Yandara Blog
How to Create a Personal Altar
As yoga teachers, we ’hold space’ for our students, but what does that mean? A huge part of space holding is energetic; it is not so much about creating a safe and inspiring physical place, but more of an intent. Our intent, however, is supported by creating an inspired environment which in turn cultivates a certain bhāv. Bhāv, sometimes translated as ”mood,” is what forms the nurturing ground for the deeper experiences of yoga.
Move & Breathe With Us – Gentle Yoga Flow
Join us for a 15-Minute Yoga Flow! In the original Hatha Yoga, being an advanced asana practitioner has nothing to do with impressive postures. Those may or may not come with time — a bonus to a dedicated practice. Instead, the advanced practitioner will show up with a beginner’s mind, knowing that there is always something new to learn. The aim of the practice is to reach a place of deep balance and harmony.
Yin Yoga for Inner Peace
Yin Yoga, the quiet, contemplative sibling of Vinyasa Yoga, is an excellent way to slow down and find peace within. Where Vinyasa is flowing and active, Yin is slow and passive...the two styles complement each other and are great tools to help us find harmony. Our heartfelt gift for you this week is a 15-Minute Yin Yoga Sequence for Inner Peace!
Four Keys to Peace from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra 1.33
In sutra 1.33, Patanjali tells us that there are four locks and four keys in the world. Each lock is a human behaviour that can trigger a whirlwind in the mind, and each key is a way to neutralise that whirlwind.
25-Minute Pranayama Practice for a Calm Mind
Pranayama, or breath practice, is a powerful tool with many benefits that is often overlooked in westernised yoga practice. The breath is a bridge between body and mind, and between the autonomic and somatic nervous systems. By changing your breath pattern, you can affect the body and mind. At the end of this post, find a 25-Minute guided Pranayama practice for a calm mind.
Warming Yandara Chai Recipe
Leaves are falling outside and autumn days like these call for time curled up in the sofa under a cozy blanket with a warm cup of tea… Masala Chai is a traditional Indian tea, perfect for chilly days. Find our favourite warming chai tea recipe here! Chai simply means 'tea' and masala is a mixture of spices. Masala Chai is made by simmering the tea with spices and milk. This creates a rich and creamy warm drink that makes your whole house smell like heaven!
Three Yoga Home Practices for Autumn
As yoga practitioners, we have many tools to help create stability and balance. Vata is easily aggravated by fast, mobile activities, so let's consider a gentle, warming, grounding and strengthening yoga home practice to find balance in the fall season. Here follows 3 simple yoga practices to incorporate this fall.
A Philosophy and Guide for the Intuitive Yoga Teacher
Welcome to the Path. An excerpt from the book by Craig Perkins and Amiee Hughes
Practice What You Teach: Keeping Teaching Real through the Evolution of Your Personal Practice
In 2015, after teaching part-time for three years, I decided to make the leap and become a full-time yoga teacher. While I loved the shift in focus of my life, by the end of that year, I was disenchanted with teaching and found myself robotically, mindlessly, offering sequences and intentions for practices that felt more like doing what I had to do to make ends meet instead of laboring with passion and love. I dropped back to part-time teaching, aiming to develop my own practice and uncover more pieces of myself that might expand the horizon of what I could offer my students. It worked. I typically did yoga five days a week, at a wide array of studios and for myself at home. I took bigger breaths. I read more about yogic philosophy. I travelled. Teaching began to feel like a privilege again. Now, I find myself with an incredible opportunity to teach-full time once more, and as I begin down this familiar road, I am trying to learn from my past mistakes.
It’s All in the Hips, Or Is It?
Now, back to the hips and that time you found yourself bawling in Sleeping Pigeon Pose after ten minutes. Okay. The hips are home to the largest ball and socket joints in the body which interact with seventeen to twenty-five different muscles depending on who you ask. Sitting for long periods of time (as many of us are want to do these days) shortens the hip-flexor muscles including the psoas, rectus femoris, and sartorius as well as the hip-rotators including the piriformis, and gemellus and obturator muscle groups. Muscles that originate from the hips attach at the pelvis, lumbar spine, sacrum, and all the way down to the femur. Tight or underdeveloped muscles can cause chronic pain, spasms, and knots, and reduce blood flow and oxygenation. Make no mistake, tightness in the hips can destabilize the spine and negatively affect core strength. From a simple mechanical perspective, regularly stretching the hips has indisputable benefits whether you are trying to maintain basic mobility or training as an elite athlete.