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2 Simple Vegan Soup Recipes For Fall

By Christa ClarkLifestyle & Wellness

Boost Your Immunity with 2 Simple Vegan Soups This Fall Season

yummy food to eat

Stay healthy this fall season with two simple vegan curry sweet potato soups. Both of these recipes are rich and flavorful – and loaded with immune boosting nutrients your body needs this cold season to fight off colds and infections. Studies have shown that a plant based diet can do wonders to your health including, reducing your risk of cancer, lowering heart disease, reducing high blood pressure, boosting your gut health, maintaining a healthy weight, and improving your immunity. Something as easy as adding just one plant-based meal to your weekly dinner rotation can improve your health. Eating vegan also doesn’t have to be complicated or take too much time to prepare. The easy soup recipes below take less than 30 minutes to make with minimal prep work. They can even be made ahead of time and enjoyed throughout the week. Enjoy these soups on a cold fall day after yoga class and a warm bath, for dinner time, or even lunch time. Enjoy dear yogis!

Namaste,
Christa Clark

Creamy Curried Sweet Potato Soup

Easy Vegan Soup Recipes 20 Minutes For Fall - Yoga

This delicious creamy soup will warm you up from the inside out, making your belly and body smile! Sweet potatoes are naturally loaded with lots of Vitamin A, which helps to fight off infections. The radishes in this soup are high in Vitamin C, which also powerfully detoxifies your body to promote a healthy immune system. We add in curry powder, a powerful antioxidant for cancer and also for fighting off bacterial infections. We combine all of these amazing powerful foods to create a magically delicious and healthy soup!

Creamy Curried Sweet Potatoe Soup | Makes 6 + Servings

Prep Time: 5 Minutes
Cook Time: 20 Minutes

Ingredients:

2 tbsp coconut oil (or veg broth for oil free)
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
7 radishes, sliced and diced
pinch of salt
1 tbsp curry powder
6 cups water
1 tbsp soy sauce (tamari or coconut aminos)
red pepper flakes and black pepper to taste

Peaceful Preparations:

Heat the oil in a large saucepan or pot over medium heat. Next, add the sweet potato, radishes and a pinch of salt. Sauté for a few minutes. Add the curry powder and sauté until coated.
Add the water and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 15 – 20 minutes until the veggies are soft.
Blend until creamy with an immersion blender or cool and use a blender in batches.
Add soy sauce and simmer until heated throughout, about 4 minutes. Garnish with red pepper flakes and black pepper to taste. Serve hot with love!

Curry Sweet Potato & Chick Pea Soup

Easy Vegan Soup Recipes 20 Minutes For Fall - Yoga

This simple, no fuss, Curry Sweet Potato & Chick Pea Soup is a hearty, satisfying, and comforting recipe that will warm you up even on the coldest fall days. This vegan soup recipe is extremely high in fiber and vitamins including Vitamin A, K, C and E. The healthy ingredients included in it all help to boost the immunity, is high in nutrients, and full of powerful antioxidants. The chick peas are also a great source of plant based protein that contain cholesterol lowering agents. The natural protein helps to keep us fuller longer which aids in maintaining a healthy weight and also nourishes our muscles. Over all this soup is a powerful anti-inflammation winner for a healthy mind and body!

Curry Sweet Potato & Chick Pea Soup | Makes 6 + Servings

Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 20 Minutes

Ingredients:

1/2 onion – diced
3 medium carrots – diced
3 celery stalks – diced
1 red bell pepper – diced
1 large sweet potato – diced
4-5 cloves of garlic – minced
1″ knob of ginger – minced
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp Turmeric and Paprika
6 cups vegetable broth
3 1/2 cups chick peas
1 – 170g organic tomato paste
salt and pepper to taste

Peaceful Preparations:

Sauté the onions, carrots, celery and red bell pepper for 5 minutes in a medium to large pot with a splash of vegetable broth.
Add the minced garlic and ginger, cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the curry powder, turmeric, paprika, salt and pepper to taste. Mix together.
Add 6 cups of vegetable broth and the diced sweet potato. Cover, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, cooking for a total of 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, remove the lid, add the chick peas and tomato paste. Mix well, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the 1/4 cup minced herbs, mix in. Serve hot! I sprinkled ours with a touch of salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and a sprig of parsley.

**Note For Both Recipes: You can use what you have on hand.

Guest Post By YogaRenew YTT Graduate, Christa Clark

“My name is Christa Clark, I run a vegan blog artisticvegan.com and practice yoga daily. I’ve had a personal yoga practice for over 11 years. I love how yoga has helped me through thick and thin, my mat and breath are always there. I became a structural integrator along the way and worked alongside my husband to open Gravity Body Academy, an online school for structural integration. In that process I fell in love with online teaching and learning. When I found Yoga Renew it felt like the perfect opportunity to become a certified teacher. I loved that I could fit it into my schedule and do it from home. Thank you YogaRenew for turning a dream into reality! I now offer yoga classes on the Artistic Vegan YouTube Channel, at artisticvegan.vhx.tv, and have tons of free vegan recipes at artisticvegan.com.”

November 8, 2018

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5 Yoga Poses For Lower Back Pain

By Morgan GertlerYoga Asana

Yoga enthusiasts swear by their poses to maintain feeling open, strong, and stable in their bodies. But utilizing yoga to feel good in your body and relieve pain doesn’t necessarily require a regular practice. Once you learn what areas of your body need be to refreshed and renewed, you just have to find the right postures. In this article we will dive into a few yoga poses for lower back pain. If you experience lower back pain you’re not alone – an estimated 80% of the population will experience back pain at some time in their lives. Back pain can affect people of all ages, from adolescents to the elderly. The below yoga poses can be done at home with limited props and don’t require any previous yoga experience.

Yoga Poses For Lower Back Pain

Its important to understand that back pain is not a universal experience and that those experiencing severe pain should seek insight from a professional physician, or physical therapist before attempting any poses that could potentially create further damage. As always, its important to focus on how a posture feels, and not on how it looks.

