FAQ

You don’t have to sit cross-legged, any sitting position is fine as long as you are comfortable and your back is straight and still.

It is essential that you sit comfortably so that your body does not distract you. If you feel pain, go for it first. Adjust. Do not ignore the pain! Constantly fighting it is pointless.

Here are some alternatives to sitting with crossed legs:

1.You can meditate with your feet flat on the ground while sitting on a chair or bench

2.You can put a pillow under your buttocks to support it.

3.You can sit with your back against a wall.

4.You can bring your legs back into Virasana (hero pose)

No. Pain or suffering is to be avoided. For me, a body that suffers severe pain has no ability to acquire any of the teachings offered. And I strongly disagree with the saying “pain is your guru”.

That said, yoga can be uncomfortable and occasionally cause soreness. If you’re new to yoga or haven’t practiced in a while, you may feel muscles you didn’t even know you had. Often you do things with your body that you’re not used to yet, so it’s only natural to feel uncomfortable from time to time.

My personal suggestions to avoid any feeling of pain:

– Focus on your breath.

– Ask your teacher for an alternative to the pose

– Only go as far as it feels comfortable for your body (do less – not as easy as it seems ?

– If you start to feel any discomfort that is hard to breathe through, go back to a neutral pose and relax

When we work to control the rhythm of the breath (#pranayama), we must understand that the #breath is like a married couple. In this “marriage” of inhalation and exhalation, the difficulty of one is a sure sign that the other needs to change.

In this particular case, it turns out that the #exhalation is very long – probably too long – which makes the inhalation difficult. The improvement is achieved by shortening the exhalation.

“Let’s sit and make sure you are comfortable”. That is the instruction we hear regarding sitting meditation normally. Very little is said about what to do with our hands when we meditate. Palms Up or Down?

– “Palms up” is a gesture of giving, and it is also a gesture of receiving.

– “Palms down” is a closing, and it is also a gesture of withdrawal

In my own practice and in my classes, I teach my students to place their palms downwards. One has to understand that sitting meditation is not about giving or receiving. It is about observing the disengagement from the endless stream of noise of thoughts, clutter and chatter, without any doing.

Yoga can make you sore, because yoga lengthens the body in unfamiliar ways and engages muscles that aren’t accessed every day.

Many people come to yoga expecting to feel great afterwards. But when you are first starting out, you’re likely to experience soreness in the hours after—and possibly days. Like any other exercise, performing yoga poses causes muscle contractions that can result in soreness.

How to relieve Yoga soreness?

– resting after yoga is healing time and will help you feel better soon

• drink water to release any toxins in your body
• do less and avoid pushing through the pain

To feel some achiness is your body’s natural response when your muscles experience a “different engagement than the usual”. But remember, it encourages them to grow in size and strength. However, it should never last longer than a few days.

It’s a common experience for most students. You’re practicing, your mind suddenly drifts away and you become occupied with thoughts of what you’ll do over the weekend,  what you should make for dinner, or an unsolved problem at work. Without a doubt, our aim in Yoga is to practice with an empty mind! But hey – Nobody is perfect, right??

There is no harm in allowing the mind to wander as long as you are aware of it and your intent is to avoid it while you are practicing.

In my classes, I teach my students to concentrate on their breath. The result sets in immediately. The more they focus on their breath, the less the mind wanders.

It’s a common misconception that yoga is about stretching. Just go back to the original practitioners and it’s unlikely their bodies were as stiff as ours tend to be! The practice of yoga is more about doing less, slowing down and being more conscious about how you do what you do. You reconnect to your body wisdom and observe the movement of energy from within. Over-stretching, as in locked knees for example, and over stimulation of the nervous system just blocks this.

However, you do lengthen in Yoga. It’s what yoga sequences should ideally be designed around. Lengthening muscles should be an essential process in your practice, which takes time. Instead of being ambitious, you are gentle on yourself and your muscles will yield more easily. This way, you will end up getting more for less.

Yoga is known to awake and increase the energy levels in the body. But some people say that they often find themselves feeling tired after yoga sessions. ?

If you feel tired after yoga, it’s because yoga teaches you to pay attention to your breath and your body – often revealing just how exhausted you actually are and how much you have been ignoring it. It is in fact an opportunity for you to listen and be aware of the signals your body is sending you.

Nevertheless, other reasons may also include incorrect postures, intensity and length of the yoga practice, and most of the time overdoing things, simply being too ambitious. Make sure you understand that Yoga works on your body, breath and mind on a much deeper level than any other workout you might be familiar with, which means that a simple practice can leave you exhausted.

Is it in the morning? Or in the evening? For me, every time of day is an invitation to do yoga. How we practice becomes different, that’s the beauty of it. Always make sure that your practice is grounded, intentional and continuous over a long period of time, as it is described in the classical texts.

Since an important part of yoga practice is getting to know yourself, I’ve found that it makes more sense to let your energy tell you when to practice. Find your own rhythm and then create rituals within your practice that are consistent. Get in tune with your body and become that union that yoga talks about.

? However, in general, yoga practice is recommended in the morning or early evening. A morning yoga session can be quite active and consist of a full practice, so it is a good time to energize yourself. As a result, you’ll have more energy throughout the day and feel less tired. Doing yoga in the early evening can help you calm down after a long day.

