Category: Uncategorised

written by: Kyneret Azizo

Sun salutations, or Surya Namaskar in Sanskrit, are an integral part of any yoga practice. They warm up and prep the body for a more intense practice, developing agility and resilience. 

Traditionally, sun salutations are meant to be practiced daily at sunrise and sunset, but they can also be done at any time during the day.

While sun salutations A & B usually have their place at the beginning of a Hatha yoga sequence, they can also be done as a stand-alone practice. This is advantageous for people who don’t have much time to commit to a full yoga class but want something well-rounded that gets the heart pumping.

Sun salutations offer many benefits, including improving cardiovascular functioning, inducing relaxation, battling fatigue, and lengthening and strengthening muscles.

So why add spice to something that seems perfect as it is? 

As with any type of exercise or sport, our body is more susceptible to injury when we revisit the same kinds of movement patterns. Changing up your sun salutations makes them more dynamic and reduces the chance of incurring repetitive strains. You get more of a full-body workout by recruiting different muscles in innovative flow sequences, and it also keeps things interesting!

Read on to explore the ways you can make sun salutations spicier so they feel like a complete practice on their own and keep things fresh for you.

Ready to dive into Surya Namaskar more deeply? Come flow with us through 108 Sun Salutations in honour of the Fall Equinox, on Saturday, September 24th. Modifications will be available throughout the class for all levels.

 

1. Include Different Types of Movement

If you are familiar with all three of the traditional sun salutations (A, B &C), you’ll have noticed they’re very linear in their direction of movement, with lots of flexion and extension of the hips and spine. There are forward folds, mild back bends, and lunges/warrior poses. But there’s not really any hip abduction (moving legs apart from the center line), spinal twists, or lateral spinal flexion (side bends) happening in the original Surya Namaskar series. 

In sun salutations for beginners, this is not necessarily bad, as linear movements are more accessible and thus safer. But advanced students who have already mastered those movements would benefit from introducing new dimensions of movement to their flow. 

Here are a few ways to add them:

• Move from a High Lunge to Parivrtta Anjaneyasana (High Lunge Prayer Twist) to squeeze in a juicy spinal twist
• Bend into Crescent Moon pose from Tadasana or Samasthiti for lateral flexion of the spine
• If you include Dancing Cat in your flow, add fire hydrant leg lifts for hip abduction
• Open up from Virabhadrasana (warrior) II to Prasarita Padottanasana (wide-legged standing forward bend) for hip abduction

 

2. Bring on the Calisthenics

Sometimes new students might ask “are sun salutations a good workout”? Yes, they absolutely can be. Beginner students might find that the standard A, B and C salutations are enough to work up a serious sweat. But if you’re advanced and flowing through sun salutations more breezily and you’re looking to up the intensity, you can always load up your practice with some calisthenic exercises that organically blend into your flow sequence. It’ll kick up your heart rate and give you some more burn.

• Supercharge chaturangas with a few reps of pushups
• Throw in some lunge steps before entering the full expression of high lunges 
• Add donkey kicks after your cat-cow sequence: find a 90-degree bend and pump the sole of your foot up to the ceiling for a few reps to engage the glutes and hamstrings

 

3. Dare to Dance

Is your yoga mat also your dance floor? Mine is! It’s where I include rhythmic movement and allow my body to express itself, which is a catalyst for healing and dealing with stress. Explore fluid, repetitive movements between poses while moving in time with the beat. Observe how it lifts the energy in your body and creates even more unity with each asana. The tempo is entirely up to you, but try not to overwhelm yourself with something too fast. Aim for anywhere between 70-120 BPM (beats per minute) depending on the vibe you’re going for. Here are some awesome dance-inspired yoga moves to get you started.

 

4. Slow it Down

We associate sun salutations with quicker-paced, fluid movements — and for the most part that’s what they are. But that doesn’t mean we can’t slow down certain sequence parts. In some ways, we are cheating by moving too quickly between the poses, as we aren’t giving our muscles a chance to really integrate the movements we are making. So instead of rushing from Downward Dog to Warrior 1, for example, you could really slow down that transition and allow yourself to observe every part of the movement and feel all the key muscles activating while staying connected to your breath. Remember that moving fast is not necessarily a mark of excellence. Stamina, resilience, and a sharpened mind will come from slowing down the transitions.

 

5. Balance it Out

Yoga already shows us the wandering tendencies of the mind. But when something becomes monotonous because we’ve done it too many times, it’s just another opportunity for the brain to check out, making it harder to stay mindful. Including balancing poses in your sun salutations will help keep the mind tethered to what’s happening in the here and now and force you to rekindle the connection to your body. In other words, it will keep you on your toes! 

Here are a few ways to explore this:

• Transition into Toppling Tree from a High Lunge or Warrior 1
• Lift up onto the balls of your feet from every Mountain Pose (Tadasana) you do and then slowly release down
• Lift up onto the balls of your feet from Mountain Pose and squat down into Chair Pose with lifted heels for a few fortifying breaths
• Pull one knee up to the chest and balance with fingers clasped around the knee, then step back into a High Lunge or Warrior 1 from there

 

6. Integrate Energy Work

It’s easy to get swept up in the physicality of the practice since we are flowing continuously from pose to pose and our attention is on physical alignment and breath. But there is an energetic component to the practice that you can access by visualizing the movement of prana through different parts of your body, depending on the pose you are doing. This has profound effects which you can feel almost instantly and are transformative. To maintain groundedness in your body, visualize energy moving downwards through the legs and into the earth. This keeps you unshakable in standing poses such as Virabhadrasana (Warrior) or Vrikshasana (Tree Pose). You can also direct prana upwards through the feet, legs and up the center channel (Sushumna Nadi) to supply your body with more energy to maintain a posture. Each asana is designed to activate a certain chakra, so focusing on the associated chakra as you hold a pose will help to further awaken and align it.

 

7. Go with the Flow

Perhaps the most important piece of advice when it comes to adding creativity to your sun salutations is to not overthink it and just go with the flow. Let your body tell you how it wants to move instead of forcing it to follow the same patterns. Fun, creative sequences can come out of just pausing and listening to how your body desires to move in the next moment. 

So free your creativity by exploring different sun salutation variations and don’t be afraid to try out new things! Coming up with unique sun salutations will allow you to tap into your body’s wisdom and offer you a fresh perspective on things. What happens on the mat often follows you off the mat and into your life, where true transformation happens.

 

Kyneret has been practicing and teaching yoga for over a decade. She began as a yoga teacher for Modo Yoga Maple in 2012, and has recently set off on a nomadic adventure to South East Asia. She remains active within our Modo community as a blog writer.

When not writing, she is fully immersed in the day-to-day adventures of travel life and actively seeks out as many foreign yoga experiences as possible to further her knowledge and skills! You can follow Kyneret’s travels on her instagram account @planes_trains_autoimmunity

 

written by: Kyneret Azizo

Do you love it when your summers are loaded with energizing activities like running, biking, swimming and riveting travelling excursions? Want to know how you can boost your body’s performance, and even make travelling gentler on your body? 

You’ll want to include a steady dose of yoga in your schedule to complement all your favourite summer activities. It relieves tension and stiffness, speeds up the recovery time for any physical activity you’re into, and brings balance to your entire body. 

For those summer-loving enthusiasts who can’t miss a beat outdoors and love to explore, here’s the 101 on how yoga can help you flourish and what poses will help you shine.

Yoga for Runners

If you’re a dedicated runner, you undoubtedly love the endorphin rush it gives you – that so-called “runner’s high.” As much as it feels good to hit the road running every single day and keep going for hours, you also need to take great precautions not to overwork your body. Whether you’re doing slow running, interval running, hill repeats or fartlek, running is a high-impact exercise that can be pretty intense on your lower back, hips, knees and ankles. 

How Yoga Benefits Runners

Yoga is a great way to combat these negative effects, lowering your chances of injury and enhancing your recovery time. After an intense run, Hatha and Yin work nicely to help you ease tension and alleviate soreness. Both help to create more space and lengthen muscle tissue. You can also benefit from fast-paced practices like Vinyasa or Power Flow, which help develop stability, strength and resilience. Work on spreading those toes in your standing and seated sequences to improve your balance while running!

3 Good Yoga Poses for Runners

Ardha Matsyendrasana (Half Lord of the Fishes Pose – variation) 

Ardha Matsyendrasana is great for stretching the IT band, which is the connective tissue of the outer thigh, from hip to shin. This in turn helps prevent knee problems. Do this pose after a run, but try not to overdo it, as an overstretched IT band can lead to instability in the knee.

Virabhadrasana 1 (Warrior 1)

Warrior 1 strengthens the muscles of the legs, core and back, which are all essential for maintaining proper form in running. It also develops the stabilizer muscles of the ankles and feet, giving you better balance and reducing the likelihood of injuries to these extremities. 

Runners Lunge

This popular pose among runners helps to loosen up the lower back muscles and increases flexibility in the hip joint. It opens up the ankles, calves, hamstrings, quads, and groin. You also get a good stretch in the sole of the back foot, which helps relieve the plantar fasciitis that runners often struggle with.

Yoga for Cyclists

If you love the high heart rate but prefer a lower impact sport, then cycling’s the sport for you. But what cyclists often have to deal with is knee pain, which results from overuse and tight quadriceps. Back pain is also a common complaint, due to prolonged flexion of the spine. The sustained linear movement of cycling can lead to imbalances in the body, creating tightness in the adductors, and weakness in the abductors and rotators of the legs.

How Yoga Benefits Cyclists

Yoga perfectly complements biking, because it improves flexibility, builds strength, and develops breathing techniques. It also helps speed up recovery time. Cyclists usually spend a lot of time hunched over and would thus benefit from creating space in the muscles of the front body. Yoga also adds a dimension of lateral movement that cycling is deprived of.

3 Good Yoga Poses for Cyclists

Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend)

Uttanasana helps decompress the entire spine and stretches the hamstrings, calves and hips. It also remedies the tension in the neck and upper back caused by leaning over the handlebars for extended periods.

Dhanurasana (Bow Pose)

For cyclists, the chest muscles and abdominals could use a good stretch to counter the hunched shape they’re in while riding. Bow pose creates space at the front of the vertebrae. It also helps tone the glutes and back muscles, countering the lengthening (and weakening) of these muscles from persistent forward flexion.

