Ratatouille

Ratatouille is a traditional french provencal stewed vegetable dish. It was made famous in the Pixar movie with the same name as the dish. ‘Touille’ in french essentially means tossed food. I stumbled upon my version of ‘Ratatouille’ when I first prepared my baby daughter’s food. It was at a time when I was pondering [...]

Karnapidasana

Karnapidasana (Ear Squeeze Pose) is an asana in the Finishing Sequence. It looks like a pretty easy pose, but if not done correctly may cause strain on the upper back and neck muscles. Let’s take a closer look at the pose. From Halasana (Plow Pose), bend the legs and bring the knees to either side [...]

Eating for Flexibility

Although it is difficult to find a significant amount of scientific data supporting the idea that food choices affect flexibility, personal experiences seem to indicate that what we eat can effect the physical deepening of our asana practice. Food can affect our bodies in so many different ways:  weight changes, skin condition, disease.  It can [...]

The value of my life

There is this cliché of sayings that was once very popular (you might even have received one as an email attachment):   To realise the value of one year, ask a student who failed a grade. To realise the value of one month, ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby. To [...]

Brahmacharya

The 4th Yama (restraint) in the Eight Limbs of Raja Yoga is Brahmacharya. Brahmacharya means “to respect the creative power of sex and not abuse it by manipulating others sexually”. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras 11.38 “Brahmacharya-pratishthayam virya-labbah” translates to “When one does not misuse sexual energy, one obtains enduring vitality resulting in good health”. I came [...]

Karma Yoga as the Ends of All Means

To me, karma is a pretty religious concept. I don’t want to admit to being religious, but I do believe in karma. Paradox, I know. I am not sure about past lives and the afterlife, but I do believe in positive energy, and the accumulation of it. I believe in spreading this positive energy, and [...]

The truth about gut feelings

Right now, I am officially jobless. I left my job after three months.   It wasn’t a hard decision. The fact is, I clearly remember feeling very unsettled the moment I decided to accept the job. And that wasn’t even an official decision yet. It was during my consideration phase. Then, I had dismissed it, [...]

The fierce chair pose

Utkatasana, which is one of the toughest standing asanas, lives up to its name. Also known as the ‘chair pose’ by virtue of its resemblance to a chair, ‘Utkata’ means powerful and fierce. This pose increases strength, balance and stability.   To get into the pose, one stands in Tadasana. Following inhalation, the arms are [...]

general — seaweed , fun ways to add to our meals

According to Master Trainer Wei Ling seaweed may assist us with our flexibility. I have had a fun time mixing this healthy food with almost all of my meals. Here are some suggestions 1. Peanut butter sandwich with slabs of seaweed which is a light snack for after asana practises 2. Cheese with seaweed sandwich [...]

general — breathing for calmness

Most people are always looking for that elusive way to achieve inner peace in our 24/7 kind of environment. Fallouts include tensions in the shoulder and neck areas, glumness in our faces, shortage of breathe, hunching our spines and a general meanness in our expressions. Looking at the faces of people in the street will [...]