Moving With The Breath: Insights From My Kids Class
Today’s Kids Yoga And Creative Movement lesson was so much fun! Actually, each and every class with them is. One of the many ways that these children are so amazing is that they LOVE being in their bodies. Playing is routine to them, and at the same time exciting and full of possibilities. How cool is that?
We opened our class with energizing exercises, all constructed within Tabata intervals. Yes! The keiki are even partaking in Tabata. Yahoo!!
We played with chasses, gallops, leaps of all sorts and more. It was energizing and the energy was buzzing with joyful delight. We checked into the feeling of our bodies after such activity and took the time be with those sensations.
We filled the middle of class with exercises that involved coordination and left and right side of the brain activity too.
Within this play we chatted about what it meant to have a body, about why we love having a body, and about the gift that our body truly is in our lives. (more…)
This Yoga And Fitness Intensive Inspires Self Love, Big Time
A new Devotion In Motion Series is beginning in August, every Tuesday and Friday morning! Please register today to secure your spot, space is very limited.
A better description for these classes could be an “intensive” because we power pack a wealth of not only yoga and fitness time into each sweaty hour and a half gathering, but we also activate our personal growth in “expotential” (hee hee, this is Samantha vocabulary) ways!
This happens within the synergy of each potent class as amazing women come together with an intention of meeting their edges and stretching beyond. How awesome is that support?! Woven into this sweet intensity, Samantha lovingly weaves simple yet profound tools, meditations and breathing exercises into the mix. The result = positive transformation for our mind, body, and spiritual physiques! (more…)
A Mind, Body, Heart Fitness Challenge On Kauai In February
Lately I have been feeling so much gratitude for the ways in which my body supports me in living my life to the fullest. I have just recently been jumping courageously off waterfalls, hiking miles in the jungle, and dancing spontaneously with Kaili (and she loves to be held and swung all around when we dance). All of this with a freedom that I truly cherish.
I know that I know that I know, that my CONSISTENT commitment to my yoga and fitness practices have gifted me this freedom I appreciate in my body daily. Thank you practices!
So, this February I am offering a new challenge, a new opportunity to recommit to your devotional offering of love to your body, mind and heart. (more…)
Yoga Detox Workshop With Samantha Fox Olson
SPRING CLEANSING TIME!
YOGA DETOX WORKSHOP WITH SAMANTHA FOX
This is the perfect time to detox our bodies and we can use our yoga practice to facilitate cleansing on many levels.
During this yoga workshop, certified Anusara yoga instructor, Samantha Fox Olson will guide students through a cleansing and flowing practice. Additionally, I will open the workshop with very helpful instruction regarding alignment principles that will be applied during this practice to facilitate an effective yoga detox. The workshop will close with a meaningful meditation that applies to cleansing our minds, bodies and hearts.
Each student will be able to take what they learn in this workshop and bring it into, and enhance, every other yoga practice, no matter what form of yoga you practice! (more…)
Vinyasa- Power Yoga Flow On Kauai
I am happy to announce that we have another class added to our schedule. Monday mornings, 10 am in Kilauea Farms, is now a Vinyasa Power Yoga class. This puts a little more flavor/variety into my weekly schedule! Vinyasa translates as moving alongside of the breath, or linking the body movement with the breath.
So, in Monday’s practice I will be giving less instruction on alignment principles (which I do in great detail on Satuday’s Anusara yoga class), and more emphasis on letting your breath lead the way through your practice. I will be weaving the Universal Principles of Alignment into the class, but we will not stop to partner or fine tune those principles in this practice. (more…)
Connecting With Nature
A simple breathing exercise that I love to use in meditation and in my yoga asana practice is breathing in exchange with nature.
Although we do this naturally, all day and all night long, it is a beautiful practice to mindfully and gratefully breath in harmony with her.
Take a comfortable seated posture, close your eyes and begin with breathing naturally through your nose.
How And Why To Do Nadi Sodhana
Regular alternate nostril breathing, Nadi-Sodhana, is the most important practice for keeping our pranas in balance.
Nadi-sodhana brings balance to the two main channels through which prana flows, ida and pingala (the left and right prana currents). The left side, ida, is the cool, moon, feminine side which promotes emotion and love. The right side, pingala, is the hot, sun, male energy which promotes discrimination and reason.
Regular nadi-sodhana practice not only than keeps these energies in balance, but also purifies the body and mind. By harmonizing the pranas, levels of stress and anxiety are reduced and vitality is increases. For this reason, nadi-sodhana is great for those engaged in mental work, or as a prescription for depression.
The Sacred Gift Of Being Breathed
Take a moment, pause. Soften your skin, relax your jaw. Breathe in deep, and out long. Breath from your belly to your collar bones with each inhale, and soften any tension in your body as you exhale. Delight in the connection between your breath and your nervous system/your mental well-being.
Pranayama (the yoga science of breathing) is generally thought of as the control over the breath. By consciously changing the length, depth, force, and frequency of the breath, we are able to very effectively influence the autonomic nervous system. Thus, we then can influence control over physical processes like our digestion, our circulatory system, our heartbeat, and our mental state.
“But, if we think of the breath as a manifestation of the universal life force, we would be silly to believe we have “control” over this. For example, if you try to kill yourself by holding your breath, you will eventually pass out, and your breathing will start automatically. We are not ultimately “in control” here.“* So this translates our understanding of pranayama into something much sweeter than controlling the breath.
Samantha Fox is a yoga and fitness instructor on the Garden Island of Kauai in Hawaii. She is a Certified Anusara Yoga Instructor and holds a Diploma in Ayurveda Sciences. Samantha has been practicing yoga for over 17 years and began teaching in 2002. » Find out more about Samantha Fox.
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