How to Do a Powerful Trataka (Candle Gazing) Meditation

{"slug":"trataka-candlelight-meditation","recentPosts":[{"id":"cl8kb5f23jq1w0ciscs2h2bxw","slug":"benefits-of-yoga-for-pregnancy","author":{"name":"Will","teacherMytSlug":"will-1","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg"},"title":"What are the Benefits of Yoga for Pregnancy?","subTitle":null,"seoTitle":null,"seoDescription":"Yoga for Pregnancy is excellent for stress relief, pain relief, and preparation for labor. Read more to understand the benefits of Yoga for Pregnancy","readTime":null,"excerpt":null,"tags":[],"createdAt":"2022-09-27T14:42:36.767798+00:00","coverUrl":"kvvlqndsbow5dsckhw7i.jpg","content":{"text":"When you get pregnant, people come out of the woodworks with advice, remedies and old wives tales. Everyone’s got an opinion on how you should spend your pregnancy. But the one thing we know for sure is, yoga is great for mom and baby alike. If you’re curious about prenatal yoga, you’re in the right place. Let’s break down why this type of yoga is excellent for moms (and babies).\\nWhat is prenatal yoga?\\nPrenatal yoga was designed for women who are expecting. Rather than taking a regular class and having to worry about modifications or safety, this class is specifically designed for pregnancy. The practice can help women with common pregnancy aches and pains, ease hormonal and emotional stress and help women’s bodies prepare for birth and their postpartum journey. A regular yoga practice when pregnant has tons of amazing benefits!\\nBenefits of Prenatal yoga: \\nWe asked women who’ve done prenatal yoga while pregnant for their reviews, one said “ It’s excellent for stress relief, pain relief, and preparation for labor.” And they all said they’d recommend it to friends! \\nSo let's break down the benefits: \\nRelaxation : \\nPregnancy can be very stressful! But yoga will help you to relax physically, mentally and emotionally and create a safe, relaxing environment for birth. Prenatal helps you with coping and breath techniques for all stages of your pregnancy.\n\\nPreparation for birth : \\nFor first time moms, and even sometimes vets, labor can be scary. This practice will help you to learn birth techniques so you’re relaxed and ready to go!\n⁠\\nYoga can Help with Labor : \\nIn a 2015 study\\n, It was found that a regular yoga practice in the last 10-12 weeks of pregnancy can improve the mother's comfort during labor and help facilitate the labor process. The “yoga group” in this study on average was in labor two hours less than those who didn’t practice. Past your due date? Prenatal Yoga is also known to help induce labor\n⁠\\nCommunity : \\nYoga classes have always been known to help us build community but during pregnancy, it's so important to have a group of women who understand what you’re going through. Taking part in a prenatal class puts you in a group of women who get it. You’ll have a built in support system and maybe even first friends for your baby!\\nFrequently Asked Questions about Prenatal Yoga:\\nIs Yoga for Pregnancy safe?\\nYes. Yoga is generally considered safe during pregnancy. However, you should always consult your doctor & make sure you’re practicing with a teacher who understands the prenatal experience and can keep you safe. Our teachers are experts in yoga and are ready to help you on your journey. If you’d like to check out our offerings, you can get started today with a two week free trial! \\nWhen during pregnancy can you practice yoga?\\nDuring your first trimester, you can stick to your regular practice with some modifications. \\nYour second trimester is a GREAT time to start prenatal yoga! At this point, you’ll be starting to officially come into your “pregnancy body” and you’ll need to be practicing poses more specific to prenatal. The second and third trimester are considered the “prep period” for your body to prepare for labor. So it's a great time to keep moving and stretching in your new skin as you make room for the baby to grow! \\nWhat yoga poses should you avoid doing? \\nFor the most part, yoga is considered safe during pregnancy. You really only need to focus on any poses that put pressure on your abdomen. You should avoid any and all twisting poses, backbends and inversions.. \\nYoga for Pregnancy Poses you can perform at Home :\\nIt’s important to stay active during your pregnancy for both mom and baby! You should try to get in some sort of movement daily for at least 30 minutes. You can stick to low impact workouts or walks but if you want to do some yoga at home, it’s a great way to end your day. Yoga while pregnant can help with pain, help you sleep better and fight tiredness and fatigue. \\nHere are some poses you can practice at home to keep you moving! And as a bonus, most of these poses will also help your body prepare for giving birth!