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1

FAQ for Free Online Guided Meditation & Kundalini Yoga Classes

Summary: This article is the FAQ to help guide all those interested in the free online guided meditation and Kundalini Yoga Classes here on the Mastery of Meditation website.  It covers the most common issues and questions that students have about the online classes.

FAQ for Free Online Guided Meditation & Kundalini Yoga Classes

As the interest in the online guided meditation and Kundalini Yoga classes has grown I have been getting more feedback and suggestions from all of you who have participating in them.  Please keep this feedback coming, as it is instrumental in helping me improve the quality and value of these classes.  The one improvement that has become evident is the need for a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document to clear up some of the most common questions that come up. 

So here is that FAQ…

1.  Where do I begin if I want to take the Online Meditation & Yoga Classes.

There are 2 documents on this website which are exactly the same and the gateway into the online meditation & Yoga classes.  From either of these 2 documents you can choose the class you want to take.  To choose the class of your interest Select The Class LINK (in green) on this document and it will take you to the Syllabus and Feedback Page for that particular class (see item #2 below).  Here are these 2 starting documents…

CLASSES-ONLINE

Expanded Free Onine Guided Meditation & Kundalini Yoga Classes

2.  How do the Online Meditation & Yoga Classes work?

Currently, for each class there is a “Syllabus and Feedback Page“.  This page has all the details for that particular class.  All the material required to participate in the class is available via LINKS on this page.  The links are in “green” and they point to the articles which have the guided meditations techniques and yoga sets you need to do that class.  So all you do, is read this page carefully and then follow the links to the other material required and BEGIN anytime you want.  Here are the links to the 4 Class Syllabus and Feedback Pages that are currently available (as of Nov 9, 2007)…

Course #101: Introduction to Guided Meditation & Kundalini Yoga Class

Course #102: Heart Chakra Meditation, Balancing & Healing Class

Course #103: Third Eye (Ajna Chakra) Opening & Balancing Class

Course #104: Healthy Weight Loss via Yoga, Breathing & Meditation Class

3.  How do I register for the Online Meditation & Yoga Classes?

Registration is just a courtesy to help me gauge the interest and popularity of each class, as everything you need in order to participate in the class in already on the website (you don’t really need me anymore :-).  To “register” you can simply send me an email at anmol@anmolmehta.com or you can leave a comment on the Syllabus & Feedback post for that particular class.  Please do register it makes me feel good :-P.

4.  How do I ask questions, raise issues or provide feedback?

The best way for class related discussions is to post a comment on the Syllabus & Feedback post for that class.  If you need it to be private you can always email me at anmol@anmolmehta.com.  Please don’t hesitate to send me feedback, as I am always looking to improve these classes.

5.  Where can I get more information and guidance on Kundalini Yoga Practice for the classes?

The following 2 articles are good starting points for understanding Kundalini Yoga practice.  The most important rule for the classes is PLEASE DON’T OVERDO IT, build up slowly and systematically.  Kundalini Yoga is a very powerful science and should be approached with respect and intelligence.

10 Important Guidelines for Kundalini Yoga Practice 

 

2

New Kundalini Yoga Classes and The Courage To Live Dangerously

How To Live Courageously

This past weekend was blessed and charged with 3 yoga and meditation classes at the Silent Mind Meditation Center.  The new Saturday Kundalini Yoga class, the Sunday Gentle Yoga and Meditation Class and the original Sunday Kundalini Yoga Class.  The new class was well received and served its purpose perfectly.  It has been launched as the Sunday Kundalini Yoga is full and can no longer accommodate any new students.  So new students wanting to learn the powerful science of Kundalini Yoga, now have the opportunity via the Saturday Class.  In addition, the new class gives current students another option if any given Sunday is busy for them and it also gives those students who wish to expand their practice a second class to attend if they so desire.  This was exactly the composition of the new class.  There were new students, students who could not make it on Sunday and students who wished for more yoga.  I would like to thank all those who attended and made this class a success.

Kundalini Yoga Classes

None of this would be taking shape, though, if I was afraid of failure.  As some of you know, I used to teach a popular Kundalini Yoga class in Jersey City and run the Zenmind Yoga & Meditation studio in Hoboken, before my wife became pregnant and we moved to Old Bridge to be as close as possible to my dear parents who live here.  This move has been a huge blessing for my family, all three generations are benefiting from the proximity, but, it also meant taking a break from my teaching days.  The last three years have brought us the joy of 2 magnificent sons and although I have continued my personal practice, it wasn’t till this spring that I felt I had the time to commit to teaching Kundalini Yoga classes publicly again.

Setting up a Yoga Studio and teaching Yoga & Meditation is, in my opinion, one of the most honorable professions one can embrace.  That being said, it is not necessarily easy to do.  Specially if you want to do it well and really make an impact in people’s lives.  In this article I don’t want to go into all the details on what goes on behind the scene to run a successful Yoga Center, but, what I do want to discuss is the risk factor involved in actually offering the classes.