1. Child Pose

women demonstrating pose with her forehead resting on floor to help by doing Yoga Poses For Lower Back Pain Child pose is a relaxing way to elongate your spine and relieve stress. Even though your mind might be resting, this pose offers an active stretch that helps elongate your entire back. To try it, start in a table top position (on all fours) and then begin to push your hips back so that your seat ends up on, or close to, your feet. Reach your hands forward to add length to the sides of your torso and let your forehead rest on the floor or a blanket. If your seat doesn’t reach your feet, you can fold another blanket over your heels for some extra support.

Stay in the pose for 5-10 breaths, allowing yourself to become heavier and softening towards the floor with each breath out. This is a great pose to practice before bed or even first thing in the morning to help center yourself for the day and stretch out your back after sleeping.

2. Cat and Cow Pose

Cat and Cow are poses that provide both a rounding and an arch of your back, and they flow nicely from one to the other. This set of poses is perfect for an achy or sore back and will loosen your spine while also warming up the trunk of your body for any additional movement or workout.

Starting in all-fours position, move into Cow by letting your belly drop down, your tailbone lift, pressing your shoulder blades back and lifting your chest and head forward. Stay for the inhale. When ready to exhale, slowly round your spine up by pressing into your hands and release your neck so your gaze drops to your navel. Pause for a few seconds and then move back and forth from Cat to Cow. This helps position your spine into a neutral position, relaxing the muscles and easing tension.

Repeat 7-10 times, flowing smoothly from Cat into Cow, and Cow back into Cat.

3. Standing Forward Bend

demonstration of folded tree pose working to help Yoga Poses For Lower Back Pain With Standing Forward Bend, its important to note that in some instances of back injury this can hurt the back further. You should have flexibility in the hamstrings while attempting this pose – if there isn’t a good stretch coming from the hamstrings, or if the hamstrings are tight – you could create further injury to the lower back. You should also do your best to keep the spine lengthened and more straightened than rounded.

A standing forward bend stretches the hamstrings and lower back muscles while providing a release for tight, tense shoulders as well.

Stand straight with your feet shoulder-width apart and your knees soft, not locked. On your exhale, fold at your hips – not the waist – and bend forward toward the floor. Don’t worry if your hands can’t reach all the way to the floor at first; just stop wherever your hamstrings feel a comfortable stretch. The neck should be relaxed with the top of the head facing the mat, and both neck and head in line with the spine to prevent injury. You can keep a soft bend in your knees to prevent any strain in the low back – bending forward with straightened legs together can compress the spine. If you have yoga blocks, place them under your hands for additional support. Stay for 3-5 cycles of breath and repeat as needed.

To exit the pose, bring your hands to your hips, bend the knees a bit and press yourself up to stand, but move slowly. Stand tall for 30 seconds and breathe fully into your belly and chest.

4. Supine Twist

demonstration of yoga pose on women laying on the ground Spinal twists can be the most dangerous for those with back injuries – however the easiest on the spine would be a supine twist. A gentle twist offers tension relief for the entire back, as well as the neck. Allowing gravity to help release the back also makes this pose ultra relaxing for the rest of your muscles and your mind.

Lay on your back and bring your arms to a T-shape or cactus shape on the floor. Allow your knees to come up and in towards your chest and then slowly lower both knees to the left until they come down to the floor. Keep your head neutral or feel free to look in the opposite direction of the bent knees. Your knees might have a little space between them – if so, grab a blanket or towel and pad up the space so that your legs feel supported. Try to keep your upper chest broad and allow gravity to keep your shoulders heavy to the floor. Inhale to find some length and use your exhale to allow the twist to deepen. 7-10 cycles of breath will bring a nice physical release as well as a mental one! To switch sides, pull your knees back to your chest, and repeat on the right side. (Hint: don’t try this after a big meal.)

5. Sphinx Pose

This backbend is a great pose to strengthen the back and also stimulate the natural curves of the spine, which we sometimes lose from sitting for too long. When we sit a lot, the lower back tends to move into a more flattened shape, which can cause pain and discomfort over time. Sphinx pose promotes the natural curvature of the lower back which aids in overall spine health.

Lay on your stomach with feet hip-width apart, and bring your elbows to the floor and rest them under your shoulders. If there is too much pressure on your lower back, bring your elbows slightly forward. If you would like a deeper or more intense bend, place a block under each elbow. Hold this pose for several breaths, feeling yourself get longer with your inhales and allowing the hips and legs to heavy on your exhale. To exit the pose, lower yourself onto the floor, turn one cheek to the side and gently allow your hips to rock side to side.

These are just a few yoga poses for lower back pain to help your back feel healthy and spacious. Always take it slow and ease into postures in a safe way for your body. If something doesn’t feel right, listen to your intuition and exit the pose.

November 8, 2018

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7 Ways To Find More Joy In Your Life
By YogaRenew Teacher TrainingLifestyle & Wellness

Finding joy and having a more positive outlook on life is something we all strive towards in our lives. Unfortunately due to life stresses, an ever increasing to do list, and a fast moving society this is difficult to achieve for many. Joy and happiness are traits that are essentially a choice we can make each day. By making the personal choice to choose joy each day, we can take back our own power and ultimately choose the direction of our lives. If we want to have more joy in our lives, we have to be intentional to create this. True lasting joy will never come from outside circumstances or factors but from within.

Ways To Find Joy

Here are 7 small steps that you can do to cultivate joy in your daily life starting today.

1. Cultivate Gratitude

Having an attitude of gratitude is the number one thing you can do each day to live a more positive lifestyle. Each day, when you wake up or before you go to bed, make a list of things that you are grateful for and think of why you are grateful for those things. Think about those things as you go about your day. Gratitude allows us to put our life into perspective and create a richer life experience for ourselves.

