We will end our yoga series, devoted to helping you find your best yoga practice, with probably the style who’s name alone is as ubiquitous to yoga as Hatha - vinyasa.  Vinyasa seems to be a catch all phrase used to describe any fast moving yoga class, but it’s so much more.  It’s also often coined Flow Yoga.  The word Vinyasa means poses done in a sequential order (flowing) synchronized with the breath.  Several of the styles I’ve written about in this series:  Ashtanga, Anusara, Jivamukti, Power Yoga are all types of Vinyasa based practice.  When I teach class, I always tell my students that sun salutation in the ultimate vinyasa as you’re connecting breath to each movement in the series, i.e. raising the arms on an inhale, folding over on an exhale, lifting to flat back on an inhale, etc.  The challenge with a Vinyasa class that’s not linked to a style - like those mentioned above - is finding a flow that’s right for you! (more…)

Power Yoga is an American adaptation of Ashtanga Yoga and one of the first styles of yoga that was taught widely in gyms and health clubs due to its very physical and challenging practice.  Power Yoga utilizes the classic yogic philosophy - the “eight-limbed yoga” (see below) with a very physical practice. (more…)

Do you ever think about how much the human mind can manage, create, and do? Or, do you ever acknowledge what the human mind has already created, managed and done?

The human mind is very powerful. It has allowed every creation, invention, all the advancements in technology, and the ways we live to happen. Our thoughts inspire action and our bodies and soul transform the thoughts into reality. (more…)

Kundalini is a recognized style of Hatha Yoga, brought to the West in 1969 by Yogi Bhajan, which focuses on the controlled and systematic release of Kundalini energy which is thought to be located at the base of the spine. According to a wonderful site and holistic resource, Reiki for Holistic Health: “…in Hindu mythology, Kundalini is a serpent goddess who lies asleep at the base of the spine, coiled three and a half times around the first chakra. Kundalini is a condensed, primal force, similar to the potential energy found in water. When released, it creates a vertical connection between the chakras by opening the subtle channels known as nadi, most specifically, the central channel that moves up the spine called sushumna. If we put water through a small hose at very high pressure, the end of the hose will undulate like a snake. Similarly, the intense energy of Kundalini undulates in the body as it rises through the chakras…” And as esoteric as this style might seem, awakening kundalini energy is a good thing and something practitioners strive for. (more…)

The word Kabbalah might bring up images of Madonna and a handful of other celebrities who have embraced the teachings for the mind, body and soul. Yet do you know what Kabbalah really is? (more…)

Before you realized it was a style of Hatha Yoga, you might have heard of Kripalu as it is also one of the most well-renowned centers for yoga and health in the country located in the grand Berkshire Mountains in Massachusetts. The Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health was started in 1966 when Yogi Amrit Desai founded the Yoga Society of Pennsylvania, which was established to teach yoga classes and train teachers. It later evolved into the nonprofit wing that operates as the Kripalu Center today. For an in-depth interview of Yogi Amrit Desai, please view the piece in the wonderful spiritual magazine What is Enlightenment? (WIE) entitled “Yoga, Ego and Purification” by WIE’s founder Andrew Cohen. (more…)

Jivamukti was developed by Sharon Gannon and David Life, two legends in the New York Yoga scene having taught continuously since 1989 out of their NYC based studio. Their meeting has become downtown legend: Sharon was a member of a band, and David owned the famous Life Café (also the spot where Jonathan Larson wrote the award winning musical Rent) in the East Village that also showcased music, poetry and art. You can say the rest is history. Sharon and David had both been studying yoga independently and before meeting one another, but together that have not only developed a style, but a following and a lifestyle. (more…)

Iyengar yoga is an alignment and breath based style of yoga founded by Sri B.K.S Iyengar who is considered, along with Sri K. Patthabi Jois, one of the grandfathers of modern yoga. 90 and 93 years of age respectively and still going strong, Iyengar and Jois introduced and revolutionized yoga in the West. In 1966, Iyengar wrote the seminal yoga tome, Light on Yoga, and no self respecting yoga does not have a copy on their shelves, or like me, in my bag pretty often. This book breaks down 200 postures, breathwork, bandhas (locks) with anecdotes on deities, folklore, history, as well as the medicinal and therapeutic benefits of the poses. (more…)

Dancing is a great exercise it is also meant for the soul and can be a spiritual practice called JourneyDance.

JourneyDance is a playful method of spiritual movement that is all about personal growth and healing. Through this method of movement and dance, your body and mind will be cleansed and your inner strength will be the focus. JourneyDance is fired by music that uses elements of theater, vocalization, visualization sequences and improvisational movements, all which can ignite the imagination. (more…)

ISHTA yoga was developed by Alan Finger and his father Kavi Yogiraj Mani Finger opening the first YogaWorks where ISHTA was taught in 1992. ISHSTA’s meaning is 2-fold: in Sanskrit it means to develop a yoga practice that meets your own needs. ISHTA also is an acronym for the key elements of the style: Integrated Science of Hatha (physical practice), Tantra (yoga philosophy recognizing the perfection in all Beings) and Ayurveda (the ancient India science of healing). This yogic system is also deeply entrenched in the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda, the author of the spiritual classic, Autobiography of a Yogi. (more…)