So many doubts and fears can paralyze this process.  “Will anyone sign-up?”,  “Do I have enough time and energy?”,  “Will students like Kundalini Yoga?”,  “Should I do the class on a weekday instead?”,  “Will Yoga generate interest in Central New Jersey?”, “Will it be perfect?”  etc, etc.  Who knows!  We will find out and the only way to find out is by trying it.  You must act on your passions despite any doubts or insecurities that you have and that is what courage is.  To not try because of the fear of failing or the fear of making a mistake is the biggest mistake.  The future is unknown, there are no guarantees and the key to dealing with this truth is to embrace uncertainty.  Once you can do that you can take the plunge.  Otherwise you will never let go of the edge and never experience the current of life.  So open your heart, don’t worry about being perfect, don’t try to always play it safe, be adventurous and as Osho puts it in the title of his book, discover the “Joy of Living Dangerously”.

3

Launching More Kundalini Yoga Classes (Saturday) as Current KY Class is Full

Since the start of the Kundalini Yoga Classes just a few months back, we have seen a steady stream of new students join and benefit from the program we are offering.  This then led to starting the Gentle Yoga and Meditation Class, which too has received a very nice response and is steadily growing in popularity and participation.  Today though, I noticed the Kundalini Yoga Class has reached maximum capacity and so to accommodate the new students that are keen on joining, I have decided to start another Kundalini Yoga Class on Saturdays starting June 30, 2007.

More Kundalini Yoga Classes

The students who have already spoken to me about the Sunday class and are registered for it, are of course not affected, but I can’t accommodate any new students for this class.  The new class will be a Kundalini Yoga Class suitable for all levels and will be held every Saturday from 11:00 am – 12 noon starting June 30.  The class does not require the students to have any prerequisites to join and beginners are welcome.  As in all the Kundalini Yoga Classes I offer, modifications are offered for any difficult postures and students are encouraged to pace themselves.

The Saturday class is now open for new students to register.  In addition the Gentle Yoga & Meditation Class on Sunday’s from 10:00am – 10:45am is also still open for new students as there is still some space available in that class.  As always, you are welcome to take multiple classes if you like, so if you are currently enrolled in the Sunday classes, and would also like to take the Saturday class you are welcome to do so.

For more information on the classes offered at the Silent Mind Yoga Studio go the CLASSES page.  If you are interested in the ONLINE Yoga and Meditation Classes go the ONLINE-CLASSES page. 

I would also like to thank all the students who are currently participating in the ongoing classes and making the Silent Mind Yoga and Meditation Center a wonderful Reality.

4

Expanded Free Online Guided Meditation & Kundalini Yoga Classes

 Please Go To The New –> Online Classes Page

 

New Free Online Guided Meditation & Kundalini Yoga Classes Now Online

As many of you know at Mastery of Meditation I offer Free Online Guided Meditation and Kundalini Yoga Classes.  The first of these classes was launched on May 1, 2007 and I want to specially thank all the students who are currently taking part in that course and paving the way for others.  Since I found the class to be of interest and value to others, I have decided to expand to offering multiple classes and also fine tune them as follows.

Online Guided Meditation

PLEASE ALSO READ THE FAQ below.  It addresses many of the common questions about the online classes:

FAQ For Free Online Guided Meditation & Kundalini Yoga Classes

Below are the new details for the Free Online Guided Meditation and Kundalini Yoga Classes…

 

  • Going forward many different classes will be offered, each focusing on a particular dimension of your being.
  • You may JOIN and START any class at any time, as I realize it is best to start when inspiration strikes.
  • To register just leave a comment in the comment section of the “Syllabus and Feedback Post” of that particular class, the comment section of this post or email me at anmol@anmolmehta.com.  This is the only way I can gauge interest so please do let me know if you are participating.
  • As before, all questions/issues/feedback will be addressed in the comments section of the “Syllabus and Feedback Post” of a particular class, or you can email me if you prefer.
  • All course material, as before, will be published on the website.
  • Do the best you can, it is more important to start and do something, than try to be perfect and not do anything at all.
  • The purpose of the classes is to help you establish or deepen your daily meditation and yoga practice and help you achieve your highest potential.  I hope you take advantage of this opportunity to learn the wonderful arts or meditation, yoga and pranayama (breath control).
  • If there is a particular aspect of yourself you would like to work on, please let me know and I work towards designing a class for that or point you towards material already available which will help.  I wish you all the best and hope the class is a wonderful experience for each of you.
  • You can read the original and more detailed post announcing the classes here (Free Online Guided Meditation and Kundalini Yoga Class)

 

Guided Meditation and Kundalini Yoga Courses Currently Online:

(The Class titles below are links, select them to go to that class syllabus page.)

