Celebrating Our Mothers

As we are celebrating our Mothers this week, it’s important to recognize that the maternal bond is incredibly special and nurturing when it is intact and thriving, yet can be painful and disappointing when it has fallen short of expectations. Sometimes there is miscommunication that gets in our way, sometimes it’s a block having to do with giving or receiving love, sometimes there are things much more grievous. The foundation of our maternal relationships remind us that our ultimate stewardship is that of caring for children and thus the deep gratitude for our mothers and nurturers reflects that. 

Let us remember that we can celebrate many mothers this week…we all descend from a long line of women whose DNA we share and/or whose traditions have been passed down to us in some form. We are also all nurtured by mother earth…think of the rich soil beneath your feet to ground you and help you feel a sure foundation, the plants that exist to serve us, the water that brings us life.

Myrrh essential oil has been nicknamed the oil of Mother Earth. It has rich chemical constituents that can support healthy emotions and cognitive processing especially about the maternal relationships in our lives. It is an oil that can help ground and center us (as all tree oils do), it actually comes forth to support the wellness of the tree, and on so many levels can do the same for us. Historically it has been recognized as so precious that it equaled gold in value and weight.

If you are wanting gentle support as you work towards forgiveness and/or strengthening your bond with your mother, apply some myrrh over your heart and breathe in to support your journey in this regard. Since myrrh has a unique deep aroma, it can also be nice to pair it with a higher note such as a citrus or floral essential oil for interest. 

So let us remember and honor the women in our lives who have nurtured us, handed down traditions that help connect us to where we came from, or who have provided a situation in which we had to really grow and stretch. These women ultimately gave us gifts of strength and perseverance to make us the strong and independent individuals we are today. There is always a gift that comes from overcoming adversity; if this is your reality, take some time to ponder the gifts that you have received. Dig your toes into the earth and celebrate your nurturers this beautiful Mother’s Day week. 

Mother's Day

This month honors the mother, the earth, the Creator, and the Divine feminine in all of us. Let us resolve to support and nurture new life: a newborn baby, a new friend, an innovative idea, or a great opportunity. Let us love deeply and unconditionally, and raise the vibration of our consciousness and of humanity. Here are five simple practices to honor the Divine feminine in you:

1. Get in touch with Mother Earth – get out in nature, do yoga in your bare feet and ground into the earth, garden, hike, practice pranayama and meditation, while breathing fresh air!

2. Build a small alter to honor those who nurture you in your faith practice. Include symbolism like a cross, menorah or decorative verses from the Koran. Include pictures of your family and significant figures who help guide your spiritual journey. Find objects that speak to you to complete that sacred space: candles, seashells, rocks, incense or a diffuser for aromatherapy.

3. Practice self care with a daily regimen: take time to meditate, enjoy a long bath with aromatherapy, nurture your skin, eat well and treat yourself to something that you crave now and then, we are only human!

4. Celebrate beauty all around you. Once you start looking for it, beauty abounds in nature and in people. You will find yourself moving back to gratitude for creation, in all aspects, from the One who created you, to the mothers in your life, to the joys of nurturing others and for the capacity to be creative in your life.

5. Slow down to go deeper: in meditation, in your yoga practice, in your conversations, and in prayer. Practice being present and savor the moments that that unfold to show you how life is precious.

Smelling Good!

Smell or scent can trigger the memory instantly transporting back in time. It can be used to affect how we want to feel too.  So, wearing a scent or using aromatherapy can be used to eliminate and/or mask a smell or decide which ones we want to use and enjoy.  If you take time to practice awareness of scents around you, the olfactory process heightens.   Consider closing your eyes and taking in your surroundings usingyour sense of smell.  What stands out to you and is it pleasant?  Use this evaluation idea to help you understand the fragrance notes that you enjoy and ones that either disagree or don’t do anything for you.

Once you are more aware of what is grounding, relaxing, energizing, …to you, then consider affecting your emotional wellbeing and therefore your energy, outlook, immunity, and resilience.  Consider nurturing yourself with an arsenal of a few bottles of essential oils. If you want ideas, message us.

