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.

Drishti: Looking Out. Looking In.

With so much going on around us, it can be so easy to become distracted. It can be a challenge sometimes to focus on one thing when there are hundreds of thoughts running through your head and so many things going on outside of ourselves. It can be overwhelming at times. I often think how hard it can be just going to the grocery store and trying to pick out a cereal. Have you seen how many cereal brands and types there are? Try picking out a toothpaste! Oh my! Even trying to decide on a cereal or toothpaste can be such an overwhelming experience that it is just easier to walk away. But this just doesn't happen in the grocery store. What about in other parts of our lives? Think about the many distractions that you face on a daily bases. How does one focus and calm the mind?

In the Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga Practice, there are four main elements to be aware of: Ujjayi Breath, the Bandhas, Vinyasa, and Drishti. For the next four blog entries, I will focus on these elements. This week I will discuss on the last one: Drishti. Drishti refers to your gaze or focus. In one aspect of the gaze, you are physically looking outward, but the real looking is internally: to go inside of yourself. This inward gaze creates a stronger and deeper connection with yourself. The drishti is designed to bring balance to your internal and external practice. Externally, when you are in a yoga pose, your gaze can simply follow the stretch. Let's try this pose.....

Extended Side Angle Pose
Come to a Warrior Two pose with your right foot/hand forward. To move into the Extended Side Angle Pose, start reaching out toward the wall in front of you. This will create an angled upper body. (Try to keep the lower part of the body stable so that you do not collapse into your knee or hip.) When you cannot extended any further, lower your right hand toward the floor and reach your left hand toward the ceiling. (The right hand does not necessarily need to touch the floor. The fingertips and can just reach down toward the floor. You want to keep your heart open to the left side of the room.) Turn your gaze upward and look at your left hand. This is your drishti.

Now, although you are looking up at your fingers, allow the gaze to look past your fingers...toward the ceiling, toward the sky, toward the heavens. This distant gazing practice is really a meditative practice that keeps you focused and in the moment. While in the posture, the internal gazing may be about your awareness of your breath, or noticing if there is any tension in the body. (After you do the right side of this pose, feel free to do the other side.)

There are nine drishti points you can use while practicing yoga: tip of the nose, between the eyebrows, navel, hand, toes, far to the right, far to the left, thumbs, sky. Again, these are physical places to set your eyes, but the main idea is to look inward. It can be an effective practice to calm and still the mind when we are faced with the many external distractions. Try adding drishtis to your next yoga practice this week.

Next blog entry will focus on Ujjayi Breath.

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.