Stretches for splits - cviky na snuru

Many of you asked me for more stretches for splits - here u go! 

This was still on holiday - oooh how I miss the sunshine!!!

Enjoy - but dont over stretch!!!!!!

Myths That May Be Keeping You from Practicing Yoga

As yoga keeps growing, so do the misconceptions about it. Here are few myths that may be getting between you and your yoga bliss.

The good news is that yoga has exploded in western world and more people than ever are dipping into the practice. The bad news is all the misinformation out there that can be at best confusing and at worst a big turnoff for some folks who would otherwise really love and benefit from the practice. Here are a few of them:

Myth: You’re not flexible enough to do yoga.

This is my all-time favorite myth and as a yoga teacher one that I hear often. Saying you are too stiff to do yoga is like saying you’re too sick to go to the doctor. Stiffness leads to lots of aches and pains. I’m not saying it will be easy, but I can promise that a healthy range of motion throughout the body will reduce your aches and pains today and down the road. Just keep your sense of humor handy.

Myth: You need a certain diet, body type, outfit…

Nope, not at all. Yoga is inclusive and can meet you where you are—there are no prerequisites. A byproduct of yoga may be better physical, mental health and well-being, but I assure you that it is not required to start.  The best thing about yoga is that you can come as you are and let the practice tend to you in the most generous way.

Myth: Yoga is religious.

Yoga is not a religion. Yoga is a philosophy. Do some people engage in yoga religiously? Yep, but there is no dogma or required belief system in yoga. The philosophy is meant to engage you in asking important questions, gaining insight, and making your own informed choices.

Myth: Yoga is just for relaxing.

Yoga is an eight-fold path that actually requires a pretty disciplined effort. Relaxation and stress reduction is a wonderful byproduct of a focused practice whether that is asana (poses),pranayama (breath), or meditation.

Myth: Yoga is only for women.

When I first started teaching power yoga, it was about 20 percent men. These days most of my classes are even more men (not in all gyms). I love the guy who comes into his first class as a skeptic and leaves as a sweaty, blissed-out convert. Yoga creates flexibility, builds strength and refines your ability to focus. Don’t take my word for it look at all of the male superstar athletes like Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James, Ray Lewis, Victor Cruz and Kevin Love (just to name a few) touting its benefits.

Myth: I’m too busy to do yoga.

Again the too-sick-to-go-the-doctor analogy applies, except maybe even more here. These days you can get very high-quality yoga online in formats that range from 15–90 minutes. You can do yoga in the comfort of your home with YouTube or sites like YogaGlo.com and Gaia.com. Add in the efficiency of getting to check off all of these boxes: fitness, stress relief, and skillful focus all in one session. Try just 20 minutes a day and observe the return on that investment. I promise you will be pleasantly surprised.

Myth: I’m not young or fit enough to do yoga.

I know lots of people who started practicing at 50 or over 60. It’s not only a great healthy choice but also provides community and positive social benefits that may surprise you. You are only as old as your thoughts—and yoga can positively affect those too, so get yourself into a class with a great teacher and have some fun.

Myth: I’m injured—I can’t do yoga.

Au contraire. Just look at me :) sometimes I can't even walk, but when on my mat, I do my best. Also, I have had many students, who come to yoga while they’re recuperating from an injury and displaced from their regular form of exercise. Those who first try yoga as a means of rehab, typically stick with it because it not only helps them heal but can also help prevent future injury.

Enjoy your journey!

Yoga practice is about joy. 

It is about love. 

It is so much less about the asana. 

When you step on your mat, close your eyes and move your soul with breath and posture. 

Let your heart pour out on the rubber floor. 

Whatever you are feeling, just let it be!

A bit of morning motivation...

I woke up at 4am this morning full of energy! started with a bit of practice :) sun is up, and here is a little motivation, cos sometimes we just need it :) 

Have a great day and I am back to all my classes today - can't wait to see you all!!!

