Yoga Archives - GHINGO

An Introduction to Yin Yoga

Studios are full of a wide variety of classes. You may have come across power yoga, hatha yoga, ashtanga yoga and the rest. For someone who is new to yoga, this can appear to be daunting. Questions arise such as which yoga is for me? What are the differences between each discipline and how can this help me achieve what I think I need? We will no doubt touch on some of these subject in future articles. For now we will draw our attention to yin yoga, the benefits of the practice and who can practice (everyone!). Intro to Yin Yin yoga like all other types of yoga has one main focus, to still the body and quiet the mind. It is a slow practice where you hold asanas (postures) for an extended duration. Sometimes you hold the asana for up to 10 minutes. The duration will depend on the asana on your capacity to remain in the asana comfortably. Yin is a practice as much for the mind as for the body. By holding the asanas for several minutes the mind begins to find stillness and acceptance. Yin yoga focuses on the subtler more intrinsic muscle and the facia of the body. It stretches and tones these areas, allowing the bigger muscles to remain relaxed. By holding the asana we go deeper into the connective tissues, ligaments and joints. We apply a gentle stress to these area, making them stronger and more flexible. With this is mind, there should never been any pain during the practice of yoga. Holding the asana As we mentioned above, Yin is the opposite to Yang. An aim of yin yoga is to relax into the asana, allowing gravity to do the work. By realxing we can bypass the bigger muscle of the body. Even though we are seeking comfort, steadiness and ease in the asana (Yoga Sutra 2.46 of Patanjali), we are applying a small amount of pressure to certain areas in order to tone and strengthen them. In order to hold an asana, we must be comfortable and able to relax. There are certain asanas for a yin practice and a headstand isn’t one of them for obvious reasons.We do not want to cause any damage to the body, so we only hold for as long as is comfortable. This can be 30 seconds to 10 minutes, depending on the asana. With this said, lets take a look at some posture, their benefits and the recommended time to hold them. Savasana (Corpse Pose) Savasana is one of the most commonly used asanas in the yogic system. It is a asana used to relax the whole body, rest in balance (as you are lead down you needn’t worry about balance) and free the mind. All you need to do is lay on your back with the legs mat width apart and arms beside the the body with the palms face upwards. In this asana and other asanas, it is good to close the eyes so that you can bring you awareness into the body and begin to notice areas that are relaxed and areas that can be relaxed further. This pose can be done for an unlimited amount of time. That said, anywhere between 5-15 minutes should be enough to fully relax the body. Bananasana (Banana Pose) When stretching the body, it is important to work on all sides. This is why Bananasana is included in this set of asanas. Remain led on your back, take your arms overhead, take hold of the right wrist with the left hand and gentle pull the right arm towards to left creating a curve with the upper body. Then take your legs to the left also, leaving the hips where they are. If you’ve done this correctly, your body should resemble that of a banana. Hold for up to 2-minutes, then repeat on the other side. Butterfly Pose Butterfly pose is a wonderful pose to release the muscles of the lower back and open the hips. For those of us who spend a lot of time on our feet or sat in chairs, this is a pose to release tension. It is performed by sitting on the ground, placing the soles of the feet together and allowing the knees to open out to the sides creating a diamond shape with the legs. To further stretch the back and hips, we can begin to lean forward and perhaps eventually rest the head on a block or on the feet! This pose can be held for up to 5 minutes. Again, we want to only go to around 30-50% of our full capacity and not beyond. We are looking for a gentle stretch, not as deep as we can go. Caterpillar (seated forward fold) The caterpillar is another great pose for releasing the back muscles and also stretches the hamstrings. This asana is particularly a good yoga pose for runners. It is done by sitting on the floor, extending the legs in front of us and folding the body over the legs. To aid the forward fold, place a cushion or block under the sitting bones to help release the back muscles. This asana can be held for up to 5 minutes. Sphinx Pose We should include a back bend in this sequence of asanas, and this asana is great for releasing the back, opening the chest and correcting rounded or hunched shoulders. It also opens the chest as well. For this asana we lie on our bellies with the legs straight out behind us. We then bring our elbows under the shoulders, hands straight out in front and look forward. Make sure you’re not collapsing in the shoulders, but pushing into the shoulders to open the chest. There’s also an option to bow the head forward to create a stretch for the neck and upper back/shoulder region. Try it out and make sure to listen to your body, so that you don’t go beyond your capacity.

