A regular yoga practice will undoubtedly produce physical benefits -- strength, flexibility, and balance to name a few -- but when you leave the studio in a state of “yoga bliss,” it becomes evident that the benefits reach far beyond the physical aspects. There have been plenty of studies done on the psychological benefits of yoga and these include stress relief, increased focus, and decreased symptoms/mood states associated with depression and anxiety. In a similar manner to asanas interacting with muscles, joints, etc. to produce the physical benefits of yoga, our yoga practice interacts with our brain in a way that produces these positive psychological effects as well.

A New Year, a New Decade … a New Perspective …

I remember vividly how shiny and newly waxed our linoleum floors became around the Holidays, circa 1956. During the Christmas season my mom works feverishly all week scrubbing the house until it sparkles top to bottom. Most fun of all was putting on my flannel PJs and running down, what seems like a very long hallway, and dropping to the floor, sliding all the way on its sheen into the kitchen, yelping in delight. Upon the white Formica table sat bowls of cookie dough and the metal dyes in shapes of trees and stars waiting to be transformed into yummy buttery goodness, in Christmas colors. I scoop a finger or two of raw dough before adding the green dye. I still conjure this taste in my mouth.

Written by Inner Fire Yoga teacher, Karen Rigsby

“Attention is where your eyes focus. Intention is where your heart is focused.” -Grandpa Kraft at my high school graduation circa 1980s

When we begin a yoga practice, our attention might be initially on our breath, on our alignment, on what our asana looks like in the mirror. We might focus on the strength of our standing leg while we contort our spine to some preconceived notion of flexion so as to put our forehead on our knee. Our intention, however, is where we hope our practice takes us. Our intention brings our awareness to a quality or virtue we wish to cultivate in our lives. A yoga practice may seem daunting in and of itself without the indulgence of virtue. But once we have the bones right, virtue follows naturally. It hangs the muscle on our practice.

written by Inner Fire Yoga teacher, Ken Kloes

What’s the big deal with taking a deep, controlled breath during yoga practice? Other than the obvious benefit of bringing oxygen into the lungs during inhale and eliminating carbon dioxide on exhale, the benefit is much more profound. Understanding some anatomy is key here. Your main breathing muscle is the diaphragm, which separates your lungs from abdominal organs. When you inhale this muscle flexes down into the belly expanding the lungs, filling them up with air. On exhale the diaphragm relaxes upwards squeezing the lungs and forcing air out, the deeper the breath, the bigger the movement of the diaphragm.