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Why Learning Philosophy is Good for Your Yoga Classes

By Yoga Philosophy

I need to be honest. When I first started going to yoga classes, all I wanted to do was move and breathe and be told what to do. I had way too much going on with work, my relationships, and different dramas in my life that I needed a break from.

Going to yoga was the only thing in my life that gave me a chance to collect myself and go back into the world with a better headspace, but eventually I started to catch myself running through to-do lists while I was in a warrior two or planning dinner while I was in savasana. My mind had gotten over the initial bliss that comes from the newness of yoga and I caught myself on autopilot more times than I’d like to admit.

I didn’t realize how much more there was to yoga until I found myself in a class with a teacher I’d never practiced with before. At the start of class, they started talking about this book called The Bhagavad Gita and how your mind can either be your worst enemy or your best friend.

They spoke about how yoga gives you the tools to be best friends with your mind and how you have the ability to control how you respond to things instead of being reactive. The teacher then told us to notice when our minds wandered off during class and to simply bring our attention back to our breath and what our bodies were doing. Anytime my mind wandered off, I remembered to watch my inhale and my exhale and be present.

After taking my first class that had a bit of yoga philosophy weaved into it, I became hooked on learning more about texts like The Bhagavad Gita and The Yoga Sutras. Lucky for me, most yoga teachers were discussing these texts before and during their classes.

A little over a year later, I completed my 200 hour teacher training and became a teacher too. As a new teacher, I found that studying yoga philosophy actually made my class planning more fun. I loved finding themes for classes and figuring out ways to keep my students engaged throughout class.

I still use my knowledge and studies in yoga philosophy to plan my yoga classes and to weave little reminders into my classes. I truly believe that learning yoga philosophy is good for your yoga class in so many ways. Here are some of my favorites:

1. You will teach your students that yoga isn’t just about the poses

Most people come to a yoga class to move and keep themselves strong and flexible. These are great reasons to practice yoga, but most people eventually get stuck or bored when something is just about being physical. Throughout the years, there have been so many fitness trends and so many new ways to stay in shape, but yoga is one of the few practices that’s stayed pretty popular. This is because it has such a rich history and so much important philosophy that goes alongside the physical practice.

The physical part of yoga is just one small practice amongst many, many others. Once you learn a little about the philosophy, you will see how helpful it is in finding ways to live a life that’s free from suffering. Teaching your students about yoga philosophy will help them realize that yoga is more than asana and there are so many beautifully moving parts that work together to create an experience as well as a way of life.

2. You’ll avoid burnout and boredom

If you’re currently teaching yoga, you may have had an experience or two where you felt like you were teaching the same thing, saying the same thing, and doing the same thing. This can happen when you don’t have inspiration to keep you inspired and fresh. There are only so many yoga asanas and so many ways to combine them safely, but there are endless ways to theme a class and create a mood for your students that’s inspiring and supportive.

Whether you like to give dharma talks or are required to give dharma talks, you’ll find that you’ll run out of ideas pretty soon if you teach somewhat regularly. When you study yoga philosophy, you’ll naturally come across tons and tons of possible themes for your classes and dharma talks. The themes that you find will also be deep, thoughtful, and substantial enough to weave through your classes and keep your students interested because they’re rooted in finding happiness and living a life that’s full of love and goodness.

In case you’re unfamiliar with this idea, a dharma talk is something yoga teachers may include at the beginning of their classes to:

  • Set a tone for the practice to come
  • Share important yoga philosophy concepts
  • Bring everyone’s focus to one specific point
  • Create a community
  • Give students a moment to settle onto their mats

Check out this 15 Minute Masterclass on giving Dharma Talks ?

3. You’ll naturally create a supportive atmosphere

The fact that our true nature is all-loving is a teaching that’s at the heart of almost all yoga philosophy. When you begin to study this and tap into ways to practice it, you will naturally be more loving and more supportive towards yourself and towards everyone else in your life. What you study becomes what you live and what you live becomes what you teach, so you will be infusing your classes with a supportive mood that your students will want to keep coming back to.

4. The asanas are rooted in yoga philosophy

Did you know that the yoga asanas, or the yoga poses, all have their own story? When you study yoga philosophy, you’ll learn what the true nature of a warrior is, why some of the birds are inspired to fly, and how certain sages rose above suffering by conquering their minds. It’s sometimes said that the asanas embody the qualities that they’re named after, so when you are in a warrior pose, you are naturally calling in the qualities of a warrior. This can be really inspiring and helpful to teach!

There’s so much to uncover…

The more you study yoga philosophy, the more interesting it gets. It’s never been something that’s felt boring to me and it’s always been something that’s inspired me to teach more and more. Anytime I’ve ever felt stuck in a class plan or whenever I lacked inspiration, I always went back to my notes and books from my studies. Since yoga is a practice that goes beyond the physical, it’s incredibly important to understand the other elements that make up the practice.

If you are looking for an accessible and interesting dive into yoga philosophy, check out our course! It’s full of important information, intriguing stories, and endless inspiration!

10/13/2022
Love5
Revolved Extended Side Angle

Weekly Class Theme: Santosha

By Yoga Teachers

The Yamas + Niyamas make up the first two steps of the 8-limbed yogic path. You can think of the yamas as ethical rules to cultivate in our lives to live a more yogic life. These include non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, non-excess, and non-attachment. The niyamas are duties that should be tended to on the journey of spiritual enlightenment. These include purity, contentment, self-discipline, self-study, and surrender.

In this blog post we’ll briefly discuss the second niyama, santosha, meaning contentment. In the modern world we live in, it is SO EASY to feel discontent. We feel discontent when we see other people “living their best lives…” in quotations because what we see is not always what is true. Discontent arises when we run away from present moment emotions or pretend they do not exist…”Me? Sad? Absolutely not.” Discontent appears the moment we begin to complain about what we do not have and when we start to wish we lived entirely different lives…”My job sucks, my partner sucks, I SUCK. If only things were different.”

