Yoga for daily life: Practice can help you detox!
Ok, so there are some exaggerated claims out there about the relationship between yoga and how it can help you detox…
Yoga for daily life: Yoga to keep it cool!
Summer is sizzling away here on the island. And when our bodies are overheating, we tend to become more agitated, competitive and self-critical. This is an imbalance in the body and can also produce physical symptoms like rashes, itches, digestion issues and heart burn. Lovely. So here’s some suggestion on how to keep cool this August…
Yoga for daily life: Working with your energy
The yoga mat is a direct reflection of our lives. The way we approach the yoga mat tells us everything we need to know about how we approach life. And yoga is about being present. It’s about listening to your body’s needs, rather than just ticking a box. The real yoga comes with the subtleties of the practice as you learn to tune into yourself and where are are at ‘this moment’.
The first way to develop your yoga practice is to develop a connection with your body. Each day, you will feel different – depending on many life-factors and respecting this is key to managing your energy. Let’s begin with a basic sun salutation. These can be practised slowly and mindfully, feeling every muscle and ligament as you work it. Or you can practice very quickly to create some heat in the body if you are feeling really sluggish. If your energy feels like nervous energy – then try to listen to that and a slower, more mindful practice will definitely be beneficial.
Our top tips before you start. Let your breath guide you. Keep it slow. Inhale to open and lengthen the body and exhale to come into the space your have discovered with your inhale.
* Stand at the front of your mat with your arms by your sides – root down through your feet
* Inhale lifting the arms up and exhale to hinge from the hips and dive down
* Inhale to lengthen the spine and look up
* Exhale to step back to a plank pose
* Inhale to activate and inflate the body in plank
* Exhale knees, chin chest
* Inhale to a cobra (activating your legs)
* Exhale to a downward dog
* Take five breaths here – feeling every muscle and keep the body moving
* Inhale up to your tip toes and look forward
* Exhale to step to the front of your mat
* Inhale to lengthen the spine
* Exhale forward bend
* Inhale to press down through your heels and rise up
* Exhale hands in namaste at your heart
Try this same flow as slowly as you can do, then try it a little faster. Try to always synchronise your movements with your breath and if you lose your breath, stop and recalibrate. Try holding each pose for five breaths for a real strength builder. Always listen to your body. If it doesn’t feel good – then don’t do it! Why not challenge yourself to 10 sun salutations each morning for a week – and see what that does to your energy? Namaste…
For a private class with Ibiza Retreats or to join us on retreat to go deeper into your practice, email info@ibizaretreats.com
Yoga for daily life: Cultivating a daily practice
During our retreats, we always place a lot of importance on the power of the morning ritual. How do you start your day? Checking emails or Facebook? A good old cup of strong coffee? By running through your mental list of what you need to achieve that day? All of this outside stimulation means you are already disconnecting from yourself, from your own energies – and you are already ‘borrowing’ energy from external sources.
And as we know, what we borrow, we must give back!
A morning ritual or practice can be so simple, but makes huge shifts in the way your day goes. In fact, it can change your life. Checking in with yourself, feeling where your energy is today – and more importantly, where it’s coming from. Cultivating a practice to open your energy channels and your body and also learning to protect yourself from all the outside stimulations and messages we experience on a daily basis. Literally millions. This is all about self-care and self-love.
Practical tips
* Use an alarm clock with natural sounds to wake you gently – get your phone out of your bedroom to avoid any temptation
* Replace your morning coffee with hot water, lemon and turmeric (amongst other things, a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory)
* Set up a temple space – a place where you can take your tea, sit and just begin to be. Make this space comfortable – dress it with colours that make you feel positive and calm, or pictures and photos that inspire you.
* Your breath is your life-force energy and it tells you all you need to know about what’s going on inside. If your breath feels calm, you feel calm. If the breath is short and ragged – this reflects in your thoughts and therefore actions
Introduce a gentle 20-minute meditation and stretch practice into your day. In all of these practices, we are cultivating SPACE. Space in our breath for even, calm breathing, space in our minds for calm thoughts and space in our bodies with the yoga asanas themselves. In creating space, we offer ourselves an alternative to how we live our lives. The alternative of response rather than reaction. Reaction often comes from a place of fear or anger. Responses are mindful and considered and infinitely more skillful!
Why not take a 7-day challenge? See the benefits for yourself. Contact Ibiza Retreats for guidance or a 1:1 session via emailing info@ibizaretreats.com.
Yoga for daily life: Warriors of Light
The warrior sequence of postures are probably the most well known and loved – with good reason. They cultivate strength in the body, increase stamina, open the chest, hips and groins, lengthen the spine, ground us – but for all they offer physically, they offer the same and more for our hearts, minds and spirits.
When we think of the traits of the warrior, we think of power, patience, integrity, strength of mind, courage and determination. These are all traits we can develop and grow with our practice and then the yoga becomes part of our daily life and we can also feel the benefits off the mat.
We all have a warrior inside us. Here’s how to find yours.
1. Stand with your feet wide (wrist over ankles)
2. Turn your front foot 90 degrees
3. Make sure your hips are open and as you exhale, bend your front knee.
4. Inhale your arms up to shoulder height and BREATHE
5. Take 10 breaths here, just thinking about the qualities you wish to cultivate
To bring more integrity to the pose, make sure your front knee is flowing over the middle of your toes, keep your spine straight as you exhale into the pose and tuck your tailbone under to open the groin further.
Next time, when you are faced with a tricky situation in real life, think how a warrior might approach it and see if you can give yourself more space in mind to respond with skill and integrity!
Namaste.
To cultivate your yoga on and off the mat, come ands join us for a retreat! See our full list of yoga retreats here.
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