Next, do a scent detox.  Notice all the products in your day that provide fragrance and do some detective work.  Do they have artificial fragrances in them, and if so how can you begin to eliminate them so that you decrease and hopefully diminish toxic load?  This can help reset your sense of smell and therefore make it more efficient.

Then reintroduce the scents you want, and use them to make your cleaning products not just to use as aromatherapy.  Get to know their benefits both as single oils and their exponential benefits when blended with other oils.  From time to time change it up – you wouldn’t want to always eat the same meals, right? Explore and allow you body and mind to enjoy the many benefits of a variety of essential oils.  Feel and see the profound effects on your life, physically, emotionally and spiritually!

10 SPRING CLEANING TIPS FOR THIS KAPHA DOSHA SEASON

Springtime is emerging with color and smells, warming sunshine and nurturing rains,…along with the transitions that challenge our seasonal adjustments. Time change and alternating hot/cold days, pollen and mold, all present need for constant adjustment that do affect us, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Ayurveda and yoga offer us an arsenal of both proactive and defensive practices to ensure that we enjoy the renewal opportunities of Springtime, unhindered by the lurking hurdles.

Yoga teaches us to reflect inward and tune into our body’s messages while the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda leads us to adjust and establish balance for all doshas using the many gifts of the earth, especially the plant life, to include herbs and essential oils. As all beings are one with nature, we all have a little of each dosha/constitution in our makeup, to include all five elements: Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether. The balanced amount of each type: Vata, Pitta and Kapha are unique to each person and are determined at the time of conception. Whenever there is a shift or transition in our life, there is a challenge to our balanced constitution, and this includes seasonal transitions. Furthermore, each season is associated with a different dosha, which means that the conditions of that season can lend themselves to both advantages and equally pose challenges.

Springtime is Kapha season! Kapha dosha is made up of earth and water elements, and spring is governed by kapha dosha whose qualities are: heavy, dense, wet and cool. This is because these qualities are increasing this time of the year, as the wind transitions the season, the snows melt, the rain comes... and this poses a potential imbalance for Kapha dosha for all of us.

When in balance, Kapha dosha builds strength, immunity, protection, provides lubrication (of joints) and provides sufficient mucous to protect membranes. When out of balance, excess Kapha dosha causes fluid retention, excess mucous buildup (think colds, allergies and asthma) watery eyes, sneezing, and the decreased energy of the body leaves one feeling dull, sluggish, depressed and lethargic. When any imbalances are unchecked, there is a buildup of ama or toxicity and this is both physical and emotional. Therefore Springtime is the ideal time for a detox, for all of us!

There are many “cleanses” out there to detoxify the gut and one has to be proactive in deciding the depth and length of the cleanse, and this varies with the amount of time necessary vs the time available to each of us and ourunique needs. If you have opportunity, seek out the help of an Ayurvedic practicioner, a nutritionist, or your doctor.

Here are some suggestions from Ayurvedic practice that are useful for all:

1. Incorporate more warming spices to your diet: Black Pepper, Cayenne,Cinnamon, Ginger, Mustard seed, and Turmeric

2. Use warming aromatherapy: Black Pepper and Wild Orange combination,Cinnamon and Cardamom combination, Ginger, Lemon and White Fir

3. Drink plenty of water – consider setting aside a month to incorporate a very gentle cleanse of one drop of lemon or any citrus oil in your day, as this is a very gentle cleanse for the digestive system.

4. Move your body – Kapha types need more stimulation, especially this time of year! In your yoga practice, add more sun salutations, add a little flow to standing poses, incorporate deep twisting to flush out the organs and breathe deeply. Increasing circulation will remove toxins.

5. Enjoy daily massage, starting with dry-brushing (toward the heart) before showering and then use sesame or coconut oil blended with eucalyptus, white fir or rosemary to nurture the skin, boost circulation and add a little aromatherapy too! Message us for more information about essential oils.

6. Minimize the following foods: Dairy, fried foods, refined sugars, processed foods, salty foods.

7. Use Pranayama to fortify the respiratory system: Breath of Fire will strengthen the cardio-respiratory system and stoke the digestive fire, agni while Alternate Nostril breathing brings balance to the right and left sides of the brain. Less stress on the nervous system translates to less stress on the body.

