I hope you are finding
peace in this New Year, taking time to reflect and nourish a way of life that
serves you.
A few notes regarding
our yoga practice:
Pranayama:
Deep
breathing oxygenates the body, infuses and revitalizes our cells.
External demands including
work, daily stresses, important commitments, and variant demands act upon our
body’s internal holistic thermometer.
These demands stimulate the way we view ourselves and influence us both
in a conscious and unconscious way; this is deemed proprioception. We can support the body’s healthy
proprioceptive function and combat these demands by incorporating the holistic
practice of yoga. Yoga practice is not
merely a physical exercise; it requires every physiological body function as
well as unconscious and levels of awareness to construct the perfect bridge
connecting the mind and body to conscious and unconscious levels of
awareness.
The body finds its
proprioception with great efficiency in yoga practice by observing the eight
limbs of yoga. Introducing the eight
limbs of yoga into our lives helps us focus on living in the here and now to
combat external demands placed upon us.
Linking two limbs of yoga, physical asana practice and pranayama breathing
provides the body with the perfect solution to stimulate our own 6th
sense of proprioception. Where the
breath goes the body follows.
Meditation increases positive emotions.
There are a few reasons why this happens. The simplest reason is the reduction of
stress. When we reduce the stress in our
system we return to our natural state of feeling calm, connected to ourselves
and confident in meeting the challenges of life.
Asana
The
first of eight principals of movement by Susi Hately Aldous, nourish
relaxation. This principal is all about
creating ease in the body. It is in this
state that you can become aware of your body, and recognize the whispers that
are letting you know when to back off, when to go deeper, when to switch
practices. Listen to the whispers in
your practice