Social media, and the general connectivity of the human population, almost seems to pronounce our shortcomings. We are constantly put into a state of lack. There’s always something new and upcoming…there is always something that will make our lives better. This combined with the fact that we live in a world of accessibility, of course discontentment can take us if we let it!

I don’t know about you, but this is NOT something I would like to continue to subscribe to. So how do we pause, wipe our lens clear, and instead cultivate deep content with our lives no matter where we are and what our current situation is?

We could spend all day talking about this, but I am going to give the broad brush stroke of awareness + gratitude. Developing an awareness of when we begin to slip out of contentment…when we start to envy someone, when we begin to ruminate on past actions, or when we start to wish we were elsewhere…and then dosing ourselves with gratitude is what can help us transcend into santosha.

Gratitude is the antidote to discontentment. And a deep trust in that where we are is where we are meant to be. All past actions and experiences have led to this present moment. There is nothing to be changed, altered, or forced any other way. Grounding ourselves in each present moment, regardless of the circumstance, will guide us towards experiencing contentment in ourselves right now.

Peak Pose: Revolved Extended Side Angle (Parivrtta Utthita Parsvakonasana)

This pose is physically taxing and requires awareness and steadiness of one’s center and ground. While this pose may not look so intense to some, anyone who enters into it knows that it takes practice enter into this pose and hold it. Also don’t be surprised if you get knocked off center a few times while practicing!

Child’s Pose with Side Stretch (Balasana)

A girl laying on the ground with her head down in child's pose and arms extended out to one side

Creating length in the sides of the body gives more space for twists to occur. This pose also generates a connection between the torso and thigh, which appears in the peak pose.

How to:

  1. Come into child’s pose with the big toes touching and knees wide enough for the torso to fit through.
  2. Walk your hands over towards the right side of the room until you feel a stretch in the left side of your body.
  3. When your torso touches your thigh, pick up the torso a bit, walk the hands over a little more, and then resettle into the pose.
  4. You can have your hands next to one another, or lay your left hand on top of the right hand.

Low Lunge Twist

A girl in low lunge twist on a yoga mat

Doesn’t this look just like the peak pose?! This pose creates the shape of revolved extended side angle, but in a much more accessible way.

How to:

  1. Starting from low lunge with the back knee lifted, keep your left hand on the floor and take your right arm to the sky.
  2. Turn your belly and chest from left to right.
  3. Take your right palm forward and reach the arm over your ear.
  4. The bottom hand can rest on a block if one has trouble touching the ground.

Eagle Pose (Garudasana)

A girl in eagle pose on a yoga mat

Eagle helps to compact the outer hips and steady oneself while the limbs cross. This is similar in our peak pose.

How to:

  1. Start in chair pose with the arms wide.
  2. Cross the right knee over the left knee, closing the space between the legs. Depending on leg length/circumference/mobility, you can single cross the legs (as pictured) or double cross the legs and wrap the right foot behind the left calf.
  3. Keep the outer hips compacted in as the hips remain low.
  4. Wrap the right arm underneath the left arm, lift the elbows to shoulder height, and take the fingertips to face the sky.
  5. Attempt to bring the palms together as your firm the outer shoulders in.
  6. Keep the crown of the head towards the sky.

Peak Pose: Revolved Extended Side Angle (Parivrtta Utthita Parsvakonasana)

How to:

  1. Start in low lunge with the back knee on the floor.
  2. Bring the hands into a prayer position in front of the sternum.
  3. Twist the torso from left to right and hook the left elbow outside the right leg. Compacting the outer hips in will assist the deep twist. Once the hook is established, lift the back knee up.
  4. Draw the shoulder blades together to widen the arms from the floor to ceiling, and then take your right palm forward and scratch the arm over the ear.
  5. In the traditional Iyengar version, the back heel is lowered to the floor at an angle making this an even deeper twist!

Sources: The Yamas + Niyamas by Deborah Adele

10/13/2022
Love12

Yoga Sutras 101

By Yoga Philosophy

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is a text that’s included in 200 hour yoga teacher trainings almost everywhere, so you might think that the text is packed with some easy to follow concepts that are neatly packaged into a nice quick read.

At least, that’s what I thought too when I began my 200 hour teacher training years ago, so I was in for a surprise when I began to dive into the text!

I remember being overwhelmed with Sanskrit words I’d never heard, feeling more and more confused each time I turned a page, and wondering how any of it could be applied to my everyday life. It seemed like it was text for people who didn’t need to have a job or deal with conflict that came up with friends and family. I couldn’t understand why it was a part of my training.

It wasn’t until I read more commentaries, studied with more teachers, and expanded my own training that I started to realize how important The Yoga Sutras are to us as humans here on Earth today.

It’s no joke when someone tells you that these concepts need to be unpacked and discussed because they’re pretty hard to understand if you simply sit and read through the text on your own. At this point in my studies and teaching, I’m actually excited to talk about The Yoga Sutras and find ways to make the text as accessible and understandable as possible.

Here are a few points that will hopefully intrigue you and also give you some insight into the teachings:

The Yoga Sutras help eliminate human suffering

There are three different kinds of suffering: suffering caused by one’s body and mind, suffering caused by other beings, and suffering caused by natural disasters.

You can’t control everything that happens to you, but you can control how you respond. The purpose of The Yoga Sutras is to offer ways to understand the self and the universe so you can respond to the things you can’t control in a way that helps you learn more about yourself.

Patanjali didn’t create The Yoga Sutras

Although Patanjali’s name is on almost every copy of The Yoga Sutras, Patanjali didn’t come up with them.

It’s believed that there was a time when people could easily memorize information without reading or writing anything down and truth flowed freely from person to person without distraction. Very little is known about Patanjali, who is believed to have lived anywhere between 200 BCE to 500 CE, but it is believed that as people began to struggle to remember truthful information,

Patanjali was the one who took control of recording The Yoga Sutras. So he wasn’t the person who created them, but rather documented them.

Vyasa didn’t create The Yoga Sutras, either

Vyasa is another name you’ll probably come across as you study The Yoga Sutras and also most yoga philosophy. Vyasa existed around 500 CE and was the first to comment on The Yoga Sutras.