Trikonasana (Triangle Pose)

After all that linear cycling motion, it’s time for some healthy lateral movement! Parsvakonasana is great for opening up the hips and placing the legs in abduction to stretch the inner thighs and hips.

Yoga for Swimmers

If swimming is what floats your boat during the hottest months, you probably enjoy how dynamic it is compared to other physical activities. Swimming works out your entire body and cardiovascular system. With various strokes to add to your workout, you can easily focus on strengthening different muscle groups. But swimming comes with its own risks when it comes to overuse, mainly in the shoulder girdle. It’s also easy to pull muscles that are chronically tight when pumping out your daily laps.

How Yoga Benefits Swimmers

Yoga is a great “dry land” activity for swimmers, with poses that challenge the stabilizer and core muscles. Being most beneficial after the primary swim workout, yoga will help you improve the range of motion of your joints and lengthen muscle tissue. This will develop joint integrity and stability and help prevent your muscles from becoming strained or pulled. Yoga also helps you deepen your breath by increasing your lung capacity. Because swimming is a lower impact sport, it doesn’t do as much for bone density as dry land exercises do. Adding yoga to your routine can help increase bone density if done consistently and properly.

3 Good Yoga Poses for Swimmers

Gomukasana (Cow Face Pose) 

This is a great post-swim tension releaser for the shoulders, especially after doing front crawl. If you can’t clasp your hands together, modify by holding a strap to fill the gap between them. As you hold the pose, direct the breath into the armpit area and try relaxing the shoulder girdle as much as possible. 

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose) 

To help counteract “swimmer’s slouch,” press up into your tallest bridge pose and take some deep breaths to unwind the front body. This position is also great for expanding the breath into each lung’s lobes – a technique every swimmer can benefit from.

Image source: Nikiwiki242, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Salabhasana (Locust Pose) 

Salabhasana both elongates and strengthens the spine, core, chest, shoulders, arms, and thigh muscles. This is advantageous to swimmers, as they need the right balance between flexibility and strength for maximum output.

Yoga for Travellers

The travelling life is a capricious one! With so much movement to different places within different time zones, it can be jarring for the body. It’s common for travellers to experience bouts of digestive problems or constipation due to such changes, and even women’s menstrual cycles can be affected. The stiffness from being seated for long periods is reason alone to treat yourself to a satisfying yin yoga sequence once you settle in.

How Yoga Benefits Travellers

Travellers can benefit from the grounding effect that yoga has on the body and mind, as well as its circulation-boosting effects. What we travellers need in our ever-changing schedule is something consistent. A morning yoga routine helps, as does focusing on poses that balance the first chakra, Muladhara.

3 Good Yoga Poses for Travellers

Baddha Konasana (Cobbler’s Pose)

Cobbler’s Pose is essential for grounding Muladhara chakra and establishing our roots. Being a deep hip opener, Baddha Konasana aids emotional and physical release. It also gives an excellent stretch to the lower back muscles, which are shortened and tight after sitting for long periods of time. 

Ustrasana (Camel Pose) 

After being in slouch mode for so long, you need a pose like Ustrasana to open up the entire front body. This can also be modified with the toes tucked under and the heels propped up higher so there’s less compression in the lumbar spine.

Viparita Karani (Legs Up The Wall Pose)

This pose helps break up stagnant energy and improves blood circulation in the legs, which is especially good after long flights or even after walking around all day on a sightseeing tour. It’s another superb pose for grounding energies, which helps reset your circadian rhythm so you can recover from jet lag quicker.

Stay Connected to Your Yoga Practice This Summer!

During the summer months, you may be tempted to skip the hot classes, in search of cooler spaces. But practicing in the hot room regularly during the summer months allows your body to acclimate to hotter temperatures…which makes a heatwave far easier to deal with! Plus it will greatly improve your body’s performance in everything else you do this summer.

In addition to our heated Modo and Modo Flow classes, you can also jump into any one of our equally juicy reduced heat and non-heated classes: Pilates, Barre, Yang/Yin, Yin and Restorative.

Join our 20 in 30 Day Summer Challenge in July 

Trying to commit to a daily yoga practice, but having a hard time getting started? Our 20 in 30 Day Summer Challenge is a great opportunity to finally cement a yoga routine into your weekly schedule! Everyone who completes at least 20 classes will be entered into a draw to win awesome prizes! 

Take Part in our Yoga in the Park Fundraiser – Saturday, July 9

Join us for our Annual Yoga in the Park Fundraiser – the first since 2019! This year we will be giving back to the Ontario SPCA to support our furry friends. Click here for more details.

 

Kyneret has been practicing and teaching yoga for over a decade. She began as a yoga teacher for Modo Yoga Maple in 2012, and has recently set off on a nomadic adventure to South East Asia. She remains active within our Modo community as a blog writer.

When not writing, she is fully immersed in the day-to-day adventures of travel life and actively seeks out as many foreign yoga experiences as possible to further her knowledge and skills! You can follow Kyneret’s travels on her instagram account @planes_trains_autoimmunity

written by: Kyneret Azizo

In the tradition of yoga and other spiritual practices, you’ll often hear mention of the chakras. 

Translating from Sanskrit as “wheel,” chakras are vortexes of energy that act as a junction between our physical and astral body, regulating energy flow throughout the entire human system. 

There are 114 chakras in the body, but we’ll focus on the 7 primary chakras in the yoga tradition, as they are the most prominent ones. 

These primary chakras are positioned along the spine sequentially, starting with the first at the base of the spine and ending with the last at the crown of the head.

Chakras govern everything from our biology to our psychology and even go beyond the material plane into the spiritual aspect of our being. When they’re blocked or overactive, they can lead to imbalances in the physical body and in the mind.

Read on to learn about each of the 7 primary chakras and how to balance them.

Image Source: Meditative Mind

1: Muladhara

Colour: Red
Natural Element: Earth
Sense: Smell

Muladhara, or the root chakra, sits at the base of the spine, between the anus and the genitals. Muladhara means “foundation” in Sanskrit. This chakra is thus regarded as the foundation or root of our existence. 

The root chakra is all about our sense of safety and security in this body and life. It is connected with the adrenal glands, which regulate metabolism and the immune system as well as manage the body’s stress response.

Being associated with the element of earth, the sense of smell and the action of excretion, this chakra is primal or animalistic in its nature. Nevertheless, aligning Muladhara is paramount to attaining Moksha, or spiritual liberation, according to the yoga gurus.

When energy flows through our root chakra, we vibrate with vitality and strength, our immune system is strong and we feel an unshakeable sense of purpose and stability.  

How to Tell if Muladhara is Blocked

• Excessive fear and anxiety 
• Feeling lethargic and drained
• Weakened immune system 
• Feeling powerless and not in control of your life
• Digestive disorders
• Colon, bladder and lower back issues
• Unexplained body aches & pains
• Insomnia 
• Reproductive problems

How to Unblock and Balance Muladhara

When we talk of “energetic grounding”, we’re talking about activating and balancing the root chakra. Being in nature and walking barefoot in soil, mud or grass helps align Muladhara by matching our energetic frequency with that of the earth’s. Another way to revitalize and align Muladhara is to breathe in fresh, invigorating scents. Thieves by Young Living is great for creating that energetic spark in Muladhara. 

Yoga Poses for Muladhara
Sukhasana (Easy Pose)
Malasana (Garland Pose)
Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend)

Affirmations for Muladhara
“I am nourished and supported by Mother Earth.”
“I am safe and secure.”
“I am protected in this world.”

Crystals for Muladhara
Red Jasper
Obsidian
Bloodstone

Mantra Healing for Muladhara
The bija mantra for Muladhara is “LAM”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdZbK62mj3Y

Image Source: Meditative Mind

2: Swadhisthana

Colour: Orange
Natural Element: Water
Sense: Taste

The second chakra, known as Swadhisthana or the sacral chakra, is situated two finger-widths above the root chakra. 

Swadhisthana means “where one abodes” and is regarded as the seat of our emotions. It is associated with creativity, self-expression, pleasure, relationships, sensuality and procreation. 

Whereas Muladhara is about stability and roots, Swadhistana is connected with movement and flexibility – the attributes of water. It is also strongly correlated with fertility, cycles and an abundance mindset.

When this chakra is balanced, we have no shame or guilt in experiencing pleasure and are free to be who we are. We’re also more open to the notion of change, letting things go, and moving with the ebb and flow of life.

How to Tell if Swadhisthana is Blocked

• Difficulty expressing ourselves creatively
• Feeling closed off intimately from ourselves and others
• Low libido 
• Hyper-sexualization (when overactive)
• Attachment and possessiveness in relationships
• Excessive guilt and fear
• Urinary tract infections
• Pain during intercourse
• Reproductive issues

How to Unblock and Balance Swadhisthana

Since guilt and fear block Swadhisthana, a good way to balance this chakra would be to heal the trauma related to these emotions. Meditating on the principle of non-permanence and understanding and accepting death also works to heal this chakra. 

Dancing is another great way to rekindle Swadhisthana’s vibrancy, as is engaging in any kind of creative play. Giving ourselves permission to feel pleasure is the key to a healthy sacral chakra!

Yoga Poses for Swadhisthana
Ustrasana (Camel Pose)
Baddha Konasana (Cobbler’s Pose)
Malasana (Garland Pose)

Affirmations for Swadhisthana
“I allow my creativity to flow freely.”
“I trust my feelings. I trust myself.”
“I allow myself to feel pleasure.”

Crystals for Swadhisthana
Carnelian
Snowflake Obsidian
Moonstone

Mantra Healing for Swadhisthana
The bija mantra for Swadhisthana is “VAM”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc79MKiWgM4

Image Source: Meditative Mind

3: Manipura

Colour: Yellow
Natural Element: Fire
Sense: Sight

The third primary chakra is Manipura, known as the navel chakra. It’s located just above the navel and is associated with the outer adrenal glands and Solar Plexus of the physical body. The name of this chakra translates to “city of jewels” from Sanskrit. 

This is the body’s pranic hub or energy power-house, supplying the entire system with what it needs to carry out its functions. Manipura is the direct link to your sense of self – it’s the seat of your ego, willpower, vitality, stamina and inner power. 

Manipura is all about movement and transformation. When this chakra is strong, we easily get things done and encounter few obstacles on our life path. When we do encounter obstacles, we’re able to climb over them effortlessly, as they simply burn away in the fire of Manipura. 

