Need to supercharge your focus ? Deepen your meditation or to get that report written in a jiffy ? Hakini Mudra can help ! What is Hakini mudra? What does this mudra mean ? Who is the Goddess Hakini who gave her name to this yoga mudra?
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When I’m not on the yoga mat, meditation cushion or in my flamenco shoes… When I’m not shaking a shamanic rattle and drumming till the devas come home… Or when I’m not Reiki-ing myself, my crystals or other people… I write and draw!
And today, I am delighted, honored, dancing, smiling, giggling and sooo happy to present Dancing Devas!
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Shamanism: If you follow me or take my classes, you most certainly have heard the word “shamanism”. But what is shamanism? Who is a shaman? Is there a difference between a shaman and a shamanic practitioner?
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The Gayatri Mantra is one of the most well-known and chanted mantras in the Vedic tradition. It is most often invoked at sunrise or sunset, in honor of the Sun and light. What does the Gayatri Mantra mean? Why do we chant it in yoga and meditation classes?
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Yoga’s Grasshopper Pose opens the hips, twists the spine and strengthens the core. That’s a lot to do at the same time, so let’s break it down into tiny leaps. Get your hopper on – with grace and elegance! Here’s how to, step by step.
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“Reiki” comes from 2 Japanese words “Rei” and “Ki”. “Rei” means “mysterious, sacred” and “Ki” is the vital or universal energy.
Reiki is “sacred or mysterious energy“. So what really is Reiki? And how can we connect to it?
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What plants are burned for energy cleansing? Where do these sacred plants come from? Some of these plants and their habitats are under threat. How can we use the plants responsibly and with respect for them, their ecosystems and the communities that live with them?
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Stagnant energy? Need a mojo uplift? Reach for the Plant! Burning dried plants or incense is a way to cleanse energy that is not only beautiful, but also connects us to the Earth and our human ancestral practices. In this article, I also explore the practice of burning special or sacred plants in world cultures and talk about what is cultural appropriation.
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“Does yoga help for weight loss?” That’s a great question I get asked every now and then. We’ll have a look at calories burned, but also at how yoga helps manage stress, change your relationship with your body and even sleep better. And how yoga – even the more gentle styles – can help shed the pounds AND keep them off.
From a purely physical perspective, yoga is considered a low to medium impact activity. Of course, some yoga styles burn more calories than others: 2 hours of vigorous Astanga Yoga will burn more calories than a short Yin Yoga practice.
But overall, if we are just counting calories, you’ll burn approximately the same amount of calories in a one-hour all-level yoga class as brisk walking for an hour (about 150-200 calories for an adult). So, I totally understand if most people do not naturally reach for the yoga mat to lose weight and slim down.
However, weight loss is not only about how many calories you burn while exercising. It is also about what we eat, calories-wise and quality-wise (we all know that eating a 100-calorie cookie is not the same 100 calories as a bowl of feta and olive salad –also about 100 calories).
Staying in shape is also about mental well-being and stress levels. The more stressed we are, the more we likely we are to make choices that do not really serve us: eat a tub of ice-cream, have the 4th coffee of the day, snack on a bag of chips… Similarly, if we are chronically sleep-deprived, we also tend to gain weight.
And this is precisely how yoga can help for weight loss. And for keeping the extra pounds off!
Yoga increases your awareness: the more you practice, the more in-tune you are with your body and mind. It can change how you perceive yourself, your body, and your life!
This may not happen overnight, but in the long run, this is what will give you the power to change your eating habits. Being more mindful means we can tell more clearly when we are hungry, or if we are eating to fill an emotional need. Overall, yoga makes us more mindful. This in turn helps us listen and respond better to our body’s needs.
Need some chocolate? A glass of water? Or maybe just to talk to a friend?
Being in tune with your body and mind can not only help you change your eating habits, but also help you make lifestyle changes, for the better! Yoga teaches us to be more mindful and better listen to our body.
Over time, it becomes easier and easier to understand when the body tells us it needs more rest, or when it craves a peaceful or more energizing environment. Or more loving and supportive company.
Basically, the takeaway is this: yoga can help you make better choices for yourself, whether this concerns food, people, activities or habits. And often, the benefits of your choices and changes will ripple out and touch your loved ones, your community and even the planet.