1. Introduction to Guided Meditation & Kundalini Yoga Class:  Course #101 

This class, is a 2 week course and is designed to give you a solid introduction to Kundalini Yoga Kriyas and Guided Meditaion Techniques.  In addition it provides the important benefits detailed below…

 

  • Pranayama Breathing exercises to build your energy and awareness
  • Kundalini Yoga Kriyas for an overall workout and building your core abdominal strength.
  • Guided Meditation Techniques to promote peace, joy and insight.

 

2. Heart Chakra Meditation, Balancing and Healing Class: Course #102

This class is a 1 week course and is designed to open the Anahata Chakra (Heart Chakra), which governs the region of respiratory and circulatory systems.  It is also the source of love, compassion and forgiveness.  Class objectives and overview are as follows…

 

  • Yoga Pranayama Breathing Exercises to activate your energy.
  • Kundalini Yoga Kriyas to open the lower energy centers and then the heart center to promote flow of energy into this region.  The kriyas benefit the heart, lungs and digestive system.  They also promote kindness and softness in one’s personality.
  • Guided Meditation Technique to help your Higher Self shine through and help you realize the non-dual nature of Reality.

 

3. 3rd Eye (Ajna Chakra) Opening & Balancing Class Syllabus: Course #103

This class is a 1 week course designed to open, activate and balance the Third Eye or Ajna Chakra.  The class incorporates powerful breathing exercises (Pranayama), Kundalini Yoga Kriyas and Ajna Chakra Mantra Meditation Techniques to accomplish its goals.  Below is summary of the class objectives…

 

  • Chakra Balancing Breathing Exercises (Nadi Shodhana/Shuddhi Pranayama) to clear the psychic channels of blockages.
  • Kundalini Rising Raja Yoga Set to move energy to the higher Chakra centers.
  • Ajna Chakra OM Mantra Meditation to directly activate and open the Third Eye Center.

 

4. Weight Loss Via Yoga, Breathing & Visualization Meditation: Course #104

This class is a 2 week program designed to help you lose weight, burn fat and get fit.  The course uses the power of the BODY, BREATH & MIND to help you achieve your ideal body weight as well as optimum health.  Here is an overview of the program…

 

  • Bhastrika and Kapalbhati Yoga Pranayamas to increase metabolism, burn fat and cure diseases.
  • Kundalini Kriya for Healthy Weight Loss to promote burning calories and increasing energy.
  • Visualization Meditation with 3 Step Rhythmic Breathing to use the Power of Thought and the Intention Manifestation to reshape the body.

 

5

Kundalini Yoga Classes Get Off to a Great Start

Today we kicked off the Kundalini Yoga Class at our Silent Mind Meditation Center and I am happy to say that everything went beautifully .  All the weather channels here tried hard to scare us from holding the class, with elaborate threats of a belligerent storm, but Nature was our side.  Sure it did rain and still is drizzling here in our little corner of the Universe, but as for the storm, she decided to not disrupt our plans.  This, though, does not take away any of the credit that the students should get for keeping their commitment despite the threats from the CNN weather gods.  They arrived, not knowing what the class would hold and blessed me with the opportunity of sharing with them the gift of Kundalini Yoga.

Kundalini Yoga Classes

We had worked hard to get everything just right so that the class would be a great experience for those who participated and I have a good feeling that the desired results were achieved.   The credit again, though, must go to those who took a chance, showed the courage and attended the class.  They gave their attention, determination and energy, without which the teachings would have just been empty words.  I want to thank them for participating and look forward to having many more opportunities for sharing my knowledge with them.  In a Kundalini Yoga class, there is a certain energy that is created due to the collective work that is being done, this energy helps all those that are present.  Not only that, at the end of class, we pray for peace and love in the world, and I hope that the voice of our united spirit will penetrate to the heart of all creation .

Sat Nam 
(True Identity)

6

Requesting Feedback to Help Improve Online Kundalini Yoga & Meditation Classes

As this Kundalini Yoga blog has grown, I see more people signing up for the Online Kundalini Yoga and Guided Meditation Classes and this makes me very happy :-D.  What I would like to do is make all of you who do sign up and take the online courses more happy also.  So I am requesting feedback from you on how to improve these online classes.  The classes started as an experiment and although have proven to be successful, I think there is room for improvement. So I would like to hear your ideas on how to do this.

Here are some ideas I have for improving the classes, please let me know what you think of them and also, please share with me any ideas you may have.  You may email me at anmol@anmolmehta.com or you may simply leave comments at the bottom of this post.  Looking forward to any feedback you have to offer.

Feedback

Ideas for Improving Online Kundalini Yoga & Guided Meditation Classes:

1. Add video demonstrations or illustrations for the Yoga exercises, meditation techniques and Pranayamas (breathing exercises) to help make them more clear.

2. Add a FAQ which answers some common questions like how to register, when can I start, etc.

3. Start a class at a particular time so that a group of students can start together and share their experiences.  This worked very well when the first course was launched (Introduction to Kundalini Yoga & Guided Meditation Course #101).