A Beginner’s Guide to Yoga

Here are few questions people ask me, some of you ight know the answers, but some of you find it interesting to read about it :) 

1. What Is Yoga?

The word yoga, from the Sanskrit word yuj means to yoke or bind and is often interpreted as “union” or a method of discipline. A male who practices yoga is called a yogi, a female practitioner, a yogini.

The Indian sage Patanjali is believed to have collated the practice of yoga into the Yoga Sutra an estimated 2,000 years ago. The Sutra is a collection of 195 statements that serves as a philosophical guidebook for most of the yoga that is practiced today. It also outlines eight limbs of yoga: the yamas (restraints), niyamas (observances), asana (postures), pranayama (breathing), pratyahara (withdrawal of senses), dharana (concentration), dhyani (meditation), and samadhi (absorption). As we explore these eight limbs, we begin by refining our behavior in the outer world, and then we focus inwardly until we reach samadhi (liberation, enlightenment).

Today most people practicing yoga are engaged in the third limb, asana, which is a program of physical postures designed to purify the body and provide the physical strength and stamina required for long periods of meditation.

2. What Does Hatha Mean?

The word hatha means willful or forceful. Hatha yoga refers to a set of physical exercises (known as asanas or postures), and sequences of asanas, designed to align your skin, muscles, and bones. The postures are also designed to open the many channels of the body—especially the main channel, the spine—so that energy can flow freely.

Hatha is also translated as ha meaning “sun” and tha meaning “moon.” This refers to the balance of masculine aspects—active, hot, sun—and feminine aspects—receptive, cool, moon—within all of us. Hatha yoga is a path toward creating balance and uniting opposites. In our physical bodies we develop a balance of strength and flexibility. We also learn to balance our effort and surrender in each pose.

Hatha yoga is a powerful tool for self-transformation. It asks us to bring our attention to our breath, which helps us to still the fluctuations of the mind and be more present in the unfolding of each moment.

3. What Does Om Mean?

Om is a mantra, or vibration, that is traditionally chanted at the beginning and end of yoga sessions. It is said to be the sound of the universe. What does that mean?

Somehow the ancient yogis knew what scientists today are telling us—that the entire universe is moving. Nothing is ever solid or still. Everything that exists pulsates, creating a rhythmic vibration that the ancient yogis acknowledged with the sound of Om. We may not always be aware of this sound in our daily lives, but we can hear it in the rustling of the autumn leaves, the waves on the shore, the inside of a seashell.

Chanting Om allows us to recognize our experience as a reflection of how the whole universe moves—the setting sun, the rising moon, the ebb and flow of the tides, the beating of our hearts. As we chant Om, it takes us for a ride on this universal movement, through our breath, our awareness, and our physical energy, and we begin to sense a bigger connection that is both uplifting and soothing.

4. Do I Have to Be Vegetarian to Practice Yoga?

The first principle of yoga philosophy is ahimsa, which means non harming to self and others. Some people interpret this to include not eating animal products. There is debate about this in the yoga community—I believe that it is a personal decision that everyone has to make for themselves. If you are considering becoming a vegetarian, be sure to take into account your personal health issues as well how your choices will affect those with whom you live. Being a vegetarian should not be something that you impose on others—that kind of aggressive action in itself is not an expression of ahimsa.

5. How Many Times Per Week Should I Practice?

Yoga is amazing—even if you only practice for one hour a week, you will experience the benefits of the practice. If you can do more than that, you will certainly experience more benefits. I suggest starting with two or three times a week, for an hour or an hour and a half each time. If you can only do 20 minutes per session, that’s fine too. Don’t let time constraints or unrealistic goals be an obstacle—do what you can and don’t worry about it. You will likely find that after a while your desire to practice expands naturally and you will find yourself doing more and more.