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The benefits of breathwork

Breathwork, Yoga / Sebastian

Our breathing system is so complex. If we were in charge of how we breath, it’s unlikely we would last 5-minutes. That said, when we do take charge of our breathing by using the practice of breathwork, we can bring balance to our entire system. Focus on Breath The breath is vital for our survival. That being said, how we breath has a huge role in our health and wellbeing. By breathing incorrectly we starve the body and mind from oxygen. Lack of oxygen can lead to brain disfunction, lack of clarity, shortness of breath and physical deformities amongst other things. For fact based evidence, check out Breathe by James Nestor. It is vital we practice breathwork, especially when living in such busy, polluted environments. Many of us have forgotten how to breath. We’ve become a species of mouth-breathers. Mouth breathing pollutes the lungs and allows unfiltered air to pass into the respiratory system. This can lead to problems breathing such as asthma and shortness of breath. The good new is you can correct incorrect breathing, heal shortness of breath, reduce or remove asthma and increase longevity by establishing a regular pranayama (breathwork) practice. Here are a few techniques to help balance the mind, cleanse the respiratory system and reduce stress and anxiety. The Perfect Breath I discovered this when reading Breathe – The new science of a lost art by James Nestor. Simply put, this is a counted breathing techniques that allows maximum inhalation of oxygen for the body and mind, plus the maximum amount of expulsion of carbon dioxide. To perform this technique all you need to do is inhale for a count of 5½ seconds, then exhale for 5½ seconds. You do this exercise by breathing through the nose. This technique brings balance to the entire respiratory system and when practiced on a regular basis, may alleviate certain ailments like shortness of breath and asthma. Full Yogic Breathing This technique was taught to me during my time at the Sivananda Yoga Vidya Peetham ashram in India. This is an exercise that can be done led down, sat upright, whilst standing and even when practicing asana (postures). It helps maintain full movement of the diaphragm, allows us to use the full capacity of our lungs which brings in maximum amounts of oxygen and expels maximum amount of carbon dioxide. To do this exercise, it is best to start led down on your back. Place one hand on the belly and one on the chest. As you inhale, breathe deeply into the belly and feel the rise and expansion of the belly. As you exhale, feel the belly deflate. Do this a few times. Then, as you inhale, breath into the belly, then into the chest. Feel both the belly and the chest expand one after the other. As you exhale, relax the chest, then the belly. Do this a few times as well. Then, as you inhale, expand the belly, expand the chest and send the breath into the collarbone region, rising the collarbone slightly. As you exhale relax the collarbone, the chest and then the belly. You can think of this as 3 part breathing. First the belly expands, then the chest then the collarbone on the inhale, then relax in reverse order on the exhale. This is a wonderful technique not only for the breath, but also for focusing the mind and relaxing the body. Advanced Breathing Techniques Kapalabhati Another technique taught to me by the Sivananda ashram. This exercise expels stale air from the bronchial tubes of the lungs (large tubes that connect to your trachea (windpipe) and direct the air you breathe to your right and left lungs). If we live in a polluted environment, which lets face it most of us do nowadays, this exercise is fundamental to cleansing the lungs are reducing or curing asthma and shortness of breath. To do Kapalabhati it is best to be seated in a crossed legged position or on a chair with the ankles crossed. We sit in this way so to keep the energy within ourselves, after all prana means energy or life force and the practice of pranayama is manipulating our energies or life forces. Kapalabhati is done by pulling the abdomen inwards to force air out through the nostrils, then the belly is relaxed which draws air in through the nostrils. This technique could be called belly pumping. So you breathe deeply to begin, then you inhale deeply, after you have fully inhaled you draw the belly in to force the air out of the nostrils. Once the air is out, you relax the belly to draw the air back in, then you start again. To begin with you would normally do 3 rounds of 10 pumpings or breaths. After you complete 1 round, take a couple of deep breaths, then inhale and hold the breath comfortably, close the eyes and focus on the eyebrow centre (the command centre). Hold the breath for a count of 30 seconds if possible. Then release the breathe and breathe deeply for a few rounds before starting the whole exercise again. It’s important to note that you don’t feel any pain, discomfort or strain whilst doing the pumpings or holding the breath. Kapalabhati is designed to calm the body and mind, not stress it. Always seek the guidance of an experienced teacher before practicing a new technique. Nadi Shuddhi The final exercise that I will share on the article is called Nadi Shuddhi (alternate nostril breathing). Although this was another technique taught to me at the Sivananda ashram, I will refer to the teachings of the Isha Foundation this time. There discription is clear and summerised this practice clearly. Isha say: “Nadi Shuddhi is a 5-minute guided yoga routine for positive energy. It balances your energy system (nadis), calms your mind and improves your ability to act effectively. The practice is great for beginners and can be done anywhere: at home, in the office, the park.

