Filed under: Yoga
Where goes the hand
there goes the eyes,
where go the eyes
there goes the mind …
So you are to guide your mind, directing it where you want it.
I have now expanded my yoga teaching to children. A slightly daunting prospect, but I an exciting one too! Yoga can help to develop many positive qualities in children, as well as the benefits of exercise, yoga can improve childrens ability to be calm and focus. It is a creative outlet for children, an outlet for their emotions to flow freely, helping them to be more aware of their thoughts and feelings, building their trust in themselves, allowing their intuition to grow, helping them ultimately to make better choices. It can help them to fall asleep more quickly and deeply at bedtime. It improves confidence and self-discipline when practised regularly.
A yoga class is active, but also includes activities such as storytelling, music, art,games, and relaxation.
For more information on classes contact me
Filed under: Yoga | Tags: Aditi Yoga, edinburgh, relaxation, Satyananda, Swami Satyananda Saraswati's, Yoga, Yoga Nidra
I first experienced Yoga Nidra on a teacher training course in 2003 and immediately fell in love with it. It is Swami Satyananda Saraswati’s gift to the yoga world. It is deeply restorative, great for those times when life gets a little too hectic and sleep is reduced. It is intended to induce full-body relaxation and a deep meditative state. A 20 minute ‘yogic sleep’ helps you to recoup and revive giving an extra little boost of energy to get you through the rest of the day. Teachers such as Shiva Rea, Jnaneshvara Bharati and Swami Pragyamurti have produced CD’s. CD’s can also be found at yoga matters. Alternatively, classes are available at Aditi Yoga in Edinburgh.
Filed under: The calmness of life, Yoga | Tags: beauty, calm, early morning, morning, Music, peace, practice, Yoga
I’m away from home at the minute and staying in hotel. As a result, I’m waking very early in the morning and to pass the time away before the rest of the world wakes up, I get out my yoga mat and do my daily practice. The stillness of practicing yoga at that time of day is nothing but beautiful. Outside the window of my hotel room, the first rays of sunshine are beginning to light up the sides of the mountains nearby. The world is a calm and peaceful place as almost everyone else sleeps. The calm and quiet moments experienced as a result really amplify the benefits of my practice.
The last couple of mornings have been different than normal because I decided to put on some quiet music to practice to. I’d never done this before and no idea why it felt right to do it this week. I usually practice in a quiet room, focusing on my breath as a means of concentration. The music was very soft and gentle and at a quiet enough volume not to be too intrusive. What I found was that it helped me to stay focused on everything in my practice and prevented my mind from wandering. I often find after 10 or 15 minutes, I begin to feel my thoughts creep back into my mind and as a consequence, the flow of the practice is interrupted slightly. With the music, I found my breath was slower and deeper than usual, my movements more in tune, and my mind stayed focus on what was happening here and now in the practice and afterwards, the whole sensation left me in an even more calm and quiet place than I usually am after yoga.
Finishing the practice sitting, looking out of the window towards the hills, watching the sun come up on a beautiful morning was the perfect end. I think I need to start getting up early more often having seen what I’ve been missing.
