WarsawCheer

23/07/2020

Firstly, it's much easier to get to know your student deeper in a private session than a group class, as you spend all your time and engage all your energy in one single person. But there is always a way to do it, no matter it's a group class or a private 1to1 session

Observe Carefully
The first thing to do is to observe EVERYTHING.
How do they talk? What do they ask? What's the environment around them? Is he tired, talking too much, being too quiet, being sad, sleepy, having pain ...etc?
Adjust the angle or the aspect if it's necessary. In my story, as it was an online yoga class, I was limited to the sound from the speaker to the size of the screen. I had to ask my student to move around in his room with the we**am, in order to check his environment.
A smile of student's face, a single step the students make, a yawn....all can indicate what they really need in that yoga practice.

Ask, Ask, Ask
Before you start the practice, always ask the students questions according to your observation.

In the story above, I found he has a nice flat wall with carving behind. However, I had to confirm whether those carving makes him uncomfortable while leaning on the wall or not. I asked him gently putting his back on it. The wall is wonderful - comfortable and supportive. Then I used the wall in our first practice.
The chair he has as good as a support, but sometimes people have an office chair with wheels instead of 4 legs standing still on the ground. In this case, holding a chair in a yoga pose is not a good idea, as the chair may slide away during the practice.
Sometimes the issues are not from the equipment but from the students. At the beginning of every class, I always ask my student how do they feel? Do they feel pain or have any medical/ surgical history?
Yet they don't declare you all the details at once. Most of the time is not on purpose, they just don't know this information could be important for you. Sometimes they tell you during the practice, lie complaining about their wrist pain while holding in Downward-Facing Dog. Sometimes they don't say anything, but just frown or not following your cue.

Those above are all indicators of the issues or needs of the students at that moment. So ask questions!!! When you're not 100% sure about the safety and the situation, ask them about it. Why don't they follow the cue? Why do they frown? Why do they sit down when you ask them to stand up? Ask questions to clarify the situation, then you will know what do they really need. And don't be ashamed if you cannot give help to your students at that moment. Be honest with what you are able to do and provide as much help as you can, but you can never fake it if it's out of you.

Sima Hsiung
[A Yoga Instructor, Yoga Therapist, and a life-long learner. She believes that "Yoga is for everyone". She dedicates to help people find happiness and health in their life. IG : simayogatalk]

16/07/2020

how to know what do you really need from Yoga as a student? A lot of students just do what their instructor said, without observing what they really need. If you are one of them, you're not alone! I was a shy student in a yoga class as well, who was not dare to challenge teacher's instructors.
But you don't try to do your own way without thinking. You have to know first whether you really have to follow all the time what the teacher says or you can do simple adjustments by yourself.

Observe Yourself
A good yoga instructor who has tight connections with you can immediately notice your needs and your feeling. But your teacher will never know your better than yourself - if you truly understand yourself.
At my yoga class, I always ask students to observe yourself: Where do you feel tight, which part of your body is helping you holding this yoga pose? which part of your body is relaxing? Do you inhale when you raise up the arms or exhale? Are your feet firmly touching the ground? Is your navel facing the ground or to the side?
it's like asking questions to yourself. Instead of waiting for the teacher to ask you how do you feel, you can always start to do so by yourself, especially during self-practice without an instructor's guidance.

Observing yourself is important in any kind of yoga practice, no matter you're a beginner or an experienced yogi.
No matter what style of yoga you do - Ashtanga, Hatha, Vinyasa, Niguma Yoga, Eye Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Hot Yoga, Dog Yoga, Cat Yoga and so on, self-observation is important for building the self-awareness.
Make a Note in Your Mind
After observation, you may (or may not, but don't give up trying) find out: Where is the pain? Where is the tense? Which part of the body is tight? Do you want more challenges today or just want to relax? In which pose I feel good? In which pose I feel hard to hold?
If you find it, make a note in your mind about how do you feel. It's a good way to get more insight into yourself and take it to the next practice.

Say Out Loud
Now you know how do you feel, you made a note for yourself about that feeling, it's time to tell yourself or the teacher about it!

Don't be shy to say if you feel the pain if you cannot hold for a long time if you want more challenge if you feel "NOTHING AT ALL" ... ask your teacher if you don't feel the same as he/she said.
At that moment you feel wrong with the cue from your yoga instructor, tell him/her what do you really found during the practice. Never be afraid to ask for help!