6. How Is Yoga Different From Stretching or Other Kinds of Fitness?

Unlike stretching or fitness, yoga is more than just physical postures. Patanjali’s eight-fold path illustrates how the physical practice is just one aspect of yoga. Even within the physical practice, yoga is unique because we connect the movement of the body and the fluctuations of the mind to the rhythm of our breath. Connecting the mind, body, and breath helps us to direct our attention inward. Through this process of inward attention, we learn to recognize our habitual thought patterns without labeling them, judging them, or trying to change them. We become more aware of our experiences from moment to moment. The awareness that we cultivate is what makes yoga a practice, rather than a task or a goal to be completed. Your body will most likely become much more flexible by doing yoga, and so will your mind.

7. Is Yoga a Religion?

Yoga is not a religion. It is a philosophy that began in India an estimated 5,000 years ago. The father of classical ashtanga yoga (the eight-limbed path, not to be confused with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois’ Ashtanga yoga) is said to be Patanjali, who wrote the Yoga Sutra. These scriptures provide a framework for spiritual growth and mastery over the physical and mental body. Yoga sometimes interweaves other philosophies such as Hinduism or Buddhism, but it is not necessary to study those paths in order to practice or study yoga.

It is also not necessary to surrender your own religious beliefs to practice yoga.

8. I’m Not Flexible—Can I Do Yoga?

Yes! You are a perfect candidate for yoga. Many people think that they need to be flexible to begin yoga, but that’s a little bit like thinking that you need to be able to play tennis in order to take tennis lessons. Come as you are and you will find that yoga practice will help you become more flexible.

This newfound agility will be balanced by strength, coordination, and enhanced cardiovascular health, as well as a sense of physical confidence and overall well-being.

9. What Do I Need to Begin?

All you really need to begin practicing yoga is your body, your mind, and a bit of curiosity. But it is also helpful to have a pair of yoga leggings, or shorts, and a t-shirt that’s not too baggy. No special footgear is required because you will be barefoot. It’s nice to bring a towel to class with you. As your practice develops you might want to buy your own yoga mat, but most studios will have mats and other props available for you.

10. Why Are You Supposed to Refrain From Eating 2–3 Hours Before Class?

In yoga practice we twist from side to side, turn upside down, and bend forward and backward. If you have not fully digested your last meal, it will make itself known to you in ways that are not comfortable. If you are a person with a fast-acting digestive system and are afraid you might get hungry or feel weak during yoga class, experiment with a light snack such as yogurt, a few nuts, or juice about 30 minutes to an hour before class.

My new achievement!!!

Well, this one was a pose I would look at but I`ve never tried it, simply because it looks awesomely impossible :P But I did it - for the first time on Sunday, with like 5 blocks under me to start off, and once you get a feeling of it, it will became a really nice showing off posture :P :) I am so happy I can do it!!!!
I think I tried it because I  corrected my arms and hands in Crow, I did the Crow on Friday slightly different than usual and I could stay in it forever, I just knew my balance it perfect. I could do it for few second before, but not as balanced and perfect as now :)


So now I can start with more difficult postures, my yoga experience is growing each day, it doesn`t matter how many hours you practise, there is always so much to learn!

A bit more info about my new most favourite pose: Firefly Pose - Tittibhasana
Want to fly? Fire up your core. Firefly pose is an arm balance pose that requires more core strength than arm strength.

• Squat with your feet a little less than shoulder distance apart. Tilt your pelvis forward and bring your trunk between your legs. Keeping your trunk low, straighten your legs enough to lift your pelvis to about knee height
• Bring your left upper arm and shoulder as far as possible underneath the back of your left thigh just above the knee and place your left hand on the floor at the outside edge of your foot, fingers pointing forward. Repeat these actions on the other side.
• Lift yourself off the floor by carefully shifting your center of gravity. Press your hands into the floor and slowly begin to rock your weight back, off your feet and onto your hands. Keep your inner thighs as high on your arms as possible.
• With an inhalation, stretch your legs out to the sides as straight as you can, keeping your pelvis high to make your legs parallel to the floor.
• Press through the bases of your big toes but pull your toes back toward your torso and spread them apart. The inner edges of your feet should be angled slightly forward, the outer edges slightly back.
• Straighten your arms as much as possible. Hollow your chest as you widen your shoulder blades as much as possible; this will round your upper back, which will lift your torso higher.
• Without tensing your neck, lift your head and gaze forward. Breathe slowly and hold the pose for 15 seconds or longer, then release your feet to the floor with an exhale.

