Yoga_as_you_are

15/10/2022

Pleine de gratitude (même si c est pas facile de parler devant la caméra 🤪) de pouvoir partager cet extrait de mon “interview” réalisée par mon bon pote et pour son projet de documenter les passions de personnes de différents horizons et disciplines. N’hésitez pas à vous abonner sa chaîne YouTube 1HOTDOC et à faire appel à lui pour vos projets vidéo. Merci Twaneke 🙏🏼.

Very grateful (even if it’s not easy to speak in front of the camera 🤪) to share this excerpt from my « interview » directed by my good friend and for his project of documenting people’s passions from different horizons and disciplines.
Don’t hesitate to subscribe to his YouTube channel 1HOTDOC and to contact him for your video projects. Thank you Antoine 🙏🏼

& Big up and gratitude to and all the dedicated students from TTC .zaz, , , , et ttes les autres 💕💕 and thank you to all the people I’ve met that are nourishing my humble step by step yoga journey and of course thank you to all the students trusting me at .be and 🫶🏼🙏🏼

Peace & love ✌🏼💗 ☮️

Bénédicte Lahaye shared a post on Instagram: "Pleine de gratitude (même si c est pas facile de parler devant la caméra 🤪) de pouvoir partager cet extrait de mon “interview” réalisée par mon bon pote et pour son projet de documenter les passions d...

07/11/2021

Viparita Namaskarasana or reverse 🔄 prayer pose 🙏🏼🌳💚

This posture is also known as Paschim Namaskarasana. Paschim means West but in this context, it means backside; namaskar can be translated as greeting or salutation and asana of course is the posture.

Viparita Namaskarasana is an upper body strengthening pose that works specifically on the arms/ shoulders and on opening the chest.

When you enter the pose you can feel your chest and abdomen expanding, allowing yourself to take deeper breaths and feeling an unwinding sensation.
This posture stretches the upper back, the shoulder joints, the pectoral muscles and also fortifies your wrists ligaments.

It can be performed in various postures, the most common is Tadasana (mountain pose) but you can also enter the pose in Vrksasana (tree pose) for example and another possibility to try is the full version of Parsvottanasana (intense side stretch pose).

With your chest opening and your hands united in Anjali Mudra, Viparita Namaskarasana also works on the heart chakra💚. It helps to find a centering sensation in your body. This gesture of prayer is a gesture of gratitude to connect to all that is within us and all that surrounds us.

Placing the hands palms together can be quite intense. So possible modifications for this pose if the shoulders or wrists are feeling too tight to enter the full pose would be to catch opposite elbows or to make fists with your hands and place the fists against one another to have a little less intensity but still working on finding the same opening while listening to your body needs.

I hope you’ll find this helpful!

Wishing y’all yogis out there a beautiful Wednesday 🙏🏼💫
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20/05/2021

“Yoga begins right where I am, not where I was yesterday or where I long to be.”
— Linda Sparrowe, yoga writer and teacher.

This quote made me think about the notions of Abhyāsa and Vaïrāgyā mentioned in Patanjali’s yoga sutras. It’s like never giving up while always letting go. ♾. Contraries can coexist.

Abhyasa, « the practice », (not just physical), the act of being fully present with commitment. Focusing on what is rather than what will or might be. Perseverance in calming the fluctuations of the mind in every day actions. The continuous effort, implication and dedication.

Vaïrāgyā, « detachment », accepting what is without trying to control, with humility, surrendering.
In physical yoga it could be accepting that the perfect pose is imperfect but perfect where I am at the moment. Abandoning mental filters and false perceptions. Liberating ourselves from the desire to control and possess.

So, one day at a time, one step after another, even if the path can sometimes be sinuous, even if you stumble along the way, keep committing, here and now, keep gaining stability. ☮︎

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12/05/2021

Sunshine, nature, sense of freedom!!

🙏🌞🙏🌞🙏🌞🙏🌞🙏🌞🙏🌞

Let’s salute the sun, the center star of our solar system, the amazing source of energy for life on earth! Let’s feel its rays, notice the physical and emotional impact this has on us, a fundamental component of our well being.

Sūrya Namaskar or sun salutations and their variations are a way to honor and thank the sun for the energy it brings us.

Sun salutations have so many benefits, among others they tone muscles and improve flexibility, they help with blood circulation, so with hearth health, digestion and hormonal balance. They stimulate the respiratory system and develop self-awareness through conscious breathing associated to each movement. They procure relaxation to the body and mind, bringing more emotional stability!...

So here I bow with complete gratitude before the one who illuminates the world.

🙏🌞🙏🌞🙏🌞🙏🌞🙏🌞🙏🌞

Soleil, nature, sensation de liberté!!!

🙏🌞🙏🌞🙏🌞🙏🌞🙏🌞🙏🌞

Saluons le soleil, l’étoile centrale de notre système solaire, cette fantastique source d’énergie de la vie sur terre! Ressentons ses rayons en prenant conscience de l’impact physique et émotionnel que cela a sur nous, un composant fondamental de notre bien-être.

Sūrya Namaskar ou les salutations au soleil et leurs variations sont une manière d’honorer et de remercier le soleil pour l’énergie qu’il nous apporte.