Sima Hsiung
[A Yoga Instructor, Yoga Therapist, and a life-long learner. She believes that "Yoga is for everyone". She dedicates to help people find happiness and health in their life. IG : simayogatalk]

12/07/2020

Wake up life is calling!

When you truly connect with yourself , it gives you better understanding of your different needs depending on changing life circumstances. Eventually, what direction can lead you towards that is way more clear. Nevertheless, can we really say that is easy to practice? Well, apparently we often see the opposite, we witness people regretting or being angry, disappointed as a result of their choices. The mass majority of people often forget about questioning who they really are, or do not repeat this enough time as the life evolves. So there is no surprise to hear them wasting their energy and efforts in wrong paths. A small side note will be nice to say exactly at this point; I admit the fact that exploration of what to do next may also require us to stay in flow as we do not have control of the external factors around us. If it is the case, it is fine investing more time to figure out what can correspond your needs. I will say it again, the process of self-discovery is all about staying in trust and surrender.

Now, consider your daily routines and all the identities given to you as an employee, employer, partner, parent, friend, daughter, son and many others depending on a various occasion. In each and every one, are you able to say that you are reflecting what you feel in your heart to outer world? How wonderful it could be being aware of who you are and what situations/people can resonate with you the best. If we would be able to make choices accordingly, this could eliminate the big chunk of emotional pain whether outcome is positive or negative.

How to start the process then? The very first thing is creating a time for yourself for the self-exploration, the deeper you go better answers you’ll get. You will manage to reduce the level of stress accumulated in your body, release the tension and as the following you’ll free your mind and make better decisions reducing the limitations coming from our projections or ruminations.

Which methods to use? I found my answers with the regular meditation (or mindfulness), it can help people showing commitment to the practice. As the life itself very dynamic and every day is a new journey, it is necessary to self-check-in to cleanse often. After the practice asking ourselves whom we would like to be whether we are making good choices and staying in our hearts which will lead us through the right directions.

How do I confidently say that it helps? There are a lot of research findings that I would love to share but let me shoot a few of most appealing one for this time. The researchers conducted in order to measure the brain activity of Tibetan Monks vs. other Tibetans who never meditated showed that “the long term meditation practice can decrease the activity of brain areas ( the medial prefrontal cortex and the posterior cingulate cortex). Which means the parts of the brain which process the emotional distress of a pain and also contextualize our decisions with memories of the past and the predictions about how our behaviour will influence the future. And no worries, the positive outcomes can be seen regular practices starting by even the 5th day. * As “Richard Davidson - founder of the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison said “Think of it as a form of personal mental hygiene — almost like tooth brushing. “Humans didn’t evolve brushing their teeth twice a day. It’s a learned skill. Your brain is just as precious as your teeth. So, it’s important to take the time to learn a practice and stick to it.

Note: For the ones who’d like to go deeper in science behind the meditation or/and mindfulness, more to be come in the next article. The current information is sourced from--> https://www.brainfacts.org/thinking-sensing-and-behaving/thinking-and-awareness/2019/understanding-the-power-of-meditation-041919

Cheers💗
Begum.

Positive thinker, researcher, living the life to the fullest and integrating awareness into her everyday life.

09/07/2020

One of my students asked me to teach him "chair yoga" before starting his private online yoga class with me.
"I don't have much space at home to put the mat" he added the reason for his inquire of chair yoga.
Normally, chair yoga class is designed for people to find mobility in a way that is soft, gentle, as well as supportive by using the chair. The reason for my students is quite common as well, i.g. you're in an office or a school, but no place for you to move your body after sitting on a chair for a few hours, then doing some yoga exercises is a good alternative way.

What I wasn't sure is that whether is a good reason to design his class in chair yoga class set up. It was our discovery yoga class, as I'd never taught him yoga before, therefore I decided I would, first of all, have a look at his home environment and the equipment he has at home before putting effort into designing a chair yoga class for him.
At the moment we turn on our we**am, I've observed him carefully, he looked completely drained of energy.
"Yes, I just woke up from the nap. Last night I did not sleep well."