2. Stop Comparing Yourself To Others

In a world where social media is a big part of our daily lives, it can be easy to fall into the trap of comparing ourselves to others. By doing so, we take away our personal power and find ourselves wishing we had something that another person has. What we need to keep in mind is that what other people portray to the world, doesn’t include any of the suffering or challenges that person may be facing. Challenges and suffering is universal and a normal part of our human experience – none of us can escape it. Let go of any notions you have of what you think you need to be. Strive to only be the kind of person that you would be proud of, regardless of anyone else’s opinion. By doing so, you will find complete and utter freedom in your life.

3. Surround Yourself With Positive People

The old saying goes that you become the 5 people you surround yourself with most each day. Be mindful of your friends and people you interact with daily. Positive people will uplift you and encourage you to be the best you can be. They will also support you and inspire you. Negative people on the other hand, may encourage you to stray away from your personal joy and create negative energy in your life. Take stock of any negative people like this in our life, and make the choice to surround yourself with positive people instead.

4. Do One Thing You Love Each Day

Everyday we may have a list of things that we need to do to accomplish our goals. Sometimes, when making that list, we can omit doing things that truly give us joy. Make a list of things you love to do – this could be something like practicing yoga, writing in a journal, going for a walk, or spending time with a pet. Each day, include one thing from your list of things that you love to do in your daily to do list.

5. Give Back To Others

Giving back from the heart is the greatest gift we can give to others and to ourselves. When we give, it uplifts us and heals our souls. In turn, it helps the other person receiving whatever we give. Find ways to give back to others, whether its through volunteering or just helping a friend in need. Even if you don’t have money to give, just giving your time to others is enough to make a difference in someone else’s life.

6. Meditate Daily

Meditation is a vital part of living a more joyful and positive life. It allows us to get in touch with our inner selves and remove any noise from our minds. It keeps our heads clear and enables us to gain clarity in our lives. It gives us focus to achieve our goals. Meditation also helps us to be more mindful over our thoughts. By meditating, we can be more aware of negative thoughts that we might have and make the choice to turn those negative thoughts into positive ones. Set aside time each day for yourself to sit in stillness anywhere from 5-15 minutes a day

7. Reframe Challenges & Obstacles

We will never be free of challenges or stress because this is a part of our experience as humans. Challenges and stress help us to grow so that we can become a higher version of ourselves. As the old saying goes: “a ship is safe in the harbor, but that’s not what ships were built for.” Our difficulties help us grow, teach us to strive for more, and help to eliminate the trap of complacency. Learn to reframe your challenges as an opportunity and instead of seeing how awful and hard it is – take time to reflect on how this situation is making you stronger and how you are growing from it.

October 18, 2018

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5 Tips To Master Public Speaking in Your Yoga Classes
By YogaRenew Teacher TrainingYoga Teachers

Public speaking can be one of the most terrifying aspects of teaching yoga, but don’t fret! We’re here to provide you with some help getting in front of people and rocking a class! Speaking in public is a skill that can be learned, just like any other skill.

Speaking Tips For Your Yoga Class

Even if you are have an introverted personality, public speaking is a learnable skill. Read on to discover our 6 tips to mastering public speaking in your classes.

1. Preparation

Proper preparation prevents a poor performance as the old saying goes! Practice and preparation will help you overcome anxieties leading up to your class by helping you to build confidence in yourself. This is a great way to familiarize yourself so that you have a routine you can stick with. Many yoga teachers find structure and preparation integral to a successful class!

2. Pace your breath – pranayama

Teaching a class can be a marathon! But as a yogi, we all have a special appreciation for the power of breathing. And just like the runners that run marathons, pacing your breath is an important component of public speaking – it’s a great opportunity to use the power of pranayama to your benefit in a real life scenario.

3. Start strong

Another common public speaking tip that can be employed in a yoga class is to start strong. The opening of a class isn’t just important because it helps to set the tone and mood of the class experience, but also because it can hep you as a teacher build momentum into the rest of the class. Starting out on the wrong foot can sometimes flatten out your confidence. Put alot of thought on your class introduction and it will benefit you greatly for the rest of the class flow.

4. Work With-In Your Comfort Zone

Its good to push yourself and try to step out of your comfort zone as much as possible, but perhaps the class room isn’t the best place to try out new things. Practice, learn, and then bring your experience to the class room. Afterall, that’s what you’re sharing – experience and wisdom as a yoga teacher. If your experience is limited, the lesson may be as well.

5. Repeat Yourself When Appropriate

Depending on how much speaking you do in your class, you may be surprised by how much of your words the class may actually miss. If you have some powerful statements sprinkled into your dialogue, it can be helpful to repeat some of them to emphasize their value.

Bonus: Give The Class A Takeaway

You should always try to give the audience something new that they learned. Try your best to be the one that can bring something new to them, otherwise your value starts to diminish little by little. Whether it’s a unique little phrase or saying, a new asana, sequence, or even a little piece of relevant history they can take away – bringing an educational component to the class helps to build value in your presentation.

August 27, 2018

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50 Yoga Quotes to Inspire Your Practice
By YogaRenew Teacher TrainingLifestyle & Wellness, Yoga Asana

The power of language can help to elevate us mentally, or emotionally and propel us between the gap of where we are and where we’re looking to go spiritually. There are many powerful quotes that can help build this bridge.