\\n1. Bound angle pose (Baddha Konasana) :\\n\\nBaddha Konasana pose will help you open your hips, releasing any pain in your back. It can also help to reduce swelling\\nHow it helps with labor: Opening the hips will help you to stretch the muscles needed to open the birth canal.\\n2. Cat-cow pose (Marjaryasana Bitilasana) :\\n\\nMarjaryasana Bitilasana pose release back and shoulder pain and also reduce pressure from the belly\\nHow it helps with labor: Back pain is a common occurrence during the birth process. This pose will help to keep your muscles limber and help to avoid muscle spasms and pain in your back during labor. \\n3. Yogi squat (Malasana) :\\n\\nBeen sitting too long? This is a great hip opener and will also release lower back pain. \\nHow it helps with labor: This pose will widen the pelvic floor making the birth easier,which may help to reduce injury during birth.\\nRemember, if you’re practicing at home, it’s always best to consult your doctor and make sure yoga is safe for your pregnancy.\\n\\nOther ways to practice self-care during pregnancy\\nBeing a mom is the hardest job in the world. And there are no days off. Starting with pregnancy, we feel out of control of our body, its growth and the way we feel. Remember to take time during this beautiful process to practice self-care so you can be present, happy and relaxed. \\nBook a prenatal massage :\n\n⁠⁠A prenatal massage is GREAT for mom and baby. It can help reduce stress and swelling without meds, help you to sleep and get your body ready for labor and delivery.  \\nTake a bath :\n⁠\n⁠Taking a warm bath while pregnant can also help to reduce stress and lower your blood pressure. It’s a great way to relax and rest your growing body. If you’re feeling pain or swelling, it can be very beneficial to relax in a warm bath. \\n\\nAyurveda for Pregnancy :\\n\n⁠\n⁠This week, MyYogaTeacher has a special Ayurveda event running where you’ll learn how to align with your best self through nutrition and health changes. This specific class is designed to help you have your most healthy pregnancy with nutrition guidelines for a mom and foods to help with baby's development! \\n\nYou can also choose to work 1 on 1 with an instructor of your choice through your MyYogaTeacher membership! Let us help you have your healthiest pregnancy possible! \\n\\nGet started today!\\n"},"category":[]},{"id":"cl8ka13l4ionz0ck2fe0pme7l","slug":"chronic-neck-pain-relief-yoga-poses","author":{"name":"Will","teacherMytSlug":"will-1","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg"},"title":"Are you suffering with Chronic Neck Pain? 10 yoga poses to find relief!","subTitle":null,"seoTitle":null,"seoDescription":null,"readTime":null,"excerpt":null,"tags":[],"createdAt":"2022-09-27T14:11:15.683866+00:00","coverUrl":"rbh6duxy7hy3y207sg1c.jpg","content":{"text":"Do you suffer from chronic neck pain? Nearly 30-50% of adults suffer from recurring neck pain. \\nNeck pain can be a common occurrence for people who:\\nhave long commutes or sit at a desk all day\\nwho have issues with posture \\nwho have chronic sleep issues\\nOur neck and shoulders can also be a place where we may carry tension or pain due to stress. In any case, the good news is yoga can help you to relieve your neck pain and move on symptom free! \\nDaily changes you can make to avoid neck pain\\nStay in alignment. Keep good posture and try not to carry heavy bags on one side of your body. Also, if you sit at a desk and work on a computer, move your monitor to eye-sight so you’re not looking up or down. Need help finding your center? \\nWe can help here at MyYogaTeacher! \\n\\nStay active! It’s important to stay mobilized.  If you sit all day, take breaks to move around and give your body a break from being stuck in one position. Can’t take breaks at work? Try to go for a walk on lunch or maybe before or after your workday. \\nCheck your sleep environment. Make sure your mattress and pillows are still in good shape. Look into the best pillows for your sleep type or body. Getting quality sleep will help you avoid tossing and turning and can be your remedy to wake pain free. \\nIf you’re feeling like you need to move, starting with any slower yoga practice will help! Yin, hatha and restorative classes will all leave your body feeling relaxed, renewed and free of pain. Want to flow on your own? Here are our top ten poses to try! \\n10 Yoga Poses to relieve Chronic Neck Pain :\\n1. Easy seat with ear to shoulder stretch\\nThis pose releases your neck and shoulders and helps relieve tension and stress.