At his location, it was already 7:00 pm.
I asked him " What did you do today? How long have you been working" "Well, long? I was sitting on a chair with my laptop. "

He was dead on his feet, could hardly open his eyelid.
I asked him to show me the environment of his room, cautiously looked at his environment, then decided not to take his proposal - Chair Yoga. I want him to move his butts a bit, not just sitting on the chair.
"You were sitting for a long time. Let's leave the chair now. Please stand up. "

The first exercise was with the support of a wall. He stands on the ground stiff like a pillar (so-called Tadasana in yogic term), but back lean on the wall behind, in order to feel comfortable and stable while standing with closed eyes. Then we added shoulders and arms movement while standing.
" Wow, just standing here is harder than I thought " He was surprised that he felt tired after only nearly 5 mins.
Even though I throw away his Chair Yoga idea, the chair is still a good prop for doing some yoga poses if you're in a day that feels the need to support badly. So depends on how you define Chair Yoga, this could be chair yoga as well.
I asked him to hold the back of his chair while doing Warrior II pose Sanskrit: Virabhadrasana II ), and the forward bending.

Finally, we came back to sit on the chair instead of on the ground with crossed legs since he had no mat nor blanket at home, and the floor was ice cold.
So the chair was in use during the yoga session, but he had enough strength to hold himself in a pose after boosting his energy.

Sima Hsiung
[is a Yoga Instructor, Yoga Therapist, and a life-long learner. She believes that "Yoga is for everyone". She dedicates to help people find happiness and health in their life. IG : simayogatalk]

30/06/2020

Another face of spinach- Shrek's smoothie. A very popular dish is spinach with garlic from the pan. We can also make a green dessert. You need spinach, sweet fruits, sour fruits, and a blender. Wash the ingredients, cut them into large pieces, and then blend them thoroughly. I blended 200 grams of spinach, one large apple, one banana, and 200 grams of chopped and cooked rhubarb. The rhubarb season is short, so use it now in the kitchen :)You can also use strawberries, mangoes, pears, grapefruits, oranges ...

Dasza Śliwińska-Hucz
[A wife, a corporation professional, an adventurer, a nature lover, a fan of healthy eating and traveling. Happiness never decreases by being shared!]

23/06/2020

We know that vegetables and fruits are healthy. However, we must remember that the healthiest for our body are fresh, seasonal, locally grown vegetables and fruits. Now is the season for very young small beetroots with leaves (in polish botwinka). This fantastic vegetable has many nutrients, stimulates the appetite, deacidifies the body, and calms one's nerves. I really like them with garlic from the pan. You need 2 bunches of young beetroot with leaves, 3-6 cloves of garlic, 1-2 onions, some oil. Chop the garlic or crush, chop the onion, and cut the beetroot. Stir-fry all ingredients. We start with onions, then add garlic, add beetroot after a few minutes, add beetroot leaves after a few minutes and fry for a few minutes. We add salt and peppers. Beetroot’s leaves, spinach, rhubarb contain a lot of oxalates, which impede calcium absorption. Therefore, we should not eat these vegetables often. We should use them from time to time as a supplement to the diet.

Dasza Śliwińska-Hucz
[A wife, a corporation professional, an adventurer, a nature lover, a fan of healthy eating and traveling. Happiness never decreases by being shared!]



16/06/2020

Our health is affected by many elements, but one of the most important factors influencing our immune system is proper nutrition. Eating groats has an undeniably positive effect on one's health. An interesting proposition for lunch or dinner is a Kashotto (in polish: Kaszotto). The name was created by analogy to risotto (in polish kasza=groats).The recipe for this dish is very simple: groats (buckwheat / millet / barley groats) + vegetables / mushrooms + protein (tofu / cheese / lentils / chickpeas / pieces of chicken ...) + favorite spices. Do not afraid to experiment. Try to combine different ingredients. Wake up your creativity. Use simply whatever you have at home.
I have recently prepared Kashotto with roasted beetroot. Beetroot is a fantastic vegetable. Very well affects our immune system and purifies our blood. They also contain folic acid and antioxidants Buckwheat contains fiber and potassium, magnesium, iron, zinc, silicon, calcium, vitamins E, B1, B2, B6, PP.
You need 4-5 medium beetroots, 2 onions, mushrooms (300 grams), green lentils (150 grams), buckwheat (200 grams), soy sauce (1 tablespoon), oil (a few), goat cheese and parsley (green leaves). The latter 2 ingredients are not necessary for the dish to taste delicious.
Bake the beets, peel, and cut them into medium pieces. Cook lentils and groats. I cook them together. Cut the onion and mushrooms into small pieces and fry (on the pan). Add soy sauce to Mix all ingredients. Serve with cheese and parsley. Enjoy!
In my opinion, white buckwheat (=not roasted) has a more delicate taste and has more nutritional value. Groats or rice are often sold in special plastic bags, but I never cook in them. They are not necessary to cook groats or rice properly:).Roasted vegetables are tastier and lose fewer vitamins than boiled. I do not bake the beets in aluminum foil either. I just bake them unpeeled.