This Vyasa is not to be confused with the author of other texts throughout yoga philosophy, as it’s believed that they are different people. Some schools of thought also believe that Vyasa may actually be a title that was attained by a certain class of scholars. Either way, all later commentaries on The Yoga Sutras depend heavily on Vyasa’s.

There are many translations and commentaries on The Yoga Sutras

If you go to a bookstore or do an online search for The Yoga Sutras, you will probably find books of all sizes, translations that are slightly different, and commentaries that say things in various ways. This is because The Yoga Sutras are in Sanskrit and Sanskrit is incredibly difficult to translate directly.

It does a Sanskrit word a disservice to say that the word means this or that, so it’s better to think about the qualities the word embodies.

The Yoga Sutras have also been around for a very long time, so as this world changes, so do different concepts. In a more current commentary of the Yoga Sutras, the commentator may explain how the mind often sees experiences through a certain kind of covering similar to an Instagram filter. Years ago, this wouldn’t have made sense because there was no such thing as Instagram, so the commentator would have had to use a different example.

The first chapter is called The Samadhi Pada

The first chapter, or book, or “pada” in Sanskrit, presents you with the concept of creating clarity, distractions you may face, the outcome of distractions, and the fact that your mind is extremely powerful when you are able to remove obstacles, limitations, and anything that clouds it.

This chapter explains how the mind doesn’t always see the truth and how everyone on Earth seems to be walking around with their own versions of what is true. It outlines how anyone with a mind can either find themselves existing in sadness or bliss, depending on how well they have conquered their mind.

The second chapter is called the Sadhana Pada

In the Samadhi Pada, you are introduced to what clouds your mind, your self imposed obstacles, and the power your mind has.
In book one, you learn many of the principles of yoga. Then, the first 30ish Sutras of book two guide you to understand appropriate action. Much of the first part of book two can be seen as a guide to sitting with discomfort and using it to your advantage. It’s sometimes too easy to mask or move over what causes some kind of discomfort.
The second part of the Sadhana Pada introduces the 8 Limb Path. This path helps you improve yourself, your relationship with the world, your relationship with your mind, and with your emotions.

Vibhuti Pada and Kaivalya Pada are the third & fourth chapters

Most yoga teacher trainings only cover chapters one and two of The Yoga Sutras. This may be because the third and fourth chapters talk about things like special powers and abilities a person may attain from the practices in the previous chapters.

In the third book, you learn about the powers that come as bi-products of the yoga practice outlined in Books one and two and then in the fourth book, you will learn about the path of renunciation, detachment from material objects, and freedom from earthly desires.

The Yoga Sutras don’t always fit in to our daily life

After bringing up special powers and renunciation, you might be wondering how this fits into your day to day life where you have a job, a family, and responsibilities.

In short, it doesn’t.

The Yoga Sutras provide the information and the tools needed to understand the mind to take control of it. The text also discusses what can happen once the mind is controlled and you’re no longer responding to its every whim.

As beings here on Earth in this present day, it’s important to use the teachings of The Yoga Sutras to conquer the mind and realize the mind isn’t in control. Once this is realized, the possibilities to take control of your life are endless.

It’s all about: remember who you are

There are many themes throughout The Yoga Sutras and there are many threads that weave in and out of the text and other areas of Yoga Philosophy. Something that I’ve come to understand and love about all of it is that the teachings are meant to help me become a better person. They’re meant to help me move away from the suffering or pain that I often cause myself and move towards love and happiness. Yoga philosophy has provided insight into connecting with my purpose and why I’m here. It’s been the main force that’s helped me remember who I am.

It leaves much to be discussed

One of the coolest things about The Yoga Sutras is that they’re meant to be discussed. This text isn’t something you read, memorize concepts from, and then move on and forget all about it. It’s a text that’s supposed to move with you and you move through life and also a text that’s meant to be questioned. The sutras are small, quick, intelligent blurbs of wisdom that should be sat with, unpacked, and talked about with students, teachers, family, and friends. They’re for anyone who is willing to open up to them and attempt to use them as a way to have a life that’s a bit sweeter. There are lots of commentaries written on them because there is simply so much to say and so many questions to ponder.

As you study different areas of yoga philosophy, I invite you to move through each area with an open mind and an open heart. There are so many beautiful truths to the teachings that are present in lots of other philosophies around the world and seeing that common thread can be eye-opening when it comes to seeking answers. I have always been intrigued with The Yoga Sutras because the text is read and studied by so many beautiful yoga teachers and practitioners across the world.

The Yoga Sutras are a great place to pull information from as inspiration for your Dharma Talks.

If you want more tips on giving great Dharma talks, grab my free Dharma Talk Starter Kit.

10/10/2022
Love8
yoga philosophy books

Yoga Philosophy Books We Love

By Yoga Philosophy

Yoga is more than just a physical practice—it’s a holistic way of life that integrates the mind, body, and soul. Yoga philosophy offers profound insights that can deepen your yoga journey and transform how you approach life’s challenges. Whether you’re just beginning or looking to enrich your practice, these yoga philosophy books can be powerful companions on your path.

1. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

the yoga sutras of patanjali book cover

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are foundational texts for anyone looking to understand the deeper dimensions of yoga. This book explores the eight limbs of yoga and offers timeless wisdom on how to live a life of balance and peace. If you’re considering diving deeper into the philosophy of yoga, this is an essential read.

For a structured and guided exploration of these teachings, check out our Yoga Philosophy Course, where we break down key concepts from the Sutras and apply them to modern living.

2. The Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita is another classic text that offers profound wisdom on life, duty, and devotion. Its teachings are invaluable for understanding the relationship between self-discipline, mindfulness, and the path to self-realization.

Our blog post on How Yoga Can Help You Find Purpose discusses themes from the Gita and how to bring them into your daily practice.

3. The Upanishads

the upanishads book cover

Often referred to as the “secret teachings,” the Upanishads dive deep into the metaphysical aspects of yoga. They explore concepts such as the nature of the self and the universe, making them a must-read for any serious yoga practitioner.

Dive deeper into yoga’s spiritual roots with our Advanced Yoga Philosophy Course, where we explore the Upanishads and other ancient texts in detail.