8. Use a Neti Pot – this is a great tool for flushing the sinuses and boosting immunity.

9. Cultivate a meditation practice – there are so many styles of meditation and early morning is an ideal time to incorporate this opportunity to quiet the mind and help with emotional wellbeing. Whether you use mantra, breath or guided meditation, experiment and enjoy building this part of your daily practices, your dinacharya.

10. Use all your senses to take in the beauty of the season. Nature teaches us so many lessons to include that everything takes time, and the benefits of consistency is the fruit of the labor! For more, get your copy of Essential Yoga Practice: Your Guide to the New Yoga Experience with Essential Oils.

Here is another link to check out for some additional information. 

12 ways to Celebrate Earth Day, Celebrate Life

The word “earth” brings many thoughts to mind.  In all faith practices we hear that God gives us what we need in our bodies and on this earth, to heal ourselves.  That is rather powerful and puts us in a position of great responsibility, not just to take care of our body, a temple, a vehicle for the soul to live the purpose of our life, our dharma but to be stewards of this earth, while we do so.

Where do we start?  With gratitude first. According to Ayurvedic tradition, we should wake before or with the Sun and recognize the opportunities of the day, to offer our hands in service, to offer our gifts.  Our morning rituals include self care and vary slightly with regard to constitution.  How we support the optimal way our body functions includes recognizing that both movement and food is our medicine.   (For more on daily practices for your constitution, see Essential Yoga Practice).  How we care for Mother Earth can be small steps of care for ourselves and our environment and they have a ripple effect on ensuring life for the children of our future and for all life that shares our planet.  Here are ways we can collaborate to care for our earth and our wellbeing:

1.Recycle – the preservation of our planet begins with how we minimize our footprint in our immediate space.
2.Get involved in community efforts to ensure clean water and minimize pollution.
3.Support laws to protect the environment.
4.Find ways to serve those less fortunate with providing clean water and good nutrition.
5.Get out in nature daily – this is known to improve mood!
6.Plant a garden – include herbs and use them in your cooking
7.Put your hands in the soil and feet on the ground – the probiotic benefits are found here too.
8.Plant a tree
9.Get out and exercise in fresh air and sunshine
10.Practice yoga outside when possible – your practice will be inspired by what is around you, follow your intuition and enjoy your practice of asana, meditation and pranayama outside.
11.Bring the outside in – with plants in your home to help with the O2/CO2 exchange, with using fresh herbs and essential oils for aromatherapy, you are tapping into the how nature helps with preventative wellness practices.
12.Eat fresh foods daily, keeping a diet that aligns with your dosha, your constitution,… and keep coming back to gratitude

Celebrating Earth Day is really about Celebrating Life!  We just have to find and offer the right ingredients and situations.  The answers lie in what God gives us through gifts of the earth.  Happy Earth Day from Essential Yoga Practice!

IT’S THE LAST WEEK TO REGISTER FOR APRIL’S YOGA SANGHA!

We are SO excited to connect with you during our 2-week Yoga Sangha that starts 1 week from today – this is where you’ll learn step-by-step how to incorporate essential oils into your yoga practice. Every day we’ll have a specific focus and a variety of instructional videos and links to provide greater clarity on your journey. There is relevant information for you no matter where you’re starting out – new to oils, new to yoga…or an expert in either.

The community that you’ll plug into with Essential Yoga Sangha will provide value during the sangha as we all share tips, strategies and masterminding – and we anticipate it will provide much value in the future as we stay connected.

Best of all, if you are a yoga instructor and would like to become an expert at sharing the art of pairing yoga and essential oils with your students, Essential Yoga Sangha is your first step. Learn to use information in Essential Yoga Practice to help your students greatly benefit in their yoga practice and other areas of their life. 

Yoga Alliance registered teachers will receive Continuing Education credits by participating in the Sangha!  Email us for more information at essentialyogapractice@gmail.com! 

