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Blog – Wisdom For The Journey

What is Yoga Therapy?

What is Yoga Therapy?

What is Yoga Therapy? Who Can Benefit and What to Expect When I tell people that I work as a Yoga Therapist, I often have to explain what that means. People know what Yoga is, but Yoga as a healing modality is something they want to know more about. They ask, “What is...

What Is Yoga?

What Is Yoga?

There is a common misconception in North America that Yoga is a great workout, and that Yoga instructors are incredibly fit. By contrast, the traditional focus of Yoga in India has always been the mind. This takes people by surprise: 'But a Yoga class is so active!' ...

Importance of Lineage in Yoga

Importance of Lineage in Yoga

At the beginning of every Yoga Well Institute class, we chant in a Vedic style in honor and remembrance of our teachers. We do this because we acknowledge Yoga’s long and distinguished history. And we value the Tradition and Lineages that have passed these precious...

What is Ayurveda?

What is Ayurveda?

Āyurveda is another one of those terms that we see a lot in wellness social media posts. Blogs invite you to take a quiz to determine your doṣa, or prescribe things to do or avoid in order to practice Āyurveda. But there isn’t much information out there that explains...

Benefits of Oils in Ayurveda

Benefits of Oils in Ayurveda

Oils are fundamental in Āyurveda. They are used internally and externally to prevent, as well as treat, disease. Used on the skin, or in the body’s orifices like the mouth, nostrils and ears, oil protects our bodies from outside stimulus, impurities and antigens (that...

How Meditation Helps Your Health

How Meditation Helps Your Health

A health problem is your body’s way of saying, “I’m out of balance.” And it’s likely to be accompanied by negative thinking, sadness, anxiety and/or nervousness. When you get sick, your mind is as affected as your body is. And you can’t actually meditate if you can’t...

Yogic Breathing: Yoga for Breathing

Yogic Breathing: Yoga for Breathing

For at least the past 2000 years, the two main practices of Yoga have been conscious breathing (prāṇāyāma) and meditation (samādhi). Meditation is the means of liberation and breathing is one of the quickest, most efficient means of shifting the state of mind and...

Dinacharya: Āyurvedic Rituals for Good Health

Dinacharya: Āyurvedic Rituals for Good Health

Āyurveda’s main pursuit is a long, healthy life.  In support of this, it suggests principles and practices that apply to almost every aspect of our life. Dinacharya (spelled dinacaryā in Sanskrit) are rituals that promote good health, both physical and mental.  They...

Benefits of Becoming a Yoga Therapist

Benefits of Becoming a Yoga Therapist

BENEFITS OF BECOMING A YOGA THERAPIST “The success of Yoga does not lie in the ability to perform postures but in how it positively changes the way we live our life and our relationships.” -T.K.V. Desikachar Completing a Yoga Teacher Training is a huge milestone....

Introduction to Haṭha Yoga Pradīpika

Introduction to Haṭha Yoga Pradīpika

The Haṭha Yoga Pradīpika provides an excellent overview of the practice of haṭha yoga. This 15th Century Sanskrit text describes many of the principles and techniques that form the foundation of the practice of Yoga in modern times. Divided into four chapters, it...

East and West in Yoga Therapy

East and West in Yoga Therapy

The Yoga Well Insitute’s Yoga Therapist Training Program educates from both Eastern and Western perspectives. The Eastern tradition of Yoga practices and principles (along with its complementary ancient Indian perspectives, such as Āyurveda) combined with Western...

How Yoga Changes Your Mind

How Yoga Changes Your Mind

When we talk about Yoga, what we’re really talking about is the behavior of the mind.  This is clear from the first chapter of the Yogasūtras, in which Patañjali says: yogaś-citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ (YS I.2), or “Yoga is the restraint of the activities of the mind.” In...

The Effect of Perception on Experiences

The Effect of Perception on Experiences

Experiences come in many forms — the laughter of a child, the discomfort of a bed in a hotel room far from home, another car cutting in front of us while driving to work. While it can be tempting to describe these experiences as inherently positive or negative, the...