The art & wisdom of yoga…
The art of yoga
What Is Yoga?
Yoga is both an ancient and modern embodied spiritual practice with many facets. The word yoga means "to yoke" or bring together. The practices of yoga are meant to help bring together body and mind, breath and awareness, masculine and feminine, and many other polarities in order to create balance in and around us.
Traditionally, yoga comes from the Indian sage Patanjali, who described in detail, the following 8 limbs of yoga:
External Disciplines (Yamas): Also called "abstinances, the Yamas include non-violence, honesty, not stealing, not causing sexual harm, non-possessiveness
Healthy Habits (Niyamas): Also called internal disciplines, the niyamas include clarity, acceptance, persistence, study, and spiritual contemplation.
Physical postures (Asanas): This is the form of yoga we are most familiar with in the west. The physical postures are meant to prepare the body for effective meditation, and are a complete practice in themselves. Try yoga asana here.
Breath practices (Pranayama): Prana means breath or life force. Breath-work is a powerful way to balance and work with this aspect of your energy. Try it here.
Introspection (Pratyahara): Also described as withdrawing the senses, Pratyahara is going within yourself. It is a way to connect with your inner experience and reduce reactivity to external stimuli.
Concentration (Dharana): Concentration practice helps you to train and focus your attention on one thing at a time, in the present moment. Here is a meditation you can try.
Contemplation (Dhyana): Also described as meditative absorption, Dhyana is looking deeply into an object of concentration or meditation as a means of developing insight.
Oneness (Samadhi): Samadhi could be said to be the result of all the other limbs of yoga. It is the experiential state of oneness that comes from the dissolution of ego (our illusion of a separate self).
**Jeanine has practiced yoga with various western teachers since 2000 and received certification to teach in 2016.
Beginnings
Sukhasana: Easy Pose
In times of so much change, it’s not hard to lose your ground and feel lost, anxious, stressed, or depressed. Sometimes the best remedies are the simplest ones. Like Sukhasana…
Sukhasana is a basic yoga pose, accessible for most people. I like to start my yoga practice in Sukhasana. In short you simply sit in a comfortable crossed-leg position. Let your body guide you. “Sukha” means easy. It is an antidote to “dukha”, suffering.
Here is a detailed guide to this pose:
Feel your sits bones on the earth, equally weighted. Draw one heal towards your perineum and allow the inner thigh of that leg to lengthen, and the knee to be heavy. Then draw your other foot in front of the first.
If your hips are tight, and your knees stick up, take a support underneath them, so your hips relax fully.
Allow your spine to lengthen, retaining its natural curves. Imagine holding a grapefruit gently between your chin and chest.
Allow your palms to face up on your thighs. Relax your shoulders, jaw and eyes. Soften your heart in the front and back.
Feel your crown lifted and buoyant. Close your eyes, gently resting upper and lower lids together. Concentrate on the rise and fall of your breath as it naturally occurs at the bottom of your lungs.
Breathe down to the base of your body, where it touches the Earth. With every outbreath, relax tension down into the Earth. With every in-breath, draw stability, and support up into every cell of your body.
Sit in sukhasana for 5 minutes at the beginning of your yoga practice. Switch the cross of your legs half-way through. Be at ease.