For more information and to register, CLICK HERE  Registration ends April 15th at 8pm EDT. See you there!

Mind Your Mantras. Do Your Practice.

Mantras are powerful. Why? Because words are powerful!

As human beings, we have the ability to communicate and articulate complex ideas, feelings, hopes and dreams.  Through language we get to connect to our world, by lending our voice and sharing who we are.  Language is an opportunity to learn from others while offering our knowledge too.  The ideal of feeling connected to our world, to feeling like we belong, has many facets and language can be a polished side of that gem.  Words define our beliefs, and therefore our behaviors.   Our communication skills can shape our future, define our obligations, frame our reputation and structure our thoughts, especially the words that we say often.    

In the practice of yoga, we have mantras, words that are said with repetition,  used in meditation, and recited for many reasons:

a.  They are a one pointed focus to help the mind quiet

b.  They might be melodious, a form of sound healing

c.  They align with slow deep breathing

d.  Their meaning is inspiring

e.  They help drive a desired outcome or encourage a desired behavior

f.  They direct our faith practice and allow us to grow spiritually

Thus, we should be thoughtful and intentional in choosing our words carefully.  If you are using a mantra for personal growth, use words that will help you nurture your best self, use words that will shape how you show up for life, and take your place in the world.  Use your mantras, use your voice, share who you are and watch the great interplay in all your circles.

Some of my favorite mantras (and my students have heard them often) :  “You are stronger than you think!” “This is more than it seems.”  “Peace.”

Consider adding aromatherapy to your daily meditation and notice the deeper connection to the emotions connected to your mantras.  Refer to your Essential Yoga Practice book to discover essential oils and aromatherapy ideas recommended for grounding, energizing, motivating, and quieting, as well as asana practice to support these emotions.  Add your own mantras; personalize your practice!  

To join us for more in-depth training, sign up for our “Yoga Shanghai,” a 2 week on-line training beginning April 17, in how to blend two ancient practices, Yoga and Aromatherapy. Yoga Alliance teachers will receive credit. Prerequisite is to have an Essential Yoga Practice book.  Order yours on Amazon or at Oil Life or Aromatools now!  

Yoga Mat Cleansing Spray

“Nature’s new year,” spring time is here to remind us to prepare for the new season by clearing out clutter, congestion, and any lurking hinderances to good health and happiness. The Ayurvedic focus for spring is to start out feeling vibrant and new.  See last week's blogpost for 10 Spring Cleaning Tips. This week we offer you a great refreshing Yoga Mat Spray recipe, to keep germs at bay and to have aromatherapy right from the surface that supports your practice. 

Yoga mats are porous surfaces, and we should be concerned with the cleanliness of this surface that much of our skin comes into contact with, whether we practice daily or occasionally, whether we use the gym/studio mat or have our own. The porous surfaces are great breeding quarters for mold and mildew, viruses and bacteria. Keeping germs at bay can be an easy part of your yoga asana regimen, before and/or after your practice, using a nontoxic homemade yoga mat spray with pure essential oils.  

DIY Yoga Mat Spray:  
In a 16 oz glass spray bottle, combine:

• 1 1/3 c distilled water
• 2/3 cup vinegar
• 10 drops lavender
• 10 drops Melaluca(tea tree oil)

Shake well and spray on the surface of your mat – use a clean rag to wipe down the mat.  Allow time for the mat to air dry.  Enjoy a clean, fresh smelling mat, and note the energy of your practice afterwards! 

Seasonal cleansing allows us to renew our outlookwhile clearing our system of imbalances and toxins.  We can enjoy the new season with improved habits that include attention and awareness to all aspects of wellness.  

Are you ready to feel vibrant and renewed?  Want more yoga and aromatherapy tips like this one?  Sign up to join our yoga and aromatherapy training, “Yoga Sangha’”.  Like, comment and share to be eligible for this month’s giveaway, a bottle of Lemon essential oil. Access pure essential oils here.

10 Spring Cleansing Tips from Essential Yoga Practice

Happy Spring from Essential Yoga Practice!