Beginner's Tip

You can approximate this pose by sitting on the floor, legs spread to a ninety-degree angle, elevating each heel on a block, and pressing your palms into the floor between your legs.

Benefits

• Stretches the inner groins and back torso
• Strengthens the arms and wrists
• Tones the belly
• Improves sense of balance

Yoga Om Show Oct 2015

The OM Yoga Show is taking place at Alexandra Palace for the first time in 2015!

Come and see a showcase of over 200 exhibitors, providing the best yoga and complementary therapies, plus a fantastic range of yoga accessories, clothing, jewellery, super foods and holidays, and much, much more. 

The show provides the opportunity to take part in free classes with leading teachers, so whether you have been practicing this ancient Indian practice for years, or you are just starting out, there is something for everyone. 

All visitors to the OM Yoga Show are able to visit the Mind Body Soul Experience, being held in a neighbouring hall, for free. So why not drop in, and discover a whole new dimension? 

The OM Yoga Show is taking place at Alexandra Palace from 23rd to 25th October 2015. 

Free transfer from Wood Green tube station will be provided via shuttle bus directly to Alexandra Palace, for visitors travelling by tube. Alexandra Palace has free parking, and for visitors arriving by rail, its own station - Alexandra Palace, three stops from Finsbury Park. 

Here are the links for more info about this year's Om Show in London:

Om Yoga Show

FB event

E-tickets

Top 5 Reasons to Become a Yoga Teacher…

#1 – Inspire Students & Change Lives – There are very few jobs that provide you with the opportunity to impact the lives of so many people on a daily basis. Every time you get up in front of a class of yoga students, you’ll have the opportunity to truly inspire people. That’s an amazing gift and a rare and rewarding job to have.

#2 – Deepen Your Practice – Students come to class looking for guidance, but they also give back to you (as the teacher) an incredible amount of energy and insight. You’ll be amazed how much you learn from teaching yoga. Teaching is a powerful way to deepen your own practice and understanding of yoga.

#3 – Enjoy a Flexible Schedule – Most yoga teachers I know only work three-to-four hours each day, and the rest of their time is theirs to do as they please. If you’re like me, you have tons of other interests in life that you haven’t had time to pursue because you’ve been working full-time, often in a job that you’re not passionate about.

#4 – Earn a Good Salary – Years ago, most yoga teachers hardly earned enough to get by; but today, certified yoga teachers are highly specialized and highly valued employees who are paid well for their work. While yoga teaching is not likely to make you rich, you can live a financially comfortable and exciting life as a teacher. For me, I never imagined the personal and financial freedom I’ve realized today, much more so than I had in my former life.

#5 – Live and Breathe Yoga – Let’s face it, living a healthy lifestyle is not easy. When I started down the path of yoga, all my old friends were living very toxic lifestyles. When I became a yoga teacher, that all changed. My new friends and co-workers loved yoga, and just like me, they were committed to healthy living. There’s nothing more powerful than having a positive peer group, and for many teachers, this often leads to a revolution in your personal health and lifestyle.

A bit of Inspiration...

Let´s Yoga in the Park - DLC Power yoga

Today was a great day - we had beautiful weather, I had 3 classes outdoors out of 4, a pretty good statistics :) The last class was in Dunstable Leisure centre and we moved to the park right in front of the BBC radio :P and Gary Cooper :P I really enjoyed this class, we had a great sunset with many warriors, it was a quiet challenging class - well done everyone! And thank you for going outside and for letting me take the pictures :) 

Join us for yoga in DLC on Mondays @8pm and Sunday @5pm!!!