It’s no surprise that Manipura governs our digestive organs and metabolism, and represents how we process, or “digest” life itself. A healthy-functioning solar plexus chakra results in optimal digestion, free of undigested metabolic waste buildup (known as “ama” in Sanskrit).

How to Tell if Manipura is Blocked

• Low self-esteem
• Victim mindset
• Feeling stuck in life
• Digestive issues
• Ulcers
• Illnesses relating to the liver, pancreas and colon
• Eating disorders
• Excessive anger and irritability
• Aggressive behaviour

How to Unblock and Balance Manipura

A great way to fire up this energy hub is to engage it with core exercises. You can also ignite Manipura by connecting with the fire element. When meditating, decorate your space with lit candles and use one as the focal point for your meditation. Manipura also responds well to pranayama techniques like Kapalabhati and bandha exercises.

Yoga Poses for Manipura
Kapalabhati (Skull Shining Breath)
Navasana (Boat Pose)
Parivrtta Utkatasana (Twisted Chair Pose)

Affirmations for Manipura
“I am confident being my true self.”
“I am powerful.”
“I am strong and I can get through anything.”

Crystals for Manipura
Tiger’s Eye
Citrine
Pyrite

Mantra Healing for Manipura
The bija mantra for Manipura is “RAM”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1SfZyh9Hi8

Image Source: Meditative Mind

4: Anahata

Colour: Green
Natural Element: Air
Sense: Touch

The fourth chakra is Anahata or the heart chakra. It’s positioned in the center of the breastbone and associated with the thymus gland and the cardiac plexus. 

Anahata means “unstruck,” “unbeaten,” or “unhurt”, referring to the Vedic notion of unstruck sound – the sound of the celestial realm. 

The higher-vibration emotions associated with this chakra are empathy and forgiveness. When consciousness flows through Anahata, we have a profound love for ourselves and others. We’re fueled by the desire to care for all living beings. There is no possessiveness or selfish quality to the vibration of love that emanates from this energy center. It is unconditional and free of all judgement.

How to Tell if Anahata is Blocked

• Emotionally closed off from others
• Lack of empathy
• Difficulty trusting others
• Possessiveness
• Blood circulation problems
• Loneliness
• Depression/anxiety

How to Unblock and Balance Anahata

Gratitude journaling and loving-kindness meditation awaken the heart chakra, which can be felt almost immediately. Placing your hand on your heart center and feeling the warmth of your touch is also a powerful way to connect with Anahata. This action boosts oxytocin, the same love hormone that gets secreted when we receive an affectionate embrace. 

Yoga Poses for Anahata
Ustrasana (Camel Pose)
Dhanurasana (Bow Pose)
Anahatasana (Melting Heart Pose)

Affirmations for Anahata
“My heart radiates with compassion.”
“I am open to unconditional love.”
“I am grateful for all of my blessings.”

Crystals for Anahata
Rose quartz
Malachite
Amazonite

Mantra Healing for Anahata
The bija mantra for Anahata is “YAM”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYHk4WTw0kI

Image Source: Meditative Mnd

5: Vishuddha

Colour: Blue
Natural Element: Ether
Sense: Hearing

Moving onto the fifth primary chakra, we have Vishudda, otherwise known as the throat chakra. It resides in the throat area and is linked with the thyroid gland and the cervical plexus.

The meaning of Vishuddha is “pure” or “purification” and it is thought to be the purification center where the nectar of enlightenment, “amrita” drops down from the Bindu chakra. As it goes, when amrita is ingested, it bestows immortality. Thus a thriving Vishuddha chakra is very much associated with youthfulness and vigour. 

The throat chakra is known to be connected with the sacral chakra. But while both are related to self-expression and creativity, Vishuddha governs a higher form of refined communication with more clarity and precision. 

Vishuddha acts as the gateway between the heart and the brain center, allowing us to seamlessly assimilate information from both these faculties. When it is balanced, we can enunciate our thoughts and feelings clearly to project an authentic version of ourselves into the world. 

How to Tell if Vishuddha is Blocked

• Sore throat/hoarseness
• Thyroid issues
• Sinus issues
• Mouth or tongue sores
• Ear infections
• Hearing sensitivities
• Neck and shoulder aches
• Jaw pain or TMJ
• Difficulty verbally communicating 
• Difficulty listening attentively

How to Unblock and Balance Vishuddha

Singing or chanting, especially the bija mantra ‘HAM,’ is an effective way to stimulate Vishuddha. If you place a crystal or sacred gem in the pit of the throat and meditate on the sensations it creates, you’ll find it quite easy to forge a connection with Vishuddha. Staying true to ourselves and others helps keep Vishuddha open and flourishing.

Yoga Poses for Vishuddha
Matsyasana (Fish Pose)
Marjaryasana and Bitilasana (Cat and Cow Pose)
Sarvangasana (Shoulder Stand Pose)

Affirmations for Vishuddha
“I speak my truth.”
“I express myself with clear intent.”
“I am liberated by speaking words of truth”

Crystals for Vishuddha
Lapis Lazuli
Turquoise
Blue Kyanite

Mantra Healing for Vishuddha
The bija mantra for Vishuddha is “HAM”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_8a2WXsXZQ

Image Source: Meditative Mind

6: Ajna

Colour: Indigo
Natural Element: Light
Sense: Intuition

Located in the center of the forehead between the eyebrows we have the sixth chakra, Ajna (pronounced “Agnya”), which is also called the third eye chakra. Translating to “authority” or “command”, it is said to be part of the pranic body rather than the physical one. This chakra is linked with clarity of perception, intuition, imagination and concentration. 

Ajna is said to be connected to the pineal gland – a pea-size gland in the shape of a pine cone that’s located near the hypothalamus and pituitary gland of the brain.

Ajna offers wisdom and insight and deepens your spiritual connection, allowing you to see the true nature of yourself and all things. When Ajna is open, it stimulates the release of DMT, the chemical in our brain that produces psychic visions. 

How to Tell if Ajna is Blocked

• Brain fog
• Inability to tap into inner vision and wisdom
• Headaches or migraines
• Blurry vision
• Memory issues
• Insomnia

How to Unblock and Balance Ajna

Simply tapping on the space between the brows is enough to stimulate energy movement through this chakra center. So does focusing on the third-eye drishti point with eyes closed, in meditation. Chanting the bija mantra “AUM” is a compelling way of breaking through any stagnant energy here.

Yoga Poses for Ajna
Balasana (Child’s Pose)
Garudasana (Eagle Pose)
Third-eye chakra seated meditation

Affirmations for Ajna
“I trust my intuition, always.”
“I am connected to the wisdom of the universe.”
“I am the source of absolute truth.”

Crystals for Ajna
Amethyst
Eye of Shiva
Angelite

Mantra Healing for Ajna
The bija mantra for Ajna is “AUM”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWf50YJo7uQ

Image Source: Meditative Mind

7: Sahasrara

Colour: Violet
Natural Element: Thought
Sense: None 

Located at the crown of the head we have the 7th and final chakra, Sahasrara. Sahasrara means ‘thousand-petaled’ and represents the thousand-petaled lotus of enlightenment. It is said to bloom open upon the attainment of Nirvana, which happens when kundalini energy rises up through all the chakras into Sahasrara. The parts of the body associated with Sahasrara are the head, brain, nervous system, pituitary gland, pineal gland and hypothalamus.

When consciousness flows through this chakra, we recognize ourselves as being one with the Universe/Creator and deeply connected with its higher wisdom and guidance. Our higher self and the Divine coalesce harmoniously, allowing us to fulfill our highest potential while leading a healthy, balanced spiritual life. 

You could say Sahasrara is our umbilical cord to the Divine, connecting our human existence to the oneness of all things. At this level of consciousness, the ego starts to dissolve and we’re no longer trapped within the boundaries of a “me, myself and I” mentality. Instead, we recognize ourselves in all people and things.

How to Tell if Sahasrara is Blocked

• Feeling cut off from the rest of the world
• Instability in the physical body
• Poor coordination
• Lack of focus
• Poor mental functioning
• Confusion
• Hyperspiritualization (excessive meditation)

How to Unblock and Balance Sahasrara

Since the essence of this chakra is sacred silence, it’s beneficial to embark on a silent meditation retreat in order to activate Sahasrara. Mentally chanting the bija mantra ‘AUM’ also helps shift our energy there to align Sahasrara.

Yoga Poses for Sahasrara
Padmasana (Lotus)
Salamba Sirsasana (Supported Headstand)
Vrksasana (Tree Pose)

Affirmations for Sahasrara
“I honour the Divine within me.”
“I am guided by a higher power and inner wisdom.”
“I am love. I am light. I am connected to all.”

Crystals for Sahasrara
Quartz
Selenite
Howlite

Mantra Healing for Sahasrara
The bija mantra for Sahasrara is Silent “AUM”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsJ8dVjxaMY

 

Want to Charge Up and Align your Chakras in a Fun Way?

Come journey through the Chakras with Ashleigh!

✅ Get insight into each chakra
✅ Explore yoga poses that support each chakra
✅ Engage in an interactive workshop where you can ask questions

Date: Saturday, June 11
Time: 3:00-5:00 pm
Price: 45+ HST

[Click here to register today]

 

Sources:

The Yoga Journal

Healthline

Chakra Stones

Ekhart Yoga

Wikipedia

Arhanta Yoga

 

 

Kyneret has been practicing and teaching yoga for over a decade. She began as a yoga teacher for Modo Yoga Maple in 2012, and has recently set off on a nomadic adventure to South East Asia. She remains active within our Modo community as a blog writer.

When not writing, she is fully immersed in the day-to-day adventures of travel life and actively seeks out as many foreign yoga experiences as possible to further her knowledge and skills! You can follow Kyneret’s travels on her instagram account @planes_trains_autoimmunity

So you want to conquer those elusive arm balancing yoga poses. But maybe it feels just about as impossible as levitating mid-air!

You might be feeling heavy, off-kilter and unstable on shaky limbs; possibly energetically overwhelmed. What will it take for you to truly float?

Mastering these 8 steps will help you level up your arm balancing poses so you can feel light and airy plus avoid crash landings.

Let’s get right into it. 

1 | Master the Breath

Photo by Ivan Samkov 

If you are at the point of exploring arm balancing poses, then ideally you will have already learned the foundations of yoga asana. 

Now it’s time to finesse the element of breath, known as pranayama.

Harnessing the breath allows us to tap into the autonomic nervous system, enabling us to tone down the body’s stress response. This leads to a series of biological responses that promote stability and ease in a pose. 