4. Add more classes :-).  If you have particular requests please let me know.

So there are some of my ideas, looking forward to hearing yours.

7

Simple Yoga for Digestion, Gas and IBS

Introduction to Simple Yoga for Digestion

Digestive issues, bloating, indigestion, gas or how about lower back issues, or tight hips… all those issues, including IBS, benefit from doing this one simple yoga exercise.  If you are putting together a yoga sequence for yourself, then Yoga Stomach Grind should not only be included, it should be the amongst the first few exercises you do.

The dynamic nature of this exercise, works to massage all your inner organs, helping to cleanse and rejuvenate them.  In addition, the rotation and stretching works to limber up your lumbar region and spine.  It gets you ready for doing more intense exercises and sets, and in my Teacher’s Training Program, my teach (Ravi Singh), would almost always have us begin with this key exercise.

yoga for digestion and gas

Simple Yoga for Digestion

This simple yoga exercise has been introduced previously for helping you with your back, but I wanted to emphasize the important digestive and elimination benefits of this technique as well.

Yoga Stomach Grind is the first exercise of the excellent Spinal Warm-up Series and you will find details of that set here.

Yoga Stomach Grind is a key yoga exercise for the digestion and back support.  Here on Mastery of Meditation & Yoga, it will be part of the following 2 free online e-books: Free Yoga Videos and Online Kundalini Yoga Exercises.

Below the video I have provided the entire transcript as well, in case you prefer to read the transcript to watching the video.  Choices are always good :-).

Simple Yoga for Digestion, Gas and IBS

YouTube Direct Link –> https://youtu.be/732e67fHBco

Transcript for Simple Yoga for Digestion, Gas and IBS Video:

Namaste, my friends!

Today, we’re going to learn an excellent exercise for your digestive system and for your elimination system.  It massages all your internal organs, pushing out waste and toxins.  If you’re suffering from IBS, gas, bloating, or other digestive elimination issues, this is an exercise that you should definitely include in your wellness routine.

This exercise is also excellent for your lower back if you’re suffering from lower back pain or discomfort, or if you want to prevent lower back pain or discomfort, this is an excellent exercise to do as part of your fitness regimen.

Also, this exercise is very, very good for starting off the yoga session with.  So, in classes I teach, this is an exercise I include as my warm-up for those classes even for my personal practice, this is a staple of my warm-up routine prior to doing any intense yoga sets or kriyas.

How to Do Simple Yoga for Digestion

So, to do this exercise, you’re going to hold on to your knees and you’re going to grind your stomach in a big circle. You’re going to go counter-clockwise first and then, you’re going to go clockwise second. So, all you’re going to do is to grind your stomach in a big circle.  Visualize, drawing a circle with your navel. As you move to the sides, you can use your arms as levers to accentuate the stretch. You should feel a good stretch in your lumbar region, your lower back region, and as you’re arching forward, you should feel a good stretch along the sides of your torso.

You can inhale as you come forward through the nose and as you push back, you can exhale.  The exercise feels very, very good.  It provides a lot of relief to your spine and lower back region and hips.  And then you can go the other way.  You go the other way, switch directions, again inhaling as you come forward and exhaling as you go back. Grinding your stomach in a big circle.

Common Mistakes With Yoga for Digestion

Now, the one mistake I notice people make in the classes is they, they lean forward as they are coming forward.  So, you’re not to lean forward. As you come forward, arch your back forward. Let me show you from the side. From the side, you can tell as I’m coming forward, I’m arching my back forward and I’m arching my back-back. So, what you do not want to do is lean forward like this. That’s not going to do much as far as massaging your organs or stretching out your lower back, right? You want to be able to arch your back forward as you grind in a big circle.

You can do one side for thirty seconds or a minute and then do the other side for a similar duration. Once again, excellent exercise if you’re suffering from IBS, digestive elimination issues, great for your lower back, great for warming up your spine, which is imperative to do before a yoga set, especially a kundalini yoga set.

If you enjoy the videos, please subscribe to our channel and to our blog.  Here are links to our YouTube Channel and FaceBook Fan Page.

FACEBOOK : https://www.facebook.com/MasteryOfMeditationAndYoga/

YOUTUBE : https://www.youtube.com/anmolmehtaYogaMeditationMastery

8

Terrific Yoga Ab Exercises & Workout for Toned Stomach

Yoga Ab Exercises to Shape Stomach

Previously on Mastery of Meditation & Yoga, I had provided the powerful Core Abdominal Power Yoga Set to help you tone and build your abdominal muscles, but when it comes to strengthening and toning muscles it is good to hit the same muscle group with a variety of exercises and workouts.  This is simply because muscles adapt to certain exercises over time, and so targeting them with new workouts is needed to help stimulate their development.

