless you’re exclusively tossing barbells overhead in the weight room). So get that powerlifter image out of your head, and think more about the lean and muscular physique of a gymnast or circus performer. 

So how do we do it? And how will this be different than how yoga is usually practiced? Here are a few ideas? 

1) Begin with a warm-up.

The idea behind this approach is that part of your strength-based yoga practice is going to be putting a heavier-than-usual stress on the body, which means it’s essential to warm up thoroughly without wasting energy or exhausting yourself.

2) Do some skill-based work first.

Trying to nail Eka Pada Bakasana (one-legged crow) or a freestanding handstand? Do it after your warm-up. This is going to be the time when you have the most energy and focus to work on skill-based movements. In yoga, we often put these challenging positions as peak poses at the end of a practice. While not necessarily harmful, this doesn’t allow us to approach them with our full ability since we’re often already exhausted. 

Please note that there are two exceptions to this approach. Firstly, if you’re working on drills to support difficult postures (i.e. handstand holds against the wall, etc.), do that after your skill work. Secondly, if you’re working on positions that mainly require flexibility (as opposed to strength or balance), place these later in practice once you’ve spent more time opening up.

3) Add some strength-based work early on.

After warming up and working skills, now is the time for your strength work. One of the best ways to do this is with a short but challenging (think very challenging) flow that you can repeat 1-3 times. After each repetition of the flow, take a long rest in Childs pose. Make the difficulty of this mini-flow match your (or your students) level, while throwing in one or two “reach” movements or postures. You/they will eventually adapt to the challenge.

4) Move through the rest of your regular practice AFTER strength work.

After having used your maximum strength in your mini-flow, feel free to move through the rest of your practice as you usually would. This could focus on more dynamic movement, slow endurance-focused postures, breath work, or whatever other priorities you have. 

5) End with additional mobility and flexibility work.

Since you’re putting an extra level of stress on the body during your difficult strength-focused flow, be sure to end by giving those parts of the body a little extra love. If you were hand-balancing, open up the wrist joints. If you were working the core, take some time in Sphinx pose. The extra work means you’ll need a little extra cool down to assure that you’re able to avoid injury and keep up with your practice. 

Yogi’s are able to accomplish some amazing feats. But to do so, we have to be experimental and scientific about our approach to practice. Part of this should be drawing on what we know from other disciplines. Gaining strength in yoga isn’t difficult. However, it does require us to structure our flows so that we explicitly perform strength-focused movement at the right times, while using repetition, and adapting to use progressively harder variations of each posture as we grow.

Our top New Year Resolutions that will keep you grounded in 2022

New Year’s Day allows us to reflect on the past year and set new intentions, cleansing ourselves of the past and starting fresh for the present and the future. While we are also given these opportunities every time we step on the mat, the holiday is wonderfully encouraging, and resolutions are on everyone’s minds and lips.

As yoga teachers and students, our practice is deeply embedded with our life and work. I’m sharing just a few of my yoga-related New Year’s Resolutions; if you’re stuck and haven’t claimed any resolutions yet, feel free to share and steal mine! 

Practice Yoga...Off the Mat

Aiming to do more sun salutations or work on handstands are common resolutions, but let’s not forget that yoga is more than just a physical practice for many. Take advantage of the mental and spiritual elements of yoga this year.

But what exactly does this mean? In order to deepen your yoga practice off the mat, you could:

• Read more about yoga history (including Iyengar’s Light on Yoga or The Yoga Sutras)

• Read more about other yogic paths, including karma and bhakti yoga

• Reflect on the different elements of yama and niyama

• Take extra time to meditate

• Try a vegetarian or vegan diet

Keeping your home clean is yoga, just as much as hitting a handstand is yoga. In order to deepen your practice, we can all look at how we practice yoga out of the asana practice.

Try Different Types of Yoga

It goes without saying that our yoga practice can put us in a strict routine. We may practice the same poses, in the same room, at the same time of day, based on what we were taught or what we enjoy. In the past few years, yoga has exploded into a form of fitness that turns tradition on its head (and we don’t mean in a sirsasana kind of way.) Asanas are used to sell products on social media. Yoga classes are sold with the promise of some rather non-traditional elements. With all of these new developments come confusion and criticism. As much as we may not like to admit it, we’ve all participated in the drama of judging other forms of yoga.

I know I’m not alone when I say that yoga has helped me let go of many forms of judgment: judgement of myself, judgment of my situation, judgment of others, etc. Putting down other forms of yoga, whether they follow traditional rules or not, puts us back into a judging mindset and begins to unravel the work we’ve done on the mat. The best way to do that is to get on the mat, without judgement, and experience new types of yoga. This doesn’t mean that you have to abandon your current practice, but adding in an extra class that you wouldn’t normally visit may help you widen your perspective and learn something new about the practice.