With the official beginning of Spring, the warmer weather fills us with a sense of wakefulness and inspires us to follow along.  It is time to renew our take on life and the transitional steps include spring cleaning, physically, emotionally and spiritually.  Ayurvedarecommends spring cleansing as a way to “fertilize” all areas of life so as to nourish the soil for well-being in the summer.   Please refer to your copy of Essential Yoga Practice book (on Amazon and at www.essentialyogapractice.com)  and DVD which further explain our following recommendations, and include a detoxifying asana practice:

 

1.  Clean the air in your home, car and workspace.  Use a diffuser with any of the citrus oils as they are both cleansing and emotionally uplifting!

2.  Make your own cleaners using citrus oils and melaluca to clean and purify.   In a spray bottle mix water, a few teaspoons of vinegar and 10 to 15drops eachof a citrus essential oil and melaluca and use as an all surface cleaner.

3.  Declutter so as to  practice of Saucha, cleanliness, the first Niyama of the eight limbs of yoga (see page 6 in your Essential Yoga Practice book).  This ideal includes being neat and tidy, being pure in thoughts, as well as using pure products  in how you care for body, mind and spirit.

4.  For the next month, try using a couple drops of a pure, internal-grade citrus oil in a glass of water once daily – this can support healthy functioning of the GI Tract.

5.  Through the practice of Ayurveda,  oil the body daily before showering to pull toxins to the surface that will then wash away.  Refer to pages 22-24 of Essential Yoga Practice for more information, or simply use coconut or sesame oil.  Massage toward the lymph nodes to assist lymphatic drainage.

6.  Support the skin, your largest organ, after showering by using nourishing oils or lotions.  Consider making your own blend with aromatherapy to support vata dosha, as we all need to pacify vata tendencies in the spring. See pages 15-16 of the book.

7.  In your yoga asana practice, use poses from the categories of  folds and twists to detoxify the body. 

8.  Get enough sleep.  Springing forward sometimes takes a while to get our body clock back in sync with the time change.  Allow yourself to be prepared and ready for bed by 10 pm, when melatonin production is at a peak and falling asleep is easier.

9.  Start or renew a meditation practice to include attention for spiritual growth.

10.  Find an fun and inspirational way to learn something new for enhancing your wellness practice.  Need an idea?  Our Yoga Sangha, a two week training will begin April 17, 2017!  Be among the first to join us as we build the movement to learning and introducing the merging of two ancient practices: yoga and aromatherapy!  Signup at https://essentialyogasanghaapril17.eventbrite.com 

 

Seasonal cleansing allows us to clear away old habits andtoxinsand to introduce new ways to bring balance to our daily wellness practices, leaving us feeling renewed with more energy and joy! 

Want to win a bottle of pure lemon essential oil?  Like, comment and share on any of our social media pages and then tune in on April 1 as we announce the winner!

Join our Sangha Movement on April 17!

About 10% of the Western world practices yoga. The cultivation of mindfulness in yoga practice helps us with how we take our lessons off our mats and into our day, into our interactions and into our world.   Yogis are transforming our world, first by learning how to understand themselves by deepening their own yoga practice, refiningself regulationagainst stress, and then using their energy and understandingto offer their gifts toward improving our world.  Therefore those who engage in yoga are actually engaging in the practice of evolution.  

As yogis we realize that we cannot control what happens around us , but how we are able to respond, therefore working on improving ourselves first.  The yogis way of thinking: “if I am in harmony and in health and when those around me are doing the same, then harmony and health will be a natural characteristic of the world we live in."

Want to be a part of this movement?  Lets come together to improve our own well-being and then lend our newfound understanding and efforts to a global transformation; let’s make our world a better place!  We will start with learning about the science of yoga, and the science behind aromatherapy.

Our new 2-week -training called Yoga Sangha” (sangha means my community or my tribe) is now set to begin April 17.  Participants are required to have a copy of Essential Yoga Practice found on Amazon, (show link) at Aromatools, www.aromatools.com and at Oil Life,  www.oillife.com .  All participants will receive samples of all the essential oils to use for the training, along with a great keychain carrier.   Sign up TODAY to JOIN US! 