Ab exercises are a must for any starting Kundalini Yogi, as building that center gives you, not only a flat firm stomach, but also the energy and willpower you need in order to develop a long-term consistent yoga practice.

This particular set is excellent to include into any yoga or fitness routine and consists of the ab exercises I do in my yoga classes to help the students tone and shape their stomach muscles.

The Yoga Ab Exercises & Workout Set will be the 10th set in our Free Online Kundalini Yoga Set E-Book.

yoga for toned stomach

Benefits of Yoga Ab Exercises & Workout

  • Tone & Shape Ab Muscles:  Each exercise and the workout as a whole is designed to a help tone and strengthen your abdominal muscles.  Overall, it works to shape your stomach and midsection.
  • Build Energy & Core Strength:  Developing the stomach muscles and strengthening your core, is key to increasing your levels of energy and health.  This will also help prevent injuries and back problems.
  • Build Willpower & Character: The abdominal region is the seat of the Navel Chakra (Manipura Chakra).  This center is responsible for your willpower and strength of character, and working on this area activates and balances this key chakra.
  • Helps Digestion and Elimination: The important organs of digestion and elimination reside in the stomach region, which get massaged and rejuvenated by the focused attention that this workout puts in this area.

Yoga Ab Exercises & Workout Practice Details

Please read the following documents to help guide you in practicing the Yoga Ab Exercises & Workout Set:

Essential Beginners Guide to Yoga Practice

10 Important Guidelines for Kundalini Yoga Practice

Remember the golden rule is please do not overdo anything.  Back off if you feel uncomfortable or dizzy.  Use common sense when it comes to injuries and work around them whenever necessary. Take a short break between each of the exercises below, during which just do long deep breathing while lying on your back (corpse pose).

Yoga Ab Exercises & Workout for Stomach Shaping

1. Yoga Single Leg Lifts:

 

Illustration #1: Yoga Ab Single Leg Lifts – Starting Position

 

 

Illustration #2: Yoga Ab Single Leg Lifts – Left Leg Up

 

Illustration #3: Yoga Ab Single Leg Lifts – Right Leg Up

Description:

For this exercise lie on your back with your palms underneath your buttocks, to support your lower back, as shown in Illustration #1.  Then lift your left leg up to 90 degrees and then back down (Illustration #2).  Follow that by lifting your right leg to 90 degrees and then down (Illustration #3).  Repeat with left leg and continue on.  You will feel your abdominal muscles working to raise each leg.

Breath:

Inhale as leg goes up, exhale down.

Duration:

1- 3 minutes.

2. Yoga Double Leg Lifts:

 

Illustration #4 – Yoga Ab Double Leg Life – Starting Position

 

Illustration #5 – Yoga Ab Double Leg Lifts – Ending Position

Description:

For this exercise remain on your back with your palms underneath your buttocks, to support your lower back.  But now lift both legs smoothly up to 90 degree and then back down.  Try to keep your knees straight and keep the motion controlled and smooth (illustration #5).  This exercise work your ab muscles much harder than the single leg lifts, so be ready.

Make sure to take a break between exercises to let the abdominal muscles recover a little before moving on.

Breath:

Inhale as legs goes up, exhale down.

Duration:

1- 3 minutes.

3. Yoga Criss-Cross Legs:

 

Illustration #6 – Yoga Ab Criss Cross Legs

 

Illustration #7 – Yoga Ab Criss Cross Legs

Description:

Again for this exercise remain on your back with your palms underneath your buttocks, to support your lower back.  Now lift both legs up about 12-18 inches off the floor and have your toes pointing forward.  Now begin to criss-cross your legs at ankle level rapidly (Illustrations 6 & 7).  At first one leg will be on top, and then when you cross back have the other leg be on top. 

This exercise will give the side ab muscles (obleques) a workout,and is excellent for shaping your stomach region.

Breath:

Do the Breath of Fire Breathing Exercise as you criss-cross your legs.

Duration:

1- 3 minutes.

4. Yoga  Piston Legs:

 

Illustration #8 – Yoga Ab Piston Legs

 

 

Illustration #9 – Yoga Ab Piston Legs

Description:

Remain on your back with your palms underneath your buttocks, to support your lower back.  Again lift both legs up about 12-18 inches off the floor and have your toes pointing forward.  Now begin to piston your legs back and forth rapidly (Illustrations 8 & 9).  As one leg bends in (knee coming towards the chest), the other goes straight out and the motions reverse. 

Be sure to not bicycle the legs, the legs should move parallel to the floor for this exercise.  This exercise will ensure that if any parts of your stomach muscles were left out of the workout, that they get a chance to now participate .

Breath:

Breath out as you fire each leg out.

Duration:

1- 5 minutes.