Dasza Śliwińska-Hucz
[A wife, a corporation professional, an adventurer, a nature lover, a fan of healthy eating, and traveling. Happiness never decreases by being shared!]

05/06/2020

31/05/2020

To digest properly, it's important to eat in the right order.

Each kind of food requires different digestion time, some shorter, some longer. Eating meals in the right order promotes better digestion and absorption of nutrients. It also prevents gastrointestinal disorders, flatulence, and abdominal pain.

➤Fruit has the shortest digestion time: from 20 minutes (apples) to 40 minutes (bananas)..

➤Green cocktails and freshly squeezed vegetable juices are digested just as quickly.

➤Non-starchy vegetables (tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, zucchini, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower) need about 40 minutes for digestion, while starchy (potatoes, sweet potatoes) need about 60 minutes, and legumes - 4 to 5 hours.

➤Cereal products (rice, oatmeal, cereal) contain starch, so they need a longer digestion time: about 90 minutes.

➤Animal products digest for quite a long time because of large amounts of protein and fat. Digestion of these products may take about a few hours:
fish about 1h, poultry about 2h, beef about 3-5h, pork 5-6h), and fat (e.g. bacon, lard) 7-8h.

Many people suffer from digestive problems - bloating, constipation, heartburn, a full stomach and fatigue after a meal, sometimes lasting for several hours. To prevent this, you should eat these meals, taking into account the digestion time: first freshly squeezed juices, fruit, green smoothies, then salads, and finally starch (cereal) or protein (meat) products.

Beata Mońka

[Dietician who cares about holistic nutrition for your body and mind. Eat wisely!]

23/05/2020

Distant socializing, what an experience!

Even a best friend whom you generally hug , asking “Could we …?” Have you noticed how much you could read other people's emotions through their eyes? Or do you prefer sharing mask-free smiles? By approaching a group of friends, have you also felt somewhat excited about it?

In my opinion, this last one is particularly so bizarre!

About a week ago or so, I finally decided to “socialize in a group”. Once I arrived at the place, my friends were waving hands calling me, meanwhile I was stunned for some minutes on the half-way. Later they started to shout “we are here!” thinking that I stopped since I cannot see them, but no! I was trying to handle myself getting out of shock. Because the scene was super relaxed as if this Covid-19 had never existed, I just could not believe my eyes after these last few months! It felt like a caveman meeting with civilization. It is very hard to put into words how odd an experience it was.

Depending on how isolated you’ve been emotionally and physically, it may hit you hard or you pass it through mildly. And beside the tragicomic moments as the one I shared, speaking of the truth, these post-lock down processes sometimes turn out to be difficult communication-wise. Yes, the restrictions are being lifted. Nevertheless, some still may not be ready for it. Despite we all know the necessity of being open, empathetic and tolerant, you may find yourself on the wrong track while listening to a friend or telling how you think. Here I get support from a daily intention setting practice that I would like to share with you. To deal with pain points in our lives, we’ll work on what we can actually change; our attitude and behavior.

This exercise can be done for any topic, but, for the time being let’s focus on what is hot in our agenda. Be ready to spare a few minutes by yourself. We’ll start by asking a couple of questions. Perhaps a pen and paper would be a nice thing to have, so you can take notes of your answers.

What are the situations challenging you most on these days?

What emotions are being triggered when you encounter them?

What kind of attitude could allow you to change/transform these to something positive?

Once it is done, you may like to prioritize some of them. Pick one to tackle per each day and set the supportive intention about it. Important to write them down and tell it out loud a couple of times throughout the day. You will see this will help you to stay aligned with what/how you’d like to be rather than getting stuck at situations which cannot be controlled/avoided.

Closing with a short example; someone who has blockages to communicate their concern about being surrounded by a group of people, may fear being judged/not understood once this is expressed. In such cases neither silence nor defensive attitude could work. Then what could be the solution? How about something creative... No one can deny that the humor has always been the best softener for the bitter truth which is hard to reflect! So to start with we can think of this “I intend to engage humor once it is challenging to express myself.”

Stay healthy & kind to yourself ☺

Cheers,

Begum.

[Positive thinker, researcher, living the life to the fullest and integrating awareness into her everyday life.]

21/05/2020

Since a young age, I’ve always been fascinated with the secret world of plants and animals,
I always knew that they are much more magical than we think. Let’s put it this way, they are biologically, energetically, and intellectually more dynamic than we expect. They are my teacher, to learn about life, about how to love unconditionally.

