Practicewithpramod

Yoga Therapy is the professional application of the principles and practices of yoga to promote health and well-being that includes personalized assessment, goal setting, lifestyle management, and yoga practices for individuals or small groups. The International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT) is a Not-for-Profit professional organization that supports yoga therapists and promotes yoga therapy as a healing modality. IAYT offers certification, education, and resources for yoga therapists, and it sets standards for training and practice in the field. IAYT’s mission is to advance yoga therapy as a recognized health profession.
With more than 5,000 individual members from 50+ countries & more than 150 Member Schools, IAYT supports research and education in yoga.
Grateful to be a part of this amazing Organization and if you want to know how to get involved and support IAYT, do reach out to me for a quick conversation.

SUN SALUTATIONS
The Sun Salutation, known as Surya Namaskar in Sanskrit, is a sequence of yoga poses practiced in a Hatha yoga tradition. The sun is a symbol of consciousness and the source of all life & each pose in the Sun Salutation sequence is associated with a specific meaning and purpose, often reflecting aspects of nature and spirituality. Practicing 108 Sun Salutations (Surya Namaskar) holds significance in various spiritual and cultural traditions. Here are several reasons why the number 108 is considered special:
- In Hinduism and yoga philosophy, 108 is considered a sacred number that connects the Sun, Moon, and Earth.
- Many Hindu and Buddhist traditions use mala beads (prayer beads) with 108 beads for meditation and chanting mantras.
- There are said to be 108 lunar constellations and 108 energy lines converging to form the heart chakra.

Blessed to practice 108 Sun Salutations today with a group of amazing individuals on International Yoga Day

#108

How to boost our happy hormones
Hormones are our body’s chemical messengers. Once released by glands into your bloodstream, they act on various organs and tissues to control everything from the way our body functions to how we feel. One group of hormones are nicknamed the "feel-good hormones" because of the happy and, sometimes, euphoric feelings they produce. We can boost levels of these hormones with some simple lifestyle changes, like diet, exercise, and meditation, and possibly improve our mood in the process.

Serotonin, dopamine, endorphins, and oxytocin help promote happiness and pleasure while reducing depression and anxiety. We can give these feel-good hormones a natural boost with some simple activities.
Hormonal imbalances are very common during the holiday season and boosting our happy hormones by incorporating some simple lifestyle hacks can lift us out of those depressive dumps and into the happy hormone heaven.

Happy (Hormonal) Holidays Everyone!.

# sun

"Nature is not a place to visit, it is home." ☀️

In whatever position one is in, or in whatever condition in life one is placed, one must find balance. Balance is the state of the present – the here and now. If you balance in the present, you are living in Eternity. — B.K.S. Iyengar

The tree pose or vrikshasana , is a wonderful meditation that begins with an integration of our body, mind and breath that invokes the inspiring qualities of trees: mercy, generosity, flexibility, tolerance, strength, endurance, balance and grace.

Prana is the Life Energy that animates every function and every system of the body. Pranayama is one of the most potent practices in the Hatha Yoga tradition. There is nothing more essential to our health and well-being than breathing.
Understand and learn fundamental yogic breathing techniques to strengthen & free your breath.
When: Saturday September 30 @ 12 noon
Where: Modo Yoga Brooklin
Breathe for a cause: your $10 donation will support

Yoga Instructors are there to just instruct, however you are your own teacher. We are all teachers in some aspects of our lives so investigate to find your own truth - inside, not outside. Every individual has the capacity to learn and grow from their own experiences, observations, and self-reflection and each person possesses an innate ability to gain insights and knowledge through introspection and personal exploration. Learning is a lifelong process that can be guided by one's own internal drive and curiosity and the same works for your Yoga Practice as well.

Yoga is the perfect opportunity to be curious about who you are.

Plank Pose or Phalakasana (also known as Kumbhakasana) is one of yoga’s foundational poses. As much a core strengthening it is also a mind strengthening pose, Plank Pose can teach us to find mental and physical ease within a challenging position. A reminder that we can tackle obstacles on and off the mat.

Our core is made up of several muscle groups and covers our abdominals, back, hips, pelvis, and buttocks. A weak core can cause all kinds of problems, but the biggest issue with core weakness is low back pain. Back muscles and our core help to stabilize your body before any movement. If our core is weak, the other surrounding muscles have to compensate. Over time, these muscles can suffer strain, which leads to lingering pain. Plank pose strengthens the abdominal muscles and also activates other related muscles, such as glutes, hamstrings and lower back.

The world record for holding a plank is more than four hours, but thankfully, you just have to focus on doing multiple sets of one or two minutes each.

Every year on June 21, International Yoga Day is observed to raise awareness of the important health benefits of practicing yoga. “Yoga for Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” is the theme for International Yoga Day 2023. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam is a Sanskrit phrase which means "The World Is One Family". Vedic tradition mentions "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" meaning all living beings on the earth are a family. Here are a few ideas for how to celebrate International Yoga Day:
-Take a yoga class.
-Practice yoga at home.
-Learn about the origins of yoga and 8 limbs of Yoga.
-Inspire others to give yoga a try.
-Meditate by focusing on your breath.
The Bhagavad Gita says Yoga is skill in action so make everyday a yoga day.

SPINE HEALTH
You are as young or healthy as your spine.

Our spine is one of the most important parts and is our body's central support structure. The spine is made of 33 individual bones (including Sacrum & Coccyx region) stacked one on top of the other. This spinal column provides the main support for your body, allowing us to stand upright, bend, and twist, while protecting the spinal cord from injury. Spinal cord connects our brain to the rest of our body and acts as an information superhighway allowing us to control our movements.

Many of the postures in yoga gently strengthen the muscles in the back, as well as the abdominal muscles. Back and abdominal muscles are essential components of the muscular network of the spine, helping the body maintain proper upright posture and movement. A regular Asana practice with correct breathing technique can improve the overall health of the spine, prevent stiffness, stimulate the spinal cord and reduce pain.

If you are experiencing pain, tightness or discomfort in your lower back, Neck & shoulders or mid back or just want to strengthen your spine to avoid any issues in the future, I can help. DM.

In Yogic and Buddhist philosophy, the kleshas are considered to be the cause of all suffering as they contribute to negative thought patterns and unhelpful behaviors that block the path to inner peace.

The five obstacles to happiness listed by Patanjali are:
AVIDYA - ignorance or wrong understanding, the root of all obstacles to happiness
ASMITA - egoism, the faulty identification of oneself with the instruments of the body and mind
RAGA - attachment, desiring something that has given you pleasure before
DVESA - aversion, fear of things that experience tells you can be unpleasant
ABHINIVESA - fear of death, the instinctive love of life and dread of death

We are all born with these kleshas and the first stage of working with the kleshas is to simply acknowledge them. Reflection promotes self-awareness, self-understanding, and self-knowledge to uncover and see the kleshas and their roots as well as how they create suffering. Various Yoga, Pranayama and Meditation techniques can be used that will help remove that suffering and bring back the balance in life.

As long as there is craving in the mind,
as long as in the mind is aversion,
there will be suffering, only suffering;
the mind cannot be purged of affliction.
Dhamma is not found in Temples or sold in the Bazaar, Dhamma is not found in books, whoever practices it, attains it.