Here, we’ve compiled a list of quotes for you to pull from – not just as a source of personal inspiration but also as a potential tool for you to utilize in the classroom as a yoga teacher:

1. A photographer gets people to pose for him. A yoga instructor gets people to pose for themselves. —Terri Guillemets

2. Yoga is a light, which once lit, will never dim. The better your practice, the brighter the flame. —B.K.S. Iyengar

3. Meditation is a way for nourishing and blossoming the divinity within you. —Amit Ray

4. That’s why it’s called a practice. We have to practice a practice if it is to be of value. —Allan Lokos

5. Silence is not silent. Silence speaks. It speaks most eloquently. Silence is not still. Silence leads. It leads most perfectly. —Sri Chinmoy

6. Yoga does not always cure stress. It neutralizes it through increasing awareness and by changing self-perception. —Debasish Mridha

7. It isn’t arrogant or egotistical to feel good inside. You had nothing to do with it. It’s simply the honest response to clearly perceived reality. —Erich Schiffman

8. The nature of yoga is to shine the light of awareness into the darkest corners of the body. —Jason Crandell

9. Yoga begins right where I am – not where I was yesterday or where I long to be. —Linda Sparrow

10. Yoga is not a work-out, its a work-in – and this is the point of spiritual practice, to make us teachable; to open up our hearts and focus our awareness so that we can know what we already know and be who we already are. —Rolf Gates

11. What yoga philosophy and all the great Buddhist teachings tells us is that solidity is a creation of the ordinary mind and that there never was anything permanent to begin with that we could hold on to. Life would be much easier and substantially less painful if we lived with the knowledge of impermanence as the only constant. —Donna Farhi

12. The body benefits from movement, and the mind benefits from stillness. —Sakyong Mipham

13. The mind is everything. What you think, you become. —Buddha

14. There will always be people who can do it better than you, but thats a good thing! Start to see competition as inspiration – without envy. —Kathryn Budig

15. Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self. —The Bhagavad Gita

16. Go from a human being doing yoga to a human being yoga. —Baron Baptiste

17. Yoga is not about touching your toes, it’s about what you learn on the way down. —Jigar Gor

18. True yoga is not about the shape of your body, but the shape of your life. Yoga is not to be performed; yoga is to be lived. Yoga doesn’t care about what you have been; yoga cares about the person you are becoming. Yoga is designed for a vast and profound purpose, and for it to be truly called yoga, its essence must be embodied. —Aadil Palkhivala

19. Yoga begins with listening. When we listen, we are giving space to what is. —Richard Freeman

20. Remember, it doesn’t matter how deep into a posture you go – what does matter is who you are when you get there. —Max Strom

21. When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be. —Patanjali (Yoga Sutras)

22. Body is not stiff, mind is stiff. —Sri K. Jois

23. We have never arrived. We are in a constant state of becoming. —Bob Dylan

24. The yoga mat is a good place to turn when talk therapy and antidepressants aren’t enough. —Amy Weintraub

25. In truth, yoga doesn’t take time – it gives time. —Ganga White

Learn more about enrolling in one of our self-paced, online yoga teacher trainings:
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26. You’re only as young as your spine is flexible. —Bob Harper

27. Have only love in your heart for others. The more you see the good in them, the more you will establish good in yourself. —T.K.V. Desikachar

28. Exercises are like prose, whereas yoga is the poetry of movements. –Amit Ray

29. By our stumbling, the world is perfected. —Sri Aurobindo

30. Yoga is about remembering that we are already one with the divinity and we’ve never left it. —Sri K. Jois

31. If you have time to breathe, you have time to meditate. You breathe when you walk. You breathe when you stand. You breathe when you lie down. —Ajahn Amaro

32. Yoga is the bringing together of that which was never separate. —Richard Miller

33. When the breath wanders the mind also is unsteady. But when the breath is calmed the mind too will be still, and the yogi achieves long life. Therefore, one should learn to control the breath. —Hatha Yoga Pradipik

34. If it weren’t for my mind, my meditate would be excellent. —Ani Pema Chodron

35. Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; for it becomes your destiny. —Upanishads

36. Before you’ve practiced, the theory is useless. After you’ve practiced, the theory is obvious. —David Williams

37. Peace comes from within, do not seek it without. —Anonymous

38. Remember that sometimes, not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck. —Dalai Lama

39. The most important pieces of equipment you need for doing yoga are your body and your mind. —Rodney Yee

40. What I’m looking for is not out there; it is in me. —Helen Keller

41. You cannot do yoga. Yoga is your natural state. What you can do are yoga exercises which may reveal to you where you are resisting your natural state. —Sharon Gannon

42. What we want out of yoga is ourselves, not something better than ourselves. —Douglas Brooks

43. The most important pieces of equipment you need for doing yoga are your body and your mind. —Rodney Yee

44. Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured. —B.K.S. Iyengar

45. What yoga philosophy and all the great Buddhist teachings tells us is that solidity is a creation of the ordinary mind and that there never was anything permanent to begin with that we could hold on to. Life would be much easier and substantially less painful if we lived with the knowledge of impermanence as the only constant. —Donna Farhi

46. You cannot always control what goes on outside. But you can always control what goes on inside. —Wayne Dyer

47. When you inhale, you are taking the strength from God. When you exhale, it represents the service you are giving to the world. —B.K.S. Iyengar

48. If you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be polished? –Rumi

49. Yoga is the art work of awareness on the canvas of body, mind, and soul. –Amit Ray

50. Beyond meditation there is the experience of now. —Ryan Parenti

Incorporating these quotes into a yoga class

Dharma talks are a great way to begin any yoga class. An easy way to get started is usually by summarizing one of the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali, or by using one of these quotes and expanding on it by tying it back to the yoga practice. We’ve even developed full courses centered around learning more about yoga philosophy and online teacher training courses to get you started with teaching!

Related Courses:

Yoga Philosophy Online Course

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Yoga Philosophy Online Course

300 Hour Online Yoga Teacher Training

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300 Hour Online Yoga Teacher Training

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June 26, 2018

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9 Great Health Benefits of Yoga
By YogaRenew Teacher TrainingYoga Asana, Yoga Teacher Training

As yoga’s popularity rises, the health benefits of yoga have become widely understood and accepted throughout medical communities on a global scale. Doctors and scientists have found that yoga is a great cure all for everything from heart health to mind health and even sinus relief.

