Liberated Yoga
Yoga is for everyone!
Archives: 2014
Pitta with a Vata Imbalance - the conundrum of the West meets the East
I find it rather ironic that Yoga has taken such root in the West precisely because some aspects of Yoga appeal to us more than others, and we have taken those aspects, and only those aspects, and evolved them into the one-dimentional practices that we know as “styles” of Yoga today. I find it strange that there could be “styles” of Yoga. The fitness industry also has played a role in this, by "marketing" Yoga styles to people who often don't know anything about Yoga or the various sty...
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Nociceptors - Yoga and the Pain Free Body
How can we use Yoga practice to reduce pain, and especially, what kind of Yoga practice? Science has been studying pain in the recent years, and the findings that come out of that research are very interesting to me, because as a Yoga therapist my first priority is to help people find relief from pain. According to Wickipedia, Nociception (also nocioception or nociperception) is the encoding and processing of harmful stimuli in the nervous system, and, therefore, the ability of a b...
What Happened When I Had to Sit All Day for Two Weeks
I usually lead a pretty active lifestyle - Yoga every day, sometimes two, sometimes even three times a day. I don't have a long commute to work - I spend no more than 30 minutes a day in the car, no more than 3 days a week. I do spend about an hour every day total in front of the computer, but I try to sit up straight when I do. I do all my chores around the house, garden, walk, dance, and generally have low levels of stress, and whatever stress I do have, I manage quite well with relaxation t...
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Nourish Yourself - with Fun!
Our Yoga practice can be such a wonderful refuge from the hamster wheel of our lives. Day in and day out, the Sun Salutation has been my anchor for years, but sometimes it can get a bit stale, if you know what I mean. Then I embellish it a little, adding a whimsical touch, a creative element all my own, and it feels new and fresh again. Our nervous system relies on a constant stream of physical sensations from the body - it is necessary for it to receive this stimulation in order to thrive....
Can Yoga Make You Feel Bad?
I remember my teacher telling me once - "Anna," she said, "if ever at the end of the practice you have this feeling that you never want to do it again, not because you are in physical pain, but because you simply didn't like it, be interested, be very interested, and go back and do it again. It means that you are up against something, and you can actually make some progress." When it happened to me for for first time, I will never forget it. It was a level 4 class that I signed...
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Yoga for the Brain - How to Balance Right and Left Hemispheres
We have two hemispheres of the brain, both quite distinct and even though both are used in all the tasks we perform, they are used in different ways. For the Yogini, the relationship of the brain activity to their practice can be a valuable tool in cultivating a deeper, more enlightened practice. When you practice, observe which nostril is more open, and you will find that sometimes it is the left, sometimes it is the right, and sometimes both. The left nostril correlates to the right side o...
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What is Core?
It is the Holy Grail for many seekers of healthier, stronger, pain-free body. It is the advice we hear from our doctor - you need to strengthen your core. It is why we join gyms and attend Yoga classes. It allows us to move with freedom and grace, every step light and steady, every task effortless. We are blessed with impeccable sense of balance that can rescue us from falls and injuries. But do you really know what it is? If you think that a flat stomach is a sign of strong core, you ...
Move Every Day in a Liberated Way
I have designed several movements with a purpose in mind - to bring to my students a transformational experience and help them hone their skills. There are certain criteria that I need to fulfill with these advanced movements, which I call Move of the Day, because if you are short on time, you can still get a lot done in a few minutes if you use the Liberated Yoga approach. it must be a whole body movement, engaging your entire body and mind at once. This trains your awareness to be expa...
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Have the Experience You are Having
And not the experience you think you should have. I have heard it once too many times in class, a Yoga student saying: "I can never do that!" Even if this thought is not expressed out loud, certainly every one of us has had it at some point or another, myself included. What strikes me when I hear this, either in my own head or coming from someone else, is how our society conditions us, constantly, to have certain expectations and the lengths we are willing to go to have...
Chakras Six and Seven - Ajna and Sahasrara
We have run out of elements! That's right, there are only ffive elements, Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Space, and they are installed in the previous chakras. This is the way models get mixed up and superimposed onto each with time. So if you've wondered about that - this is why. Chakra Six, Ajna , governs our intuitive ability and the way we learn and improve intellectually. It is not necessarily associated with the number and types of diplomas or IQ, but rather ou...