It was my dream to be able to communicate with animals. There was a movie called (in 1984), talking about a girl grown up in the jungle with wild animals, they understand each other seamlessly without human language. I didn't know it’s possible in reality until I watched the world famous animal communicator Anna was talking with monkeys and the leopard without a word.
My soul was shaking, I knew this was what i’m going to learn, to remember how to do it.

Animal communication is using telepathy to connect with animals. It is something we humans were capable of doing in the ancient times, It’s our survival awareness/ instinct in the wild. Ancient hunters used telepathy to locate an animal, this is even a ritual to ask the animal for permission that they will take his physical body. It is equality, respect and trust.We are borned with this ability. We just forgot how to do it. We know things by heart, not just by our mind.

When language was invented, we rely a lot on verbal communication, and lost a big part of recognition in our sixth sense.They are actually playing in the background all the time, it’s our gut feeling.

Often, when our intuition tells us something that turns out to be accurate, we tend to call it coincidence. Nowadays we tend to trust logical thinking, everything needs to be explained and scientifically proven. The thing is, there’s so much ancient knowledge our science still doesn't know how to prove.

If you find telephony is too surreal, look at your smartphone! It can play youtube with wifi, receive data with bluetooth, actually even the old time traditional TV set can receive colorful movies with it’s anthanars. There’s a lot of data in the air, in the frequency.

I like this metaphor explaining how telepathy works:
Let’s say we are a radio, and our channel is tuned to FM most of our life.We slowly forgot there's a whole lot of programmes on the AM frequency. We can’t hear it doesn't mean the AM radio programme is not broadcasting, we are just on different channels.

To learn telepathy, what we need to do is to practice tuning ourselves to different frequencies/ brainwaves. If the button is on FM for many years, for sure it takes some effort to push it back and forth between FM and AM, It is like learning a new language. It is not just about intention and focus, it’s also a journey in trusting in your intuition.

The form of information you can get through telepathy could be a visual image, sound, taste, smell, body sensations or a sense of knowingness. You could know a whole story within one second, because telepathy is not linear like language.

Animal communication is more than telepathy, it’s also about communicating with a compassionate and open heart. Just like we can speak human language, but not all could become a good social worker. Ringing the call is the first step, learning how to listen and support is the next step. Companion animals tend to learn complicated emotions from their human, sometimes it takes counselling skills to open their heart and support them. I’m lucky my husband is a psychotherapist, and I apply his experience on uplifting people to connect with animals I communicate with. And as i said, i learn a lot from animal at the same time, they are somehow very wise in the way of seeing life purpose. Sometime we human think too much with our brain, feel too little with our hearts. I believe soon we will all remember how to be one again, communicating with telepathy, joining force with our love and light!

Next time we can talk about some tips for pet owners to communicate with pets in everyday life. You might be suprise by what would happen when you acknowledge their intelligence.

Wishing one day we can all be able to communicate with our animals and nature on a deeper level.

Cass Shing-Biegala
[Shamanic Reiki and animal communication practitioner. Moved from Hong Kong to Poland and lives in nature at CASMATI Village. Enjoying the adventures of life with love and gratitude to our mother earth. ]

19/05/2020

When I first learnt about the Bothmer movement and anthropology, I was quite surprised.
“Why is there so little people know about it?” It is a movement and philosophy about the essence of life with a hundred years of history.

It was not until the development of Waldorf Education in Hong Kong and China, the knowledge has been recognized by many parents, who care and wish their children could go to good schools. However, most people don’t understand the perspective of anthroposophy from Waldorf Education. Even fewer people are exposed to anthropology’s core .

It took me four years to learn bothmer sports, It took me six years to understand anthroposophy and Waldorf education. I have completed the 3 year in total 720 hours of Bothmer®️Movement Space Sports Course on “Philosophy and educator Rudolf Steiner ’s anthroposophy concept “ submitted by the British Bothmer®️Movement International. And I’m not dare to say I am an expert.
I can only say there are indeed a lot of benefits for me and many parents and their children, so I hope to share as much as I know. I hope that I can understand the relationship between people, space and life through the most relaxing and natural way of doing sports and art in daily life.

When I first knew about Bothmer, I first resonated with the Qigong part. I’ve been learning Qigong for seven years. It’s very helpful for me to know the Bothmer movement when I was studying Qigong. Behind that set of exercises, there are eight books (each with more than 400 pages) of qigong science books. The science of spatial movement can only be said: deep and deep knowledge!