Health Benefits Of Yoga

The more you understand about how yoga can help your students in different ways, the better you can create value for yourself as a yoga instructor. Understanding the health benefits of yoga is an important part of providing a fulfilling and rewarding service to your students. Below we help to break down 9 different health benefits of yoga.

1. Heart

The American Heart Association actually has a fairly thorough recommendation surrounding yoga and its health benefits on the heart. On their site, here they say that “yoga can help lower blood pressure, increase lung capacity, improve respiratory function & heart rate, and boost circulation and muscle tone.” Yoga is a unique exercise because it combines deep breathing, physical exercise, and meditation. All of the these combined, help to reduce our stress levels ultimately helping our heart health to improve. The physical aspect of yoga helps also helps to strengthen our hearts.

2. Sleep

There’s a few different ways that yoga can have a positive impact on sleep. Physical exertion from a healthy yoga practice can help your body seek out rest. When we practice yoga and meditation, it lowers cortisol levels from stress in the body. This in turn, helps our sleep improve. Yoga and meditation helps to quiet the mind’s chatter, also helping us to sleep better. Another way yoga can help you get to sleep better is through breath practice. Breath is an important part of yoga, and as many experts have noted; slow breathing patterns can help to relax the body and help you get to sleep faster.

3. Relieve Back Pain

The “Annals of Internal Medicine” published results from a 3 year study that found a weekly yoga class helped to increase mobility more than traditional treatment for chronic or recurring back pain. There are many other studies with similar results published online – its fair to say that yoga can certainly be an effective method of relief for people suffering from back pain. Yoga helps to strengthen key muscle groups in the back and also stretch them at the same time. It also helps us to maintain proper posture to protect and strengthen our spines.

4. Muscle Tone

As you are putting yourself into different yoga poses, you are using your muscles to support the weight of your body. This is essentially doing body weight training to help tone and tighten our muscles. Power yoga or cardio type yoga classes that focus on high energy yoga poses really help to strengthen and target key muscle groups for toning up.

5. Flexibility

As your body becomes more flexible through yoga practice, that flexibility is actually leads to a list of other health benefits. More flexible muscles can help to prevent injuries and leads to better back health. As our muscles stretch, also help to provide better blood flow and more effective delivery of different nutrients to our tissues.

6. Respiratory

Before famous middle distance runner, Roger Bannister ran a mile in under 4 minutes, it was thought humanly impossible to accomplish it. After Roger Bannister did it, several other people shortly after were able to accomplish this incredible feat. How did Roger pave the way? With his breathing. Breath is an important part of exercise, and even more important part of yoga practice. Yoga promotes a heavy focus on breathing as a way to control the body and body. By enhancing our respiratory system, we begin to improve the the overall health of our bodies, including the brain, heart, and digestive systems.

7. Mind

More than ever we are learning how mental health and physical health are inseparably linked to one another. There is a compelling article here on newsweek that discusses how yoga can help several different mental health disorders including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, PTSD, and psychiatric disorders. Ultimately, yoga provides a multi prong approach to quieting the mind through meditation and breathing.

8. Sinus Relief

There’s a great breakdown in the Huffington Post that addresses how yoga can cure sinus pain. In the article, the author breaks down the many different contributing factors to their sinus pain relief such as how inverted poses can help to clear sinus blockage, deep breathing contributes to an increased flow of oxygen. It also explains how our sweat can help to reduce different toxins within the body and how the endorphins from exercise can help to alleviate pressure in our sinuses.

9. Immune System

One of the best health benefits of yoga is an over all boost to your immune system. As we discussed earlier, yoga can help to strengthen your respiratory system. Our white blood cells are critical in helping to fight off colds and other infections. When we work to improve our respiratory function, our blood flow also improves. The improved blood flow becomes a delivery mechanism for this important internal defense. Also, yoga can reduce mental stress which is widely known to reduce the effectiveness of our immune systems.

June 18, 2018

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How To Sequence A Yoga Class For The Theme Ananda
By YogaRenew Teacher TrainingYoga Teacher Training, Yoga Teachers

What Does Ananda Mean?

Ananda is a Sanskrit word that means ‘joy’ or ‘pure bliss’. Joy and bliss are two emotions that are our natural states of being. As children, we are born into this state; light, free, and blissfully joyful.

This yoga class theme helps us all to remember that natural state of being – of pure joy. When we align with this powerful feelings, we find more joyful things in our lives to celebrate. As we ignite ourselves with pure bliss, we are also naturally inclined to want to share that joy with others – by spreading our light and joy into the world through our interactions and choices.

As humans, we naturally experience a wide spectrum of emotions, including some that are the complete opposite of joy, like sadness. But in life, in order to truly appreciate pure joy; experiencing those contrasting emotions actually help us to appreciate the joy in our lives.

The joy that we create in our lives on a daily basis works as a guide to help bring us back to this way of being during times of darkness. And we choose to let it, that light of joy can overpower any sadness we may be feeling.

Through meditation and yoga practice, we can also choose to make joy a choice in our lives. As we experience different emotions, we can learn to become observers of our emotions and learn to be aware of them.

As our emotional awareness increases, we can find that we have the power within us to always choose our emotions, no matter the situation. All it takes is just a little bit of awareness of our choice and a shift in perception.

Class Theme Intro – Mantra Meditation

Begin the class by introducing the theme with a quote, related reading passage, or simply speaking a few sentences on the topic. Ask students to sit in Easy Pose and close their eyes. Instruct them to take a big inhale in, and imagine they are breathing in the word ‘Joy’. As they inhale, also ask them to bring a gentle smile to their faces. As they take a long exhale out, ask them to imagine that they are breathing out the word ‘Bliss’. Repeat for 1-2 minutes.

You could also choose to end the class with this mantra meditation practice or choose a related reading, or quote, to help seal your student’s practice in joy. You could also ask students to bring to mind 5-10 things that they feel joyful for in their lives. This could be experiences, loved ones, goals, past accomplishments, etc.