\\nStart by sitting with your legs crossed and a straight back. Shoulders down. Bring your ear down to your shoulder. To deepen the stretch, bring your opposite arm overhead. \\n\\n\\n\\n2. Child’s Pose\\nReleases tension in the upper body including the neck and chest.\\nBring your knees as wide as the mat and sit into your heels. You can bring your chest to the mat and extend your arms forward or come to rest on a pillow or bolster. Try to hold this pose for up to 5 breaths. \\n\\n\\n\\n3. Downward facing dog\\nHelps to relieve neck pain by strengthening the upper body and releasing the spine. \\nStart by coming onto all fours. Check your alignment- make sure your shoulders are over your wrist, and your hips over your knees. Without changing the position of your hands and feet, push up and back to bring your heels into the ground. Relax your head, neck and shoulders down. \\n\\n\\n\\n4. Bridge Pose\\nReleases chest, neck, spine and hips.\\nLay down on your mat, bring your feet as close to your glutes as possible. Bring your hands to the sides of your body palms down. Push into the feet and hands while you lift your core and back to the ceiling. Try to relax and breathe here. \\n\\n\\n\\n5. Wide Leg forward fold\\nReleases spine, neck and back. If you’re in pain perform this stretch slowly, and come up one vertebrae at a time. \\nBring your feet as wide as you can, feet facing forward. Hinge at the hips and slowly bend forward and down towards your feet. You can hang here or grab yogi toe lock around your big toe. \\n\\n\\n\\n6. Cow face pose\\nStrengthens core and spine.\\nSit up tall and stack your knees directly over one another. Reach one arm back around your waist and one arm over your shoulder with your palms reaching towards one another. If you can, clasp your hands. If not, rest them on your back, you will still benefit from the pose. \\n\\n\\n\\n7. Sphinx pose\\nThis pose will help to physically open up the shoulders and neck. Looking side to side slowly is a great addition to the pose. \\nLie on your stomach and bring your hands next to your chest facing down. On your inhale press into the ground and lift your upper body. \\n\\n\\n\\n8. Thread the Needle \\nIncreases mobility and releases tension in the upper body. \\nCome on to all fours. Check your alignment, make sure your hips are over your knees, shoulders over your wrist. Reach one arm out to the side and thread it through the opposite side under your ribs. You can stay here or open up the opposite side by reaching the hand to the back or straight up and over. Make sure to do both sides. \\n\\n\\n\\n9. Legs up the wall\\nReleases tension and stress from the upper body by reversing blood flow. \\nFind a wall near your practice space and sit next to the wall as close as possible. Lower your head, neck and shoulders onto your mat, then roll onto your back and stretch your legs up the wall. You can stay in this restorative pose for up to 10 minutes. \\n\\n\\n\\n10. Savasana\\nSavasana releases any stress, lowers heart rate and calms the body. \\nCome onto your back on your mat, and release your body down. This is known as corpse pose because it is a full and final rest at the end of our practice. Release and let go of any and all tension. \\n\\n\\n\\nClasses to help relieve neck pain \\n\\nYoga fusion for joints \\n- This class will help you roll out your joint pain and stretch your tight limbs and joints. \\n\\nYoga for Back Pain\\n - Sometimes, neck pain can be caused by tightness in the spine. Experts say yoga helps soothe muscle pains. Try this class to strengthen and lengthen your neck and back for pain relief! \\n\\nYoga for Neck and Shoulder Pain\\n - Do you sit all day at work? Struggle with your posture? This class will help relieve upper body tension. \\n\nSo if you’re ready to make your neck pain a thing of the past, join us today. Our trial includes two free weeks of group fitness classes, one on one classes and so much more! \\nGet started on your yoga journey now!\\n"},"category":["yoga_poses"]},{"id":"cl8cuq5nnh5860biyek2vhu2w","slug":"reproductive-rights-for-women-yoga-workshop","author":{"name":"Will","teacherMytSlug":"will-1","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg"},"title":"Reproductive Rights for Women Yoga Workshop - Supporting Women Through Yoga","subTitle":null,"seoTitle":null,"seoDescription":null,"readTime":null,"excerpt":null,"tags":[],"createdAt":"2022-09-22T09:28:27.679552+00:00","coverUrl":"dkjwcigamkavxe0yziwq.jpg","content":{"text":"Announcing MyYogaTeacher’s first ever Reproductive Rights for Women Yoga Workshop!\\nHere at MyYogaTeacher, we believe in the wisdom of women to make their own choices about their health. \\n\\nThat’s why we’re excited to offer the\\n Reproductive Rights for Women Yoga Workshop on October 2 from 9 AM - 11 AM PST (12 PM - 2 PM EST) for only $10!