Less stress is one breath away

Category : General advice, Philosophy 1st December 2014

Inside Yoga 123 The most important solutions are often simple; the most effective remedies are sometimes natural; and the most profound messages straightforward. So in keeping with this theme, consider this: less stress is just one breath away. Stress hits us at any time and sometimes it can stick like glue to our whole being. Shaking it off and ridding […]

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A simple life works

Category : General advice, Philosophy 19th November 2014

Inside Yoga 122 (19/11/14) We are often told that “less is more” and that simplicity is a path to happiness, and many people say they like to keep it simple, but how many of us actually live and breathe the simple approach to life? There is one man down in Uruguay who does exactly this even though he is the […]

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Does happiness matter?

Category : General advice, Philosophy 10th November 2014

Inside Yoga 121 (10/11/14) Does happiness matter? This is a question posed by a recent newspaper article, part of an interesting series of articles about happiness in the Guardian (called ‘Happy for Life’). One feature does ask this question – does happiness matter? While another looks at how our work/leisure balance has been replaced by 24/7 anxiety. The articles makes […]

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Dalai Lama cautions military and business

Category : Asanas (Postures), General advice, Philosophy 5th November 2014

Inside Yoga 120 (5/11/14) Back in the 1980s the Dalai Lama began working with cognitive scientists who were studying mindfulness meditation and Buddhist insights, and he welcomed this with open arms, but he probably did not imagine businesses and even the US military would one day want to harness some of those insights. Last week, the Dalai Lama attended a […]

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When ‘rush hours’ can help us

Category : Asanas (Postures), General advice, Philosophy 28th October 2014

Inside Yoga 119 (28/10/14) Scientists have discovered that the body has a pair of daily “rush hours” which affects the way tissues throughout the body work.  The animal study, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, monitored the function of cells, in 12 tissues, through the day. It found large shifts in activity just before dawn and dusk. According […]

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How to meditate

Category : General advice, Philosophy 20th October 2014

Inside Yoga 118 (20/10/14) Meditation can look like a very difficult technique to learn, it can feel elusive, distant or awkward; in many ways the practice can be difficult in terms of staying still for a long period of time, but the technique itself   can be straightforward. Meditation does not have to feel complicated and esoteric; here is a simple […]

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Happiness: the decision is yours

Category : General advice, Philosophy 1st October 2014

Inside Yoga 117 (29/9/14) “I’ve always wanted to be happy,” said Neil Baldwin to Lou Macari, in the BBC drama shown last week, “So I decided to be,” explained Neil. This conversation is just one part of a true story, shown last week, about Neil Baldwin, now in his 60s, a man with learning difficulties who did what he said […]

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Those were the days

Category : General advice, Philosophy 22nd September 2014

Inside Yoga 116 (22/9/14) It is probably safe to say that we all want to be happy; it is a straight forward and simple desire yet something that can feel so hard to find and then hold onto for many of us, but according to Yuval Noah Harari, author of a history of humankind, our ancestors in the stone age, […]

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Meditation helps reduce migraines

Category : Asanas (Postures), General advice, Philosophy 15th September 2014

Inside Yoga 115 (15/9/14) A few days ago a couple of publications were highlighting the effectiveness of meditation in reducing headaches and migraine. The news stories were citing a recent study that had discovered that meditation can reduce the number of migraines a person suffers from and also the length of migraine can be shorter by as much as  3 […]

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In memory of a master

Category : Asanas (Postures), General advice, Philosophy 27th August 2014

Inside Yoga 114 (27/8/14) RIP BKS Iyengar “Words fail to convey the total value of yoga. It has to be experienced,” said the yoga teacher BKS Iyengar, who died last week, on August 20, at the age of 95. This short quote summed up a lot of what was important to this influential yoga teacher, because he lived and breathed […]

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