What is Toning? By Kathleen Burr

What is Toning? By Kathleen Burr

by Devinder KaurNo Comments
Please join us in welcoming Kathleen Burr back to teaching at PranaShanti Yoga Centre.  Kathleen returns to the Class Schedule with regularly scheduled classes and will be offering a variety of workshops and events. Known for her enjoyment of sound and mantra, please find below an article by Kathleen about toning. "At the heart of each of us, whatever our imperfections, there exists a silent pulse of perfect rhythm, a complex of wave forms and resonances, which is absolutely individual and unique, and yet which connects us to everything in the universe. The act of getting in touch with this pulse can transform our personal experience and in some way alter the world around us." – George Leonard Sound has been used as a healing tool for thousands of years in many cultures. Modern science confirms what the ancient mystics knew: everything in the universe is in a constant state of vibration. Think of the body-mind system as an orchestra with the potential to...
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Yoga Therapy for Thyroid Health

Yoga Therapy for Thyroid Health

by Devinder Kaur1 Comment
Yoga Therapy for Thyroid Health by Melissa Delaney The thyroid gland is an incredibly important part of the endocrine system and can affect various systems within the body such as brain function, bone development, metabolism, as well as the cardiovascular, digestive and nervous systems. Thyroid disorders can be linked to hormone imbalances, genetics, autoimmune disorders, reproductive health and may even surface as a side effect from certain medications. As with many health risks poor diet and stress can also impact thyroid health. Unfortunately, thyroid disorders are common and if left untreated, can lead to serious health complications such as increased risk of osteoporosis and heart problems. To further educate yourself on thyroid health as well as keeping your thyroid healthy it is important to find an integrative thyroid specialist, get regular testing and follow a proper yet holistic treatment plan. My interest in yoga for thyroid health comes from my very own experience with thyroid disease. I experienced the typical symptoms such as...
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“As Above, Psoas Below” with Todd Norian

“As Above, Psoas Below” with Todd Norian

by Devinder Kaur1 Comment
"Most yoga students are aware that the psoas is a central player in asana, even if the muscle’s deeper function and design seem a mystery. A primary connector between the torso and the leg, the psoas is also an important muscle off the mat: it affects posture, helps stabilize the spine, and, if it’s out of balance, can be a significant contributor to low back and pelvic pain. The way that we use the psoas in our yoga practice can either help keep it healthy, strong, and flexible, or, conversely, can perpetuate harmful imbalances. The psoas major is the biggest and strongest player in a group of muscles called the hip flexors: together they contract to pull the thigh and the torso toward each other. The hip flexors can become short and tight if you spend most of your waking hours sitting, or if you repeatedly work them in activities like sit-ups, bicycling, and certain weight-training exercises. A tight psoas can cause...
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desire map + yoga … the prequil

desire map + yoga … the prequil

by Devinder Kaur2 Comments
By Kate Durie Let’s be brutally honest, I never EVER thought I would be trading in suits, offices, and 4-inch pumps, for lulu pants, a yoga mat, and flip-flops. Never. But let’s be clear, The Desire Map isn’t about quitting your day job, blowing up your world, or glorifying entrepreneurial life. It’s about figuring out YOU and how you truly, actually, want to feel. In every area of your life. Then making it happen. Then making it happen (and this is big), means learning how to generate those feelings through the choices you make on the daily; doing what it takes, to feel that way. On your terms. From the seemingly mundane everyday tasks, to those big luscious, dreamy goals. THE DRIVING FORCE - a feeling? Once you’ve gone in, “done the work” {aka LEVEL 1} and know what your Core Desired Feelings are, the shift begins. You start seeing, creating, and aligning meaning + purpose around things you may never have noticed before, completely...
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What is Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga? By Sadie Nardini