\\nIn the past, our community events have been free. So why are we charging a nominal fee for this one?\\nBecause ALL proceeds from the Reproductive Rights for Women Yoga Workshop go to support the \\nCenter for Reproductive Rights\\n charity, a nonprofit organization, the \\nonly\\n global legal advocacy organization dedicated to advancing reproductive rights.\\nIn the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs Wade and on the day before the new term of the Supreme Court begins, we think this workshop is a perfect way to silently protest this new ruling through self-care and donations to an organization like the Center for Reproductive Rights.\\nThis will also be a time of healing and processing with a couple of awesome expert yoga instructors!\\nHow to join the Reproductive Rights for Women Yoga Workshop\\nWhether you’re a member or not, \\nJust click this link and register \\nas you would any other group class! Simple as that.\\nIntroducing a very special guest yoga instructor coming just for this event!\n\\nMeet Harpinder Mann, RYT-500!\\n\\n\n\\nHarpinder is a yoga, meditation, mindfulness teacher, and decolonizing activist based in Los Angeles. She works with women of color who want to reclaim their power and intuition through the lens of a spiritual, joyful, and sustainable path. Her studies have spanned from reading the Japji Sahib since she was 3, to over 700 hours of yogic training within the traditions of Raja, Vinyasa, Kundalini, and Prenatal Yoga. \\nWe’re super excited to have her lead the beginning of the workshop. Afterwards, MyYogaTeacher yoga instructor, \\nTrupti Parikh\\n, will lead us in asanas, and a discussion session will follow.\\nAre you ready to experience a workshop where we solely focus on supporting and advocating for women’s health \\nwhile\\n improving our mental, emotional, and physical health?\\n\\nJoin us for the Reproductive Rights for Women Yoga Workshop!\\n\\nTogether, we make a difference."},"category":["workshops"]},{"id":"cl8a9804vy5de0biznpg4ai2t","slug":"yoga-benefits-for-runners","author":{"name":"Will","teacherMytSlug":"will-1","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg"},"title":"Yoga For Runners : Why Runners Should Incorporate Yoga Into Their Training?","subTitle":null,"seoTitle":null,"seoDescription":"Adopting an active yoga practice to complement your running routine can have tons of benefits! Read now to learn more","readTime":null,"excerpt":null,"tags":[],"createdAt":"2022-09-20T13:50:56.406936+00:00","coverUrl":"tbdacuzob0fuqml8dyjd.jpg","content":{"text":"Training for a big race? Setting some goals you want to crush before the year ends? No matter what your reasons, yoga can be a great way to cross train for running from a 5k to a marathon! Running is great for your heart and body but can also be a huge strain on the muscles. Having an active yoga practice to complement your running routine can have tons of benefits! Let’s dive into how yoga can help!\\n1. Breathing\\nProper breathing and breath stabilization are both incredibly important principles in Yoga and Running. If you can practice proper breathing while running, you can maintain speed longer because you will take long deeper breaths to match your long strides, instead of short breaths which cause instability and speed decline.\\nPracticing Pranayama for runners - \\nAdding a pranayama breath practice before a run can help you to maintain focus as well as speed. Even if running is a release for you, and feels relaxing, Using breathwork to relax and focus can help you clearly see the physical and mental road ahead. Pranayama can also help if things are going off course on your run. If you need to regain control, you can come back to your breath and refocus. With these practices together, your run really can be a religious experience, or a way to relieve stress! \\nTo start a pranayama practice, all you need to do is focus on controlling your inhale and exhale. Start by standing tall and relaxed, or sitting tall and calm if you prefer. Close your eyes and focus inward. Start by breathing in for two and out for two. As you continue to grow your practice, you can  build up to breathing in for six and out for six. You can even play with pausing for two to four breaths in between your inhale and exhale. When you finally build a practice you’re confident with, you can start to set intentions and visualize your success. With this practice, you’ll begin to see your running dreams come true!