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Presence

Yoga / Sebastian

It’s so wonderful to be present and bask in presence. To be in the moment, focused on one thing. Everything else melts away and you become yourself. Titles, names and positions matter no more and you realise they never did. Holding We tend to hold importance over the meaningless and disregard the importance of the self. All stress and worry come from identifying with the finite. We say that life has a way of placing things before us, we can choose to be burdened by such things or allow freedom to flow into our lives by action and choice. Acceptance No matter where you are or where you have ended up, all you can do is accept it and make action/choices based on your best intentions. Living in balance isn’t always easy, though it needn’t be hard either. The way you look at things will determine their effect on you. Awareness Bringing awareness to each day will guide you down a path of knowledge and truth. There is no better guide than yourself, no truer guru than the one residing within you. Choice How many choices have been made because of the body and our attachment to it? Can you imagine a world where we all understood the impermanence of the physical. How would our world look? Who could rule over such fleeting things? Knowledge All we need do is look upon the library shelves and witness the countless pages filled with guidance from guru to teacher, from disciple to the “uneducated”. These books are filled with experiences of the individual, shared to the masses with one hope. A hope that we as a species, as an intelligent life form, will realise the truth of all things. Systems So much is already in place. There are systems and governments, rules and regulations that it seems the wise are mere ants scurrying around trying to paint the bugger picture. The systems are in place to keep us imprisoned, to make us believe that there is freedom in 25 days of holiday a year, pride in earning a living through backbreaking, soul destroying work. We have been a race of workers, thieves and power hungry few that believe in a dream painted by others. What is freedom? Freedom does not come when you are 65, when you are at an age where the mind and body and become crippled by disregarded and disrespect of the Anamaya Kosha (physical sheath). The very system you’ve worked for and believed in no longer wants you. What use are the old but a drain on funds, I’ve heard people say. Many ancient tribes held their elders in great esteem, this is because they had the wisdom to see, the time to reflect and analyse life. The future Slowly we turn into an age of computers without realising that these computer will elleviate the years of back breaking work and give humanity another chance to relish in the beauty of the world. Why can’t food be free and accommodation be affordable for all? What stops this happening? With more and more advancements this dream can become more of a reality. The only problem is that we’ve become so accustomed to a lie, to the belief of working for a living, that the very idea of being free from work, to just simply be is daunting. Humanity would go insane if we removed all distraction and simply foraged for food and slept underneath the stars. We see ourselves more advanced the the monkeys and mammals that live in the wild, yet they eat healthier than we do and have less ailments and little diseases. Advancements Our advancements are only trapping us. This is not to encourage loss of hope. This is a moment to realise the truth behind everything and see the beauty in self destruction. For many of us, to simply sit back and enjoy the ride is ignorance enough. For others action maybe taken. Both paths are filled with friction. Presence is key in these moments to gain an understanding of all things. We always had and did have a choice. Stay in a cold climate and complain about the weather, continue to use equipment that warms the climate, then complain about the heat. Eat processed packaged food, then be surprised when you’re on pills for this or that. We all know the truth, we only choose to believe in the lie.

