For my second experiment I aimed to deepen my personal sadhana practice. I have always known that yoga is more than just an asana practice, but fell short on incorporating Pranayama into my own practice. I avoided Pranayama because I was not comfortable meditating alone, and questioned if I was even doing it correctly. When […]
I kept my same 5 a.m. wake up time and performed the same oil pulling, oil massage and showering routine as I had. I felt it was necessary to clean and awake for my practice and the ritual made me feel like I was preparing for something special. I then went to spare bedroom to […]
I looked forward to getting up every morning and performing my routine, especially singing the Gayatri Mantra. Some days I would sing it three times and other days I did not want to stop and sang it at least ten times one morning. The Mantra made the space my own and the action of singing […]
This experiment helped me deepen my own personal sadhana practice and I become comfortable with meditating alone. Of course there were days when I struggled to relax or questioned if I was doing it “the right way”, but I just reminded myself of an Iyengar quote I had heard “Breath is the king of mind.” […]
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” ― Mahatma Gandhi There are many ways to practice yoga. I am not talking about how many variations of downward dog we can do or how long we should hold headstand for, rather, there are many approaches to dedicating ourselves […]
“The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.” -C.G. Jung I love the above quote. Not only is it a privilege to grow into who you are, it takes courage. The truth of who we are is always silently knocking at our door through all of our interactions and […]
Insomnia can wreak havoc on your life. And that’s just what this Axis Yoga Teacher Training student was starting to experience. The Axis YTT program provided the platform for this student to experiment with Ayurvedic treatment of insomnia. Ayurveda, the sister-science to Yoga, has helped many students deal with their own health conditions. Experimenting with […]
In the most recent past I was experiencing vata imbalances. As a result, I wasn’t sleeping as well as I should have been; close to 3 hours a night at the most. According to the Ayurvedic Home Remedies by Vasant Lad, vata induced insomnia is caused by stressors and sometimes depression. Furthermore, my insomnia was […]
It was suggested in the Ayurvedic Home Remedies book to drink warm milk before bed. Considering that I prefer not to drink dairy milk, I substituted with almond milk. I thought this was also a good idea since the book also suggested that one add blanched or crushed almond to their warm milk as well. […]
When I first started doing oil massages I used sesame oil. However, after about three days I noticed that I began to break out. Then a previous student suggested that I try coconut oil. I would apply this in the morning and after I showered as well as at night before bed. Then again, when […]