A great seated pranayama exercise to start with is anulom vilom, or alternate nostril breathing. With time, the progress you make here will show up in your yoga poses as well.

Practice breathing in chaturanga or a one arm balance yoga pose that challenges but doesn’t overwhelm you. Then transfer that mastery into more intense poses.

2 | Conquer Concentration

Photo by Sam Moqadam

A seasoned yoga student knows that the bane of any challenging yoga pose is mind chatter – known as “Chitta Vriti”, in Sanskrit. 

Mind chatter robs us of the vital energy needed to sustain the pose and steals our attention away from the moment. It also prevents us from receiving the messages our body is sending.

But with your breath in control, you now possess the tool to access a calm, centred state of mind. 

Practicing breath meditation improves concentration. The mindfulness you gain there shows up on your mat.

As a result, you’ll find yourself becoming more aware of subtle sensations and nuanced cues your body gives you which all help to optimize the pose.

3 | Nail Down the Foundation

Photo by Shashi Chaturvedula

You can’t have a stable house without a stable foundation. The same goes for yoga poses!

Think of the placement of your forearms and hands as the foundation that needs to be intact before the pose can be erected properly.

You must also efficiently distribute weight throughout your hands and fingers, maintaining a slight lift under the palms and avoiding collapsing into the wrists. Doing so will provide the springboard you need to lift up into the pose with a magical kind of weightlessness.

A proper foundation will ensure that the rest of your limbs stack correctly and easily. 

4 | Drop the Tension

Photo by Kamaji Ogino

A prevailing thought among yoga students is that arm balancing poses require a lot of strength to master. 

But while strength is certainly necessary in leveraging the body’s weight effortlessly, it’s only half of the picture. 

In many cases, it’s tension in the body that’s preventing students from lifting off, rather than weakness.

In Parsva Bakasana or Side Crow pose, openness in the back muscles and side body is required for the twist to happen. Those with tension along these fascial trains will struggle to get into the twist and maintain alignment in the pose.

You should be able to enter the shape of the pose and hold it effortlessly, without overexerting or straining your muscles. 

Two things that forever changed arm balancing poses for me were Yin Yoga and Thai Yoga Massage. The fascial release that both provide helped me find a new kind of fluidity. I also discovered I had more strength than I previously thought!

5 | Remove the Fear

Photo by Miriam Alonso 

Fear greatly influences how our body performs, whether we’re aware of it or not. 

Rather than letting your fear hold you back from fully committing to a challenging pose, try working with the support of props or have a yoga buddy spot you while you practice.

Placing a few cushions in front of you in Crow pose can help you confidently lean forward into the lift without worrying about face-planting.

Using a more cushioned yoga mat can offer you softer landings if you tend to fall on your butt when attempting poses like Tittibhasana/Firefly pose.

Similarly, practicing against a wall helps quell the fear we might experience in arm balancing inversion poses like Vrischikasana, or Scorpion pose.

With fear out of the equation, your body eases up and fluidity is invited to your practice! You’ll be amazed at what your body is capable of doing.

6 | Move from the Core

Photo by Jonathan Borba

At this stage in your practice, you’ll have already been working on strengthening the core muscles.

It’s time to ignite that core power on command and move confidently from this powerful center. 

Moving from the core helps protect your joints and ligaments by shifting weight away from these vulnerable areas.

With engaged abdominals, you are also supporting the natural curvature of your spine to maintain proper alignment.

Before attempting any arm balancing poses, wake up the core with sun salutations and abdominal warm-ups. Pranayama techniques like Kapalabhati also help bring an acute awareness to this centre. 

You’ll find it’s like revving up an engine that will fuel all of your movement.

7 | Activate the Bandhas

Photo by StockSnap 

Finally, we have the bandhas – perhaps the most misunderstood element of yoga. 

Those who lift off easily in arm balancing poses often describe the feeling of weightlessness; like they are levitating, without feeling drained whatsoever. G-force appears to have less of an impact on them!

That sensation comes from the activation of Mula Bandha (root lock) and Uddiyana Bandha (navel lock). When properly engaged, they direct energy upward through the central channel (shushumna nadi) and offer the whole body a steady supply of power.

As you can imagine, that is exactly what you need in order to master arm balancing poses! 

For more information about the bandhas and how to activate them, check out this helpful video guide by Alexandra Templeton

8 | Get Feedback from Qualified Yoga Teachers

Regardless of whether or not you’ve tackled the preceding steps, if you want to be better at advanced arm balance yoga poses you’ll need some intervention.

A yoga teacher can help you identify the obstacles holding you back,  fine tune your alignment and give you helpful adjustments. And there’s no better way to get that kind of hands-on instruction than in a workshop!

Take Flight: Arm Balancing Workshop
with Amanda & Paria

Saturday, May 7th
1:30 – 3:30pm
$45 + HST
Members: 15% off

Here’s what you’ll learn:

✅ The foundations of arm balancing
✅ How to take flight and become fearless in doing so
✅ How to avoid injuries
✅ Useful modifications for all levels

Amanda and Paria’s workshops tend to fill up fast! Make sure to grab your spot today.

[ Register Today ]

We hope to see you there! <3

 

Kyneret has been practicing and teaching yoga for over a decade. She began as a yoga teacher for Modo Yoga Maple in 2012, and has recently set off on a nomadic adventure to South East Asia. She remains active within our Modo community as a blog writer.

When not writing, she is fully immersed in the day-to-day adventures of travel life and actively seeks out as many foreign yoga experiences as possible to further her knowledge and skills! You can follow Kyneret’s travels on her instagram account @planes_trains_autoimmunity

Featuring 5 Incredible Modo Yoga Teachers

Most of us can agree –– the past two years have taken a huge toll on our health and physical posture.

Whether it’s a more sedentary lifestyle we fell into or a non-ergonomic home office we had going on – ouch! We’re bound to be feeling and seeing the effects now.

The good news? There’s yoga. It’s highly effective for correcting posture, with its first benefit being that it makes you more aware of it in the first place.

So what can we do to restore the balance between Sthiram and Sukham – sturdiness and ease, so we can feel confident and comfortable in our bodies?

Let’s hear from 5 fabulous Modo Yoga Maple instructors on their recommendations.

Correcting Posture with Yoga

Several types of postural deviations exist, but we’ll focus on the most common ones people struggle with:

1. Lordosis/Anterior Pelvic Tilt (Swayback)

2. Elevated shoulders

3. Kyphosis (Hunchback)

4. Upper Crossed Syndrome

5. Text Neck

1 |  Lordosis/Anterior Pelvic Tilt

Photo Credit: BackIntelligence.com

Lumbar Lordosis is a postural deviation describing an over-arch of the lumbar spine.

Those with Lumbar Lordosis have an anterior pelvic tilt that causes the belly to jut forward and the buttocks to stick out.

This often results in weakened abdominals and glutes, and tight erector spinae, quadratus lumborum, and hip flexors. 

 

Yoga to Help Correct Lordosis/Anterior Pelvic Tilt

As advised by Paria Mirazimi

An easy way to check the degree of curve in your lumbar spine is to lay on your back on a flat surface and slide your hand under your lower back. You should be able to slide through to about your knuckles, with little space. With lumbar lordosis, though, you’d be able to put your entire hand through with lots of extra space.

Here’s what Paria recommends to help lengthen hip flexors that have shortened due to an anterior pelvic tilt.

Low Lunge: Psoas & Hip Flexor Stretch

1. Place one hand on the front of your lower abdomen and the other at your sacrum.

2. Direct your lower back to lengthen as you energetically reach your tailbone down towards the ground.

3. Pull your lower abdomen in and up, as your pubic bone energetically lifts. You should start to feel a nice stretch through the front of your back leg.

4. Maintain this neutral position in your pelvis as you shift your weight forward to deepen the hip flexor stretch.

5. Make it dynamic as you shift your weight forward and back. Switch sides. 

 

Bridge: Glute & Abdominal Strength, Hip Flexor Length 

1. Start on your back with your feet parallel, planted hip-width apart.
    
2. Set your ankles slightly in front of your knees and rest your extended arms by your sides, palms facing down.

3. Roll your pelvis and your spine off the floor as you press down through each contact point your body makes with the mat.

4. In this bridge shape, keep the front rib cage contained and engage your abdominal muscles. Activate your glutes to support hip extension and lengthen your lower back. Direct your tailbone long and feel your hip flexors lengthen through your front body. 

 

2 |  Elevated shoulders

Photo Credit: Prehab Exercises 

With elevated shoulders, the shoulders are hunched up into a permanent shrug. 

Depending on how the scapulae are positioned, this ultimately leads to either the shortening of the levator scapulae or the upper trapezius.

Working on your laptop at a table that’s too tall can cause this to happen, as can holding up a phone to your ear with your shoulder. 

Yoga to Help Correct Elevated Shoulders

As advised by Danny Noel

The shoulder is the most mobile joint in the human body. This mobility is fundamental in taking the upper extremity through a broad range of motion.

But while mobility plays an important role in our functional movements, it also makes the shoulders more vulnerable to instability and injury. The repetitive and sustained action of shoulder elevation can lead to chronic pain and poor posture.

The following poses are ideal for opening the chest and releasing the neck, which in turn assists with stretching the shoulders and creating greater shoulder girdle integration. 

To enhance their efficacy, use a strap jacket, as pictured below. 

Salabhasana (Locust Pose) 

1. Start on your belly with your legs and arms extended.

2. Inhale; then exhale and lift your chin, chest, upper torso and arms off the mat.

3. Reach your arms back with your palms facing down.

4. Take 5 breaths, then slowly settle back to your mat. Repeat 3 times. 

If you are using a strap jacket, tug on the loose ends as you lift to encourage the shoulders to lengthen and move back away from the ears.

 

Virabhadrasana II (Warrior II) 

1. Make sure to buckle the strap jacket nice and snug at the front of your body.

2. Once in Virabhadrasana II, extend the fingers of both hands in either direction, drawing your shoulders down.

3. To get the shoulders to relax, flip your palms up first, bend the elbows slightly, and let the shoulder blades drop. Then flip the palms back down and continue lengthening through the fingertips

A strap jacket can be worn while doing any yoga pose that emphasizes shoulder integration. It can also be worn throughout the day, at home or at work, to promote shoulder stability and a neutral spine.