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Meditation

Meditation, Yoga / Sebastian

Intro When we sit in quiet solitude for meditation, are we expecting something? Are we hoping to be magically transported from our current situation, to a place that exists somewhere else? These maybe the thoughts that cross your thinking mind when initially beginning the practice of meditation. That ‘someplace else’ only exists in your mind and what we are trying to achieve is a state of no-mind/non-thinking. Free yourself from the stories you’ve been told about how things should be and what you should be expecting. The practice of yoga is a deeply profound and personal experience. As teachers we are here to guide you, encourage you and be there to explain certain things. A teacher can only do it if they themselves have experienced what they are trying to teach. The Key The key to meditation is simple, release, release, release. •Release expectations •Release the desire to find something, for what you are searching for is already there. •Release control and let what is, be. Thoughts will come and go, feelings will rise and fall. You are are at the centre of it all. Difficulties with meditation The difficulties people find in meditation are of their own creation. “I can’t sit cross-legged”, “I’m too busy to meditate”. By saying you are this way or that way is likely true, for yourself. You believe these hindrances to be what you are, when meditation teaches us that we are not what we create. I too used to say these things. I felt that my mind was too busy, filled with thoughts to even sit still for a moment. The Cure? The cure, I thought, was to fill it with even more things. Those who meditate on a regular basis will understand that what you expose yourself to with inevitably pop up when you stop. Many people suffer with sleeping disorders. Why do we think this is? I believe it’s because we fail to pause, allow the mind to digest what we’ve witnessed and categorise our experiences. The only time we pause is when we close our eyes and try to sleep. Then our minds are racing because we’ve not stopped and given our minds the time to recalibrate and settle. Just like a car engine, if you continue to drive it without servicing it or giving it a rest, it will inevitably break down. We are perfect We are born perfect. We are in balance, fed with natures milk and present with the life and flow of the universe. Depending on our upbringing, we seem to lose this pretty quickly. We fill our bodies with chemicals, processed food and noise from the media. Thanks to this yoga teachers have a job. Though it is a job that needn’t exist. Most of us are aware of what sets us off balance and what makes our body-mind system unconnected, yet we continue in ignorance to make our lives polluted both inside and out. How can we expect to enter a state of meditation after drinking caffeine, watching violence or eating a heavy meal. The answer is obvious, we cannot. Preparation for meditation If you wish to create the best chances for you to really reset, rest the mind and body and enter a state of meditation, then preparation is key. A quiet space with no distraction. Early morning or evening when things have calmed down a little is best. Sit for meditation on an empty stomach and be with yourself. Meditation techniques My teacher used to say there are many paths to the top, but only one summit. What he meant by this is that you can use any yogic technique you wish to find Samadhi (an equanimous state of intellect). That said, by sticking to one path, you are likely to reach the peak sooner. I practice Japa Meditation, a type of meditation technique that involves the repetition of a mantra/intention. For example you could repeat “I am present” or “I am here” or even use the universal mantra of OM, brining about balance to yourself and the environment around you. This is a technique I teach at my classes. I have fluxuated a little with my practices of meditation and have use Insight Timer to try different techniques, of which you will find on their website. Even though I have tried many techniques, I always come back to Japa Meditation. Summary Like many things in life, I believe the right approach is key to success. Dedicate a time and space for meditation and repeat on a daily basis. Don’t worry about the length of time, that will come. Each day make time and space for meditation. It has helped me wonders and I believe it can help others, this is why I run classes focused on meditation. The mind is a wild horse and it must be slowly drawn to a quiet space, or rather freed from habitual thinking. When the mind is free, you may experience the state of meditation. It is my hope and blessing that everyone becomes an enlightend being, so that we me once again live in balance with ourselves, others and nature. Om Namah Shivaya

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Seb sat down in a forest looking out into the forest

I’m not very good a yoga.

Information, Yoga / Sebastian

This phrase comes up quite often when meeting new people and I tell them what I do for a living. Either this or “I’m not flexible enough to do yoga.” Here and now I would like to offer my thoughts and feelings towards these sentences and to hopefully guide your thinking in a new direction. Let’s start off with the thought that there is no good or bad when it comes to yoga. There’s no right or wrong and if someone tells you otherwise, I implore you to ask why. Ashtanga Yoga In yoga, there is something called Ashtanga Yoga, otherwise known as The 8 Limbs of Yoga. Essentially these 8 limbs or pathways will lead you to liberation. Now, why is this relevant to the ‘not being good at yoga’ statement? This is because there is so much depth and scope to yoga, that you needn’t use only one aspect of it. The aspect most people are referring to when they say “I’m not flexible enough to do yoga”, is asana (postures). Asana Asana is the 3rd limb of Ashtanga Yoga. It focuses on creating and maintaining a strong and health body in order to achieve a meditative state. If the body is at an un-ease, then the mind will become so. Therefore the practice of asana is import to keep the body strong yet agile enough to withstand the way we live. Focusing on asana, yes there are ways to do certain poses and doing them in a different way may induce an injury. That begin said, as long as you practice with awareness you will avoid most incidents. Yamas Back to The 8 Limbs of Yoga. There is so many options to choose from when it come to yoga. So many different styles, practices and ways in which to apply it in your daily life. The first limb is called Yama or the do’s of yoga. There are five do’s of yoga, one of them being Ahimsa (non-violence). If you just adhered to this practice of non-violence in all its forms, then you are practicing yoga. If you attach yourself to an aggressive way of living, then maybe try Astaya (non-stealing). By practicing one or all of the Yamas, you will most likely be lead down a path in which you cannot help but follow. This is another beautiful thing about yoga, one thing leads onto the next in an almost seamless way. The great thing about yoga is that it is a tool that everyone can use. The meaning of ‘bad’. The only reason we believe we are ‘bad’ at yoga or at anything for that matter, is because we have set ourselves a bar of which if we don’t reach, we class ourselves as bad. This bar has been implanted into our conscience by the media and wrongful education. At points it is good to challenge ourselves and get out of our comfort zone. However, we shouldn’t exert ourselves or apply stress to the body-mind system. It is well known that stress is the number one cause of death and yet we are surprised when athletes fall ill or a race horse collapses. It all due to too much stress. If we remove that bar or expectation, then nothing is good or bad, it just is and in that we can find comfort and acceptance. So many of us are attached to our ego and have lost the simple art of being. We’ve become absorbed in our own creation, rather than connected with creation itself. Conclusion So know that you’re not bad or good at something, you just require a different approach in order to see things as they are, without judgement. Yoga is a tool to be used to give our lives balance. Use it correctly and you will begin to know true harmony. Thanks for reading. To keep up to date with the latest blog posts, please subscribe to our newsletter.

