What Is A Yoga Retreat?

A yoga retreat is an opportunity to step away from your normal routine and engaged in a community where yoga is the main activity for that community building.

A yoga retreat offers you time to relax, unwind, re-group, and focus. If you live a stressful and busy lifestyle, a yoga retreat may be the perfect rememdy to ease the mind and body.

A yoga retreat allows you to deepen your yoga practice (or even start your yoga practice.) Yoga retreats often provide a theme or intention that guides the focus of your time together. Daily practices may range from flowing movement to stillness and meditation. A yoga retreat can help you to go deeper, connect, be more aware, to settle your active mind.

A yoga retreat may even feel like a vacation. Often retreats are held in nice facilities with beautiful inviting surroundings. You don't have to worry about cooking or cleaning or other household duties you may be used to at home. This is your time to get away - to retreat!

A yoga retreat can help you to clear your mind so you can solve problems, move forward on your life journey, answer questions, and even grow a deeper appreciation of yourself.

It goes without saying that you will meet other people on a yoga retreat. A sense of communty is established at a yoga retreat. You will creat bonds that can be long-lasting.

If you haven't attended a yoga retreat, consider attending one in the near future. I highly recommend it.

Where can you find yoga retreats? Perhaps a simple Google search can begin your quest for the perfect yoga retreat for you. Talk to your yoga instructors, visit a locak yoga studio. You can typically find posting and announcements of yoga retreats that would suit your intention.

I will be co-facilitating a Men's Yoga Retreat at the beautiful Blue Osa in Costa Rica in May 2015. For more information about this retreat, stay tuned in to this blog or visit my website. To whet your appetite, visit BlueOsa.com to see this amazing beach-side resort.

You Are Fierce!

I can honestly say that the yoga classes I teach are challenging. Students sometimes are breathing heavily, struggling with some poses, and definitely sweating during the practice. My intention is not to harm or discourage my students. On the contrary, I am teaching them to believe in themselves. I show them, through the challenging yoga classes, that they have the ability to get through very difficult circumstances. Yes, they may be a little sweaty at the end, but they got through it. They learn they are able to support themselves, live with integrity, develop and practice great strength, and feel calm throughout the entire process.

There is a particular pose that can embrace this experience: Utkatasana. The Sanskirt word literally means powerful or fierce. The nickname given to this posture is Chair Pose because the physical body looks like it's sitting in a chair. While sitting in an actual chair may not produce power and strength, practicing Chair Pose can.

Because of the balancing nature of the pose, the core engagement, the arms lifted over head, lifting your toes, and sitting deeply onto nothing at all can definitely generate confidence, power, strength, and fierceness.

Utkatasana: Chair Pose
Start by standing in Mountain Pose. Be sure to have your feet about hip distance apart with your toes pointing directly forward to form a secure foundation while standing. Inhale to extend your arms into the air. Exhale and sit back and down as if you were sitting into an actual seat. To begin with, there is no need to sit down too deeply. Just bend at the knees and hips to establish the sensation of beginning to to sit down into a chair.

Before going any further, be sure to engage your core. Tilt your pelvis so you can feel you navel draw in toward your spine. Do this action with an exhale. This will help you connect more solidly to your core. It establishes a stronger base and support of self. As you're able, with core engaged, sit back and down a little deeper. Be sure to keep your arms extended over head. (Have your arms extend past your ears.) This is your posture. To make it more demanding, shift your weight more toward your heels so you can lift your toes off the floor. The challenge here is to remain stable, balanced, and calm in the posture. You want to have a full sense of supporting yourself without actual support (like sitting in a chair.) After about 5 breaths, stand up tall to Extended Mountain Pose with an inhale. Exhale to lower your arms down by your side.

The intention behind a pose like this is to remind you that you can rely on your own strength to support yourself in many difficult and challenging situations. It may not be comfortable like a chair, but you'll have the strength, power, and fierceness that the pose declares.

Namaste.

Centered & Balanced

Centered & Balanced

In my Power Yoga classes this week, I have been challenging my students to test their balance. Balance comes in many forms in the yoga practice. The most obvious, perhaps, is to have the class perform balancing poses. For example, Tree Pose, where one is standing on one foot.

Another way to challenge your balance is to challenge the resources within that keep you centered. Core postures, like Boat Pose, bring awareness to your core - your center. When one is breathing with integrity, one can experience great strength, balance, and centering.

