6 Tips for Deepening Your Yoga Practice
31 Dec 2019 HYN Himalayan Yoga Academy
Whether you have been practicing yoga for years, or you are just starting out on your journey, the depth of yoga and its benefits continue to unwrap if we choose the right path to fall deeper. We’ve compiled tips from our years of teaching and experience that we gained during our 10 years of yoga teacher training course running. Here are 6 Tips for Deepening Your Yoga Practice
1. Mantra and Mudra
A mantra is a sacred phrase, word, or syllable that is recited to support our meditation or to invoke divinity. Some of the common mantras are the Gayatri mantra, the Pavamana mantra, and the sound of Aum. Mudra is a spiritual gesture performed with the hands, fingers, and body. Mudras are often used in conjunction with pranayama to stimulate different parts of the body involved with breathing and to affect the flow of prana in the body. Some of the commonly used mudras are Jñana and Chin mudra. Jñana mudra invocates knowledge or wisdom; Chin mudra is the psychic gesture of consciousness. Adding mantras and mudras to your yoga practice helps strengthen your psychic abilities, willpower, devotion, and the power of manifestation. Try it in your next yoga class!
2. Practice Ethics
‘No Yamas, No Yoga’ is a famous quote by Sri Dharma Mittra. Yama (ethics) is the first limb of the Eight Limb Path also known as Ashtanga Yoga. There are five Yamas: Ahimsa (non-violence), Satya (truthfulness), Asteya (non-stealing), Brahmacharya (right use of energy), and Aparigraha (non-grasping). One of the best ways to deepen your yoga practice is to take your practice off the mat. You can practice Ahimsa by becoming a vegan, paying your taxes accurately for Asteya, and donating excess clothing to your local charities for Aparigragaha. Expand your practice by doing yoga asanas for one or two hours daily and keep to the ethics for the rest of the day.
3. Yin Yoga
Literally, yoga is the spiritual science obtained from Kundalini awakening, which is feminine power or Yin energy or lunar (Moon) power or Ida Nadi. So yoga is literally Yin Yoga by nature. There should be a combination of physical acts, breathing rules, awareness, duration, and feeling of the effect. Finally, we reach in the state of spirituality through the yin or moon power. Traditional yoga and Yin yoga concept is the same. Yin yoga is a new brand based on classical yoga ethics which offers focus, toleration, endurance, stillness, and deeper stretch into the core.
4. Take A 200hr Yoga Teacher Training
Join 200 hr Yoga Teacher Training Nepal, which is a great foundation for your yoga practice. Or, if you want to deepen your yoga practice even more, the best way is to take advanced yoga teacher training. Many schools offer 300hr yoga teacher training courses or shorter intensives. These are wonderful opportunities to dive deeper whether it is for your postural practice, yoga philosophy, or skilful teachings. The hours are only an arbitrary figure to keep track of your learning. The idea is to keep learning, practicing, and excelling in your yoga practice.
6. Deep Relaxation
Yoga Nidra, also known as Yogic Sleep, is the best way to remove impurities in the body, mind, and soul. We hold a lot of tension in our bodies and eventually, toxins build up in our energy channels. Yoga Nidra is a form of deep relaxation, the technique moves in a sequence that involves intense focus on various body parts and visualization. It transcends the body and mind to a separate plane where we can release the tension allowing the prana (life force) to flow smoothly.