 

3 |  Kyphosis (Hunchback)

Photo credit: Healthline

Whereas Lordosis pertains to the lumbar spine, Kyphosis is a condition relating to the curvature of the upper thoracic spine. 

The upper back appears hunched and slightly raised, causing the head and neck to jut forward. Postural kyphosis is caused by habitual slouching, which results in weak back muscles. 

Yoga to Help Correct Kyphosis

As advised by Amanda Negrette

Amanda has a few favourites when it comes to correcting a pronounced kyphotic curve, but these are her top poses.

Heart-melting Pose/Anahatasana

This pose helps to open the chest, shoulders, and side body. It helps to relieve and reverse the hunching of the upper back. 

And who doesn’t love a good heart opener? 

1. Start in a table-top position and walk your hands about a foot forward.

2. Melt your heart down to your mat and stretch your arms forward.

3. Place your chin or your forehead on the ground and keep your hips over your knees while pressing the tops of your feet into your mat. Breathe deeply.

Modification: Support your chest with a bolster or some pillows to help elevate the floor towards you. 

Reverse Plank

Reverse plank is a more active pose using the whole body. It stretches the front body and strengthens the back body, which is necessary to strengthen those weak back muscles. 

It’s a great way to stretch the shoulders and throat which helps reverse the feeling of being hunched over due to kyphosis. 

1. Start by sitting down with your legs stretched out and toes pointed. Have your hands just behind you with your fingers pointing towards you.

2. Press down through your hands and feet while lifting your hips to the sky and dropping your head back.

3. Take 5 full breaths and slowly lower the hips to the mat.

Modification:  Can be done with knees bent and feet flat to the ground (reverse tabletop)

 

4 |  Upper Crossed Syndrome

Photo credit: Esports Healthcare

Upper crossed syndrome is basically an overlap of tight and weak muscles groups on the front and back body, resulting from poor posture. 

Actions such as reading, watching TV, sitting at the computer, or looking down at your mobile phone can contribute to the condition. 

The posterior muscles of the neck and shoulders (upper trapezius, and levator scapula) get extremely overactive and strained. The muscles in the front of the chest (pectoralis major and minor) shorten and tighten.

Yoga to Help Correct Upper Crossed Syndrome

As advised by Melissa Tolley

Because of the tightness in the front body, opening the chest and anterior neck muscles will bring an immediate sense of relief from the discomfort that arises with upper crossed syndrome.

Here’s what Melissa recommends for this specific purpose.

Supported Half Fish: Anterior Deltoid Stretch

1. Start by lying down on a pillow, bolster or foam roller, with your spine supported.

2. Bend your knees so your feet are flat on the floor.

3. Bring your elbows and shoulders to 90 degrees, so the upper arms are perpendicular to your prop and feel free to bend the elbows (cactus arms).

4. Relax your elbows and wrists towards the floor. Try to keep your forearms parallel to the floor.

5. Allow your body to relax, letting the chest and shoulders open.

You should feel a stretch across the muscles of the chest, maybe even into the front of the shoulders. Your elbows and wrists might not touch the floor, but that’s ok. 

 

5 |  Text Neck

Photo Credit: Health Quest Physical Therapy

Who could forget the notorious Text Neck?

It’s related to the overuse of mobile phones and looking down at the screen, with the neck in flexion. With time, front neck muscles shorten and the back of the neck gets weak and overextended. 

Prevent text neck by setting your digital devices closer to eye level. Make sure the crown of your head stacks over your spine with your chin tucked back.

Yoga to Help Correct Text Neck

As advised by Mauro Quattrociocchi

Here’s what Mauro recommends for text neck.

Cat Pose and Cow Pose

1. Start with a neutral spine on hands and knees.
   
   
2. Take a breath in and lift your tailbone to the sky. At the same time, lift your gaze to the sky – cow pose. This helps to stretch the front neck muscles to create length here.

3. As you exhale, push the ground away from your hands, tuck your chin into your chest round through your spine – cat pose

Cat and cow move the entire spine through flexion and extension without having any load placed on it. They also bring body awareness to the entire spine.

Baby Cobra

1. Press the tops of your feet into your mat and peel your chest away from the ground, with little to no weight in your hands.

2. Engage the muscles of the spine as you lift.

3. Keep the neck long and in line with the rest of the spine, and eyes down toward your mat.

This pose will help to strengthen the muscles at the back of the neck, creating the stability needed for correct alignment.

 

The Takeaway: Correcting Posture IS Possible with Consistency

In many cases, poor posture can be reversed with consistent effort and changes to lifestyle and habits.

Bear in mind – developing flexibility is only half the work when it comes to achieving good posture! You also need to strengthen the weak muscles which have caused neighbouring muscles to overcompensate and strain, core muscles included. 

 

Interested in finding balance and correcting your posture? 

Mauro is leading a Yang Yin practice on Saturday, April 9: Spring In Your Soul. It combines energetic movement with slow-pace deep tissue stretching to cultivate balance in your body. Featuring live music with DJ Paria!  [ Register Today ]

We’ve also got Align & Shine with Cass – a two-part posture workshop on May 14th & 28th that breaks down ALL postures in the Modo and Modo Flow series.   [ Register Today ]

Spots are filling up fast! Get in while you still can 🙂

 

Medical Disclaimer: 

While yoga can be extremely effective for improving posture, it cannot take the place of any medical treatment and may not be suitable for everyone. If you have any medically-related postural deviations, you should consult with your doctor first to ensure your yoga practice is safe and effective for you.

 

 

Kyneret has been practicing and teaching yoga for over a decade. She began as a yoga teacher for Modo Yoga Maple in 2012, and has recently set off on a nomadic adventure to South East Asia. She remains active within our Modo community as a blog writer.

When not writing, she is fully immersed in the day-to-day adventures of travel life and actively seeks out as many foreign yoga experiences as possible to further her knowledge and skills! You can follow Kyneret’s travels on her instagram account @planes_trains_autoimmunity

With the coronavirus cataclysm gripping the planet, these last few weeks have proven to be a great challenge for everyone. We’ve been instructed to stay home, as this is our best chance at “flattening the curve” of new infections, ergo slowing down the pandemic. In addition to the fear of falling ill, many are stressed about how to financially stay afloat at this time. The career lives of many have essentially come to a halt, while living expenses continue to mount.

Being on lockdown at home might seem daunting to many for justifiable reasons. Each of us, however, is handed a wonderful opportunity to improve ourselves in ways that simply wouldn’t be possible in the “pre-pandemic”, non-stop, and maniacal motion we have labelled “busy-ness”.

Yes – there is a silver lining in all of this. We can learn to see the opportunities eclipsed by the apparent obstacles.

Let us take this opportunity to find our sanity within the stillness, and tend to our real priorities. We can make the best out of staying home so that we arise augmented versions of ourselves once all this has passed. Here are 15 ways to turn self-isolation into self-improvement.

1. Improve Your Cognitive Skills

Our beautiful, neuroplastic brains are ever-changing instruments – capable of being shaped as we please. Why not use this time to develop important cognitive skills that will help you excel in every aspect of your life? Check out apps like Lumosity or Elevate. They are cunningly entertaining ways to improve cognitive health.

2. Develop New Skills

Imagine surfacing from isolation with a whole new set of skills to impress your friends, family and coworkers with. You can do that with websites like Skillshare, Lynda or Masterclass. Skillshare is offering a 2-month free trial and abounds with tutorials for artists, designers, writers, business owners and more.

3. Experiment with New Recipes

Even if you’re a total amateur in the kitchen, being on lockdown means you finally give yourself a shot at mastering the art of cooking and baking. It’s a craft that will not only serve as your creative outlet but will also provide sustenance for everyone under the same roof. Need we mention that cooking and baking are also a form of aromatherapy for your home?

4. Make an Incredible Playlist

If you’re a Shazam enthusiast like me, you have heaps of great songs waiting to be part of a meaningful playlist. Don’t put that off any longer! Make those epic playlists today, and share them with others who could use some melodic medicine.

5. Slash Your To-Do List

We’ve all got those to-do list items that keep getting bumped further down the list, under the weight of more pressing tasks. Use this time to finally repair that kitchen cabinet hinge, hand wash your delicates or clean out the pantry, and tick those things off your list once and for all.

6. Hang Out with Friends and Family Online

We often demonize social media, claiming it divides rather than connects us. I propose that it really all depends on how we use such platforms. While texting can erect walls between us and misconstrue communication, video chats are candid and heart-opening, allowing us to connect to one another with more integrity. Launch a video chat at least once a day and talk about the stuff that really matters.
To talk with several people at the same time, try Zoom, a free video-conferencing app.

7. Marie Kondo Your Home

I bet there isn’t a single person who hasn’t thought of how they’d rearrange their dwelling space if they only had the time. Well, now you’ve got oodles of it. Let tidying expert Marie Kondo take you on a cathartic journey of releasing clutter and unveiling your best and most sacred dwelling space.

8. Watch a Free Live Music Show Online

Music is a compelling force, capable of dispelling all our fears and worries. Every musical note is a chance to lose ourselves in the moment and forget about the maelstrom encircling us. Pour yourself a glass of your favourite drink and enjoy a free show on Instagram, YouTube, or Facebook, and remember: these are the little things that make life so beautiful.

9. Train Your Pet

It’s one of the things we wish we could do with our own pets but never have the time or patience for, right? Get some quality snacks for your furbaby and teach them a new trick. Remember, training pets is all about repetition and reward.

10. Get into Self-Improvement Podcasts

Hundreds of self-help and wellness podcasts that provide great advice for self-improvement are waiting to stream towards your ears. Among this vast selection of excellent podcasts is Mindlove, which focuses on everything from emotional management to productivity hacks.

11. Learn a New Language

With mobile apps like Mango or Duolingo, you can teach yourself a whole new language (preferably one for a country you intend on visiting). By the time everything resumes its natural course and travel bans are lifted, you’ll be proficient enough to get around with ease. A second or third language is not only a useful skill to have on our belt, but it’s also great for maintaining healthy cognitive functioning.

12. Armchair Travel to Famous Museums and Galleries Globally

Over the last several years, technological advancements of the web have made it possible to virtually experience the world right from our living-room armchair. Here are 12 world-class museums you can visit online, including the iconic Louvre of Paris and the Guggenheim Museum of New York.

13. Dust Off Your Instrument and Practice

Recently there’s a torrent of Facebook uploads from people playing their instruments while they stay home and practice social distancing. People are feeling inspired to reconnect with their favourite hobbies now that they’re faced with more time than they know what to do with! Whatever cherished instrument you play, you don’t have to step into the limelight yourself – just get back into your own quiet practice. But hey, if you feel like serenading us, we welcome the entertainment!

