Karen Ashby

Approximately 1 in 4 people (in the UK) suffer from a mental health condition . Couple this with recent research suggesting that 300 million people practise yoga worldwide, and it is reasonable to assume that someone in your yoga class has experienced, is experiencing or will experience an episode of poor mental health. Given our current circumstances, this likelihood is significantly higher, as mental health charities have reported an increase in cases of anxiety, OCD and depression due to the COVID-19 pandemic . Yet for all this, yoga teachers are not therapists, nor should they be dealt with the responsibility of counselling their students. Mental health is a delicate matter that requires a unique sensitivity and education, knowledge not obtained in a foundation teacher training. What yoga teachers can do is take steps to ensure their students feel safe and supported in class. Below are some suggestions on how to do so. “How are you, really?” Ask your students how they are. It ...

By Ram Jain People have been practicing fasting for many years for religious, spiritual or health reasons. Yogic philosophy also approves of fasting as a way to cleanse the body and to control both mind and body.  When you practice fasting you learn to control the senses and not to react on the tendency to eat food out of habit or routine.  Fasting allows the intestines to take a rest. They always work and because we keep eating, they never get to rest. While fasting, the intestines get the chance to digest all the food, to clean itself and to rest.  Fasting has always been a consistent part my lifestyle and has proven to be very beneficial, both physically and mentally.  Fasting can be done in many different ways. There are differences in length of fasting:  1-day fast every week 3-day fast every month one week fast a few times a year 10-day fast once a year or even several week fast A 1-day fast is the best way for beginners to experience fasting f...

By Simone de Villiers Travelling from Australia to India for my first  200hr yoga teacher training course , I felt nervous about my belly. So I drank all the kombucha before I left and stocked my bags with probiotics and Imodium to make sure I’d be able to cure any “Delhi Belly” I may encounter. Who knew that I was going to leave my school,  Gyan Yog Breath  in Rishikesh, feeling healthier (and fuller) than ever.  In the town of Rishikesh, the birthplace of yoga, everything is vegetarian. Previously a meat-eater, I was uneasy about the idea of just eating veggies and carbs for a month. I thought that having a meatless diet would leave me less energetic than usual. But the total opposite happened. I noticed that my mood improved, I was less bloated, I slept better and I was more energized.  The school had chefs dedicated to feeding us two vegetarian meals each day that incorporated Ayurvedic ingredients. Each meal was freshly prepared with the intention of cal...

You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.” Buddha. Self-love. We all need more of it. The teachings of yoga are big on self-love because of one spiritual truth: you cannot fully love others until you fully love yourself. And why should we love ourselves? That’s what our ego so often asks. So much of the time we have very little self-compassion for our own vulnerabilities and fears. But, these “negative” aspects of ourselves are merely part of being human. We come into this world as little innocents, afraid of nothing and curious about everything. It’s the experiences and traumas of life that create our fears and vulnerabilities. We can use yoga and mantra meditation to see them for what they are, and cultivate self-love for ourselves so that we can live from our souls—our place of truth—free from fear and full of unconditional love. Then we can help others do the same, by seeing them for who they are—spiritual b...

What is Raja yoga and what solutions does yoga philosophy offer for that age-old problem - slowing down a chaotic mind?  Via RSSMix.com Mix ID 8246247 http://www.rssmix.com/

A sneak peek into Bernie Clarke's hotly-anticipated new book, Your Spine, Your Yoga. Via RSSMix.com Mix ID 8246247 http://www.rssmix.com/