5. Add Stretch Pose or Boat Post (Optional). 

The above 4 ab exercises provide a great workout to tone and shape your stomach, but if you feel ready to take it to the next level, then add Kundalini Yoga Stretch Pose to this set.  If you feel really strong and would like to set the bar even higher, then add Kundalini Yoga Boat Pose to enhance this set further.  You will find me demonstrating Yoga Boat Pose in the Core Abdominal Power Yoga Set Video and description also in that article.

 

Illustration #10 – Kundalini Yoga Stretch Pose

Make sure you rest adequately after doing this set, to allow the body to assimilate all the good energy you have awakened by doing this set.

Summary:

As I mentioned earlier, if you are new to Yoga practice, ab exercises are a must.  The Third Chakra is an excellent center to develop early in your practice and according to Kundalini Yoga abdominal work should be done everyday.  And anyway, who does not want a nice flat stomach with toned, shapely abs .

9

How to Anchor Your Home Yoga Practice with a Sadhana

Our new regular contributor Kara-Leah continues her home yoga practice series, looking at how our concepts of a home yoga practice can get in the way of us actually practicing.

by Kara-Leah Grant, Forty Days of Yoga – Breaking down the barriers to a home yoga practice.

In a recent article, What Really Counts as a Home Yoga Practice, I looked at how our concepts and ideas about yoga having to be a particular way can get in the way of us actually practicing. 

By letting go of our fixed ideas of what a yoga practice is we can find a practice that works for our life and our lifestyle.

However, the down side of this approach is that we can find ourselves avoiding the difficult aspects of practice and indulging in what feels good all the time. Sometimes, it also means that we have no set focus for our practice and it becomes scatter-shot – a bit of this and a bit of that. 

There is one key way we can get around both of these issues – by using a sadhana, or something I call an anchor.

yoga at home

What is a Sadhana?

Sadhana is daily spiritual practice, but sometimes using words like that can feel strange and uncomfortable, so I prefer to use the word anchor. An anchor is something that stops us from drifting off, it keeps us focused, and in place. 

Simply put, an anchor is an aspect of practice that you decide to do every single day of your Forty Days, no matter what. That aspect of practice stays the same, even when everything else shifts around.

You might practice at all different times during the day and night, but you always anchor your practice with the same thing.

You might practice at home, at work, outside and while travelling, but your anchor keeps you focused and on track.

Practically speaking, an anchor provides a container for our practice. Think of water, without a container of some kind of spills out everywhere and can easily evaporate. With a container – like a cup or a bowl – the water can be held and used well.

An anchor provides that container for your practice. Examples of an anchor might be:

  • Always starting your practice with five Sun Salutations.
  • Always ending your practice with Bridge Pose, a Twist and Savasana.
  • Always doing Alternate Nostril Breathing.
  • Always doing a short specific standing pose sequence.
  • Always meditating for ten minutes.
You could use one of the many wonderful yoga sets on this website for your anchor, including:

Three Ways to Choose an Anchor for Your Home Yoga Practice:

#1: What do you avoid in your home yoga practice? 

What do you hate practicing? What do you only do in a class and never at home? That can provide a clue. Maybe you hate Bridge Pose, and always skip it at home. Decide to anchor your practice with Bridge. Decide that you’re going to do it three times. Not once, not twice, but three times.

#2: What do you need to balance out your body? 

Do you need something more energising? Something more calming? Do you need to still the mind? Expand the breath? Do you have an injury or illness you need to work with? Choose something that balances you out. If you’re not sure, talk to your local yoga teacher and get a recommendation. Even better, do a one-on-one session with a good teacher and find out from that what they would recommend.

#3: What’s a small enough practice to easily complete in less than ten minutes?

You don’t have to be able to complete your anchor in less than ten minutes, but it increases the chances that you will actually do it every single day. If you choose something that takes an hour to do, there’s likely going to be a day when you just can’t fit it in. Keep the anchor small, and when you have more time to practice, add in extra elements to your practice.

After all, the anchor isn’t the only thing you’ll do in your practice though, it’s just the container.

Out of your commitment to the anchor, other things will naturally arise.

For example, when I did five sun salutations as my anchor, I usually went on to do another half hour to hour of asana practice. Sometimes though, I did just do those five sun salutations.

Plus the anchor you choose informs the way you practice. If you’ve chosen three bridge poses as your anchor, you’re going to be mindful of specifically opening the body up to prepare for Bridge Pose. You might be inspired to go and do some reading and find out what poses are great for preparation and also for counterposing.

There’s also the unexpected things that happen when you chose to anchor your practice.

Sticking to the same thing each and every day gives that particular practice time to deepen and ripen into your body and mind. You’re digging your well deep in the same place, and you may hit pay dirt. By the end of your Forty Days, you will truly know that pose, or pranayama, or meditation, or sequence. Or at least, be well on your way to knowing it ;-) .

Kundalini Yoga is particular works on this premise – using 40 day, 90 day 120 day and 1000 day sadhanas to master yoga kriya, meditations or pranayamas. 