4. Light on Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar

Light on Yoga Book Cover

Known as the “bible” of yoga practice, this book blends philosophy with practical asana instruction. B.K.S. Iyengar explains how physical postures (asanas) tie into the larger philosophy of yoga, making it a comprehensive guide for both the body and mind.

Internal link opportunity: For a deep dive into the connection between asanas and philosophy, explore our 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training Program, which offers an in-depth approach to both practice and theory.

5. The Heart of Yoga by T.K.V. Desikachar

The Heart of Yoga Book Cover

T.K.V. Desikachar’s “The Heart of Yoga” offers a personal approach to the philosophy and practice of yoga. The author translates ancient teachings into practical advice for modern yoga students, making it accessible for practitioners at any stage.

If you’re interested in learning how to integrate yoga philosophy into your everyday life, our Yoga Philosophy Course offers tools and teachings that can help bridge the gap between ancient wisdom and modern living.

Why Learning Yoga Philosophy is Important

Lindsay Monal reading yoga philosophy books on a teal yoga mat in a light yellow sweater with her hair pulled back and legs crossed in Sukhasana

Lindsay Monal of YogaRenew, reading the ancient, philosophical teachings of yoga

Reading these texts is just one step in the journey. To truly integrate these teachings into your practice, consider joining our Yoga Philosophy Course, where you’ll learn to apply these powerful concepts in your personal practice and teaching.

To get more insights on how yoga philosophy can deepen your teaching, visit our blog on Teaching Philosophy for Yoga Teachers.

10/07/2022
Love8

Weekly Class Theme: Saucha

By Yoga Teachers

The niyamas are 5 ethical principles which give us guidance in how to live a more conscious and fulfilled life as a yogi. The first of the Niyamas, Saucha, meaning purity invites us to be clean and pure in our physical acts, the words we speak, and in how we hold ourselves and others in each present moment.

Saucha is a consistent reminder to “lighten our load.” In the outermost layer, you can think of cleaning your physical body and cleaning your physical space. A clean body and a clean environment can certainly help you cultivate a clear mind; think about trying to meditate after doing a mud run, or trying to do yoga nidra amongst piles of clothing and other belongings. It may be a little harder to concentrate on connecting with the divine!

Of course, this niyama does not only call our attention to our physical bodies and spaces. Saucha also reminds us to speak purely with ourselves and others. This does not mean being falsely positive, nor does it mean to be rude as justification for “honesty.” It means to speak without trying to change how we or someone else may be feeling. It means to express words free from judgment and it means to truly be present when someone else is speaking so we can respond purley and appropriately.

Lastly (at least within the context of this blog post), saucha allows us to recall the importance of being present with ourselves and others so that we can be fully alive in each moment. Instead of living our lives in fast forward, why not slow things down to enjoy one moment at a time…even if that moment is not what we would deem as “perfect” or even “pleasurable?”

So here’s an asana idea for YOU to practice bringing saucha into your body and your life.

Peak Pose: Upward Facing Dog aka Urdhva Mukha Svanasana

UFD is an intense backbend. Even though we take it a lot in the vinyasa practice, we have to ALWAYS be pure in our approach. If done with no consciousness we run the risk of injuring ourselves, and if teaching without lighting awareness on alignment, we run the risk of setting up others for failure.

Wide Leg Forward Fold (Prasarita Padottanasana)

Wide Leg Forward Fold

Opening up the inner leg/groin muscles can help to create space in movement of the pelvis…which of course is necessary for our backbending practice!

How to:

  1. From low lunge, straighten your legs and pivot towards a long edge of your mat.
  2. Bring your hands to the ground or blocks if you can’t reach the ground.
  3. Lift the inner arches of your feet, the inner line of your legs, and the kneecaps to help lift the sit bones towards the sky.
  4. Walk your hands under your legs so they are in line with your feet as you pull the crown of your head towards the floor.

Crescent Lunge with Hands Clasped Behind Back (Ashta Chandrasana)Crescent Lunge with Hands Clasped Behind Back

This will help to not only open up the hip flexor muscles, but will also help to broaden the chest by taking the arms behind the back.

How to:

  1. Step the left foot forward and lower the back knee to the floor (although we stepped the left foot forward first, we are doing the work in the right leg first; you don’t have to sequence this way but just an idea).
  2. Press your left foot and right shin into the ground to upright the torso.
  3. Press your sacrum forward to lift the frontal hip points towards the navel.
  4. Swim your arms around the back to interlace your fingers and firm your shoulder blades into your upper back to support upwards movement of your chest.

Revolved Triangle (Parivrtta Trikonasana)

Revovled triangle pose melanie

Twisting supports backbends in lengthening the side bodies, broadening the chest, and this particular twist emphasizes the work in the legs…all necessary for upward facing dog.

How to:

  1. Face the front of your mat with your right leg forward, with toes going directly forward, and left leg back, with toes slightly out on an angle, about 2-3 feet.
  2. Bring your hands to your hips and use your legs to draw the right hip back and left hip forward so the left side of your ribcage can start to wrap forward.
  3. Take your left arm straight to the sky and your right arm out to the right side of your space.
  4. Hinge forward and turn your torso to the right as you continue to draw the right hip back.
  5. Bring your left hand to a block on the outside of your right foot and take your right arm straight to the ceiling.
  6. As you twist, bring your right shoulder blade towards your spine to help broaden the chest.

Peak Pose: Upward Facing Dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana)Upward Facing Dog

How to:

  1. From your belly, take your flat palms to the floor or blocks (blocks help create space to lift the thighs as I probably should have done during this mini photoshoot).
  2. Lengthen your legs behind you and point your toes on the floor to create smooth ankles and shins.
  3. Press your hands down and the tops of the feet down as you straighten your arms to lift your legs, hips, and chest off the floor.
  4. Straighten your arms and firm the shoulder blades into your upper back to broaden the chest and pull the heart forward.
  5. Keep the outer ankles in and legs firm as you press your sacrum forward.