Leave Instagram for After Practice

Instagram and social media can be wonderful tools for motivation and marketing as yogis, but we all know how too much scrolling can be frustrating or distracting. During home practices, I find myself thinking about poses and intentions as they relate to hashtags or social media strategy (it doesn’t help that I work in digital marketing on the side!) As a newer teacher, seeing photos of advanced poses, ones that I just simply don’t have the core or arm strength (yet) for, can be disheartening. And neither of those feelings or trains of thought are productive during a Sun Salutation!

One of my biggest resolutions this year is to leave Instagram out of my thoughts and off of my phone until after my practice is over. My practice is my time, and it should not be drifting to a more advanced yogi’s perfect scorpion pose.

Spread Some Happiness!

I’ll wrap up this post with one of my favorite mantras is a Sanskrit prayer: “Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu.” 

(लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु) It translates to, “May all beings everywhere be happy and free, and may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom for all.”

Beautiful, right? The phrase emphasizes spreading love and positivity throughout the world, which makes for a pretty noble (and daunting) mission. I love this phrase because it combines hope with intention. This is a resolution on its own, focusing on how each and every one of our thoughts and actions can contribute to a better world for all. As yogis, we work on this mission every time we get on our mat or teach a class. Keeping this mantra in the back of your head will keep your smiling and positive whether you are on the mat, in front of the class, or just living your daily life!

What are your New Year’s Resolutions, yogis?

Article Author: Megan Okonsky

Article Source: https://www.momoyoga.com/en/blog/4-new-years-resolutions-for-yogis

The Yoga Yamas and Niyamas in life

The Yamas and Niyamas are an integral part of yoga and can provide a lot of valuable guidance on how to fruitfully navigate life with yourself and others in mind. The article below provides an overview of the Yamas and Niyamas, as well as detailing how they may apply to our day to day lives and how we can use them for reflection or a catalyst for change.

Yoga is a comprehensive system for wellbeing that extends far beyond asana (physical yoga postures); it is literally a way of living. Yoga is designed to bring increased awareness of not only your body but also your thoughts, through various techniques and teachings. Included in these teachings are the ten Yamas & Niyamas, which are foundational to all yogic thought.  

The Yamas (restraints) & Niyamas (observances) may be thought of as moral guidelines that help us move deeper into our own authenticity and can support the leap towards a more meaningful life. The Yamas and Niyamas are the first two limbs of the eight-limbed path, which is a step-by-step path towards the realization of yoga, as described in the ‘Yoga Sutras of Patanjali’. They are the most concrete places to start, as they relate directly to how you behave outwardly in the world and inwardly toward yourself. Incorporating these principals into your life can have a profound effect on your yoga practice and your peace of mind. Rather than trying to integrate them all at once, choose the one or two that resonate the most with you. You may find that by simply focusing on one, the others begin to fall into place.

YAMAS

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra lists five Yamas, or moral restraints, which apply specifically to how you behave outwardly toward other beings.

Ahimsa (Non-Violence)

Freedom from Harming. Minimise the amount of harm you are causing to yourself and others in thought, word and deed, by becoming aware of the ways in which you may bring suffering to others. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra says “When you are established in ahimsa (non-harming), others will stop harming you.” You will be a space for gentle love and kindness.

Satya (Truthfulness)

Truthfulness. Before you speak, ask yourself, “Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?” Satya includes right speech and truthful communication, as well as skilful listening. When approached with a piece of gossip, be a discerning listener. When truly practicing satya, one’s words and deeds are all in alignment with one another. Don’t think one thing and then say something else. Being truthful does not necessarily mean being as blunt as possible. Practice ahimsa as well, by telling the truth in the most skilful and constructive way possible.

Asteya (Non-stealing)

Freedom from Stealing. Do not take what doesn’t belong to you. Do not take that which you haven’t earned. This applies to material things, as well as respecting others’ time, energy and hard work. If you’re always showing up for appointments 10 minutes late, you are stealing another’s valuable time. If you take credit for someone else’s idea or hard work, that is not practicing asteya. Asteya also means balance between give and take. For some people, this may mean taking what is needed more often.

Brahmacharya (Moderation)

The yogic path discourages overindulgence in many things, including food and sex. Obsession with these things may cause you to lose touch with what is truly important in life. Brahmacharya is often described as moderation, specifically sensual. In classical yoga, brahmacharya refers specifically to sexual moderation. Never use sexuality to dominate or manipulate another being. Being faithful to your partner would be a form of brahmacharya. Don’t be too hard on yourself, everything in moderation, including moderation.