How To Sequence A Yoga Class For This Theme

When sequencing a class for this theme think of poses that inspire joy, bliss, and lightness. Playful poses, and power poses are great to sequence for this weekly theme. Poses such as the Warrior poses, Bow, or Dolphin are good examples of poses that help students to reignite their inner joy and playfulness.

Heart opening poses such as Camel, Cobra, or Upward Facing Dog are also good to include in this sequence. Heart opening poses help us to activate our heart centers so that we can reconnect with our joy.

June 12, 2018

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19 Books Every Yoga Teacher Should Read
By YogaRenew Teacher TrainingLifestyle & Wellness, Yoga Teachers

Learning is an important part of teaching yoga, and there are a ton of great books out there! The ancient texts give us valuable insight on the philosophy of this incredible practice while modern books can teach us more about anatomy, business, and other elements of yoga. Whether you’re just getting started on your yoga teacher certification, or you have been teaching for years, here are 19 books that every yoga teacher should read:

1. The Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita is a classic ancient Indian story about a dialogue between Warrior Arjuna and his spiritual guide, Sri Krishna. As Arjuna sets off into battle, he begins to seek answers about important questions about life from Sri Krishna.

The Bhagavad Gita, Translated by Eknath Easwaran

2. Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Patanjali

This classic book, written over 4,000 thousand years ago, is one of the most important texts on yoga philosophy today. The Yoga Sutras detail ancient yogic philosophy on every day life, ethics, meditation, and spirituality.

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Translated by Sri Swami Satchidananda

3. The Upanishads
The Upanishads is another important and revered ancient text about yogic wisdom and philosophy. Enlightened sages share wisdom about consciousness, spirituality, and a deeper look into the relationship between the Self and the Divine.

The Upanishads, Translated by Eknath Easwaran

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

This iconic book is considered ‘The Bible of Modern Yoga.’ The book is broken into three sections covering the eight limbs of yoga, asana and pranayama + sequences. It provides an outline of the physical practice that consumes most of modern day yoga and is regularly used as a reference guide by yoga instructors. Check-out our full book review of Light on Yoga.

Light on Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar

5. Perfectly Imperfect: The Art and Soul of Yoga Practice by Baron Baptiste

This book by Baron Baptiste, helps yoga practitioners learn important fundamental lessons about yoga. It helps readers understand the true trans-formative aspect of yoga and go beyond what their imagined idea of a “perfect yogi” is. It also hits on points about flowing, dealing with life’s challenges, intuition, and being open to the spiritual and emotional growth that yoga can create for us.

Perfectly Imperfect, The Art and Sould of Yoga Practice by Baron Baptiste (Founder of the Baptiste Institute)

6. Yoga Anatomy by Leslie Kaminoff and Amy Matthews

Written by internally recognized experts on Yoga Anatomy, this book is a great reference for yoga practitioners and teachers. It gives readers an understanding of the structures and anatomy of the body. It also explains how anatomy relates to different key yoga poses.

Yoga Anatomy by Leslie Kaminoff and Amy Matthews

7. The Art and Business of Teaching Yoga by Amy Ippoliti and Taro Smith

An excellent guide for yoga teachers that details all the different aspects of running a yoga business today. It includes, business basics, marketing, social media marketing, communication, finding new opportunities, and how to run a successful yoga business.

The Art and Business of Teaching Yoga by Amy Ippoliti and Taro Smith

8. Teaching Yoga: Essential Techniques and Foundations by Mark Stephens

This book is filled with vital topics including yoga philosophy and history, styles of yoga, tools and techniques for teaching, 108 poses, breathing techniques, and class sequencing basics. It’s a great book for new and old teachers, or just practitioners looking to deepen their knowledge.

Teaching Yoga, Essential Foundations and Techniques by Mark Stephens, Forward by Mariel Hemingway

9. Light on Life by B.K.S. Iyengar

B.K.S. Iyengar’s book touches on the emotional and spiritual development of yoga. This book is filled with wisdom and stories from his own personal life to reveal the important treasures that yoga helps us to develop internally. It also touches on how yoga helps us to overcome our challenges in life and also leads us on a journey to a deeper sense of wholeness.

Light on Life by B.K.S. Iyengar

10. 2,100 Asanas by Daniel Larceda
One of the most complete books on yoga poses, this book illustrates beautiful photographs and probably every single yoga pose that exists. The book is organized into sections of types of poses including seated, standing, backbends, inversions, and more. It also details modifications, a brief description for each pose, and spiritual associations for the poses.

2,100 Asanas by Daniel Lacerda, Founder of Mr. Yoga, Inc.

11. Meditations From The Mat by Rolf Gates and Katrina Kenison

This book includes 365 daily reflections as a way to take yoga practice off the mat and into the world. This book really helps to support every yogi in their personal yoga journey through its daily teachings.

Meditations from the Mat by Rolf Gates and Katrina Kentson

12. The Mindful Brain by Daniel Siegel

Written by internationally acclaimed best seller, Daniel Siegel, this book helps to connect science with mindfulness. It details how mindfulness helps our physical bodies, our overall health, emotional health, and also mental health. It teaches how we can use a more focused mind to improve all areas of our lives.

The Mindful Brain by Daniel J. Siegel

13. Yoga Therapy Mark Stephens

This book explains how yoga practices can be used to heal a number of common ailments and injuries. Using ancient yoga, Ayurveda and modern medical research, Mark Stephens offers a lot of practical tips that any yoga teacher can use to further their yoga teaching.

Yoga Therapy by Mark Stephens

14. The Complete Guide To Yin Yoga by Bernie Clark

This book offers a detailed look at the practice and philosophy of Yin Yoga. It includes practical techniques, 30 Yin Yoga poses, anatomy, and more. Another must have for yoga teachers looking to deepen their yoga knowledge.