Sources: The Yamas & Niyamas by Deborah Adele

10/03/2022
Love4
Yoga Philosophy - hands playing the harmonium

What is Yoga Philosophy?

By Yoga Philosophy

A lot of people who find themselves on a yoga mat or in a yoga teacher training have probably come to the yoga practice through the physical asanas.

The asanas, or the yoga poses, have become what we tend to associate yoga with. If you tell a friend that you’re going to a yoga class, they probably will assume that you’re taking a physical class that involves movement, breath, and maybe some mental focus. But, as you dive deeper into yoga, you come to find that yoga is actually way more than just physical practices. In fact, there’s a whole philosophy system behind it that’s literally thousands of years old.

Yoga philosophy is super important to the overall practice because it’s what helps you understand your mind, your soul, and why you’re here doing what you’re doing and what you’re meant to do.

The problem is the term “philosophy” can be a bit intimidating – at least it definitely was for me at first. Eventually, I started to realize how it wasn’t meant to turn me away or confuse me. In fact, as I started studying more about yoga philosophy I was actually gaining a greater sense of clarity because I was stepping into the workings of my mind and my body as well as studying the nature of my soul.

Finding a deeper path in yoga and in life

Yoga philosophy helped me connect to my purpose in life and also helped me tap into my ability to experience bliss and regain control when life sometimes knocked me off my feet. It’s how I learned I can connect to my true self and attempt to see that in all beings around me.

What’s exciting about yoga philosophy is that these concepts that can seem complicated at first are actually super simple and can be applied to literally anything and everything in your life both on and off the mat.

Let’s take a look at some of the key concepts that make yoga philosophy so relatable.

“I am not my body or my mind.”

When you dive into the core concepts of yoga philosophy, a common thread that runs through the teachings is that you are not your body or your mind. This might sound a little scary or strange at first, but when you unpack this concept, it’s actually very comforting. From the perspective of yoga philosophy, you have a body and you have a mind, but you are actually a soul.

Your soul is having a human experience here and you are moving your body around the same way you drive a bike or a car. If you don’t take care of what you’ve got, you will have a lot of trouble moving through this lifetime in a balanced way because you aren’t connecting with your soul.

Connect with the soul and cultivate compassion

In Sanskrit, which is the language of yoga, there are many different concepts used to understand the soul. Some of these concepts are: jiva, atman, purusha, and drastuh.

Anything that is born, grows, reproduces, and dies is a soul. This teaches that humans, plants, and animals all have souls and when you understand this concept, you can begin to cultivate a bit more compassion towards all beings.

When you recognize that you are living amongst other souls, you can connect with them, and with nature, in a more elevated way that keeps you focused on how eternal, wise, and blissful you really are. The soul is eternal, full of wisdom, and blissful.

The deeper you dive into yoga philosophy, the more you find the teaching that the soul is “sat chit ananda” which means eternal, full of wisdom, and blissful.

When you realize that this is what you are, you may begin to realize that the temporary problems in life aren’t that bad. If you are a soul that is eternal, then maybe losing that job isn’t that big of a deal because it doesn’t define who you are in terms of our eternality. If you are a soul that is full of wisdom, then you can begin to look within yourself for the answers you’re seeking. If you are a soul that is blissful, then any time you experience some kind of suffering, you may be able to understand that it’ll be temporary because that’s not your true nature and you have the ability to reframe you experience.

Samskaras: Impressions made on the mind

Since the mind is something you have, not something you are, you have the ability to control the way you take in information and how you see the world. From the time you’re born, you begin to create stories and belief systems that are very specific to us as individuals.

For example, if someone had a frightening experience with a dog when they were a child, they may grow into an adult who believes all dogs are scary. This isn’t the truth, but for them it is. Yoga philosophy teaches you that you can control the way your mind responds to the feelings and thoughts that come up and recognize that your experiences is specific to you as an individual. These experiences may not be the actual truth and you have the ability to move beyond false impressions to begin to see what is actually happening.

Since the mind is malleable, you aren’t stuck with the impressions that you currently have. Yoga philosophy teaches that you have the ability to change the way you think and you also are empowered to mold your mind to be a tool that works with you, not against you.

We all have samskaras, which are impressions made on the mind over time. You can think of the mind like an ice skating rink and the marks the skates make on the ice are the samskaras. They’re engraved into the ice for some time, but if you own the ice rink, you have the ability to call in the zamboni to smooth the ice out.

You have this ability to do the same with your thoughts, beliefs, and past experiences. You also have the ability to choose what marks you make on your mind.

The 3 parts of the mind

Yoga philosophy shines a light on the various areas of the mind:

  1. Manos: The first part of the mind is the manos mind and it’s where your primal instincts are. It’s where you understand that you need food, shelter, and a way to stay alive.
  2. Ahankara: The second part of the mind is the ahankara, which is where you often forget that you are a soul and you have a body. It’s where you think you are the color of your hair, the car you drive, and the job you have. It’s where you think you are the body and the mind as opposed to being a soul.
  3. Buddhi: The last part of the mind is the buddhi, which is where your ability to discern is and where your intellect lies. This is the part of the mind that helps you recognize that you are a soul having a human experience and all experiences are happening for you.

Life is happening for you, not to you

At the heart of yoga philosophy, there’s a concept that everything happening in this lifetime is happening for you and not to you. Every person you meet and every experience you have is meant to help you understand and connect to your soul.

When you have a negative experience, it’s meant to help you realize that this world and your brain and body are temporary because you are a soul that is eternal. You are moving through this lifetime on this planet as a human being in an attempt to connect to what’s eternal and everything you experience is here to help you realize that.

Yoga philosophy is about cultivating the tools to live this life to its absolute fullest. It helps us understand that you are meant to have an experience in this lifetime that connects you to your truth and to who you are. It helps you understand why sometimes you’re sad or angry and it provides you with the tools to empower yourself to live a life you love and make connections with people and situations that bring you up instead of down. The more you study, the more you can stand in your own truth and not be swayed by the things that bring you down.

The yoga asana, or physical practice, is beautiful and important, but if you’ve ever tried to get through a yoga or meditation practice right after having a bad day at work or having a fight with a friend or partner, you probably didn’t have the best practice.

