I am a fan of Kirtan, aka chanting using Sanskrit mantras. It is great way to meditate, relax your body and mind, and uplift your mood by opening your heart. I know that sounds a bit "wop-woo," but it is true. People have been feeling its benefits for centuries since Kirtan is one of the oldest sacred music traditions of the world. Many yoga studios offer monthly or weekly Kirtan sessions with Read more

The thing I love about Ashtanga yoga classes is that they are the same every time you go. Same poses, same order, same amount of breaths in each pose, and the class is always an hour and a half. There are no surprises, so you always know what to expect. The teacher keeps everyone at the same pace by counting out loud. Many Ashtanga yoga instructors count in Sanskrit, the original language of Read more

When you take a yoga class (especially Ashtanga, Vinyasa, and Jivamukti classes), sometimes the instructor will call out the names of the poses in their original language, Sanskrit. Here's a list of some animals in Sanskrit and the poses they're named after. Knowing these Sanskrit words really helped me to remember the names of certain yoga poses. Baka - crow, crane or wading bird, as in Read more

When you take a yoga class (especially Ashtanga, Vinyasa, and Jivamukti classes), sometimes the instructor will call out the names of the poses in their original language, Sanskrit. Here's a list of some body parts in Sanskrit, so you can get familiar with them. Knowing these Sanskrit words really helped me to remember the names of certain yoga poses. Pada - foot or leg, as in Utthita Hasta Read more

Yoga is all about connecting your breath with your body, and vinyasas help that happen. Vinyasas link static yoga poses together, so your practice becomes more of a deliberate, fluid dance instead of just a bunch of random poses thrown together. Vinyasa is a series of 5 movements, kind of like a shortened Sun Salutation. You do a vinyasa between different poses and between the right and left Read more

When I go to certain yoga classes (especially Ashtanga, Vinyasa, and Jivamukti classes), sometimes the instructors don't demonstrate the postures. They walk around assisting students, and call out the names of the poses - in SANSKRIT! Here's a little lesson so the next time you go to a yoga class like this, you can have more of an idea of what poses you're supposed to be doing. Asana - "pose," Read more

Meditation may not come easy to a lot of people - trying to sit still and quiet may prove to make you cranky, irritable, and uncomfortable. Kirtan might work better for your personality. Without the work of mentally quieting the mind, kirtan can carry us effortlessly to a place of quiet stillness. One of the oldest sacred music traditions of the world, kirtan is in the form of call-and-response Read more