14. Join Modo Yoga Maple on Instagram for Free Live Yoga

It’s so important for all of us to keep our bodies moving at this time to combat the idleness of being indoors. More than a week ago, we closed our studio doors in order to ensure everyone’s safety, and we’ve been missing you all dearly. But thanks to the wonders of the interwebs, the yoga action isn’t missing, it merely continues online for the time being. Our free Instagram live classes will have you feeling wonderful as ever, and we’d love for you to join us! We will regularly be posting our schedule on Instagram and Facebook each week.

Here’s how to join:

1. Follow us on Instagram @modoyogamaple
2. Find a place in your house to set up for your practice.
3. Land on your mat on time for class, ready to move and breathe with us.
4. On your Instagram highlights, you’ll get notified that @modoyogamaple is now live. Click to watch or go to our profile at the time of the class and click on our circle profile image.
5. If you can’t make it live for class, don’t worry. Every class will be posted in our Live Story for 24 hours afterwards, so you can watch it later.

15. Sign Up for Modo Yoga Online

The Modo Yoga community is not defined by studio walls. Anyone who is actively involved in the community can attest to this, along with the fact that it’s so much more than just yoga that holds us together as a kinship. That being said, the challenges of this time have indeed presented us with the opportunity to expand beyond those parameters. And guess what? Beautiful things have developed. Modo Yoga just launched its online yoga platform, which features classes taught by Modo Yoga teachers all around the world. Now you can practice whenever and wherever you want. What a luxury! Sign up now to get one month free, using the promo code “MPL” (all caps). Click here to sign up.

So let’s do some yoga and breathe together; let’s play some rousing tunes and envision better times. At the end of the day, all we can do is have patience, have faith and cultivate a positive outlook for the future. And, of course, wash our hands! It’s gonna be ok – there’s no need to panic. Let’s make the best of this time and focus on improving ourselves along with the lives of others. You’ve got this! If you do need assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’ll see you at the next live Instagram yoga class!

 

Kyneret has been practicing and teaching yoga for over a decade. She began as a yoga teacher for Modo Yoga Maple in 2012, and has recently set off on a nomadic adventure to South East Asia. She remains active within our Modo community as a blog writer.

When not writing, she is fully immersed in the day-to-day adventures of travel life and actively seeks out as many foreign yoga experiences as possible to further her knowledge and skills! You can follow Kyneret’s travels on her instagram account @planes_trains_autoimmunity

Everything changes; nothing is permanent. Everything that arises will eventually come to pass – it’s the crux of yoga philosophy. Nothing teaches us this simple truth better than the transitioning seasons. They express the notion of transformation in a charmingly cinematic way.

As the seasons shift, so do our bodies and minds, since we are integrally connected to nature. Consequently, throughout the year, our mood and energy levels will shift, our digestion and weight will fluctuate, and we might become more prone to falling ill at times. Our perspectives on life can flip-flop, and even our mental clarity can diminish or improve depending on what time of year it is.

Much like how the phases of the moon silently tug on us, creating shifts in our behaviour, the more long-drawn-out cycles we refer to as seasons have their own way of affecting us right down to the cellular level.

Even some medical research shows that the seasons do affect us in numerous ways. Here are a few main things they can influence:

• Mood
• Metabolism
• The activity of human genes
• Immune system activity
• How we perceive colours
• Our attention and memory

 

What Spring Represents

So how does the season of spring affect us, then? What significance does it bear in our lives and how can we learn from Mother Nature so that we can adapt and grow alongside her?

Spring is all about new beginnings and things coming back to life. Having been held under a blanket of frost for several months, everything now begins to thaw out – including us! Winter has a way of “freezing” our progress just a little, as we focus on self-preservation and conservation of supplies.

In contrast, the energy at springtime is dynamic, optimistic, hopeful, vibrant, and buoyant. Fresh green buds on branches inspire us to start new ventures of our own and open ourselves up to novel life experiences. Nature starts to come alive all around us, as do we.

We spring into action in different ways at this time. Mainly, the impulse to get rid of the old and make space for the new takes us over. We become especially attentive to our environment, clearing and rearranging our dwelling spaces to reflect the new vibrant energy of spring. 

We do the same thing with ourselves. Springtime is when we usually begin new career paths, end old relationships, and enter into new ones. It’s a good time to employ some dietary changes, switch up our exercise routine and even change our appearance. It’s incredible how refreshing a new haircut can be!

But how do we know what changes we need to make so that we’re on the right track with our health? Traditional Chinese Medicine has much wisdom to offer us in this respect.

Finding Balance with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)

In the practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine, it is understood that the seasons affect bodily functions. Healing is a holistic process centred around aligning the human body with the 5 seasons: spring, summer, late summer, winter, and fall.

This is supposed to be the most effective way to heal, as it follows in the steps of our wise Mother Nature. And when has she ever led us astray, really?

A big part of TCM involves dietary guidelines about what foods to include seasonally, and what foods to omit. It is mostly what we consume that influences our body chemistry and inner workings, so this is the main focus. We are what we eat!

So let’s start with the basics. In TCM theory, there are 5 elements, each associated with a season, climate, taste, colour, and organ/set of organs.

 

As you can see, spring is connected with the element of wood, the climate of wind, sour tastes, the colour green, and the liver.

The above diagram doesn’t show it, but each season is also related to a dominant emotion. Spring is anger, summer is joy, late summer is pensiveness, fall is sadness, and winter is fear.

The Liver and Gallbladder are Dominant during Spring

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, the liver and gallbladder are the dominant organs during spring.

As a side note, each organ is linked with an emotion. When an organ functions out of balance, we experience an influx of this linked emotion. So during spring, we are more likely to experience anger than usual, as the liver and gallbladder are overworking.

In order to find balance this spring, our main goal should be to balance out the energy of the liver so that it can function in harmony with other organs. Equal focus should be placed on attending to our emotions so we can experience peace and calm within.

We can do this by eating and omitting certain foods, as well as employing emotional healing strategies.

 

How to Balance the Liver with Diet

Sour is the taste that corresponds with the season of spring. It is affiliated with the liver and gallbladder, as it stimulates their functioning, causing them to produce and excrete bile.

Because these organs are already dominant during spring, TCM advises that we should reduce our consumption of sour foods. Instead, try introducing more sweet and pungent tastes to regulate the liver’s “Qi”, or vital energy.

Foods to Eat
(sweet flavours that neutralize the liver’s Qi)
E.g. Yam, pumpkin, wheat, dates, glutinousrice, milk, peanuts, chestnuts, honey, dates

(pungent flavors that stimulate the liver’s Qi)
E.g. Onions, leeks, leaf mustard, fresh ginger, cilantro, fresh leafy greens, sprouts from seeds.

Foods to Reduce (sour foods)
E.g.  tomatoes, pineapple, apple, strawberry, pears, oranges, olives, vinegar 

Foods to avoid: Deep-fried and oily foods, processed foods, frozen foods, anything with chemicals, refined sugar, alcohol.

Emphasis should be on eating as clean as possible so the body can adjust to the shift of the seasons. Remember to stay hydrated to allow the body to flush out toxins.

***Dietary recommendations will vary from person to person, based on their biological constitution. It’s best to consult with a TCM professional to understand your body’s needs at this time. This is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice.***

Finding Balance with Hatha Yoga and Yin Yoga

Any day of the year is a great time to do yoga, but springtime is even more advantageous. Active yoga practices like Ashtanga, Vinyasa or Modo Flow will help us balance out the Qi in our system at this time, expelling stagnant energy and creating space for fresh energy to flow.

Since the liver is our featured organ for the season, focusing on asanas that boost its efficacy is highly recommended. Include these poses in your sequences as much as possible and hold for 30 seconds each.

Hatha Yoga Poses to Support the Liver

Bhujangasana – Cobra Pose
This asana creates length in the Transverse & Rectus Abdominis muscles which bolster your liver in place. Stretching the front cavity of the body in this way stimulates and massages the liver and increases blood flow to the area. Breathe deeply to intensify the effect, specifically focusing on expanding the breath into the abdomen.

Supta Matsyendrasana – Supine Twist
In addition to improving the mobility of our spine, supine twists do the wonderful job of stretching and toning our internal organs. Being a large organ, the liver gets much of the squeezing action here. Supine twists are excellent for the entire digestive system.

Dhanurasana – Bow Pose
Dhanurasana is one of the best poses for treating fatty liver disease. Stretching, activating, and strengthening the liver, Dhanurasana helps push out any fat deposited there, freeing up this blocked energy so it can be used elsewhere in the body.

Yin Yoga Poses to Support the Liver and Gallbladder

There’s nothing like a tranquil yin yoga sequence to wrap up an energizing practice. Focus on poses that target the liver and gallbladder meridians, such as:

• Butterfly pose
• Straddle pose
• Swan pose
• Shoelace pose

Check out this fantastic yin yoga sequence designed especially for the liver and gallbladder, here.

Finding Balance Through Emotional Healing

The liver is responsible for regulating emotions in the body, which means spring is a time when emotions are high. We might find ourselves more easily irritated and sensitive, reacting to things that normally wouldn’t get on our nerves.

Alongside a healthy diet to promote healthy functioning of the liver, it’s important to stay on top of our emotions.

Here are a few ways we can attend to them lovingly:

• Gratitude Journaling
• Meditating on the heart chakra
• Engaging in creative projects
• Walking outside in nature
• Taking your yoga practice outdoors
• Clearing clutter and rearranging furniture to welcome changes

In Conclusion

Springtime is all about new beginnings. Everything springs back to life – including us. Let’s make sure we spring back with full force and maintain that integrity!

Attend to your diet at this time, making sure to eat as clean as possible, and place emphasis on supporting the liver and gallbladder function. In addition, don’t forget to give equal care to your arising emotions at this time.

Come join us as we honour the Spring Equinox with 108 Sun Salutations, on Saturday, March 21st! It’s the perfect way to shift into spring. You might also find Amanda, Risa and Katie’s Relax & Renew Workshop, in March, to be the perfect introduction to the season.