When you’re able to understand how your mind and how it works, you can begin to control how you experience and how you respond to the things you cannot control. You can’t control what happens to you in this lifetime, but you can control the way you react to it and you can also control the way you process these experiences. When you’re able to do this, you’re able to live a more blissful life.

Understanding yoga philosophy is integral to the practice

Yoga philosophy was what elevated me from thinking that yoga was only about the movement and going to yoga classes. It made me realize how much more there is to this human experience and how much more I can open my heart to the blissful things in this world during this lifetime.

And the best part is that as a teacher, it’s easy to share about yoga philosophy in your yoga asana classes. The Dharma talk is the perfect way to tell your students about the philosophy concepts you feel most connected to.

Dharma talks are kind of my thing, and I put together a guide with everything I know about giving great Dharma talks in my totally free Dharma Talk Starter Kit. Download the guide now to see how you can incorporate the philosophy of yoga into your teaching!

Related Courses:

Yoga Philosophy Online Course

Yoga Philosophy Online Course

Yamas & Niyamas Online Workshop

Yamas & Niyamas Online Workshop
10/03/2022
Love12
Girl in Camel Pose

Weekly Class Theme: Forgiveness

By Yoga Teachers

When the topic of forgiveness comes up, immediately the quote that comes to mind is:

Holding a grudge is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.

Forgiveness is an interesting process and one that takes time, patience, and compassion. For the person on the receiving end of whatever warrants a forgiveness, it can be a complex process and one that shouldn’t be rushed. Although, it shouldn’t be held onto either. Holding back forgiveness can lead to built up anger and resentment affecting many other aspects of life.

Actually, when we decide to forgive someone for something they’ve done to us…I think we ultimately make that decision for ourselves. Making the decision to forgive can release us from holding onto grudges and if done so authentically, actually frees us up from worrying about someone else’s decisions and actions.

As we consider forgiveness, I think it’s important to not only think about forgiveness itself, but freedom.

As soon as we can genuinely forgive someone, we can make the step away from anger, resentment, and grief and towards healing and love (not only for the person we are forgiving, but for ourselves also).

This class is all about camel pose. Camel is a backbend facing the sky with the arms behind the back. I think of this pose as literally cracking the heart open and offering it up and out. If you’re dealing with the process of forgiveness, try and make a sequence with this as the peak pose to see if it can allow you to feel free and with forward movement.

Reverse Tabletop (Ardha Purvottanasana)

Girl in Reverse Table Top pose on a yoga mat

How to:

  1. Sit on the ground with your knees bent and the soles of the feet flat on the floor.
  2. Bring your palms to the ground behind your pelvis while firming your shoulder blades into the upper back to spread your collarbones.
  3. Press your feet and palms into the floor and firm your sacrum towards the sky so the pelvis can lift off the ground.
  4. Extend the crown of your head to the back of the room, and if it feels okay, release your head back.

This is a great warm-up pose, but It is suggested to do some other poses before going into this one. Some options are: Virasana with hands clasped behind the back, crescent lunge, sukhasana with hands on the floor behind you.

Extended Side Angle with a Full Bind (Utthita Parsvakonasana)

Girl in Extended Side Angle with Full Bind

How to:

  1. From warrior II, hinge at the front hip to bring your torso close to your thigh.
  2. Bring the front hand down to the ground, and the other up to the sky.
  3. Swim the top arm around your lower back while pulling the shoulder blade into the spine.
  4. Thread your bottom arm under the front thigh and join the hands together behind the pelvis.
  5. Lean back into the bent leg, press your joined hands to the back of the room, and bring your shoulder blades together to spread the collarbones.

Pyramid with Reverse Prayer (Parsvottanasana)

Girl in Pyramid Pose with Reverse Prayer Hands

How to:

  1. From warrior I, straighten both legs and compact your outer hips in.
  2. Swim your arms around your back and bring your palms together with your fingers facing the ceiling.
  3. Bring your shoulder blades together and try to slide your hands towards your upper back.
  4. Hinge forward at your hips and work your nose towards your knee.
  5. As you start to fold forward, continue to draw the shoulder blades together to keep the collarbones spread.

And lastly, our peak pose: Camel (Ustrasana)

Girl in Camel Pose

How to:

  1. Place your shins onto the ground with your knees lined up under your frontal hip points. Ensure your outer ankle bones are firming in, whether the toes are tucked or pointed. Traditionally, the toes are pointed.
  2. Bring your hands to your lower back, firm your shoulder blades into the upper back so your collarbones can spread.
  3. Press your sacrum forward as you start to arch your spine into a backbend.
  4. Bring the palms of your hands to the soles of your feet and use this connection as an anchor to further your backbend.
09/28/2022
Love11
Girl in Paschimottanasana on a yoga mat with a blanket

Weekly Class Theme: Change

By Yoga Teachers

If there’s one thing that is a constant in life, it’s the fact that there is change. Change occurs from season to season, day to day, moment to moment. We experience change as we move from one chapter of life to another, and when we decide to move away from something that no longer suits us.

Whether change is imposed on us by an outside force or whether we impose it on ourselves, change can be quite uncomfortable. Take leaving a job as an example — We may hate our job, get annoyed with our co-workers, and despise our boss, but our job is still familiar to us. It’s the same thing with breakups and old habits that we wish to break.

Change shakes things up and pushes us outside of our comfort zones…sometimes WAY outside of our comfort zones.

But because change is a constant of life (we will age, we will lose people in our lives, we will experience heartbreak, and we will most likely not work in the same place for our entire lives), the task at hand is not stopping change but instead learning how to deal with change.

Change is actually a launch pad to further knowledge of self and anything outside of ourselves. If things never changed, we would never change.

Through a consistent asana practice, it’s quite easy to detect change occurring in the body. Your practice evolves from the day you begin and you might even feel quite different at the end of class compared to the beginning of class.

To really detect change and to allow the teachings of the practice to resonate, it’s important to always come back to the self. In this way, we give ourselves the opportunity to re-ground as we move forward from our mats and in life.