If you're feeling a little off-balance, practicing a pose like Tree or even Boat can help with gaining more strength in that area. But also think about how we live our lives. When we are faced with life challenges, especially multiple life challenges all at once, you can feel VERY off-balance, right? It may be difficult, while in the midst of these challenges, to get reconnected, re-centered, and balanced. My suggestion is to allow yourself to stumble; to be off-balance. Sometimes there is nothing wrong with falling down. When we KNOW that we can get back up, shows true strength. Once you have a moment to yourself away from the chaos, practice deep breathing, Tree Pose, and Boat Pose to remind yourself of the balance you already have within. Below is another pose you can use to help achieve a greater sense of balance and centering.

Spinal Balance
Come to your yoga mat on all fours. Feel free to pad your knees and wrists to reduce any strain. Engage your core by exhaling and drawing your navel up toward your spine. Create an abdominal lock by holding this position. Continue breathing, but maintain the lock. Your back may slightly round in this this position to ensure you have a strong connection to this lock. If you have an overly arched back, or it feels like your low back is collapsed, it's very likely that you have disengaged the abdominal lock.

Once you feel secure in this position, slowly extend your right leg back so that it is straight and parallel with the floor. Again be sure that your low back has not collapsed. If your leg lifts too high, you may experience the release of the lock and a collapsed back. Once you have secured this position, now extend your left arm forward. You are now in Spinal Balance.

In order to maintain the pose, be sure to inhale and lengthen throughout your body, particularly through the lifted limbs. On your exhale, be certain that you are still holding your abdominal lock. In addition to this sensation, be aware of your inner arm and inner leg of the extended limbs. Create a feeling as if they are pressing into an imaginary object. This will also help to hold the pose. Hold for 5 to 10 breaths then repeat it on the other side.

To make this pose more challenging and to really test your balance, try doing Spinal Balance without the knee on the floor! The first few times you may tip over. That's ok. Remember, we fall. Just remind yourself of the internal resources that you have that will help you return to a balanced and centered state of mind and body.

Namaste

Find Your Inner Dancer

Have you ever wanted to be on "Dancing With The Stars" or "So You Think You Can Dance?" Well, even if you have two left feet, you still can become a dancer in your yoga practice. To me, dancing is simply free movement of the body. It may be movement to music or just walking down the street. Both can be considered dance. It doesn't necessarily have to be about holding a beat or moving to choreography. Dance can be thought of as being free in your own body and moving as you please.

The aforementioned television reality shows are composed of choreographed dance movements to music. But have you ever just turned up your stereo and freely danced about the house to your favorite song? Allowing the rhythm of the music move the energy within you? THAT'S DANCE! What ever steps you make up to no particular beat is YOUR choreography. How you move makes you special and unique. For your home practice, you will hone in on your inner dancer and raise that powerful energy.

Dancer Pose or Natarajasana is a one-legged balancing pose that strengthens and lengthens your legs, opens your hips and shoulders, and also contributes to inner focus and balance.

Start by standing in Mountain Pose (Tadasana). Bring your feet together so that the inner edges of your feet as well as your knees and inner thighs are touching. Be aware of your balance as you stand on two feet. Be sure your feet are rooted strongly into the earth and you maintain an internal connection with your legs. Bring you hands to heart center and bring focus to your breath. After about 5-10 breaths to establish your connection within, bring your arms down by your side. Then, kick your right leg back while keeping your inner thighs connected. Reach back with your right hand and grab hold of the inner edge of your foot. (Your thumb will be showing on top while the rest of your fingers will be wrapped around underneath.)

With an inhale, extend your left arm overhead. Make sure your inner thighs are still connected. Your gaze is still forward. Exhale to establish a strong connection to your core then slowly begin to tip forward. Your right knee will start to slide away from your left knee, but be sure it remains in this alignment and does not stray away from your center. Meanwhile, your upper body is leaning forward while maintaining a straight spine. If you are new to this pose, stay here and continue your breaths. Your focus will be slightly forward. Focus on something out in front of you that is not moving. Concentrate on your stillness, balance, and internal energy. Further, focus on the unique individual that you are.

Dancer Pose is a standing one-legged backbend, so If you'd like to go further, follow these directions. While still moving your right knee toward the back of the room, start lifting your toes up toward the ceiling. At the same time, feel your heart lifting as if it is moving up toward the ceiling as well. This will naturally put you into a back bend. Again, be sure your right knee does not stray away from your center. Continue to move along the same alignment. Hold for 5-10 breaths in your Dancer Pose variation. When you are done, return to Mountain Pose to regain your original balance then proceed to follow these instructions on your left foot.

Nataraja is another name of the Lord Shiva and his dance symbolizes cosmic energy. Become the lord of your own dance! (Nata = dancer, Raja = lord or king) Move forward in your life journey with grace, energy, balance, and focus. Namaste.