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.
Sahasrara — the crown chakra. It’s known as the seventh chakra, but it’s not really a chakra at all. It is the culmination of the six chakras together:
• Mooladhara
• Swadhisthana
• Manipura
• Anahata
• Vishuddhi
• Ajna
Sahasrara connects us with divine, infinite intelligence.
We’ve all heard that yoga and meditation are good for our mental health.
But does science really support those claims? And how does it all work?
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.
Home-working brings all kinds of benefits — but it has its downsides too, and it’s vital to take good care of your mental and physical health.
Actually, I happen to be a bit of a pro at this; as a business-owner who works from home a lot of the time, I’ve picked up some wisdom along the way.
The world is changing fast at the moment, and our lives are changing with it. And change isn’t always easy — especially when it comes with uncertainty about how the future’s going to look, and worry for the most vulnerable people in our lives.
20th March is the International Day of Happiness. A day to celebrate feeling good — and to acknowledge how important it is to look after your own happiness every single day.
In his bestselling book The Art of Happiness, the Dalai Lama wrote “happiness is determined more by one's state of mind than by external events.” And while that book is packed with useful gems, this sentence really does get to the heart of matter.
And so the silly season approaches again. While we all take a moment to ask ourselves, how on earth did this happen so fast?! — this is also a great time to ready ourselves for the chaos to come.
Because although the holidays can be rich with joyful moments and closeness with the people we love the most, it’s not unusual to be really stressed at this time of year. Maybe even so stressed that you’d rather hop on a plane and spend the time on your own in a tropical country, sipping coconut water and wishing your family well from a safe distance.
Ayurveda is the oldest accepted medicine system in the world. And yet, despite its age, around 70% of the population of India still use Ayurvedic medicine. About 240,000 American adults use it. I couldn’t find any stats for Australia, but here Ayurveda comes under the umbrella of ‘complementary medicines’ — and two in three Australians do use some form of complementary medicine.
Let’s talk about Vishuddhi: the throat chakra. If you struggle to communicate openly with those around you — or feel unable to speak truthfully from the heart — then working with this chakra could be particularly useful for you.
But first, have a quick read of this blog post: An Introduction to the Chakras. It’ll give you a good grounding in the basics so that you understand what the chakras are and how they influence you.
One of the most important skills you develop through yoga and meditation practice is witnessing. By learning how to be aware in every moment, you also learn how to observe.
Most of us place judgements on everything, all the time. We judge other people. We judge our circumstances. We judge external events; and perhaps most importantly, we are constantly judging ourselves.