Is it the mindful breathing, meditative moments, final Savasana, the teacher’s or the group’s feel-good vibes, or the thousand-year old movements done by generations of yogis before us? Well, maybe all of the above!
Yoga helps the body lower its cortisol its levels. Cortisol is a stress hormone. It is totally natural and essential to the body. Cortisol regulates blood pressure, blood sugar, sleep cycles, the use and storage of fats, carbohydrates and proteins… A great synergy.
The problem is when we are permanently in a state of stress. The body produces more cortisol, and this disrupts the functions that depend on the hormone. As a result, blood pressure and blood sugar levels rise, sleep cycles get disrupted, and the… body stores more fat!
Yoga helps relieve stress, and thus, lowers the body’s cortisol levels. That’s why less stress has a direct impact on your health, on the quality of your sleep, and yep… that’s how yoga can help on weight loss (or rather, fat-loss)!
Get down to your meditation and do Savasana!!
Hold a yoga pose long enough and you’ll feel your muscles working. Yoga poses very often involve different muscle groups at the same time. For example the quadriceps, glutes, torso muscles (and even arm muscles) are all working in Warrior 2, Virabhadrasana 2.
In yoga, we’re not using weights to build muscle, just the weight of our own body. That may seem pretty accessible in Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana) or even in Plank pose. However, carrying your own weight gets harder in Crow Pose (Bakasana), or whole-body inversions such as the Handstand or Pincha Mayurasana, the Feather of the Peacock Pose (see below!).
As we journey through many of yoga’s weight-bearing poses, we’re toning the body, AND learning to love it more.
Yoga does not necessarily make you lose weight if you only look at the number of calories burned.
But staying in shape is more than numbers!
What also helps shed pounds and keep them off? Becoming more aware of your relationship with your body, with food, your well-being. And also being less stressed-out and sleeping better.
All these are yoga’s side-effects and perhaps the secret to having –and keeping- the weight that’s the most adapted to you.
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Garbha Pindasana, Embryo in the Womb Pose, is one of those funny-looking yoga poses that make you go mmmmh?!
Yep, you heard it right: Embryo in the Womb Pose. Do baby yogis sit in Lotus Pose (and hold their ears) while in-utero? I don’t know (and definitely not my babies, from what I saw on the ultrascans!), but hey, that won’t prevent us from having fun with this kinda crazy yoga posture.
Garbha Pindasana comes from the Sanskrit “Garbha”, uterus or womb, and “Pinda”, embryo. It is a variation of Lotus Pose, Padmasana, or Kukkutasana, Rooster Pose. Basically, Embryo in the Womb Pose is a buttock-balancing Padmasana, with arms going into the (very) small space behind the knees, and the hands coming out in front.
I think a picture here is worth a thousand words:
Wondering what are the benefits of compacting your body into an itty-bitty ball – like an embryo in the womb – AND trying to balance on your butt while trying to hold on to your ears? Sounds pretty crazy.
Well here goes: the benefits of Garbha Pindasana:
Start in Padmasana, Lotus Pose.
If Padmasana isn’t part of your practice yet, you can do a half lotus pose – one leg in lotus, or cross your legs in Sukhasana, with your feet as close as possible just below the knees.
(Important note: don’t force on your knees to get into Padmasana. Work on hip opening instead with postures such as Half Lotus, Marichyasana, Janu Sirsasana, Baddha Konasana, Supine Figure 4 Pose (Thread the Needle), Fire Log Pose…)
From Padmasana, thread your arms through the (tight!) space between the lower legs and the thighs, as if coming into Kukkutasana. Go all the way until the elbow! Sometimes it helps to go sideways, rather than straight. Some yogis also wet their forearms (to help slide). And if you’re a bracelet-wearing yogi like me, take them off!
From there, bend your elbows and grab your ears with your hands! I haven’t found my ears yet in Garbha Pindasana, so I put my hands in prayer or gyan mudra!
Then, to come out of Garbha Pindasana, put your hands on the ground and pull your arms out from your Lotus. OR, stay in the pose, curl up into a tighter ball, and roll back and forth on your yoga mat. You can also roll in a circle – usually done clockwise in the Astanga Yoga first series. It’s a super nice back massage and a very energizing movement!
Who’s a Happy Embryo after rolling around in Garbha Pindasana?
And if you love my articles and want to support me, you can buy me a tea here on Buy Me a Coffee. Thank you!