First, a quick anatomy lesson: The pelvic floor sits between the tailbone and the pubic bone, and supports your bladder, bowel (large intestine) and internal reproductive organs. Keeping the pelvic floor strong can have a significant impact on your quality of life and prevent from pelvic floor dysfunctions. One of the most common doubts is:

Do I inhale or exhale when engaging the pelvic floor?

You exhale. During the exhalation, the belly button draws towards the spine with a little up-wards scoop as you also collect your pelvic floor. Using your breath in this way will give you more power to lift, hold and therefore strengthen your pelvic floor muscles. Don’t do too much. ? It’s just about a gentle upward pull on those muscles between the tailbone and pubic bone. If you do it correctly, no one else should actually see anything happen. Make sure you don’t squeeze and clench your butt cheeks.

When you walk into a yoga class, the first thing you do is take off your shoes and socks before you hit the mat. This is the way yogis have been practicing for thousands of years. There are several reasons and implications for doing yoga barefoot.

Feet are the crucial parts of our body involved in performing any yoga pose (asana). In most of the asanas, we need to keep our feet firmly in contact with the ground, in order to root ourselves. Practicing yoga barefoot helps to maintain stability and balance in the body while practising. An absence of the required grip by wearing socks can lead to injuries. Also, some yoga asanas require you to grasp your toes. This can only be done barefoot.

It is also common to hear people say that they feel energised after practising yoga barefoot as they absorb the energy from the earth. This is one of the main reasons why yoga leaves us energised, while other forms of exercise leave us drained.

Many of us feel sweaty after yoga and yearn for a nice, refreshing shower.

However one of the most important things to avoid after doing yoga is showering or bathing immediately. Keep in mind that the practice of yoga is not a workout. Yoga stimulates the body’s energy and releases toxins, even if we cannot see it with our own eyes. It is essential to give your body time for recovery, something like a cooling down period. Observing your breath is a great way to allow your body and mind to assimilate the benefits of your yoga practice and let it come to its normal resting state. You can do a less vigorous activity, like taking a slow walk or sitting quietly in nature. 

Showering immediately after class can wash away the released energy and make you feel tired. I have a feeling that if you do so, your whole practice will be in vain.

Allow your body to settle down for at least 30 minutes before taking a bath or shower. This is an essential aspect of aftercare that is often overlooked and not many people know about.

Are you a fast walker by nature? By doing that, you are focusing all your energy on getting from one place to another and probably miss out on all sorts of “in between” moments in your life ?.

The same tendency often shows up on the yoga mat. We ignore the moments in between our poses – the waiting – instead focusing our attention on getting into the next pose. We either rush through these in between moments, or tune them out completely. Why? The most obvious reason is the fact that those moments are nowhere near as rewarding to the EGO as the glory of a full pose.

But in fact, these moments of waiting or transition are the essence of a healthy Yoga practice. They are great lessons to take advantage of. Your brain has to figure out the next move, so that your body can follow. Time is needed. We become more attentive and aware as we stand, sit and lie down. The practice itself becomes slower and there’s often a sense of ease, as the body is well aligned in a pose. The bones absorb much of your body weight, and the muscles support and stabilize you.

Waiting can teach us a lot!

Meditation has many benefits, including improving mood, boosting energy and reducing stress. And it’s a practice for everyone – even those of us who think we can’t sit still or even slow our minds down. All you need is a little guidance on how to train your brain, and before you know it you’ll be using the power of your mind and improving your life.

➡️ Here are my tips on how to start meditating and maintain a daily practice:

1. Get comfortable.
We tend to make meditation more complicated and challenging than it needs to be. Take it easy. Start by sitting comfortably. If you’re flexible, sit cross-legged – with your knees just below your hips. If you’re not, sit on a chair with your feet on the floor, or maybe sit up in your bed. Even on your sofa is fine, or against a wall if you have to. Avoid getting bogged down in ‘how you are supposed to sit’ when starting out.

2. Set a time
Many people like to meditate first thing in the morning, but if another time of day works better for you, go with it. It’s ideal to devote the same time to your practice every day, but be forgiving if you can’t meditate at the same time every day.

3. Start small
If 10 minutes seems overwhelming, start with five. After a week, start adding one minute to your practice each week. See how it feels.

4. Be kind to yourself
“Meditation is self-inquiry. Notice the excuses you tell yourself – I’m too tired or I don’t have time. This is an essential part of the process. Notice how your mind tends to rationalize when you break your commitment. In the end, it’s all about your relationship with yourself.

5. Be consistent
You are training your brain to focus, concentrate and let go. Over time, with consistency, it will become easier to let go.

6. Connect
Focus on your breath to anchor the mind in the present moment.

While yoga is all about practice and patience, no one can blame you if you pause to ask yourself how long it is going to take to get good at yoga.
The most important question first – what does it even mean to be good at yoga? ?Yoga is about helping us to live to our full potential. Becoming more flexible, calmer and healthier is all part of being good at yoga.

Yoga is awareness. Reaching a stage where we can stop the fluctuations of the mind (vrttis) is the ultimate goal of yoga. The closer we are to that place, the better we are at yoga.?
Everything we do in yoga, whether it is our Asana practice (body), reading the Yoga Sutras (study), or sitting in meditation (mind), is aimed at helping us reach this ultimate goal.?

Make sure you understand that any kind of goal setting/intention in yoga comes from a place of understanding the Self and not from comparing yourself to other people’s journeys. Yoga is not competitive. ?

That said, how much a person benefits depends on a regular, disciplined practice, patience, body type, pre-existing health conditions, age and intention.