Restorative Yoga Workshop 17th May 2015

If you're feeling the need for a reset, a chance to hit pause for a moment, or if you've ever wanted to linger a little longer in those deep twists and restful opening poses, then this is the workshop for you. Restorative Yoga, as you would expect from the name, is the calm yet deeply nourishing side of the practice.

We'll begin with some gently paced vinyasa flow and a few standing postures to build some heat in preparation for the deeper opening and release that will follow. Restorative poses are soothing and well supported with blocks, cushions, and belts so that you can settle in to each asana in maximum comfort, allowing time to entirely let go of any muscular, physical and emotional tension. The aim is to still our fidgety bodies, calm our busy minds and allow ourselves to rest in the present moment and move towards a state of deep contentment.

At the end of the workshop we will practice yoga nidra, yogic sleep - a state somewhere between consciousness and sleep - which is reached through a guided relaxation.

WARNING: You may leave the workshop feeling a little spaced out, blissfully happy and carefree and possibly with the desire to hug a stranger.


To book text Andrea: 07766873666

When:  Sun 17th May 2015 2-4.30pm

Where:  Dunstable Leisure Centre, Court Drive, Dunstable LU5 4JD  

Fee: £30
           - payment will secure your space,
          as spaces are limited and running out fast!

A bit of inspiration...

I was just looking through some yoga pages and I've found a new inspiration... 

If you think I can do things, I am noone compare to HER!!!! 

I defo need more practice... :/ 

my evening inspiration...

Inspiration

Does Yoga = Exercise?

The benefit of exercise is a well-known fact. It can reduce our stress by taking a hard day at the office into the gym, park or beach. Moving the body creates “happy chemicals” called endorphins and, for only 30 minutes a few times a week, we can instantly improve our overall mood. And exercise can even assuage our addictions as the brain releases dopamine, the “reward chemical”, which responds to pleasurable activity.

With all the benefits of exercise, it’s no wonder that yoga has jumped on the bandwagon. You only need to type “yoga” in your YouTube search to find the vast varieties offered. There is yoga for weight loss, detox yoga, yoga challenges, total body workout, morning workout, weight loss yoga, yoga for six pack abs—the list goes on.

The way Westerners perceive exercise has influenced our adoption of modern yoga. I can tell you from firsthand experience that when I started my teaching career at gyms, most of the participants weren’t too thrilled if more than 5 minutes of their class was dedicated to the subtlety of breath awareness. In an industry now imploding with options, classes and studios, it seems that class numbers and calories burned are more important than actually delivering an authentic experience of yoga.

But, in fact, the teacher’s role of upholding the tradition of yoga to allow participants to assimilate and apply its concepts to a broad range of contexts off the mat is essential.

So what would an authentic experience of yoga look like? For example, it is critical that, as a teacher, I know how to be present enough in class to not be provoked into reaction if—and inevitably when—students become uncomfortable with their own internal experiences.

This is where the notion of yoga as only exercise crumbles.

Although it appears that we are exercising—i.e. moving our bodies—, the subtlety of the yoga process clears the inner debris to move us toward profound and useful insights about ourselves. This is challenging to access if the teacher leading the class is more interested in giving students more of what they want and enjoy and is afraid to tread into the dark terrains of the emotional suffering people might be going through.

Modern psychosomatic medicine reminds us that body and mind form a single system; a healthy body cannot exist in a tormented mind, for mental and physical healths are closely related. Although regular exercise can, as mentioned, produce a broad range of positive chemical processes in the body, most of the time it doesn’t address the underlying issues hiding behind our regular 8km run.

Who cares? You mutter. I don’t have any hidden baggage. I exercise to stay fit (and because I am afraid of growing old, being weak, not being the strongest).