Much love and light,

Kyneret

 

Sources:

1. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/brain-activity-seasons-study_n_56ba26ffe4b0b40245c42d6a?guccounter=1
2. https://www.shen-nong.com/eng/lifestyles/food_diet_advice_season.html
3. https://www.nirmalawellbeing.com/blog/yoga-poses-for-healthy-liver-function

 

Kyneret has been practicing and teaching yoga for over a decade. She began as a yoga teacher for Modo Yoga Maple in 2012, and has recently set off on a nomadic adventure to South East Asia. She remains active within our Modo community as a blog writer.

When not writing, she is fully immersed in the day-to-day adventures of travel life and actively seeks out as many foreign yoga experiences as possible to further her knowledge and skills! You can follow Kyneret’s travels on her instagram account @planes_trains_autoimmunity

 

One Big Happy YOGA Family! The Advantages of Family Yoga

Between the intensity of work, school, birthday parties, swimming lessons, hockey, ballet, music lessons and a myriad of other family events, what’s an activity your family can participate in together- one that everyone will benefit from?

That would be yoga, of course. A proven success among families, it’s the perfect way to get everyone together for some fun, memorable experiences.

The advantages of family yoga are plenty and we’ll soon be sharing them with you. But first, let’s take a look at what family yoga is.

What is Family Yoga?

A growing trend these days, family yoga classes are those that can be experienced together as a family. That includes parents, sons, daughters, grandparents – even aunts, uncles and cousins. You might be wondering how they differ from regular yoga classes. In general, family yoga classes often include things like:

• Group and partner yoga poses
• Fun games
• Dance
• Singing
• Laughter
• Goofiness and playfulness
• Loving embraces and restful tim

They are also broken down into several sub-niches, such as:

• Moms and tots yoga / parent-child yoga
• Yoga for teens and/or tweens
• Kids yoga ages 5-9
• Family yoga ages 4+
• Yoga for mothers and daughters
• Yoga for fathers and sons

Family Yoga Classes

Nowadays, numerous yoga studios include family yoga classes in their schedule at least once a week. They may run all year long or be introduced bi-annually for a certain length of time. These can be drop-in or pre-registered classes.

Family Yoga Workshops

Held a few times throughout the year, these workshops generally involve preregistration. Unlike classes, though, workshops take place over one day or span across a few. They also tend to focus on themes, like strengthening bonds between mothers and daughters or developing confidence in teens.

Family Yoga Retreats Worldwide

Family yoga retreats are certain to be a growing trend across the world. They are basically yoga vacations geared towards families. Samahita Yoga Retreats in Koh Samui, Thailand, is just that kind of deal.

The Advantages of Family Yoga

There’s an old saying you might be familiar with: the family that prays together stays together. It works the same way when you flow together with yoga. Whether it’s prayer or practice, the benefits of yoga are sure to strengthen bonds and pull everyone in closer.

So what are the ways family yoga can be beneficial?

1. Helps Develops a Healthy Body Image

These days, poor examples in mainstream and social media have left youths with a completely distorted sense of body image. The studio space, in contrast, is one where people of all ages, shapes, sizes, and backgrounds come together to explore the healing power of yoga. Self-acceptance is encouraged and celebrated. A good yoga teacher will continue to remind students of this.

 

2. Promotes More Healthy Habits

A regular yoga practice for your family is more than just one great habit. Yoga is shown to encourage the formation of more good habits, from additional exercise regimens to healthy dietary choices. It may even influence the types of relationships we choose to foster in our lives.

 

3. Develops Strong Bonds

Through group and partner yoga poses and sharing activities, relatives learn how to support one another, both physically and emotionally. As a result, trust is built and bonds between parents and children, or between siblings, are deepened.

 

4. Opens Up Communication

Yoga helps us tune into our inner space and honour our true voice. Naturally, flowing together as a family will open up a dialogue, giving everyone much to talk about. But it will also create the space to communicate authentically with one another on all other matters that arise.

 

5. Builds Confidence

A change many people notice after starting yoga is its confidence-building powers. That’s not surprising, considering how many asanas activate the solar plexus chakra, Manipura, which is associated with will power and confidence. Yoga builds the courage to express our unique and authentic selves to our family members. This confidence also spreads into other aspects of life, including standing up for ourselves, applying for new jobs, and making new friends.

 

6. Helps Manage Emotions

Imagine children learning how to sit in peace for 10 min, gaining control of their anger or anxiety by harnessing the power of beath. This would prove an invaluable skill. Recognizing this benefit, some schools have included yoga and meditation classes in their educational curriculum.

 

7. Connects Us With Community

What do kids look forward to more than their yoga practice with their parents and siblings? Meeting with their new yoga friends at the studio! Yoga brings with it a strong sense of community or belonging – sangha. Adults and kids alike will feel the pull to return even if only to connect with awesome friends at the studio.

 

8. Something Fun to Look Forward To Every Week

I remember my childhood Sundays during spring and summer as clear as yesterday. It was me, my sister and parents.

First, we’d visit Edwards Garden in Toronto, for a serene stroll among the most vibrant blossoms. Then we’d head towards our neighbourhood community center to happily splash around the indoor swimming pool. Finally, Sunday evening would conclude with dinner at St. Hubert’s restaurant. It was something to look forward to every week – and just the perfect way to kick off a new one.

Family yoga could be structured in much the same way – preceded by some other fun family event and followed by a lovely dinner at everyone’s favourite restaurant.

 

Family Yoga & Mindfulness Class at Modo Yoga Maple

We’re excited to announce our first-ever Family Yoga & Mindfulness Class– yasss! It will be held over the Family Day long weekend, and lead by Jess & Melissa!  Click HERE to view all the details of this special class.

 

Conclusion

As you can see, there are numerous advantages to family yoga! The wonderful thing is that it offers the chance to directly immerse your family in an environment that promotes all the values you intend on teaching them. Some effort to round everyone up and get them on board with the plan might be necessary at first, but eventually, the momentum will pick up. Soon enough, everyone will be jumping at the opportunity to unite breath and body together as a team! Namaste.

 

Kyneret has been practicing and teaching yoga for over a decade. She began as a yoga teacher for Modo Yoga Maple in 2012, and has recently set off on a nomadic adventure to South East Asia. She remains active within our Modo community as a blog writer.

When not writing, she is fully immersed in the day-to-day adventures of travel life and actively seeks out as many foreign yoga experiences as possible to further her knowledge and skills! You can follow Kyneret’s travels on her instagram account @planes_trains_autoimmunity

As we part ways with 2019 and welcome 2020, we reflect on our resolutions and the changes we’d like to make for the upcoming year. Quitting smoking, beginning a new exercise routine, or starting a saving’s plan are the types of intentions we set at this time.

Something you’ll hear much about when it comes to manifesting our intentions is a vision board, otherwise referred to as a dream board.

“You should make a vision board of what you want to achieve in your life!” enthusiasts will proclaim.

What is a vision board, exactly? It’s a DIY montage of glossy images that represent the life you wish for. Typical vision boards include pictures of white sandy beaches with sparkling waters, beautiful bodies glimmering in the sun, smoothies embellished with a slice of fruit, and airplanes carving a dotted line to desired destinations. There are numerous tutorials on how to make the perfect vision board and even workshops where you can do so as a group activity.

Vision boards are a subject of great excitement among those who believe in their power to attract good fortune, happiness and success in life. The images we glue onto the board in a ceremonial way supposedly send our intentions out into the universe, generating a law-of-attraction effect. But do vision boards actually work?

Why Vision Boards Don’t Work

Despite new-age claims that vision boards are a powerful means of manifesting your dreams, science speculates otherwise.

Psychotherapist Amy Morin states that vision boards can actually do more harm than good and have a way of stunting our growth. With a few of her patients, she’s observed their tendency to get lost in lofty daydreams of success with no apparent plan of action towards these yearnings.

In a way, vision boards work to the same effect. Instead of adopting a proactive attitude where we work toward a goal, they have us waiting around for the universe to manifest our montaged wishes out of thin air.

Despite how crystal-clear their imaginings may be, numerous studies show that musicians, athletes, and students actually perform worse when they envision themselves succeeding at something.

In one particular study, one group of students was asked to visualize themselves scoring a high mark on their exam. Another group of students was asked to visualize themselves engaged in an activity: studying for the exam.

As you might have guessed, the group of students who visualized themselves studying performed better and came through with higher grades!

Here’s another eye-opening fact: A 2011 study concluded that positive fantasies about the future do not appear to be effective in producing that reality. Instead, positive fantasies sap you of the energy you need to pursue your ambitions. Visualizing, say, a brand new Lotus car sitting in your driveway releases an endorphin that relaxes you, which essentially demotivates you from working towards attaining it.
The same goes for a vision board pasted with pleasant imagery of all the stuff you want to manifest in your life.

Process-versus outcome-based mental-simulation is what we’re after when it comes to manifesting intentions!

 

What To Do Instead

Ok, so if stuffing your mind with fluffy thoughts of a successful life doesn’t work, then what does?

Visualize the Action

Let’s say you are a runner training for a big race. Seated in meditation, picture yourself engaged in the act of running. See the horizon magnifying slowly towards you as you swiftly make your way forward. Take note of the blurring scenery on your peripheral as you whizz past it all.

Even more powerful than merely seeing images flitting across the screen of your mind, however, is to try and feel the experience, in a visceral way. Feel the wind passing through your lungs with each breath and the impact of the earth under the sole of your shoes. Try to mentally connect with the muscle groups that tense and release to produce such an easeful sprint.

You are much more likely to see results this way, as you are motivating your brain and body into action!

Work on Your Subskills

Recently I watched an inspiring TED talks video about how to get better at the things you care about. It had something to do with being stuck in the performance-based mindset, instead of being in the learning-based mindset, which prevents growth.

One of the things we can do to stay in that learning-based mindset is to work on our sub-skills.

For instance, a writer can sharpen their typing skills so they are better able to “capture the messages” channelled through them. It’s got nothing to do with mastering the art of writing, but it can certainly improve your fluency, making it easier to express yourself. As for runners, a sub-skill could be working on the breath with pranayama techniques.

 

Why New Year’s Resolutions Don’t Work

Research reveals that about 40-50% of all American adults make New Year’s resolutions. Unfortunately, 30% of those resolutions are abandoned within 2 weeks, and more than 50% are abandoned by six months (Norcross, Mrykalo, & Blagys, 2002). 

“The main reason that people don’t stick to their resolutions is that they set too many or they’re unrealistic to achieve,” claims Mark Griffiths, Professor of Behavioural Addiction.

