I also began abhyanga during this process as step four. I was intrigued by the idea of a daily morning massage because my rational was who wouldn’t want to feel like they started their day with a massage. The first issue I ran into was the smell of the sesame oil that I initially purchased […]
I felt that my experiment was not as concise as I would have ideally hoped but the issues that I addressed in this experiment were items that I had long ignored. I have managed to cut caffeine out entirely of my food intake along with the chemicals I was ingesting from the Diet Coke. My […]
Satya, one of the yamas of Yoga, is a self-restraint of truth and honesty. This Axis YTT student simplified an over-booked schedule in order to have the time to look within. By being introspective this student was able to be honest with the Self. By creating stillness, questions that had been avoided through ceaseless action […]
With the yama/niyama experiment creeping up on me, I was doing my best to figure out what was “wrong” with me so I could come up with a life changing experiment. I wanted to experience something that would unlock the key to my existence and allow me to make major life changes. The only drawback […]
My initial observations were that I 1) attempted to please others at my own physical and mental expense, 2) overloaded myself with activities with no time to just be (alone, with myself, with no obligations), and 3) was not comfortable unless I was on the go. My hypothesis in this experiment was that in order […]
It felt great to give myself permission to follow up with #1 because these were tangible things. The matches gave me some control over #2 except I had hit or miss days with the meditation. I knew that 30 minutes seemed ambitious for my first project but I am still fighting my urge to please […]
After conducting this experiment, I feel like I have started the process of being truthful with myself but that I have only barely scratched the surface. I find that I like giving myself permission to say no or to establish boundaries when it comes to activities. It has made the activities that I have participated […]
The following posts describe one Axis YTT student’s efforts to rid the body of residual rubbish through the niyama, tapas. Creating internal heat through pranayama and asana resulted in multiple benefits, both physically and emotionally.
Ever since Winter hit and I got my job camping out in the wilderness every other week, I had been finding myself lethargic and toxic. I was eating low quality foods like ramen, simple grains, and cheap cheese all week, and then coming back home every other week to find myself “too busy” to keep […]
At first it was extremely difficult to gain that initial impetus to roll out my yoga mat and do asana every morning, and then to abstain from eating breakfast for another stretch of time until I finished my pranayama exercises. I started my experiment late because I had to finish my last week of work, […]