This is where our yoga practice takes us beyond the mere physical pursuit of eternal youth. Yoga faces us with that which intimidates us. The ancient yoga sages referred to our suffering as “duhkha”, which is virtually unavoidable. If we are not in some kind of physical pain or discomfort, then we are usually experiencing suffering in the form of emotional unease. We then do everything we can to avoid acknowledging the experiences that instill fear and hesitation within us, for we believe doing so will feed the cycle of stress and anxiety.

Yoga teaches us to embrace our thoughts about life and death and accept that suffering is an integral part of human experience. Rather than succumbing to pessimism about this inevitable future, yoga encourages us to examine the nature of the mind and understand that we are often in far greater control of our thoughts and emotions than we imagine, regardless of external circumstances.

In short, our yoga practice trains us to become mental “athletes”, working to uncover our highest human potential and spiritual essence.

So I encourage you, mental athletes, to approach your yoga practice not as mere exercise, but rather from the perspective that we are only a few deep, slow breaths away from embracing the holistic intersection of body, mind and soul.

The (real) reason we should all meditate.

Everywhere we look, we’re bombarded by advice from spiritual, self-help and wellness coaches to meditate—trust me, I’m one of them.

But, If I asked you what the purpose of meditation is—would you know?

What if I told you that the purpose of meditation is not to be more mindful, or to calm down, or to feel more connected or to even hear your intuition?

Don’t get me wrong.

Being mindful, focusing on the present moment, loving yourself, feeling more connected and guided are all really amazing effects of meditation, and they may be the very reasons why you meditate—but they aren’t the purpose of meditation.

The purpose of meditation is to clear the subconscious.

Not quite sure what that means? Let me break it down.

Our subconscious is like that garage or that closet or that basement in our house that has become the unspoken storage centre for our life’s possessions: the things that we’ve put away in boxes or that we still haven’t unpacked from a previous move; the stuff that we’ve tucked away until we have the space or the time to open them up and sort through them and either throw them out or put them away.

Sometimes we’ve organized the boxes neatly, clearing a path so that we can walk through and navigate the space with the just an occasional trip. Other times, we find the stuff is all over the place creating blocks and hazards everywhere.

In our subconscious, each box represents something different. We might have a couple of boxes that we’ve been carrying along with us from past lifetimes (just like when we move to a new home). We might have a couple of boxes filled with fears and emotions and experiences that have been passed down and donated to us from our parents, or grandparents, or even our great-grandparents. And we definitely have a couple of boxes filled with memories and experiences and emotional attachments to any of the events from our current lifetime.

So, how do we clear up some space and deal with all these boxes?

We meditate. We commit to a daily practice of going through each box one by one, showing gratitude for the lessons and the gifts that each experience has given us, and releasing the emotional attachments that no longer serve us.

We sit and we stop trying to silence the mind. We allow whatever wants to come up to come up, acknowledging that the chaos in our mind is our ego’s way of avoiding having to deal with the really deep stuff that needs to come up. Our ego is like our bodyguard, and meditation is our opportunity to thank the ego for protecting us while simultaneously giving it the day off.

Only then will the silence will come.

By clearing our subconscious, we’re unlearning all the fear, all the judgement and all the lies we’ve been taught are necessary to protect ourselves and to “get ahead.”

But most importantly, when we clear our subconscious, we remember our divinity, our greatness, our light and our purpose: to raise the vibration of the planet by inspiring others do the same.

Chin balance

My big achievement today - I've seen the pose yesterday in a YouTube video and I almost broke my neck trying it for the first time, but today I DID IT!!! My chin hurts, but I feel soooo pleased with myself 

I love Yoga!

Be prepared to get bendy! Chin balance requires a majorly open back, which means open hips and open shoulders too. Basically this pose is all about opening—a great thing to practice in the colder, less-light-filled months when we tend to close off.

Take it slow with this one. Chin balance is a major deep backbend, and there is no rush to get into any “final” pose. Be where you are—it is a great place to be!