New to Yoga

Practices

Yoga in Your Daily Life

Yoga Beyond Asana

Sister Sciences »

Our Sangha »

All About Yoga

My Caregiving Role Has Ended: How Can I Move Forward?

My Caregiving Role Has Ended: How Can I Move Forward?

Those of us who are or have been caregivers for long periods of time often put our own lives on hold. We may quit jobs or reduce our hours at work. We may move residences to be closer to the person under our care. We may make financial and emotional sacrifices that interfere with our own plans or relationships. Our daily routines now center on the needs of the person who depends on us most. Ideally, these individuals attain better health and no longer need intensive care as they regain independence. However, those who have a terminal illness may continue to decline, and their caregiving needs intensify over time.

We then live through the pain of watching our loved one diminish as we dread—perhaps fear—their looming end of life. We may begin to grieve their loss even before it occurs. And finally, we witness or in other ways experience our loved one’s death.

The next day, we wake to a completely altered world and a new reality. My loved one is gone. Now what?

The Second Limb of Yoga: Niyama and the Five Personal Ethics for Inner Balance and Growth

The Second Limb of Yoga: Niyama and the Five Personal Ethics for Inner Balance and Growth

In Patanjali’s eight-limbed path of yoga, the niyamas represent the second set of ethical guidelines, focusing on personal observances and self-discipline. While the yamas guide our interactions with the external world, the niyamas turn our attention inward, offering practices that refine our inner life and foster spiritual development. These five observances—saucha, santosha, tapas, svadhyaya, and ishvarapranidhana—are integral to creating a balanced, purposeful life.

The First Limb of Yoga: Yama and the Five Ethical Practices for Living

The First Limb of Yoga: Yama and the Five Ethical Practices for Living

The Eight Limbs of Yoga, as outlined by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras, offer a comprehensive path toward spiritual awakening. The first two limbs, the yamas and niyamas, serve as ethical guidelines for living in harmony with the world and ourselves. The yamas, in particular, focus on our outward behavior and how we interact with others, offering five key restraints that cultivate peaceful and compassionate relationships. These practices are not just rules to follow but are invitations to transform our actions and thoughts. The first yama, ahimsa, is a perfect place to begin, as it sets the foundation for the other restraints.

Before Pranayama, Just Breathe

Before Pranayama, Just Breathe

Healthy breathing is the starting point for all breathwork. It’s the simple act of breathing without strain, allowing the breath to flow freely and easily. This is a bit different from the natural, unnoticed breath that we rely on throughout the day. The breath we’re focusing on here is one that we pay attention to and consciously cultivate.

Agni: The Inner Fire of Transformation

Agni: The Inner Fire of Transformation

In both the yogic and Ayurvedic traditions, Agni, the fire element, plays a central role in maintaining balance and vitality. Agni is the transformative force that governs digestion, metabolism, and energy, operating on all levels of being—physical, energetic, and mental.

Exploring Nadi Shodhana or Alternate Nostril Breathing

Exploring Nadi Shodhana or Alternate Nostril Breathing

Yoga offers a myriad of ways to explore, deepen, lengthen, or alter the breath. These practices, traditionally known as pranayama, bring unique benefits to the body, mind, and spirit. As the fourth limb among the eight limbs of yoga described in the Yoga Sutras, pranayama serves as a bridge between the external and internal aspects of our being, preparing us for deeper states of awareness. One of the more accessible, calming, and grounding pranayama techniques is Nadi Shodhana, or alternate nostril breathing.

Caregiving: Finding Balance When the Scales Feel Totally Tipped

Caregiving: Finding Balance When the Scales Feel Totally Tipped

It isn’t realistic to think that caregivers can do everything themselves. Most of us like being independent and hesitate asking for help, but we need to give ourselves permission to reach out for it. This is not a time for isolation. Offers of help are gifts of love and should be received as such. If the caregiver has the resources, others may be hired to help with outdoor or indoor chores. If not, asking a family member or friend to pitch in may benefit both parties…

A Meditation for Dropping into the Moment

A Meditation for Dropping into the Moment

Enjoy this short meditation that will help you pause and drop into the moment.

Yoga Teacher Training: Moving Beyond the Doubts

Yoga Teacher Training: Moving Beyond the Doubts

I remember the first time I seriously considered yoga teacher training. It seems like a lifetime ago. Yet I can easily conjure up the feelings I had, the curiosity, the excitement, the doubt—so much doubt…. “Should I or shouldn’t I apply for the teacher training program?” “Am I good enough, capable enough?” “It’s a long, long drive for such a big commitment.” “Can I financially afford this right now?” etc. But my future husband kept at me, “Quit doubting yourself. Just go for it!” So—eventually—I did…

The Journey into the Heart of Yin Yoga

The Journey into the Heart of Yin Yoga

There is always an origin story. There is always a describable journey into the depth of something profound, or a pathway that’s been forged or followed. Many journeys exist, but not all are worthy of the effort of bringing them to life by way of pen and paper. Or in this case, fingers to a keyboard.
I believe that this origin story is fundamental to my development as a yoga teacher, and it’s an interesting story to tell. Moreover, it’s relatable. It started an indeterminate number of years ago – a random yin yoga class lies within my history as a student more than 10 years ago.