Aparigraha (Non-hoarding)

Freedom from Grasping. Develop sensitivity to what you really need. Don’t take so much that others don’t have enough. Don’t be possessed by your possessions. As long as you are lusting after the next great thing, you will always have a sense of lack, which leads to suffering and a feeling of separation. If there is something you want, take the necessary steps to make it happen. Let go of your attachment to the outcome.

NIYAMAS

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra lists five Niyamas, or observances, which apply specifically to how you conduct yourself on a more personal level.

Saucha (Cleanliness)

Cleanliness and purity can be practiced on a number of different levels. A clean environment and living space: clear clutter, keep belongings organized and practice good feng shui. A clean body: clean diet, good hygiene, well kept appearance. A clean mind: consider the amount and the quality of the information you are inputting on a daily basis and be selective about the books and magazines you read, how much time you spend online and what television shows and movies you choose to consume. Clean company: spend time with people who uplift your spirit and inspire you to be your best and set clear boundaries if you have toxic people in your life.

Santosha (Contentment)

Look to yourself and your own innate goodness for happiness; that is the only place you will truly find it. Santosha also means being present. Rather than wishing for things to be different in your life, accept and appreciate the reality of what is. Do you really need things to be different to be happy? Choose to be happy now. Cultivate santosha by making gratitude a daily practice. Notice the moments you are happy, even if they seem to be few and far between. Keep a gratitude journal. Count your blessings. Remind yourself often, “I have enough. I am enough.”

Tapas (Self Discipline)

Transform yourself in the fire of positive change! The term tapas means “heat” and it refers to the discomfort that comes with breaking habitual thought and behavioural patterns to effect positive transformation in your life. If you have ever tried to break a bad habit, you will know that process is often accompanied by physical discomfort. You also recognize that the discomfort is a necessary step toward the change you are seeking. Having tapas is rolling out your yoga mat and doing your practice, even when you’d rather stay home and watch TV and eat chips. It’s pulling an all-nighter to finish an important assignment to the best of your ability. Or holding an uncomfortable yoga pose for those last three difficult breaths because you know it will make you stronger.

Svadhyaya (Self Study)

Be aware of your actions as they are happening. Reflect on them later. Use your reflections to make positive changes to your actions in the future. Taking time to reflect quietly on your day through journaling or contemplation is a wonderful way to practice svadhyaya. Studying of yoga texts and scriptures is also said to be a form of svadhyaya, as you are studying the highest self.

“The person practicing svadhyaya reads his own book of life, at the same time that he writes and revises it.” - B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Yoga

Isvara-pranidhana (Surrender)

Give your life force energy to something higher than yourself. This is devotion and surrender for the small self to the higher self. We practice isvara-pranidhana every time we dedicate or offer up our yoga practice to someone else. This has a powerful effect on your practice. It creates new sense of purpose when your practice is infused with intention and energy. Isvara-pranidhana also means letting go of doubt and making room for faith.

 
Author: CorePower Yoga blog

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The Benefits of Practicing at Home

Never has home practice been more relevant, and possibly more important, than now. Regardless of the barrier to practicing in a studio- whether it be a pandemic lockdown, or just a busy life,  there are numerous benefits to a home practice.

Of course there are challenges to practicing at home, however, if you set up your space, approach it with an open mind (not comparing it to in-studio practice), and stick to it for a while, it can become a very welcomed part of your weekly routine. In order to set yourself up for success, find a clean and tidy spot, free from distraction and with all props at hand. Make it like your own personal yoga shala!

Check out the article below to learn more about the well researched benefits of practicing at home. 

There’s no place like home if you want to reap the most benefit from your yoga practice.

According to a recent study published in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, frequency of home practice was a better predictor of positive health than how many classes a person attended weekly or how long someone practiced.

Researchers at the University of Maryland and the National Institutes of Health found that those yoga students who practiced at home reported more positive mindfulness, subjective well-being, BMI, fruit and vegetable consumption, vegetarian status, sleep, and fatigue.

“They were even more likely to eat their vegetables!,” Timothy McCall, M.D. a contributing medical editor for Yoga Journal, wrote in the Yoga for Healthy Living blog.

“The study bore out something else I’ve been teaching for years: when you combine the various tools in the yoga toolbox including asana, breathing practices, meditation and even study of yoga philosophy you tend to get even better results,” McCall added.

Combining different types of asana practice, such as vigorous and restorative poses also proved beneficial. And the study also found that older people experienced less fatigue than younger, but both improved with regular practice.

So not only is it better for your health to practice at home, but to vary your routine to include as many elements of the practice as you can.

The abstract is available here.

Article sourced from: https://www.yogajournal.com/tourblog/home-practice-promises-greater-benefits/
Composed by YJ Editors

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