40 Days of Practice will break any negative habits that block you from the expansion possible through the kriya or mantra.

90 Days of Practice will establish a new habit in your conscious and subconscious minds based on the effect of the kriya or mantra. It will change you in a very deep way.

120 Days of Practice will confirm the new habit of consciousness created by the kriya or mantra. The positive benefits of the kriya get integrated permanently into your psyche.

1000 Days of Practice will allow you to master the new habit of consciousness that the kriya or mantra has promised. No matter what the challenge, you can call on this new habit to serve you.

So when you’re ready to commit to your Forty Days of Yoga, take some time to decide on an Anchor for your practice.

  • Ask what you’re avoiding
  • Ask what you need.
  • Choose something you can complete in seven minutes
  • Commit to that anchor for 40, 90, 120 or 1000 days.
And make it happen! Enjoy your practice :-)

How to Anchor Your Home Yoga Practice by Kara-Leah Grant

How to Anchor Your Home Yoga Practice from Kara-Leah Grant on Vimeo.


And if you’re ready to start that home yoga practice, there’s no better place than on this website. There’s a mountain of resources including the Free Online Yoga & Meditation Classes, the popular Free Guided Meditation Techniques Series & the Free Yoga Videos Library.

About Kara-Leah

Kara-Leah Grant author of Forty Days of Yoga 

Kara-Leah is a writer and yoga teacher who has always been infinitely curious about the make-up of the human psyche and body. Regular yoga helped her heal and recover from chronic back issues, including a spinal fusion at age 16, and two episodes of psychosis at age 29.

Her daily home yoga practice began in earnest when people kept asking her to teach them yoga.  She’s since trained as a teacher with Shiva Rea, and immersed herself in practicing, teaching yoga and writing about yoga. Kara-Leah lives just outside of Queenstown, New Zealand with her son Samuel.

She’s the publisher of The Yoga Lunchbox and has just published her first book, Forty Days of Yoga – Breaking down the barriers to a home yoga practice. She’s also a regular contributor toElephant Journal

10

What are the Benefits of a Home Yoga Practice?

It’s my pleasure to introduce yoga teacher and writer Kara-Leah Grant. She’s the publisher of The Yoga Lunchbox, and the author of Forty Days of Yoga – Breaking down the barriers to a home yoga practice.

This is the second article in a series she’s writing about home yoga practice. Mostly, Kara-Leah looks at the psychological barriers that prevent us from getting on the mat every day, but in this article she’s looking at how we gain from a home yoga practice.

Paired with some of the other great free resources on this website – like the Hatha Yoga Galleries, the Yoga Sets Collection and the Online Yoga Classes – you’ll have no excuses for not practicing yoga at home every day – and therefore reaping the benefits that come from daily practice.

 Benefits of a Home Yoga Practice

by Kara-Leah Grant, Forty Days of Yoga – Breaking down the barriers to a home yoga practice.

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve looked at whether or not you really need a home yoga practice and what counts as a practice.

By now, you should relies that yes, you do need a practice because it connects you to your inner teacher and what that practice actually looks like will depend largely on your life and your lifestyle.

But you may still be wondering – what are the benefits of practicing yoga at home? Sure, you get to connect to an inner teacher, but so what?

So what indeed. Here’s some more direct and immediate benefits of practicing yoga at home.

1. You can fit a home yoga practice anywhere into your day, practicing at the best time for you.

If you’re going to yoga classes, you’re limited to the time slots available, and the length of class put on. While you might make suggestions to your teacher or local studio, you don’t really have any control over when classes are available. When you practice at home, you can practice at the perfect time for you – that might be at 5am, it might be at 9pm. It could be for twenty minutes at 11am. Whenever it is, you can make it happen.

This helps to deal with that old excuse:

‘Classes aren’t at times that suit me.’

You can always find a time that suits you when you practice yoga at home. 

2. You don’t have to factor in any travel time to get to your yoga.

When you go to class, it might be only a sixty minute class, but by the time you travel to the studio, check in, get changed and then travel back again, it can be a 90 minute or even 2 hour turnaround. You’re only getting 60 minutes of yoga, but it’s costing you two hours of time.

When you practice yoga at home, you can roll out of bed and on to your mat. there’s no time wasted travelling, and if you sleep in comfortable yoga-style clothing, you don’t even have to waste time getting changed. This can be a huge benefit when time is limited. 

Back when I worked a city job, not only did I use my commute for mantra meditation, but I also kept a yoga mat stored under my desk. On sunny days, I would walk five minutes outside to a grassy park and do a half hour practice before enjoying my lunch in the sun. There was no rushing about, and I got to soak up the outside world too.

3. You can do exactly what it is you need in your home yoga practice.

Our bodies and minds are all different, and can be different from week to week and day to day.