Mountain Pose (Tadasana)

Girl in Mountain Pose

How to:

  1. Stand at the top of your mat with your feet and legs together and your arms by your side (palms facing your thighs).
  2. Lift and spread your toes, lift your kneecaps, and tone the fronts of your thighs.
  3. Ensure your shoulders are stacked above your pelvis and the head above the heart.
  4. If you can maintain integrity through your legs, lower your toes…but we’ll see very active feet in our peak posture.

Wide Leg Forward Fold (Prasarita Padottanasana)

Girl in Wide Leg Forward Fold on yoga mat

How to:

  1. Face a long edge of your mat with parallel feet that are about 3 feet apart from one another.
  2. Lift and spread your toes, lift your kneecaps, and tone the fronts of your thighs.
  3. Press the roots of your thighs back and lift the sit bones up as you fold your torso at the hip.
  4. Bring your hands to the floor between your feet, bend your elbows, and bring the crown of the head down.

*Folding with wider legs can be more accessible for many folks!

Standing Split (Urdhva Prasarita Eka Padasana)

Girl in Standing Split with blocks on a yoga mat

How to:

  1. Start in warrior 3 with two straight legs and arms in any variation.
  2. Lift your kneecaps, tone the fronts of your thighs, and fold at the hip of the standing leg.
  3. Bring your hands down to the ground (or blocks) directly framing the foot on the floor (as opposed to being in front of the foot as you’d see in supported warrior III).
  4. Use your exhales to bring your nose to your knee and your top leg to the sky.
  5. Try to keep your top leg internally rotating and your hips more or less squared off.

Finally, our peak pose: Intense Stretch to the West (Paschimottanasana)

Girl in Paschimottanasana on a yoga mat with a blanket

How to:

  1. Sit on your mat with your legs extended and together to the front of the room.
  2. Spread your toes, reach the balls of your feet forward, lift the kneecaps, and tone the fronts of your thighs.
  3. Press the roots of your thighs down and rotate your sitting bones towards the back of the room as you fold your torso forward over the legs.
  4. Try to keep a straight spine as you fold and bring your hands to your feet.
  5. Keep working your chest forward and allow your head to bow.
  6. A folded blanket beneath your seat helps to put the pelvis into the anterior rotation necessary for this posture.

*Variations: bend the legs (while maintaining integrity of the legs); widen your legs; bring a prop underneath your torso for support.

 

09/21/2022
Love8
Girl in revolved triangle pose

Weekly Class Theme: Centering

By Yoga Teachers

I start every single yoga class by giving time for students to center themselves. It’s during this time that students have the opportunity to explore what’s going on in their bodies and minds and to notice where and perhaps by how much one may be off center.

This brings up the question, what exactly is one’s center? How do we define that? How can we locate it?

One of my teachers consistently speaks about one’s center being found by first defining one’s boundaries. Think of it this way,

“The center of a circle can only be found by first establishing the diameter of the circle, which can only be found by observing the perimeter of a circle. Knowing the outer edges of a circle, or any shape for that matter, is the only possible way to define the center of that shape or object.”

When it comes to asana, our center is best found by first expanding ourselves wide. When we explore the edges of our being and feel safe doing so, we might discover we have an easier time exploring what really lies within.

Where are the boundaries of our bodies and where are the boundaries of our minds? The mind part is maybe something for you to journal on, but with our physical practice, it’s best to open ourselves up before we decide to dive in deep.

This sequence will build towards the pose revolved triangle. All twisting poses require us to twist the spine, which of course means we must be aware of where the spine lies. The only way we can really get there is to first expand the body and then work our way inward.

Broken Wing Pose

Open wing or Broken wing pose yin yoga

How to:

  1. Lie on your stomach and stretch your right arm out to the right side of the room with your palm facing the floor.
  2. Place your left palm flat onto the ground next to your ribcage and roll over onto the right side of your body while crawling your right fingertips out so that the soft tissue in the right side of your chest can really stretch out.
  3. Stay for ~ 1-2 minutes, slowly roll to your belly, and repeat on the other side.

*Variations: Take your left arm into a half bind; bend both knees and stack them on top of one another; bend both knees with the bottom knee on the floor and the top knee facing the sky; bend the top leg and place the foot to the floor in front or behind the bottom leg.

Triangle Pose (Trikonasana)

Triangle Pose Trikonasana Melanie

How to:

  1. Face a long edge of your yoga mat and widen your feet about 3 feet and bring your arms out to a T-shape.
  2. Externally rotate your right leg from your hip to your toes so your toes face the front of your mat.
  3. Hinge at your right hip and bring your right hand to your shin, a block, or the ground.
  4. Lengthen the right side of your torso while rotating your right rib cage towards the ceiling.
  5. Stay for ~5 breaths, rise up, and go to the other side.

*Pro tip: Even the open hip poses have a twisting element which can be accentuated here since we’re working towards a twisted peak pose!

Warrior I (Virabhadrasana)

Warrior 1 Pose Virabhadrasana Melanie

How to:

  1. Start downward facing dog.
  2. Step your right foot forward next to your thumb and spin the back foot down at an angle.
  3. With the right leg bent at 90 degrees and the back leg straight, rise to stand on both legs with the feet firmly rooted.
  4. Draw your right hip back with external rotation of the leg while drawing the left hip forward with internal rotation of the leg.
  5. Take your hands up to the sky with your arms fully extended and your palms together.
  6. Look up to your hands and imagine someone was pulling your hands to the sky to stretch the sides of the torso long.
  7. In this position, it is nearly impossible to get your hips totally squared off to the front of the room but do the best you can with the essence of that cue in mind.

Peak Pose: Revolved Triangle (Parivrtta Trikonasana)

Revolved Triangle Pose Melanie

How to:

  1. Face a long edge of your yoga mat and widen your feet about 3 feet and T-out your arms.
  2. Externally rotate your right leg from your hip to your toes so your toes face the front of your mat.
  3. Lift the ball of your left foot and spin the left leg in from your hip to your toes, as if you were setting up for a warrior I, and replant your left heel so both sides of the pelvis face the front of the room.
  4. Stretch the left arm to the sky so the whole left side of the body is stretched long and then hinge forward halfway.
  5. Keeping your torso parallel to the floor, rotate to the right and bring your left hand to a block on the outside of your right leg (outside = towards the pinky toe side edge).
  6. Stretch your right arm to the ceiling so the collarbones are spread.