What is Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga? By Sadie Nardini

by Devinder KaurNo Comments
What is Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga? I prefer to call Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga a “perspective” on all yoga, rather than just its own style. I created it after years of training and study where I was seeing a lack of either understanding or focus on the core of our yoga poses on all levels: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and energetic. Along the way, I was fortunate to meet one of my formative teachers, Leslie Kaminoff of The Breathing Project in NYC, and author of the bestselling Yoga Anatomy. Under his expertise in yoga, philosophy, anatomy and pranayama, I continue to evolve my understanding of the multi-faceted core. Out of my journey into deep Center came my Core Principles, ways to clarify what the core is, exactly how to instruct it and activate the core within the yoga practice. To help students experience their Center, I created my Core Poses, specific movements, postures and sequences that bring the student into more core-generated alignment, improving...
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Max Strom: There’s No App for Happiness

Max Strom: There’s No App for Happiness

by Devinder KaurNo Comments
Start the new year by furthering your self-development and yoga education with Max Strom. If you love proven methods for living a happier, calmer life, and enjoy an accessible, intelligent yoga practice, this weekend is exactly what you need to start your year off right. On January 15-17, we’re hosting Max for a four part series of seminars that will explore a transformational breath practice and gentle yoga, self-healing through strong vinyasa practice, and lectures and writing workshops inspired by his book: There is No App for Happiness – How to Avoid a Near-Life Experience. Read on for praise for There is No App for Happiness, and learn more about Max’s weekend in Ottawa here. In There Is No App For Happiness Max focuses on the many methods we are employing daily to isolate ourselves further from each other, and compares the effects of these trends to a kind of mass autism. Note he is not a Luddite: he offers examples of the...
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What is Conscious Communication?

What is Conscious Communication?

by Devinder KaurNo Comments
- Yogi Bhajan, Excerpts from KRI Level 2 Conscious Communication Manual  Do you know what real communication is? Real communication is when after uttering, saying, or communicating, you stand fully one hundred percent by whatever you said. Real communication does not give you any right to change it afterwards, no matter what. Anything which is not real is a lie. It is not whether it is right or wrong, good or bad, or moral or ethical. Person A talks to person B and between A and B, the talk is real. Then A and B are bound down to put their totality in it until infinity. You should not say anything that you cannot put your totality behind. The total value of you is that whatever you say, you stick with it. When you don't stick with what you say, you have no value, and your decoration and your jewelry and your sex and your person have no value. Real communication is the faculty...
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Healing Sciatica through Ashaya Yoga®, by Todd Norian

Healing Sciatica through Ashaya Yoga®, by Todd Norian

by Devinder Kaur2 Comments
I've helped many students heal their sciatica (inflammation of the sciatic nerve, which originates in the low back and runs down the back of your upper leg bones, the femur) using the Four Essentials of Ashaya Yoga®: Open, Engage, Align, and Expand. Most sciatic pain arises from standing, sitting, or walking with poor alignment; the feet are turned out and the thighbones are forward and externally rotated. When the femurs are forward of their optimal placement, the muscles of the lower back contract and can pull the lumbar spine into a flattened position. Tight hamstrings further exacerbate the flat back condition. When the natural curve of the lower back is lost, the spinal discs squeeze posteriorly (the back of your body) and can press on nerve roots. The First Essential, Open, is the act of softening and remembering your connection to the healing power of the universe. You open to a bigger energy and let go of self-limiting beliefs. In so doing,...
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Novel Inspired by the teachings of Yogi Bhajan

Novel Inspired by the teachings of Yogi Bhajan

by Devinder KaurNo Comments
Fuming. That’s how Cam, the main character in The Merit Birds, feels about being dragged to Laos, Southeast Asia, by his mother. His absent father, his lifetime of anger issues, and his recent basketball fight only serve to compound his strong emotions. Gradually, Cam’s change comes when he learns about the power of the breath and of serving others. Written by Kundalini Yoga instructor, Kelley Powell, the novel ends with KRI-approved instructions for the One Minute Breath. Inspired by the teachings of Yogi Bhajan, The Merit Birds is unique in that readers are introduced to Kundalini Yoga through fiction. It is about the friendships that Cam eventually and often reluctantly makes and how a lifetime of anger can be transformed from the inside out. It’s about how daily attention to the breath and bringing focus within can melt away years of anger and hurt. And it’s about how this realization of inner peace leads to a bursting open of the heart...
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