YOGA
Why YOGA?
Yoga is probably one of the most closely related practices to Satvic Lifestyle, and is the reason I am where I am, and doing what I am doing. It is a huge part, if not the biggest part, of my purpose to improve people’s well-being and lives in general. For me, yoga actually began as a means to an end: I started practicing yoga in 2015 when I decided I wanted to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, and I was just doing yoga because I had heard it could improve my breaking techniques, which I knew would help at the higher altitude. I would drag myself to yoga class every Tuesday for what seemed like the longest hour of my entire week; yes, it felt even longer than the last hour of work on a Friday afternoon. I didn’t know anything about what yoga really is (even though I thought I did at the time), I couldn’t touch my toes in my forward fold (nor could I do much of the other postures that required even the slightest bit of flexibility) and I couldn’t for the life of me carry my body weight on my arms. This is what I believed yoga was all about, and because I couldn’t do any of it, I thoroughly did not enjoy it.
Flash forward to the present moment, there is not a single day that goes by during which I don’t consciously experience yoga in one way or another, and I honestly have not felt more awake than I do after incorporating yoga into my lifestyle. By taking it upon myself to study the practice of yoga in India, I was introduced to a whole new world that I didn’t even know existed and had previously not even been exposed to during my Tuesday evening ‘yoga’ session. When I left Rishikesh, I brought back so much more than just a certificate saying I’m now a qualified yoga teacher. The knowledge and experiences I was able to gain has literally been life changing. I learnt the true meaning, purpose and importance of yoga, and how to practice it in the correct way.
If you’re reading this and you know about the vastness of yoga, you’ll be able to relate to my story, but if you, like me all those years ago, think that yoga is just about being flexible and taking pictures of impressive inversions, I would like to enlighten you and tell you that it is so, so much more. So, this entire section of Satvic Lifestyle is dedicated to all aspects and topics about yoga, and I invite and encourage you to explore the content.
WHAT IS YOGA?
After studying yoga in Rishikesh, I was truly amazed by how little I knew about the practice and lifestyle. So, ever since I returned home, I have focussed on spreading the knowledge about what I learnt and continue to learn while I practice. In this space I aim to emphasize the vastness of the subject that is YOGA.
8 LIMBS TO LIVE BY
Ashtanga, one of the traditional forms of yoga that was developed by a famous king in India to strengthen and discipline his soldiers, literally translates to 8 (ashta) limbs (anga): Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi. These 8 limbs of yoga describe the manner in which we should live and the practices which we should incorporate into our everyday lifestyle in order to live a peaceful, productive and blissful life. In this space, I want to share the details of these limbs and how and why we should practice them.
CHAKRAS AND ENERGY
Just like how we have veins and arteries to transport blood around our body, and nerves to transfer signals between our brain and our limbs, we have nadis, or energy channels, to transfer energy around our body. And just like how we have organs in our body, which have their own functions and duties, we have chakras, or energy centers within our body, which also have various functions. In this space, I want to share the details about each chakra, how they work, what each one is responsible for, how to open and strengthen each one, how to figure out if you have a challenge or blockage in any of them and how to purify these channels so that your energy can flow freely within your body. The changes you will experience are like no other you have felt before, and you will wonder how you lived all this time without it.
AYURVEDA AND ALL THINGS NATURAL
This is a subject I have been extremely interested in recently since I was introduced to it during my study of yoga. In this space, I will be sharing some personally tried and tested natural processes and eats and drinks you can try out for yourself at home. I will also explain the three biological energies, or doshas that are present within your body, tell you how to figure out which one you are dominant in, and all the information and characteristics associated with each one, including what foods to eat and what to avoid, what time of the day you are likely to be most productive, how each dosha affects you, how to balance your doshas in order to live a more healthy life and improve your well-being, and so much more you didn’t even think you wanted to know about. This topic is one that is on the interest increase of many and definitely a space to watch.
SATVIC SESSIONS
Yoga consists of such a volume of theory and involves so many practices, some of which are best shared or explained face to face, or in our remote, on-line case, via a video. In this space, I aim to record and share some important aspects of yoga so that you can grasp a much better understanding of how, why, when and what to do. This area will be especially helpful when sharing various breathing technique, meditation techniques and demonstrating certain yoga postures. I would like the practices to be reached by as many people who want or need them as possible, especially if they are possibly not able to attend any classes or seminars to get this knowledge.