Les salutations au soleil ont tellement de bénéfices! Parmi tant d’autres elles tonifient les muscles et améliorent la souplesse générale, elles aident le sang à mieux circuler et donc aident à maintenir le cœur en bonne santé, elles favorisent également la digestion et l’équilibre hormonal. Elles stimulent le système respiratoire et développent la conscience de soi à travers la respiration consciente associée à chaque mouvement. Elles procurent un état de relaxation au corps et à l’esprit apportant plus de stabilité émotionnelle!...

🙏🌞🙏🌞🙏🌞🙏🌞🙏🌞🙏🌞

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23/03/2021

« The study of asana is not about mastering posture. It's about using posture to understand and transform yourself.” B.K.S Iyengar.

In every asana we can connect to our roots but also lift up and rise. The more we connect to our roots, the more we can lift up (a little like trees in the spring : )) .

That research for that sense of steadiness and ease in the posture, « sthira sukham asanam » [as mentioned in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra 2.46], teaches us to respect our limits, to find stability and comfort as a way to observe ourselves internally and anchor ourselves.
So each time we enter in the asanas, we can use them as tools to observe, listen, understand and eventually transform ourselves boundlessly.

I feel there’s something unexplainable about that sensation of steadiness and ease, something you feel and experiment but can’t really put words on it. ♾

« L’étude de l’asana n’est pas celle de la maîtrise de la posture mais celle qui permet d’utiliser la posture pour se comprendre et se transformer ». B.K.S Iyengar.

Dans chaque asana, nous pouvons nous connecter à nos racines et nous élever. Plus l’on se connecte à ses racines, plus l’on parvient à s’élever (un peu comme les arbres au printemps : )) .

Cette recherche de la sensation de stabilité et de légèreté dans la posture, « sthira sukham asanam » [comme mentionné dans les Yoga Sutras de Patanjali, sutra 2.46], nous enseigne à respecter nos limites pour trouver cette stabilité et ce confort telle une manière de nous observer intérieurement et de nous ancrer.
Chaque fois que l’on entre dans une posture, nous pouvons l’utiliser comme un moyen d’observer, d’écouter, de comprendre et éventuellement de nous transformer infiniment.

Je pense qu’il y a quelque chose d’inexplicable à propos de cette sensation stable et comfortable, quelque chose qui se ressent et s’expérimente. ♾
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01/03/2021

« Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like. » Lao Tzu.

I really find this quote meaningful as it offers us an insight on acceptance. Choosing to welcome things in a peaceful way, just the way they come and go, practicing openness freed from judgment.

However in the actual situation, there’s a part of me that can’t resign itself to accept the way our society, or people deciding in our names are manipulating life right now. I sometimes have the feeling of loosing grip on essential choices and rights that we once took for granted are slipping away. As if I felt forced to fit in a mold that is too narrow.

Nonetheless, I’m trying to keep an open and aware mind, staying optimistic about the outcome of the crisis we’re going through. Nothing’s permanent, right?! Practicing acceptance and staying grateful for all the small things making life amazing no matter what! And well, Yoga surely allows me to find that safe space of inner quiet where everything is at peace and flows forward.
Om Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu. ॐ ☮︎
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21/02/2021

Working on the fourth 💚chakra. Trying to go beyond the limitations of the ego and opening up to acceptance of all that is, as it is. Finding that state of openness and making every cell of your body awaken, exchanging energy with all that is around you. Settling down into the vast spaciousness of compassion and peace by letting sealed emotions melt away. Rejoice!

On a physical level, Anahatasana has many benefits. Among others, as a heart opener it expands the chest, deeply opens up the shoulders, stretches the upper and lower back, relieving tensions and of course it improves the breathing flow. 💚💚💚
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28/01/2021

« The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You trade in your sense for an act. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange, put on a mask. There can't be any large-scale revolution until there's a personal revolution, on an individual level. It's got to happen inside first. » -Jim MORRISON-🙏🏼

Finding more space inside as they cut down our freedom. Don’t give up on it!!
Keep practicing, creating your own inner space, your own freedom and hoping we’ll be able to hug all our friends, breathe without restrictions, go wherever we want whenever and dance freely soon!! Soon! ☮️
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28/01/2021

2 minutes of your time to sign this petition if you also believe that sport is essential to promote physical and mental wellbeing as well as reinforce the immune system! ❤️💪 ☮️

2 minutes de votre temps pour signer cette pétition si vous êtes aussi convaincus que le sport est essentiel pour promouvoir le bien-être physique et mental et renforcer le système immunitaire! ❤️💪☮️

PARTAGEZ et SIGNEZ cette pétition pour la réouverture des salles et clubs de sports sans contacts et encadrés le 13 Février !

09/01/2021

“Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self.”
—The Bhagavad Gita.

Armbalances have never been the easiest for me... so this pose is far from perfection in shape but does it matter? Does the destination really matter that much? The journey and what you learn along the way is much more valuable. Poses can also be interpreted as metaphores of bigger inner balances than just balancing on your arms, can’t they? Bringing the pieces of our fragmented self together, connections between mind and body, movement in the present moment synchronized with breath. Allowing yourself to approach, even briefly, that feeling of being whole. I’m really thankful for this never ending journey and what comes along the way! Namaste 🙏🏼☮️
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