These people might also be dealing with what’s called “false hope syndrome”. False hope syndrome is when you’ve got unrealistic expectations about the speed, amount, ease and effects of changing a particular behaviour.

 

How to Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions

Based on the insight above along with some of my own, here are a few pointers on what to do in order to make your new year’s resolutions stick in place.

Take Baby Steps

Taking baby steps is surprisingly effective for building healthy habits. Rather than commit to an hour of meditation or yoga every day, start with just 15 minutes, and work up from there. It’s better to do something every day for a shorter period of time than only once a week for longer. Be realistic! Too often we set unrealistic goals and of course fail to meet them as a result.

Be Realistic

Trying to quit alcohol? Rather than banish it from your life entirely, limit your consumption by resolving to have a drink only once a week, or every 3 days.

Do One Thing at a Time

A long list of resolutions is overwhelming, daunting, and sure to fail. Instead, pick one thing you really want to focus on, like quitting smoking. When enough time has passed and you feel confident you have successfully followed through with your resolution, take on a new challenge. It’ll motivate you, to know you succeeded before.

Make it about the PRESENT, not the FUTURE

Time has shown me that if I don’t enjoy what I’m doing in the moment, it doesn’t matter what the reward is – it’s not going to become a reality for me. If my head is stuck in the future, I’ll soon lose interest in whatever habit I’m trying to cultivate now.

For example, I’ve never been one to stick to a gym routine. It bores me and by the second week I’m out. What does work for me? Taking part in an activity that I find truly engaging, inspiring, and amusing which lets me lose myself in a state of flow. Activities like dancing, bicycling, or yoga do that for me.

What’s Your Why?

What’s your why – your motivating factor? Make sure it’s coming from a place of positive motivation and love – not fear. Otherwise, you’re eventually going to lose interest.

Give it Some Gratitude

In all our pursuits, sometimes we forget that gratitude is the best motivator. If you need a push in the right direction and you want to cultivate some good habits in your life, practice gratitude as much as possible. Research on the effects of gratitude confirms that it activates the region of the brain associated with willpower, motivation and positive habit-building.

Sankalpa

Sankalpa is the practice of setting intentions and combining that with the power of yoga. It literally translates from Sanskrit as “an intention formed by the heart and mind.” We often mention this at the beginning of yoga, prompting students to take a few silent moments to set an intention for their practice.  

Conclusion

You can absolutely create the life of your dreams. Nothing is impossible! But don’t stop at vision boards, as they work in just the opposite way we intend. Instead of visualizing your success, try conjuring up clear imagery of you performing a certain task or duty linked with the goal you are trying to achieve. Choose some good sub-skills to master; they’ll help you build a sense of accomplishment.

And as for your new year’s resolutions, keep it simple and be practical. It’s amazing how small changes over the long run have the potential of leading to big changes.

May this year bring you all those beautiful things you may have taken the time to paste onto your vision board. Now get out there and make it happen!

Happy New Year

Kyneret

 

 

Kyneret has been practicing and teaching yoga for over a decade. She began as a yoga teacher for Modo Yoga Maple in 2012, and has recently set off on a nomadic adventure to South East Asia. She remains active within our Modo community as a blog writer.

When not writing, she is fully immersed in the day-to-day adventures of travel life and actively seeks out as many foreign yoga experiences as possible to further her knowledge and skills! You can follow Kyneret’s travels on her instagram account @planes_trains_autoimmunity

written by: Kyneret Azizo

Namaste, dear ones! The holidays are rolling in pretty quick, and it’s time to get cracking on those gifts for your kinfolks.

So, you happen to have a friend who’s hardcore into yoga, do you? Well, don’t assume that they’ll be rejecting material gifts, just because they are on an esoteric plane of existence! Every yogi likes to co-create a good surprise now and then.

So, what are some thoughtful holiday gifts for yoga lovers? Forget the obvious things yogis cherish, like yoga blocks, yoga wheels and essential oils. How about something a little more original?

The ideas on this list will inspire and surprise you. You may even want one of these for yourself! Check them out.

 

   1. Gas/Rideshare/Metro Card

If yoga students could choose to teleport to every single one of their classes, they would. And maybe one day, with enough meditation practice, they’ll gain that ability. But seeing as how that’s unlikely to happen in this lifetime, a transportation gift card is your next best option. It all depends on their preferred mode of transportation. Help them get to their classes with a:

• Gas card from their preferred gas station
• Gift card for rideshare apps like Uber, Facedrive or Lyft
• Metro pass card for the bus and/or subway

 

   2. Online Yoga Classes

While they’d love to attend a studio yoga session every day, sometimes that’s just not possible – unless, of course, they can actually teleport. With online yoga classes, they’ll get yoga-on-demand, plus the ability to practice anywhere they desire. Access to a database of lessons from renowned yoga instructors at the click of a button? Yes, please! You can browse through Modo Yoga International’s selection of audio and video class downloads. For some other online yoga options, check out: Glo, Yoga International, or Gaia.    

 

   3. Make a Donation in Their Name

Of course, we all have those yogi friends that enforce the no-gift holiday policy. “Seriously, don’t get me anything,” they insist. What can you do for these people? Make a donation to a fundraiser they are passionate about. It’s a sly way to disobey their orders and please them at the same time. You can enclose the receipt in a beautifully handmade and eco-friendly greeting card!  

 

   4. A Gratitude Journal

What’s the latest rave in the world of wellness? The practice of gratitude! The miraculous effects of gratitude on mind and body have been studied extensively in the last two decades. We now know it’s the best way to promote happiness, not to mention improve your health. A Gratitude Journal is the perfect gift for someone who is on the path of self-realization. You can purchase one in Modo Yoga Maple’s boutique.    

 

   5. Tickets to a Sacred Music Performance

Yogis have their own way of rocking out – at a kirtan or a sacred music performance, of course! Several of these soul-inspiring events take place across the city throughout the year. You can search for events and purchase tickets on Eventbrite or go directly to the artists’ websites. Modo Yoga studios often hold kirtan and live music yoga events, as well. If you ask me, this is one of the best gifts for that special yogi in your life. It’s an experience, and those always make a better gift than material possessions. Besides, you can enjoy this one together. Some heavenly suggestions for you: Ajeet Kaur, Simrit Kaur, Mirabai Ciba, David Newman, Brenda McMorrow.    

 

   6. A Foot Massage and Pedicure

Yogis are obsessed with spreading their toes wide in yoga poses and “rooting down through all four corners,” aren’t they? The irony is, they actually tend to neglect their feet sometimes. We might scrub every inch of our body but deny that same loving attention to our feet. Or, we’ll seek out a neck and shoulder massage, thinking that’s where all the tension accumulates. Meanwhile, our poor feet are weeping for some wellness, too. A foot massage and pedicure package is a great gift to bestow on your favourite yogi friend. And it’s another one you can enjoy together.  

 

   7. A Handsome Supply of Avocados

Have you ever witnessed a yoga student devouring a Himalayan-salt-sprinkled avocado straight out of the peel with a spoon? If so, you’ll understand the true worth of this super-food. Avocados are an incredibly nutritious post-yoga snack. Ok, maybe I’m just being silly with this one. But seriously, avocados are every yogi’s best friend. They’re the best thing ON sliced bread! So, if you happen to see them on sale, the (avocado) seed has been planted in your mind.    

 

   8. Handpicked Yoga Playlists

One of the most thoughtful gifts anyone ever gave me was a self-curated yoga music playlist. It was conveniently tailored to my preferred style of yoga. Not only did it save me from having to make a fresh playlist for my next class, but it was also a gift for my own practice. There’s nothing like a sublime soundtrack to ignite the inspiration for their yoga practice. Curate a few fantastic ones on YouTube, Spotify or Apple Music for this dear person in your life. The added perk? This gift might not cost you anything.    

   9. Fruit Infuser Water Bottle

Hot yoga enthusiasts know it’s important to stay on top of 3 main things for class: nutrition, hydration, and electrolytes. The thing is, it’s hard to find electrolyte powders free of additives and sugars. That’s why this fruit infuser water bottle is a genius alternative. It’s a healthy way to provide your body with all three necessities after a sweaty practice. The fruit infuser pictured above is by Healthful Hydration.    

 

   10. An Adult Colouring Book

In the yoga community, you hear a lot of talk about “nurturing the inner child.” Maybe your friend has even mentioned their own quest to connect with the innocent, playful one within. Well, here’s a fantastic gift to give them that opportunity. A colouring book for big people so they can be little again! You’ll find all kinds of colouring templates, from fantasy themes to sacred geometry and mandalas. Once finished, their coloured-in masterpieces can serve as personalized home decor. Stores like Indigo/Chapters sell these gifts.    

 

   11. Warm n’ Cozy Post-Yoga Clothing

Picture your friend in this situation: They’ve just finished a deliciously hot Modo Yoga class. They’ve got a warm, fuzzy feeling spiralling throughout their body. Their heart is soaring, and their limbs are pleasantly limber. But now they have to do something horrible. They have to face the bitter cold outside. Help them get through this madness with warm post-yoga clothing, like pullovers and hoodies! Peruse through our snug and snazzy apparel boutique at Modo Yoga Maple. If you spend $125 before tax on retail items between Dec 1-24, you’ll receive a free 5-class card! You can keep it for yourself or gift it out.  

 

   12. A Modo Yoga Maple Gift Card!

And finally, how could we possibly conclude this article without mentioning a Modo Yoga Maple gift card? Anyone who loves yoga will appreciate this as a holiday gift. We have an amazing promo happening, as of November 29th. All new signups on a Bliss or Modo Membership receive a FREE Jade Yoga Mat. (It’s valued at $99 + HST). Grab ahold of this limited-time offer while supplies last! Do you want more ideas on what to buy for your deeply-devoted yoga pal? Take a moment to ponder the types of challenges they might face in a typical day. I bet you’ll come up with dozens more thoughtful gifts for yoga lovers to solve those challenges! Happy holidays and much love to you, from Modo Yoga Maple!

 

Kyneret has been practicing and teaching yoga for over a decade. She began as a yoga teacher for Modo Yoga Maple in 2012, and has recently set off on a nomadic adventure to South East Asia. She remains active within our Modo community as a blog writer.

When not writing, she is fully immersed in the day-to-day adventures of travel life and actively seeks out as many foreign yoga experiences as possible to further her knowledge and skills! You can follow Kyneret’s travels on her instagram account @planes_trains_autoimmunity