If you’ve ever taken a traditional Ashtanga Yoga Led Primary Series class, you probably started practice by repeating a chant your teacher leads in Sanskrit line-by-line. Some people find this intimidating or off-putting. “What am I saying, though?” “What is this weird language?” “What have I gotten myself into?” So I thought I’d shed some light on the chants to help you ease into them and perhaps even enjoy partaking in them. Practicing the chants of Ashtanga Yoga is a really beautiful way to invoke intention and presence into the heart of your yoga practice, increasing the potency of your time on the mat. The opening chant honors the past and wisdom that has come before us, the asana pract
Every single part of the body is connected through nerves that run in the hands (and feet and ears, but we’ll focus on the hands here). By bringing the hands and fingers into various positions, our whole being responds as we guide our energy to different areas of the physical, mental, and energetic bodies. Just like with yoga asana and pranayama practices, hand mudras are a wonderful way to intentionally communicate with the body and mind, to gain access to deeper parts of ourselves and remove obstacles that keep us from the truth of who we are. They help the mind stay present and steady, which aids in meditation, and many mudras are beneficial for healing the physical body of certain ailmen