The Complete Guide to Yin Yoga by Bernie Clark with a Foreword by Sarah Powers

15. The Yamas and Niyamas by Deborah Adele

A great resource for yoga teachers, this book is a modern look at the ancient Yamas and Niyamas of the eight-fold path of the Yoga Sutras. It even offers a self-study section after each chapter that teachers can use for philosophy discussions in their classes. Take a deep dive with our course on the Yamas and Niyamas.

The Yamas & Niyamas by Deborah Adele

16. The Key Muscles of Yoga by Ray Long

This colorful book offers three-dimensional images of yoga poses to detail the different muscles, tendons, bones, and tissues used in each pose. Each illustration also includes detailed descriptions of the anatomy behind each pose. A great visual and educational guide for teachers looking to deepen their anatomy knowledge.

The Key Muscles of Yoga by Ray Long

17. The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice

In this book, yogi Desikachar offers his own practical outlooks on yoga poses, breathing, meditation, and philosophy. His book gives us a way to view ancient yoga practices in a way that we can relate to in modern day. It’s a great book that truly gets to the heart of what yoga is all about.

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

18. The Path Of The Urban Yogi By Darren Main

This wonderfully modern book details how we can use yoga to change the way we perceive our experiences and relationships. It helps us all be able to find ways to integrate yoga into a busy Western world. It is filled with humor and wise teachings that any yogi can apply to their daily life.

Yoga and the Path of the Urban Mystic by Darren Main, Forward by Stephen Cope

19. The Heart of Meditation by the Dalai Lama

In this book written by His Holiness, we learn about what is truly at the heart of meditation – Compassion. A great edition to a spiritual practice, this book helps to outline how to cultivate and practice more love, kindness, and respect for others.

The Heart of Meditation by The Dalai Lama

Enroll in our online philosophy course

If you’re feeling inspired by any of these texts, you can learn more inside of our yoga philosophy course. Inside the course, we dive into the secrets of the yogic practice and the ancient scripts written about it. From there, you can learn how to weave stories and teachings from these books into your yoga teachings or your own personal practice.

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June 6, 2018

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How To Do Dancer Pose: 7 Alignment Tips
By YogaRenew Teacher TrainingYoga Teacher Training

King Dancer Pose, better known as Naṭarājāsana in Sanskrit, is a fun yet challenging balance and backbending pose that requires the combination of strength, flexibility, and stability. King Dancer enables us to be more focused, calm, and can promote better balance in our lives, while also grounding us. With the opening of the chest and the back-bend piece of it, it stretches the chest, shoulders, hamstrings, quads, spine, and hips. At the same time, it strengthens the ankles, shoulders, core, and larger leg muscles.

Due to so many working elements in this pose, it can be a very intimidating pose to attempt, especially for newer students. Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself in this pose. If you’re looking to work your way up to such a robust pose, consider trying out some yoga basics first. We’ve developed a whole series of beginner yoga classes you can practice for free on our YouTube channel and wrote another article centered around yoga for beginners.

Be playful with the pose and get comfortable with getting outside of your comfort zone. King Dancer Pose will always look different from person to person so try to focus on how the pose feels in your body instead of how it looks. Over time, your balance and flexibility with this pose will improve, and by practicing with patience and concentration, you’ll help to even quiet the mind.

Here are some helpful tips when practicing Natarajasana (King Dancer Pose)…

Alignment Tips For King Dancer Pose (Natarajasana)

Beginner yoga practicing Natarajasana on the beach

1. Firm Your Foundation

Ground down and firm your standing leg without locking it. Engage the larger muscles in your legs – the quads, hamstrings, and calf muscles to protect the knee and also increase your balance. To do this, imagine feeling the kneecap of your standing leg lifting upwards; this automatically activates your upper leg muscles. You can also prep for this by strengthening the muscles in your legs. By increasing our strength we also increase our balance. Try prep poses that tone the legs such as Chair, Goddess, High Lunge, Warrior 2, Warrior 3, or Warrior 1.

2. Root Down Through Your Foot

Firm down through all four corners of your standing foot. Aim to feel the ‘lift’ of the natural arch in your foot. By doing so, it will keep you more balanced in this pose. This works because the weight distribution of our bodies will even out through our feet, ankles, and surrounding leg muscles.

3. Square Your Hips

In this pose, there is a tendency to want to want to rotate the body towards the side of our lifted back leg. This can take us off balance and can injury our lower back, knees, and hips. Work to get your pelvic and hip area squared to the front short edge of your mat. This will give you a better foundation and allow you to balance better on your standing leg.

4. Open Your Chest

As you lean forward and come into the back bend of Dancer pose, one way we can avoid compressing the spine is by broadening out through the chest. Keep the chest lifted upwards and draw your shoulders down and away from the ears.

5. Draw Your Lower Belly & Ribs In

As you lean forwards in this pose, draw lower belly in and also knit the ribs in. This will keep your torso from falling too far forward and also increase your balance.

6. Focus Backbending From The Upper Part of Your Back

You want to think of creating a soft ‘U’ shape with your back bend instead of a sharp ‘V’ shape. This will help you to avoid compression of your spine. If you ever feel any sort of pain or pinching, ease out of the pose gently. All parts of our bodies are connected so a way we can deepen our back bend is working on stretching the surrounding areas; the abdominal and pelvic area. Some good prep poses you could practice to increase your flexibility in these areas are Camel, Bridge, Upward Facing Hands (Urdhva Hasatasana) with a slight backbend, and Wheel.

7. Be Patient & Ease Into It

Keep in mind, try to not focus on how the pose looks and avoid comparing how your Dancer pose looks to others. Be mindful and always work within the limits of your own body. With time and patience, you will be able to achieve whatever expression of the pose you wish. If you move too quickly in and out of the pose, you could run the risk of injuring your knees, hips, and spine.

Want to learn about yoga anatomy more specifically? Our yoga anatomy online course provides you with the proper anatomical terms for what happens to the body in the different asanas. Created by anatomy expert and lifelong yoga teacher Joe Miller, our yoga anatomy course will help you understand the ins and outs of alignment, proper cues and anatomical terms so you can lead memorable yoga classes!