*Variations: Your left hand could be on the shin or on the inside of the right foot if you cannot reach to the outside of the foot.

09/14/2022
Love6
Kate Lombardo in a yin yoga pose

4 Tips for Teaching Yin Yoga

By Yoga Asana, Yoga Teachers

I’d been teaching yoga full time for almost four years before I did my yin yoga teacher training and started teaching yin classes. By that point, I was an ERYT 200 (meaning I had over 1,000 hours of teaching experience) and was about to begin my 300HR Advanced Teacher Training. And even though up until that point my classes had been mostly vinyasa style, I still felt pretty confident in my ability to lead students through a solid yoga class.

While there’s no doubt that my experience helped me with teaching in general, I quickly found out there were some key differences between leading active style yoga classes and yin yoga classes.

It took me a bit of time to fully understand the shift I had to make between my approach to teaching yin versus vinyasa, but once I figured out what I needed to do it made teaching yin yoga extremely enjoyable and I found it to be the perfect balance to my vinyasa yoga classes.

These simple tweaks to my teaching made all the difference in the environment I created for my students and helped them to cultivate a love for this practice.

1. Explain what yin yoga is

It’s easy to assume that if a student signed up for your yin yoga class then they know what yin yoga is, but I’ve found that most of the time that’s not the case. Students register for a yoga class for many different reasons– the time works, they like the teacher, their friend said it was great, etc– and if they’re a beginner student they may not even realize there are different styles of yoga. Even seasons practitioners may not really know what a yin yoga class entails if they’ve never taken one.

Starting your class off with a short elevator-pitch explanation of what yin yoga is and how the class will be structured can go a long way in setting you and your students up for success when it comes to creatine a positive experience. Knowledge is power and if you provide the rundown of how class will go, you’ll help your students have appropriate expectations for class.

It can sound something like this…

“Hello and welcome! I’m [your name]. Welcome to yin. This class is a little different than some of the more active forms of yoga you may be familiar with so I want to give you a quick rundown of how this class works.

In yin practice, we’ll passively hold each pose for 3-5 minutes– they’ll be mostly seated poses so not to worry– and we’ll work with gravity to slowly release and open the body. Our goal here is to help get into the connective tissue of your body where you really hold onto tension and tightness, so there’s not necessarily a “right” way to do the pose, but rather it’s more about what feels right for you.”

2. Cue & demonstrate getting into the poses

Yin yoga gives poses different names than their more well-known active yoga pose counterparts. The reason for this is that in taking a passive approach to the practice, the body actually moves into the poses differently than in the active versions, so yin seeks to differentiate the poses by giving them different names.

For example, butterfly pose in yin yoga closely resembles Baddha Konasana. But, in an active class a teacher will usually talk a lot about lengthening the spine to fold forward, which requires muscular engagement. In yin, you simply release the upper body down over the legs, even if that means the spine is very rounded.

As a result of this, if you say to students “we’re going to come into butterfly pose”, they may have no idea what you’re talking about as they likely aren’t familiar with the yin names unless they’re a seasoned yin practitioner.

Instead, just tell and show them what to do with their bodies in order to get into the pose. So for butterfly pose you can do the pose yourself as you say,

“Come to sit with both feet out in front of you and your knees bent. Bring the soles of your feet to touch and open your knees out wide. Breathe in and as you breath out release your head and belly towards your legs any amount, coming into butterfly pose. Stop when it feels like the right amount for you and use your breath to slowly fold deeper over time.”

By cueing the actions and showing them the pose before telling them the name, you give them confidence in their ability to do the pose rather than leaving them feeling confused or silly for not knowing the name and what to do.

3. Rely on yoga props

Even though doing hands-on adjustments in yin yoga is a big “no-no”, that doesn’t mean that you get a full pass in assisting your students.

After getting your students into each pose, look around the room and see what’s happening. Notice if a prop may help a student be more comfortable in holding the shape for a long time or if it could help them avoid misaligning a joint in a way that could be unsafe.

A basic prop set-up of: 2 blocks, 2 blankets, and a bolster can usually carry most students through a yin class. But, sometimes a student may need a third blanket in a specific pose. If they have to get up to grab one, it totally disturbs not only the energy of their practice, but of the students around them. Make sure you’re the one to get up and grab any additional props students may need.

This is a great way to show your students you’re paying attention to them, you’re present with them, and you’re holding space for them to move through their own individual practice. One little prop can go a looong way in helping a student have a more enjoyable experience in your class, so make sure to be on the lookout for how you can help.

4. Offer words of wisdom but also be quiet!

A five minute hold in sphinx pose (or any other pose of choice) can feel like an absolute eternity for some students during class and what you say as the teacher can make all the difference.

Spend the first minute or two in each pose guiding your students with some inspirational thoughts. This is also a great way to incorporate your own personal style or approach.

Maybe you’re super into poetry and have a poem you weave throughout your class. Or perhaps guided meditations are you thing and you can use that time to help lead some simple breathing exercises. You’ll need to find what works for you, but it’s helpful to give students something to listen to for the first few minutes as the settle into a pose.

But then… be quiet.

It’s super important that you balance those words of wisdom with intentional silence. Yin is all about tuning inwards and you want to make sure you give your students space and time to do that. Know that it may be difficult for them and you as the teacher may even pick up on some agitated energy as they secretly curse you for keeping them in the pose for that extra minute or two. That’s ok– it’s part of the practice. Remember that you’re giving them a gift by guiding them through the physical and emotional challenges this practice can bring and you’re helping them build resilience over time.

Want my full run-down on how to get started teaching yin yoga classes? Grab my totally free Yin Yoga Teacher Starter Kit, which will give you everything you need to know to teach your first yin yoga class.

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09/12/2022
Love14
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