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seb performing trikonasana and fra performing a handstand.

Why choose Yoga?

Information, Yoga / Sebastian

There are so many ways to get in shape, keep fit and stay healthy. Today we are bombarded with gyms, running clubs, sporting activities, various dimensions of yoga classes and other forms of exercise. That being said, what makes yoga stand out and why choose yoga? Well allow me to share my own journey to yoga and how the practice has helped me. Let me being by saying that yoga is so much more than a means of keeping the body strong and flexible. When I first began practicing yoga, I thought it was just an exercises class. Yes, yoga has elements of strength training and exercises/poses that will increase your flexibility, yet there is much more to obtain through regular practice of yoga. I wanted an exercise that helped support my back and spine. Being a tall guy, I suffered with back ache quite early on in my life. I tried various forms of exercises to subdue to aches and pains, but nothing seemed to gel or actually cure the problem. Then I discovered yoga and although my journey with yoga has been rocky from the start, I knew this was the practice. When I say rocky, at the beginning I just wanted to learn some exercises to help my back. I wasn’t interested in the meditation side, in fact I would often say that my mind was too busy to meditate and I had no patience for the breathwork side of things. Years later, I now realise that it is all one thing. Yoga means union and although you can focus on different aspects of the practice, when you unify all the properties of yoga, then you are in yoga with everything. More on this later. So yoga became a building block for me toward health. It help subdue my back aches and build muscle around the spine to keep it supported. As some of you may have experienced, when you start build a habit, it’s difficult to give it up. Yoga was my habit and as I began to practice more often, I began to go deeper into the practice. I began to focus on the meditative side of things. I began to realise that the postures were there to give you strength and flexibility, yet also keep the mind focused and induce deeper breathing in order to hold the poses for a longer duration. Yoga taught me how to breath correctly (deep and slow). It taught me how to find stillness in my mind. It gave me clarity, subdued my fear, anger and anxiety. Yoga is a tool to be used to bring you into a state of balance. Going to a gym might give you increased strength and stamina, practicing yoga will give you this and more. Yoga don’t even need to practice asana (postures), you can simply pick a portion of yoga that interests you. I have a friend who meditated for 2 years before even holding a pose. The great teachers of yoga have all moved on from such physical practices and focus on the subtle practices, which needn’t come later. If you’re interested in energies, chakras (meridians), scriptures or even the Yamas and Niyamas (the do’s and don’ts of yoga), these are enough by themselves to help health the body-mind system and bring you into a state of balance. This is why I choose yoga now and continue to practice every day. It is a well rounded practice that gives us everything we need to be in balance. If you want more strength for whatever reason, then a gym/lifting weights might be more suited for you. That said, yoga has been the way for me and has helped me so much, that I now teach the practice to others. If you are interested in finding out more through the practice of asana/pranayama (breathwork)/dyhana (meditation), then you can attend one of my classes here. I hope this writing has help clear up a little what yoga is and what is can potentially do for you and for others. It is my wish that everyone finds balance in life, so that this life my be in balance. Namaste

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