by swatiyoga | May 31, 2020 | Yoga, Yoga Nidra
I first came across yoga nidra in the early 2000s when I was doing my British Wheel of Yoga foundation course at Yoga Junction in London. At that time, the only resources around were from the Bihar school and Swami Janakananda. Now, as the popularity of yoga has grown...
by swatiyoga | Dec 15, 2019 | Ashram, Meditation, Yoga, Yoga Philosopy
1. Physical If you are stressed, your muscles shorten. To relax them, they need to be stretched in asana for at least a minute: the length it takes for the muscle to relax. The sympathetic nervous system causes tension; the parasympathetic system relaxes. Any...
by swatiyoga | Dec 15, 2019 | Ashram, Yoga, Yoga Philosopy
Our minds are unstable because they are affected by emotion. In daily life we vacillate between like and dislike, moving from one extreme to another. Sound has a strong power to control the mind. As a vibration, it goes directly to our nervous system. Sound also...
by swatiyoga | May 28, 2019 | Ashram, Sivananda, Yoga
Mountains & spiritual practice In the taxi to Mittersill, where I was going on a week’s yoga retreat, my fellow passenger, an elderly Austrian woman, related the weather lore of the Ice Saints. She said not until the day of the last Ice Saint, Cold Sophia on...
by swatiyoga | Mar 9, 2017 | Ashram, Sivananda, Yoga
I returned to Sivananda Chateau at Orleans in winter for a two-week break. It’s the second time I’ve been there since I did the Teacher Training Cert in 2008. Sivananda ashrams are a refuge for me. Whichever one you go to, you know what you are going to get – the...
by swatiyoga | Dec 11, 2015 | Ashram, Yoga
I attended a talk on stress at the Mandala Ashram in Wales by Dr Hania Kramlund, a yoga practitioner and GP working in Sweden. Her knowledge of stress and its treatment is both scientific and spiritual, plus she has first hand experience: she says she’s treating...