The Partnership of Caregiving and Empowering Our Loved Ones

The Partnership of Caregiving and Empowering Our Loved Ones

When someone we love is hurting, ill, or otherwise struggling, our first instinct may be to jump in to try to fix the problem or to take over a task the person has difficulty executing. We want to make their lives easier, and these seem like logical ways. I learned many things after my spouse’s death that I wish I had known before. One is that these loving attempts may not honor where our dear ones are on their journey…

Two Things We Often Say to Caregivers (and Probably Shouldn’t)

Two Things We Often Say to Caregivers (and Probably Shouldn’t)

We are all likely to become caregivers at various points in our lives, whether it’s for a child who is ill, an aging parent, or a beloved spouse. There are many commonalities between caregivers and individuals who are grieving. In fact, caregivers are experiencing at least a temporary loss of a life that was in the past or was dreamed about for the future…. Caregivers may look like the people we always knew, but they are not the same. They are living through a stressful, draining, major shift in their lives. Given this background, let us examine some potential problems with two statements caregivers often hear.

Retreat, Reset, & Rejuvenate

Retreat, Reset, & Rejuvenate

by Jennifer FrenchHmmm, it feels like something's wrong. It’s hard to put a finger on what. Some vague feeling of losing track of ourselves. Worn down by our daily routines and obligations, an undetected general fatigue builds up gradually over time…Or, maybe life...

The Yoga Sanctuary Story: Our First 15 Years

The Yoga Sanctuary Story: Our First 15 Years

In May 2007, Bonnie Yonker, yoga teacher and founder of The Yoga Sanctuary, opened the studio doors in the Swiss Connection Building at 403 Sullivan Street with just eleven classes on the schedule. Read more to learn the story of The Yoga Sanctuary…

Sukhasana: The Easy (or not-so-easy) Seated Pose

Sukhasana: The Easy (or not-so-easy) Seated Pose

You might consider sukhasana one of those poses whose name is a misnomer… While asana is the second half of the posture’s name and is defined as pose or seat, sukha translates to easy, comfortable, or even sweet. However, it’s the sweetness that’s often missing from the pose for many of us… Yoga practice videos included here!!

The Third Limb of Yoga: Asana

The Third Limb of Yoga: Asana

Asana, often associated with the physical postures of yoga, is a fundamental practice that contributes to physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. It serves as the groundwork for the deeper practices of yoga, creating a solid foundation for personal growth and transformation. While most people are familiar with asana as the body postures performed in a yoga class, its significance stretches far beyond the physical.

Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness Meditation

Many of us live our lives as if on autopilot, constantly being destabilized and reacting to what we encounter. The practices of mindfulness and meditation are powerful tools that change our relationship to what we encounter in life, providing a window of opportunity between stimulus and response. What we discover in that space is our ability to reduce our own stress, to pay closer attention while appreciating the fullness and richness of life, and to develop good will for ourselves and others.

The Eighth Limb of Yoga: Samadhi

The Eighth Limb of Yoga: Samadhi

In the practice of yoga, each limb builds upon the last, guiding us toward greater self-awareness, spiritual connection, and inner peace. The eighth and final limb, samadhi, represents the culmination of this journey, a state in which the meditator becomes one with the object of meditation. This realization is not something we can simply grasp through thought—it is an experience beyond words, one that cannot be explained but only felt.

The Seventh Limb of Yoga: Dhyana

The Seventh Limb of Yoga: Dhyana

Dhyana, the seventh limb of yoga, is often referred to as meditation. Building on the foundation of dharana, the sixth limb, it can be thought of as the uninterrupted flow of concentration. While dharana focuses on one-pointed attention, dhyana takes this practice a step further by maintaining that focus for extended periods. When the mind is fully absorbed in an object, without distraction, this is dhyana.

The Sixth Limb of Yoga: Dharana

The Sixth Limb of Yoga: Dharana

Dharana is the sixth limb of Patanjali’s Eight Limbs of Yoga, and it marks the stage of one-pointed concentration. At this point, the mind is trained to focus steadily on a single object, free from distraction. While this might sound like meditation, it is actually the foundation for the deeper practices of dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (enlightenment). Dharana is about developing the skill of sustained concentration, which allows us to move toward the higher, more effortless states of mental absorption and unity with the object of focus.

« Older Entries