How to get into King Dancer Pose (Natarajasana):

Begin in Mountain Pose (Tadasana).

Begin to shift your weight onto your right foot.

Bend the left knee back behind you, allowing the left heel to come towards your left side glutes.

Reach your left hand back and grab your left foot inner ankle. If this is too difficult to reach, you can use a strap by bringing it around the top of your left foot and grabbing hold of it with your left hand.

Bring your opposite hand, right hand, up towards the ceiling. Find a focus point to keep your gaze and balance.

Press into your grounded foot and activate your core to keep you balanced.

Begin to tilt your torso forward and at the same time begin to lift the right foot away from the body. Keep the chest open.

Bring the back foot up as high as is comfortable for you, working to get your back thigh parallel to the ground.

Hold for several breaths.

To release, come out of the pose slowly. Lower your back foot down and come back to Mountain Pose.

Natarajasana (King Dancer Pose): Tips for Beginners

If you find you have trouble balancing on one leg, you can try using a wall or chair for support. Work on just lifting your back leg up and grabbing the foot without leaning forward or coming into a back bend (think of just a simple standing quad stretch). As you work to gain flexibility in your quads and balance in your foundation, you can ease into the pose slowly.

If you find you have have difficult grabbing your back foot with your hand, you can also try using a strap for assistance. To do this, loop one end of a strap around the top of the back foot and the other end in your same side hand. Increase your shoulder and arm flexibility will also aid you in being able to grab your back foot with your hand. Try prep poses that stretch the shoulders and arms such as Downward Facing Dog, Camel, Eagle, Child, Cat, and Cow pose.

Advancing The Pose

To advance the pose, you could try bringing both hands overhead and grabbing hold of the lifted foot with your hands. When grabbing hold with both hands, be mindful to keep both arms knitted into the body, with elbows close to the ears. Be mindful to keep your shoulders drawn down your back.

Lindsay Monal, Experienced Yoga Teacher and Sound Healer, practicing Naṭarājāsana on the beach

May 26, 2018

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7 Yoga Poses For Stress Relief
By YogaRenew Teacher TrainingYoga Teacher Training

Stress is something we all deal with on a daily basis especially in today’s fast paced world. Fortunately, there are a number of tools we can use to combat stress including yoga. Yoga relieves stress by improving the quality of our breath, calming our central nervous system, improving our mood, and also releasing tension in our muscles.

All yoga poses overall can reduce stress but certain specific poses have an amazing ability to significantly relieve stress almost instantly. Stress causes low energy in the body so it’s important to take it easy. Avoid high energy poses and focus more on grounding and restorative poses.

For even added stress relief, you can hold yoga poses for longer periods of time.

Poses To Help With Stress Relief

Here are 7 poses to help reduce your stress levels – please feel free to incorporate these poses into your lesson plans where it may help others.

1. Child

This restorative pose relieves sore and achy back muscles. It also helps to stretch the lower and upper back muscles.

Begin in a table top position, with your arms reaching out straight in front of you or by your sides. Sink your hips back towards your heels. Hold for 5 to 10 breaths, and repeat as many times as needed to fully relax and stretch the lower back.

2. Easy

Easy pose helps to ground us and relax the body. Adding meditation or mantras are another great way to enhance this pose for relaxation. Breathing exercises or pranayama can also be practiced in Easy for stress relief.

To begin, sit upright and cross the legs comfortably. Root down into the sit bones evenly and lengthen up through the crown of the head. Keep the eyes open or closed and simply focus on your breathing. Stay in Easy for several breaths or for a few minutes.

3. Supine Twist

Twists are a great way to detox the body and relieve tension in our muscles. Because we are lying down on our backs in this particular twists, it creates an even deeper sense of relaxation in the body.

To begin, lie down on your back. Draw the knees into your chest and allow them to gently fall over the right side. Keep your shoulders pressed to the mat as you allow your head to gaze in the opposite direction as your knees. Stay here for several breaths before releasing. Switch sides.

4. Standing Forward Fold

Fold poses in yoga naturally help us to relax because it creates a sense of surrendering and peace in the body. Standing Forward Fold allows helps us relax by bringing more blood flow to our brains and stretching out tight muscles in the legs.

To begin, stand in Mountain. Begin to hinge forward at the hips and allow the fingers to reach towards the ground. Keep the knees slightly bent or straighten them. Let the head and neck be soft and keep length in the spine. Hold for several breaths before slowly releasing back up.

5. Wide Legged Forward Fold

Wide Legged Forward Fold is another great fold that helps to create a sense of peace and surrender in the body. It also helps to stretch the hips and legs, releasing tension in those muscles.

To begin, step the feet out wide about 3 to 5 feet apart. Bring your hands to your hips and begin to hinge forward at the hips. Allow the hands to reach for the ground, a block, your shins, ankles, or toes. Stay here for several breaths before slowly releasing back up.

6. Pigeon

Pigeon is an amazing pose for stress relief because it helps to ground ourselves and also deeply stretches tight hips.

To begin, start in Downward Facing Dog or a table-top position. Bring the right foot in and place it down on the mat behind the right wrist. Extend the left leg back on the mat with the top of the left foot resting on the mat. Stay here or to deepen the pose, begin to fold towards the mat keeping the spine lengthened. Hold for several deep breaths before slowly releasing back up. Switch sides.

7. Savasana

Savasana is the ultimate relaxation pose. Adding pillows, blankets, and aromatherapy are some great ways you can enhance Savasana for added stress relief benefits. You can also do Savasana for longer periods of time, for example up to 20-30 minutes to really relax your mind and body.

To begin, lie down on your back with your arms comfortably by your sides. Let the feet relax comfortably and close the eyes. Focus on your breathing and enjoy the stillness.

May 26, 2018

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