During this uncertain time, more than ever, our yoga practice has a LOT to offer us. The challenges we’re facing are various and different people will, of course, be suffering in different ways and to different degrees.
But if you practice yoga, or are interested in it, now is a really good time to find new ways of taking your yoga off the mat and integrating it into your way of life. Really, that’s what yoga is — it’s never just postures on a mat. Sometimes, we need the motivation of new challenges to make us see that.
Do you need to catch up on what the chakras are and how they work? Head over to An Introduction to the Chakras to read the basics.
Now, we’re going to explore the qualities of Swadhisthana — the sacral chakra. It is the second chakra and the name roughly translates from Sanskrit to English as ‘dwelling place of the self’.
Yes — yoga retreats really are very good for you!
Going to regular yoga classes is, without a doubt, a hugely beneficial thing to do for yourself. But a yoga class once a week is only an hour or two away from the challenges of daily life — which is not always enough to balance out the stressors you encounter.
Think about the key struggles you manage every day, and how much they affect your emotional wellbeing.
Perhaps you devote all of your time to other people; to work, family, or friends; and have no time for yourself. Maybe you’re stressed or dealing with anxiety; and perhaps you’re not sleeping well at night. Or maybe you feel lost, and you haven’t had time to figure out why.
In a study published by the BMC in 2017, researchers found that 3.6 million adults in the United States practise mantra meditation.
Each one of those 3.6 million people may have had a different reason for bringing mantra into their lives, but they are all undoubtedly experiencing benefits that they didn’t expect.
A mantra is a word, phrase, or sound that is repeated as a way to focus concentration and achieve a meditative state of mind.
Chanting mantras is a really wonderful way to start meditating if you’re new to such practices. It can be a kind of ‘gateway meditation’, as it removes the fear and frustration that comes with the idea of silencing the mind — which many people assume is the purpose of meditation.
Actually, very few people meditate with the intention of completely emptying the mind of thoughts. Instead, meditation allows us to hone our skills of awareness so that we can
