The Niyamas are a means of controlling our inner world. Which is ever more important in today’s fast paced life. They provide a set of guidelines that can help us navigate the line between the physical manifestations we see all around us and the subtle knowing within us that there is more to our life than material possessions. The Yamas […]
Yoga Basics – the five Niyamas
Yoga and the Chakras
Amidst the Instagram world of picture perfect poses, it’s easy to lose sight of the underlying meaning of Yoga and the Chakras. Immersed in class or our own practice, we start and finish with various asanas (postures) and it can become consuming to go deeper into a pose, to reach that bit further or to hold it a bit longer. […]
Yoga Basics – The Five Yamas
The pancha yamas (moral restraints) outlined by Pantajali in his Yoga Sutras comprise one of the eight limbs of Yoga. On a basic level they serve as a guide of what not to do – they Nayamas serve as a guide of “to do’s”. Both the Yamas and Nayamas were considered by Patanjali to be the ‘code’ that aspiring yogis […]
Prana
Prana can be approximately used in place of of the phrase ‘life energy’. The word itself comes from the ancient language of Sanskrit with a ‘Pra’ meaning ‘to exist before’ and ‘ana’ meaning ‘atom’. The phrase then can be taken to derive from ‘existing before an atom’, which can be further distilled to mean that which existed before the atom. […]
History of Yoga
New to Yoga and confused by all the styles, types, rules and limbs? Read on to get some clarity on the history of yoga and soon you’ll understand why you’re not the only one confused! The history of Yoga has evolved over time and is still on a journey. It it guesstimated to have first began as far back as […]
Swami Vivekananda speeches to the Parliament of Religions, Chicago, 1893
The following speeches were given by Swami Vivekananda during the Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893. They are significant because apart from being brilliant speeches in their own right, they helped bring about a renewed interest in Yoga and ancient hindu teachings in the West. Response to Welcome – 11th September 1893 Why we disagree 15th September 1893 Paper […]
Taurus Star Sign
Taurus (Latin for ‘Bull’) is the Steer of the Sky and this sign falls to those born between April 21st – May 21st. The first words that are invariably used to describe Taureans are dependable, solid, loyal and patient but once stirred to action, their temper can cause them to move to aggressive action and little will stop them at […]
Conscious Living
Conscious Living is the embodiment of exercising your absolute free will. It means actively choosing at each moment of our lives what we eat, drink, think, wear, how we live, engage with and even avoid other people. It is more than mindfulness or awareness because conscious living brings all our senses to interact to create the life that we desire. […]
Aries Star Sign
The Aries Star Sign is the first sign of the zodiac and its symbol is the Ram. A fire sign, Aries are very much in keeping with the personality of a ram and a ram that wants to come first! They are adventurous, outgoing, impulsive, independent and full of life. It is apt that Aries is the first sign of […]
Pisces Star Sign
The 12th and final sign of the zodiac, the Pisces Star Sign (February 19th – March 20th) is a water sign and its quality is mutable. Think of the trickle of water that bubbles up from the spring, flows down the mountain and becomes a small stream, winds its way further on and becomes the river, only to eventually flow […]