Staying Grounded With Standing Poses

Though we want to be well-rounded students, to incorporate understanding and practice from all categories of yoga asana, standing poses are a great, accessible starting place for new students as they build a strong foundation for positive, grounding effects. Standing poses are often considered the core of asana practice and since we come back to revisit poses, we have the feedback of where we started to help us understand the progress we have made as well as the journey we continue with – this is empowering and motivating in itself. “We begin anew” every time we come to our mat, and with that in mind we want to look and feel and learn something new about ourselves each time, we want to deepen our practice. Your practice challenge for your next practice: especially in your standing poses, try to focus on incorporating both horizontal expansion and vertical extension with your awareness, your actions and your breath. Notice how rooting down helps you to reach up and out. Notice where your breath goes.

Notice your stability. And, your notice your freedom and feeling that you can soar. Use a tree essential oil like White Fir or Cedarwood. Enjoy your practice! Namaste!

Essential Yoga Sangha - 2 Week Facebook Group Experience

We are so excited to announce that our Essential Yoga Sangha (Essential Yoga Community) will be starting in March! Essential Yoga Sangha is a 2-week Facebook Group experience complete with mentors (experts in yoga and essential oils) to guide you and answer questions, collaboration & community, and foundational, step-by-step education for the following groups of individuals:

1. Yoga instructors who want to learn how to masterfully incorporate pure, potent essential oils into their personal yoga practice, and into their classes. Special professional bonus posts will be made available only to yoga professionals, so make sure you select the right ticket!

2. Yogis with all levels of experience who want to learn to incorporate essential oils into their yoga practice (and get a few tips to enhance your yoga practice as well).

3. Essential Oil Users who have always wondered if they could pair their oils with an amazing yoga practice.

For Yoga Instructors interested in our affiliate program, Yoga Sangha is a must, as the education and experience it provides will help you become proficient in the art of pairing yoga with essential oils. This training will help give our whole community a baseline foundation to start with so that further training, collaboration and benefits can follow. For more information about our affiliate program, please visit www.EssentialYogaPractice.com. (You can get additional information and freebies by registering for the newsletter on the home page, and the blog).

For more information and to register, go to www.essentialyogasangha3-2017.eventbrite.com

Aromatherapy for Your Dosha

Aromatherapy whether using essential oils, or fresh herbs, can tap into your body’s natural ability to take care of itself.  Our sense of smell connects us directly with our emotions, including our memories as well as our instincts. By intentionally stimulating our sense of smell, we can use aroma to support emotional well-being, trigger certain emotions and to affect energy levels: grounded, peaceful, energized, relaxed, focused. … In your next yoga practice consider using aromatherapy, whether with a certain mudra or diffuser, to enhance the effectiveness of how asana will open up certain energy meridians and chakras.  Consider your energy state at the beginning of your practice, the outcome you wish to achieve, your dosha, and of course the theme of your sequence.  Refer to the previous blog posts and your copy of Essential Yoga Practice on using a diffuser, on understanding your dosha and consider using one of the six sequences outlined.  The more you understand your dosha, the use of essential oils, and refine your sense of body awareness, the moreyou will use your own intuition to custom-create your own blends for aromatherapy.  Pittas can aim for cooling and calming oils like ylang-ylang, lavender, lemon, peppermint.  Vatas are seeking to support their need for grounding and stress relief to balance restless energy with aromas of Patchouli, Vetiver, and Basil.  Kaphas can seek to use aromas that are stimulating like rosemary, frankincense, eucalyptus, and peppermint  to revive vital energy.  More suggestions are listed and explained in the Ayurveda section of Essential Yoga Practice:  Your Guide to the New Yoga Experience Using Essential Oils.

Your Dinacharya, your daily morning practice

In the practice of Ayurveda, the daily morning routine is termed Dinacharya.  The way you start your day can have a great impact on everything from mood, to energy, to clarity, to outlook and therefore outcome.  The attention first to self-care and then to mindset is the suggestion. Your constitution makes a difference in some of the ways that you would choose to begin your day. See the January blog posts on Understanding and Maintaining Balance in Your Dosha.  Take the dosha quiz on pages 19 and 20 in your Essential Yoga Practice book. Answer all the questions based on general lifelong tendencies, not recent conditions.  The answer will be your “prakruti”, your unique constitution.  Most people are bi-doshic, meaning they have a more dominant dosha and then a secondary dosha.   