Right now, my right hip is playing up and feels touchy. If I was to go to class, I wouldn’t know if the class was going to aggregate the injury, or improve it. However, practicing at home, I can tune into my breath and move with awareness, going slowly and seeing exactly what it is my hip needs to restore itself to health.

This is one of my favourite benefits of practicing at home – the ability to respond to exactly what I need. Sometimes it’s strong asana, sometimes it’s a long meditation, sometimes it’s intense pranayama. Sometimes I just need yoga nidra. Whatever it is, I can give it to myself. I can take responsibility for my own practice. 

4. Practicing at home strengthens our intuition and discernment.

This relates to our ability to do exactly what we need – the more we tune into our bodies and our breath and respond to what arises, the stronger our intuition gets.

There’s something magical about taking the time to breath in stillness before moving. Sometimes, I might sit in Hero’s Pose for five or more minutes feeling my breath in my spine, allowing my pelvis to tilt forward and back and seeing how my hips feel. Only after sinking deeply into my current experience do I then begin to move – and I’m motivated to move from a place deep inside.

In yoga class, we don’t get this luxury. The teacher knows where they are taking us, and we don’t have to tune so deeply into our own experience. We just let go and go with the teacher.

Conversely, when we practice at home, we can be lazy and avoid those postures that we find uncomfortable and difficult.

But on some level, we know that we’re doing this, and as we continue to practice at home, our greater levels of intuition mean that eventually we can’t avoid what we’ve been avoiding… we have to start going that way. We start to become our own dispassionate teacher – not just doing what we want but also what we need.

Now this can take years to develop, which is why it’s always a great idea to go to class once or twice a week. then we’re guaranteed to go into the postures or practices we’d rather avoid. And every time we do them in class, we’re reminded that we’re avoiding them at home. 

5. We may find ourselves going places we’ve never been to in yoga class.

About two years or so after I started practicing regularly at home, I discovered that when I played loud dance music and danced in my living room, my body would naturally lead me into yoga postures. I’d always loved dancing, so often danced at home. These dance sessions invariably started giving way to more and more yoga. It meant that I was practicing at home more.

At first I felt guilty – real yoga wasn’t done to music! But it felt so good, and my practice started taking on a more fluid, feminine nature. It started to melt my rigid, controlling self.

A couple of years after that I discovered my yoga teacher, Shiva Rea. She teaches to music – not just as a distraction but as something that induces a state of trance and helps one let go and let the inner teacher take over. I discovered that what I’d intuitively been doing in my home practice was… just what I needed. And it’s something I never would have discovered going to class. At least, not until I finally discovered Shiva Rea. 

So when you practice at home, and you learn to tune deeper and deeper into your own intuition, you also learn to let go and trust where your body is taking you. Even if where it’s taking you is somewhere you’ve never been in class before. Even if it doesn’t look like any posture you think you’ve seen before. You never know – it might be exactly what you need.

6. You can practice anywhere at all – yoga begins to bleed into your life.

When we go to class, there’s a definitive container that holds our yoga – we’re in a special room with a particular person doing a particular thing.

When we start to practice yoga at home, that container begins to soften. At first this can make home practice more difficult because we have to get more motivated to roll out our yoga mat. But over time, something interesting begins to happen.

We don’t bother rolling out our yoga mat and instead just practice on the floor. We start to use the kitchen chairs and table as props.

We’re standing in the kitchen doing the dishes and feel like doing a backbend… and discover if we grip the basin with our hands and our elbows to our ribs, we can do a wonderful standing backward bend.

We’re watching TV with our children and decide to sit on the floor instead and move mindfully through a floor series of asana. 

Suddenly, yoga isn’t just fixed to our yoga mat, it’s the way we move our bodies and connect to our breath whenever we need to. We notice when there’s tension in our lower back and we take time right where we are, using whatever is around us, to free that tension up. We’re waiting in the doctor’s office and notice we feel anxious so we sit mindfully and meditate ourselves into relaxation.

These are just a handful of the benefits of practicing yoga at home – but you can see that they all centre around the same themes. When we practice at home we have the freedom to practice exactly as we need to, and as a result, yoga becomes a part of who we are in each and every moment.

Now that’s yoga – freedom in every moment!

About Kara-Leah

Kara-Leah Grant author of Forty Days of Yoga

Kara-Leah is a writer and yoga teacher who has always been infinitely curious about the make-up of the human psyche and body. Regular yoga helped her heal and recover from chronic back issues, including a spinal fusion at age 16, and two episodes of psychosis at age 29.

Her daily home yoga practice began in earnest when people kept asking her to teach them yoga.  She’s since trained as a teacher with Shiva Rea, and immersed herself in practicing, teaching yoga and writing about yoga. Kara-Leah lives just outside of Queenstown, New Zealand with her son Samuel.

She’s the publisher of The Yoga Lunchbox and has just published her first book, Forty Days of Yoga – Breaking down the barriers to a home yoga practice. She’s also a regular contributor toElephant Journal