I’ve seen a few social media posts recently about ‘advanced’ yoga and 'advanced' practitioners/students/yogis (whichever term you use) and what this actually means. So often, being ‘advanced’ in yoga is seen as being ‘more flexible’, able to hold ‘complex asana’ or being able to have a stronger/more intense physical practice. I speak to people who … Continue reading What is ‘advanced’ yoga?
The eighth, and final, limb is Samadhi which is a state of unity, or a complete sense of concentration.
The seventh of the limbs is Dhyana which is often translated as meditation, though in some books I've read it is slightly different to meditation - the ability to focus and have deep mental concentration.
The sixth of the limbs is Dharana which is concentration, or the ability to direct our minds.
The fifth of the limbs is Pratyahara which is sense withdrawal or the restraint of senses. From this point on, the limbs are very new concepts to me, so I'll wait to go into more details until I'm more familiar with them myself.
"To approach your practice intelligently means to know all the implications of what you want to do, whether that be Asana or Pranayama, and to make appropriate preparations and adjustments." T.K.V Desikachar's The Heart of Yoga. The passage in the book goes on to give the example of wanting to travel overseas - it's not … Continue reading Making appropriate adjustments in your practice
The fourth of the limbs is Pranayama which is breath control and the practice of breathing exercises. I've done a little bit of Pranayama work in my regular yoga class, and we practiced a few techniques in a workshop I attended at the Natural History Museum in London. Some of the practices made me feel … Continue reading Pranayama
The third of the limbs is Asana. These are the physical postures of yoga and are what a lot of people think of when the term Yoga is used.
The second of the limbs is Niyama, or the Niyamas. This translates roughly as 'observances' and includes our attitudes toward ourselves. The Niyamas also have 5 elements which I'll be covering later. When discussing the Niyamas here, I'll often be referencing the work of Deborah Adele and the book 'The Yamas & Niyamas: Exploring Yoga's … Continue reading Niyama, or the Niyamas
The first of the limbs is Yama, or the Yamas. This translates roughly as 'restraints' and includes our attitudes toward our environment. The Yamas have 5 elements which I'll cover in the future. When discussing the Yamas here, I'll often be referencing the work of Deborah Adele and the book 'The Yamas & Niyamas: Exploring … Continue reading Yama, or the Yamas
"In its exported manifestation, yoga has tended to focus on the physical aspect of the system of yoga, the Asanas, or stretching poses and postures, which most Western adherents of yoga practice in order to stay trim, supple and healthy. Patanjali himself, however, pays minimal attention to the Asanas, which are the third stage of … Continue reading The Eight Limbs of Yoga
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are a series of 196 short statements (sutras) concerning yoga. I'll go into the sutras in more detail as I work my way through them in my own learning, but I first of all wanted to introduce the Eight Limbs of Yoga, which form part of the Yoga Sutras. Over … Continue reading Eight Limbs of Yoga
According to WeAreSocial.com, almost 3.5 billion people are now active on social media; this is 45% of the world’s population (https://wearesocial.com/uk/digital-2019) With social media being so popular, it’s even more important to ensure that your social media pages are accessible for your audience. What do I mean by accessible? Accessibility covers many different things, but … Continue reading Top tips to make your social media pages more accessible