Daily Morning Routines – Dinacharya

·      Upon waking, think positively, starting with focus on gratitude.  Rub face, look at hands and anticipate your daily seva, the work of your hands in service to others

·      Eliminate

·      Brush teeth

·      Scrape tongue with steel or copper tongue scraper

·       Drink a cup of warm water, with optional lemon for Vata, and honey for Kapha

·      Massage body with sesame oil for Vata (begore and after showering), coconut or sunflower oil for Pitta, and dry brush instead for Kapha before showering, and then use sesame or almond oil or coconut oil.

·      Relaxing practice for Vata – yoga, pranayama, meditation; Meditation and quieting yoga and pranayama practice for Pitta, and meditation and energizing pranayama and yoga practice for Kapha

·      Plan to drink 8 glasses of water per day

·      Eat primarily cooked foods.  Vata- avoid excess dry foods, hot spicy foods, and excess bens, and eat balanced meals to include healthy fats.  Pitta- avoid hot spicy and deep fried foods, as well as moderate fermented and salty foods, red and fatty meats and minimize or avoid alcohol and processed sugars and grains.  Kapha – eat larger meal at lunch, avoid red and fatty meats and wheat and flour based products, while considering whole grains in moderation. Eat a lot of vegetables and a moderate amount of fruits.

Ayurveda defines optimal health as different for each person, taking into account the individuality based on dosha. This holistic system of healing educates and empowers us to take responsibility for our own wellness regiment to include diet, movement and lifestyle.  Aromatherapy to support each dosha is quite useful not only in meditation and yogic practice, but anytime of the day.  Refer to pages 22 - 24 in your Essential Yoga Practice book to learn more about specific essential oils to use for each dosha, but generally energizing scents for Kapha, grounding scents for Vata, and calming scents for Pitta are a great rule of thumb.

Stay tuned for more tips for this week’s blog post on our social media sites this week.  Stay tuned for mudras to practice for each dosha and Ayurvedic healthy dietary tips in next month’s blog. 

The Meaning of Asana

The word yoga is typically associated with “asana,” the practice of the postures.  The gateway for Westerns into beginning a yoga practice is typically group yoga/asana classes.  This is only wonderful because new and seasoned students begin to “feel” different as they connect to their bodies, recognizing how asana practice includes stretch, balance, strength work and then rest, and all of this somehow invokes a sense of peace and offers much more, to include mindfulness, a change of perspectiveand a sense of being “open.” That word “asana” actually has a deeper meaning, "a place that the mind can take a seat."   When we begin to enjoy a comprehensive yoga practice, we begin to affect the 12 meridians of the body, the 7 chakras, the centers of energy, and we open up stuck pathways. The emotion(s) behind them can then come to the surface. This is a gift, an opportunity to give away the tension and stress that you do not need to hold onto. To access this great advantage of yoga asana, we must be willing to build time, learning not only the postures, but our place in the postures.  We must practice with awareness of action within alignment, so that we not only have safe progress, but that we build resilience and thus build time in each posture, giving our attention to what comes up.  We must allow the mind to take a seat and sit with the various emotions, reflecting on the lessons that the body is teaching us. This is the way to self-understanding.  This is how asana practice leads us to knowing the next steps in our life’s journey.  The way out is in.  Do not be surprised if your asana practice leaves you feeling lighter, more open to what comes ahead in your day, and gives you more patience to reflect before you react.  This may seem like a lot to expect, but yoga delivers!  Show up ready to pay attention.  Open your mind and trust the practice!  Get ready to learn and practice more than just asana with us.  Start with aromatherapy today, an essential oil that supports the theme of your practice.  Want to know more, look to your copy of Essential Yoga Practice.  Sign up at our website to receive a free diffuser eBook with great ideas.  Namaste friends!