https://pranashanti.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Night-Time-022614.mp3
A meditation gift for you to enjoy from the album “Ease” by Devinder Kaur. Track: Night Time, 11 minutes.
Enjoy!
Available for purchase from the iTunes Store, search for "Devinder Kaur":
Album: Ease by Devinder Kaur
Album: Wave by Devinder Kaur
Album: Echo: Meditations for Peace of Heart and Mind by Devinder Kaur
Or the 'old school' album is available online in the PranaShanti Boutique with curbside pick up or delivery:
Album: Ease by Devinder Kaur
Album: Wave by Devinder Kaur
Album: Echo: Meditations for Peace of Heart and Mind by Devinder Kaur
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Have you seen these cards around the Centre?
Place this card on the edge of your mat so the Teacher knows if it's okay to give you hands-on adjustments. One side of the card says "Yes, please" for assists, and the other side says "No, thank you."
While hands-on adjustments can be a good way for a teacher to help students access alignment, they can also feel intrusive to those who are injured, have experienced trauma, or simply don’t like being touched.
Here at PranaShanti, we want everyone to feel comfortable and respected in their practice. You can pick up an assist card today in your Studio Room.
See you in class!...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=601s4_k6yaw
Hello, my name is Kathleen! I’m a Certified Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT) and Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT). You can find me guiding Therapeutic Yoga classes at PranaShanti Yoga Centre and helping to coordinate the Hatha Yoga Teacher Training 300 Hour Program.
The front desk receives plenty of questions about Therapeutic Yoga classes so I’d like to share information and dispel any misconceptions. People sometimes ask: “am I signing up for talk therapy?” or “is this physiotherapy?” – no, Therapeutic Yoga classes do not incorporate talk therapy or physiotherapy.
Therapeutic Yoga weaves together ancient yogic tools including, breath techniques (Pranayama), hand gestures (Mudra), vocal tones (Mantra), gentle movement (Asana), and different forms of meditation. From my studies of Hatha Yoga at PranaShanti, Integrative Yoga Therapy at Kripalu and other training, I recognize that all facets of yoga contribute to health and healing on all dimensions of being.
I’m passionate about creating inclusive spaces and sharing simple yet powerful self-healing practices. Therapeutic Yoga classes are trauma-informed...
Minecraft and Mindfulness - Navigating our kids through the digital world and how yoga and mindfulness can help.
By Victoria Lynes, Certified Children's Yoga Teacher and Mindfulness Educator
Maybe you have you heard the latest catchphrase in regards to kids and technology? “Digital Heroin”. Whoa. It’s a harsh term. Very scary if you are a parent watching your child loose themselves in cyberspace…and it plays into our parental guilt and fear.
Dr. Nicholas Kardaras, used this terminology recently in his article that went viral last summer from the New York Post, titled ‘It’s ‘digital heroin’: How screens turn kids into psychotic junkies’. The article suggests that, “iPads, smartphones and Xboxes are a form of digital drug. Recent brain imaging research is showing that they affect the brain’s frontal cortex — which controls executive functioning, including impulse control — in exactly the same way that cocaine does. Technology is so hyper-arousing that it raises dopamine levels — the feel-good neurotransmitter most involved in the addiction dynamic.” ...
Prenatal Yoga for the Perfect Birth by Jennifer Gillean
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could guarantee a desired birth outcome in some way-with yoga?! Insert EASY button here! As most of us have discovered, at least for the bigger events in our life, rarely do things unfold as we expect or can possibly plan for. So why do so many health professionals recommend yoga and meditation? Could this be the same reason behind the natural draw many women feel towards yoga when expecting?
Practicing yoga during pregnancy gives you a renewed opportunity to connect with your mind, body and heart, accepting all that arises during this transformational period in your life. During the Prenatal Series, we aim to support you at every stage of this exciting time while helping to build on skills of coping and more. In each session of the Prenatal Yoga series we will wade through mindfulness and breathing strategies (aka Pranayama) to align with where you are...
Ana Forrest, as featured in "Spirituality & Health" magazine interview.
Ana Forrest, based on Orcas Island, Washington, is the creator of Forrest Yoga, a unique method that combines physical practice with Eastern and Native American teachings. Ana believes that our personal stories as human beings are archived in our cells and that if we listen, our bodies will always tell the truth.
Beyond teaching the ability to hold a pose, or to create strength and flexibility, Forrest’s “soul’s work” is to guide people―injured war veterans, those of us feeling afraid or numb, or abusing alcohol or drugs―through dramatic transformations, using the knowledge we hold in our bodies.
In her book Fierce Medicine, Forrest writes, “Emotions have to be in motion to be healthy. If . . . they get stashed in the cell tissue . . . they morph into emotional pus balls. When you’re processing a difficult emotional situation, yoga can be powerful medicine.”
Part of what inspired me to create Forrest Yoga...
Calm Your Nerves with Yoga By Devinder Kaur
When we face a stressful situation (or a life-threatening one), a surge of hormones prepares us to fight or flee. Our heart rate goes up, our muscles tense, and we are on alert. This is a natural survival mechanism called “the stress response.” Depending on our circumstances, we might activate the fight or flight response many times during a day. Traffic, loud noises, work deadlines, frustrating thoughts, and other concerns bring on the stress response and activate the sympathetic nervous system. The repeated surge of hormones takes its toll on the body and, over time, this low-grade chronic stress leads to high blood pressure, increased heart rate, and muscle tension. If your sympathetic nervous system repeatedly springs into action, there will be an imbalance.
The relaxation response is meant to counter the stress response and the effects of stress. Blood flow is redirected to the digestive and reproductive organs, and to the endocrine...
"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...
With the tremendous benefits of yoga and meditation too numerous to name, these practices are definitively acts of self-love. In acknowledging that we are worthy of wellness, peacefulness and health, we are caring for ourselves when we show up on the mat.
This season of the heart, February, is such a critical time for self-care – particularly in colder climates where willpower is depleted just by meeting the basic needs of work and daily routines. In Ayurveda, yoga’s sister science, this is a very wet, dense season that corresponds to the Kapha dosha. To restore balance in body and mind, we should adopt practices that soothe and counter our personal constitutions. Some of us will need quiet practices in the warm room, and others need invigorating Kundalini and movement practices to keep us from slowing down into inertia.
It is an excellent season to practice daily self-love with the 40-Day Yoga Challenge. The Challenge at PranaShanti begins in February for a variety...
This is a guest post from Angela Regnier, to invite you to our January 23 workshop!
I often hear moans and groans in my Forrest-Inspired yoga classes when we are about to start the core sequences, but students regularly admit to me how beneficial and effective they really find them!
Here are a few reasons why core strength is so important:
Improve balance and stability –
By strengthening muscles in your lower back, hips, and abdomen, you will make every day activities and sports easier to enjoy. The transverse abdominis is an important and large muscle that yogis need to access. It is the deepest of all abdominal muscles that plays a huge role in supporting your posture – especially your pelvis and low back. Virtually every yoga asana (posture) and every movement you make in a day will improve with a stronger core.
Build digestive fire –
Some traditional yogic breathing exercises, such as kapalabhati and nauli, do much to activate...
