Learning kumbhaka (retention)
Getting ready for kumbhaka practice Once you are familiar with sama vritti and visama vritti pranayama and can comfortably extend the exhalation to make it twice as long as your natural inhalation (which is our…
Are you stuck in your yoga practice?
Are you stuck in your yoga practice? You may be doing the wrong practice, or doing the practice wrong…. …Or you may just need to be patient. As any experienced practitioner knows, progress in yoga…
Did you have a nice practice?
As anyone who practice regularly knows, in yoga practice, just as in life, there are good days and bad days. There are days when we flow from posture to posture with ease and grace, in…
Yoga and horsemanship, two practices that support one another
While I was teaching on a yoga and horsemanship course in the Netherland with expert horse trainer Karine Vandenborre, the two of us, who are both yoga practitioners as well as horse people, got into…
Respiratory feedback in the generation of emotions
I recently came across a study (well two actually) by a team of scientists from the University of Louvain in Belgium, who had been investigating the relationship between emotional feelings and respiration. A subject which,…
A Taoist approach to mindful breathing
The great Taoist philosopher Tchang Zu tells us that True man breathes with his heels, while the mass of men breathe with their throats. Never mind the heels, you’re probably doing OK if you manage…
A balancing act
Hatha yoga cannot succeed without Raja yoga, nor Raja without hatha. Therefore, practice the two to perfection (Hatha Yoga Pradipika, 2-76) Finding and maintaining the balance between physical and meditative practices can be challenging at…
The four qualities of the heart
Undisturbed calmness and clarity is attained by cultivating openness toward happiness, compassion toward suffering, delight in the good and equanimity toward evil. The yoga sutras of Patanjali, 1-33 Those familiar with Buddhism may have recognised…
Still counting?
I owe to my years of training in ashtanga vinyasa the habit to count my breath in asana practice. Viniyasa in, five breaths, vinyasa out, next posture… This habit has one great benefit: it focuses…
A short introduction to Swara yoga
Ida nadi Pingala nadi Left nostril (and the whole left side of the body) Right nostril (and the whole right side of the body) Moon Sun Feminine Masculine Yin Yang Right brain Left brain Intuitive…