The two used different methods to understand the relationship between the body and nature and the space. Bothmer is about the relationship between the body and the space. Qigong is about the relationship between body and Qi in the nature & Qi of the universe. For anthropology, although this is a very deep philosophy, it is wise and convincing in everyday life, and Bothmer tells us that from our birth, the body is inseparable from space. but we isolated our body from the” outside” space, we do the same to our relationship with three-dimensional space, and our relationship with people.
In anthroposophy, “Body” does not only mean the physical body that we can see with naked eye, but also the "qi", the emotions we often feel, and the power of our ego.

“In pure thinking there flows the power of spiritual love! “ my teacher reminded me.

Will talk more about Bothmer and pure thinking next time!

Clive Sit
[Advocator of bothmer movement. Sharing and studying different kinds of anthroposophy art, working with communities on sustainable art in Hong Kong. Passionate in developing the concept of “Move on the still” for a few years, combining Bothmer ’s space movement, anthropology and what he had learnt from Buddhism, Qigong Science, Design and Art.]

17/05/2020

What comes to your mind when you hear - "Yoga"? Let me guess, an arduous and painstaking physical exercise or position in which one is trying to balance themselves. It's such a pity that we have reduced Yoga only to physical attributes. Yoga is much more layered than that- it is Dharma, it is a way of life. The purpose of yoga is not solely to bring flexibility and balance to the body, but to holistically align the energies of the body, mind and soul.

One might wonder, How? Tiny intercellular channels called 'Nadi' , carry though them a life force within our body called 'Prana' ( a non translatable word, having close resemblance to the Chi energy- Or the flow of life itself). These intercellular cm vibrational channels are energy channels through which the Prana flows through our entire being. For an uninterrupted flow of Prana, it is imperative that these energy channels are kept in harmonized resonance with each other, and bereft of energetic residues. And only through an uninterrupted and unadulterated flow of Prana can our bodies download altered states of consciousnesses, that catapult us into the path of spirituality.

One of the acute influences on our Prana energy is our Shwasa or breath. The air that we breathe is not only the fuel for our physical body, but also the basic nourishment for our spiritual evolution. Thus, it's as important to invest our insight and awareness into our breathing. The human body respires approximately 23000 times a day ( mostly short and unaware breaths). A conscious diaphragmatic breathing activates the vagus nerves which carries around 75% of cranial parasympathetic functions.

According to Harvard vanguard medical association, diaphragmatic breathing relaxes the body, calms the mind and improves the sense of well-being. This clearly connects the 'Prana' to the 'body-mind consciousness'. Why I claim that it's a 'body-mind consciousness' is because they aren't separate from each other, but exist in an integrated unity. We can feel the aggregated effects of this integrated unity experientially in our existence. That's the reason perhaps why physical exercise is such an effective mood uplifter. Physical Postures to play an important role when it comes to influencing the states of mind. Postures as simple as sitting straight or standing straight, greatly affect our moods. When sitting / standing straight, one feels more energized, positive and confident. It increases the levels of adrenaline and decreases the cortisol hormone ( primary stress hormone).

In the word of my Guru - Manuji ," the mind is a very good servant but a very bad master". Thus, here I present before you Patanjali's ( father of yoga) 8 limbs of yoga to train the mind through this 8 fold practise

✓YAM- The social discipline or one's interaction with the material world.
• Ahinsa - Non violence
• Satya - Truthfulness
• Asetya - No stealing
• Aparigrah - Minimalism
• Brahmacharya - gathering information, knowledge & wisdom.
✓ NIYAM - personal discipline & habits
• sauch - clean thoughts
• santosh - contentment
• tapas - self discipline
• swadhyay - self research
• Ishvarapanidhana - searching for the superconscious.

✓ Aasana - body postures
✓ Pranayam - breathing & awareness
✓ Pratyahara - giving up materialism
✓ Dhyana - building focus & concentration
✓ Sadhna - Vipassana/ Meditation
✓ Samadhi - love & compassion towards one and all.

The Prana energy is further divided into Ida, Pingala and Sushumna for a better understanding of the life forces but let's leave that for another time and another writeup. Working on all these components of life, is the objective of Yoga. As I mentioned earlier, yoga is not just about postures, it is a way of life!

Ankita Gupta
[A Vipassana Meditation practitioner, a passionate advocate of animal freedom and rights. A sports lover and a vegetarian Chef. She believes food choices reflect who we are. ]

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