\\n\\n2. Flexibility/Strength\\nIt would be great if in life, we only ever needed to do one thing to get to our goals. But in reality,just like we can’t have cookies for every meal, cross training for runners is essential to maintaining a long term healthy routine. While you could easily just add weight training or stretching a la cart into your week, yoga gives you more by going deeper and getting into those smaller, harder to access ligaments and tendons you might otherwise miss with strength training . Adding yoga into your running routine can reduce the risk of injury and help to maintain your goals. The more flexible your muscles are, the less likely they are to tense up or be stressed during running so you can move with more confidence and ease. Not to mention, it’s always great to look forward to a nice long stretch after a run. \\n\n3. Conditioning \\nWe all know running is GREAT for your cardiovascular health, can add years on to your life and keep your heart pumping at its best! But it doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner or a veteran, running can make your body sore. Yoga is great for conditioning those tired and fatigued muscles without having to “take a day off” to rest. In between your runs or on conditioning days, you can take a class focused on your back or knee health, or even a class to open tight hips after a long run. There’s nothing the magic of yoga can’t do! \\n\n4. Balance/Posture\\nEven though running is a “walk in the park” compared to ballet where balance is concerned, you still need to do your best to focus on alignment while you move.\\nYoga can improve your running form by elongating the limbs so you cover more ground in less time. You'll be PR’ing in no time! Proper alignment is also important when running because as you increase your speed, the level of impact (and injury) becomes greater. Maintaining your body's alignment during movement assures you arrive at the finish line aliment free! Love a tree pose? Want to learn to fly into a warrior? Lots of yoga poses force you to balance on one leg, which helps you to build a unilateral movement practice much like the ebbs and flows you take while running. \\n5. Stress and Mental Clarity\\nFeeling stressed before a big run? Worried about your PR? Yoga can help! Focus your breathing and set an intention. You’ve got this!\\nFocus and clarity are so important when running so you can know where you’re headed and stay on track. Add your yoga practice in before training or race days and you’ll feel your worries melt away. According to scientists at \\nHarvard,\\n adding just minutes of yoga to your week can improve your outlook, slow down the body and decrease stress. You’ll find your body will be more relaxed, focused and ready to run for those goals when you release your tension with yoga. \\nGetting started:\\nSo what do you need to get started? Simple! Yourself, a mat, some water and a quiet space are all you need! Are you ready to add yoga into your running routine? \\nGet started with a two week free trial of our classes and one on one sessions!\\n\\nLet’s figure out where your yoga practice would serve you best! \\nDoing yoga BEFORE your run will help you to warm up your muscles and ligaments. By fully warming up your body before you hit the pavement, you decrease the chances of injury, help with an easier recovery and can improve your PR as you continue to train! \\nBest Yoga Poses to practice before a run :\\nHigh Lunge - This pose stretches the legs from top of the thighs down to the ankle\\n\\nWarrior II - Helps with focus and stamina. Great before heading out!\\n\\nSide angle bend - This stretch helps to stretch the side body and release any tension in the shoulders and spine. \\n\\n⁠Prefer to do yoga after your run? That’s a great option too! Yoga is great for recovery after a run! Finishing your running routine with a yoga stretch helps you to rebalance. You can stretch muscles or limbs that became tight during your run and strengthen anything  that may have become fatigued. You can also refocus and deepen your breath to reset for the next part of your day. \\nBest Yoga Poses to practice after a run :\\nButterfly Pose - a basic hip opener to ease into your stretch\\n\\nHalf Pigeon - A great pose for multiple alignments! Working through the psoas and hip flexors. Make sure to practice on both sides.\\n\\nHappy Baby - This pose is great for finishing up your hip opener extension while giving a nice massage to the back and stretching the soles of the feet.\\n\\nWant to take a class? Try some of our favorite classes for runners!\\n\\nYoga for Strength and flexibility \\n\\n\\nYoga for Knee Pain\\n\\n\\nYoga for Back health\\n\\nReady to join us for class? \\nGet started with a free trial now! \\n\\nRemember, with a great training plan for your runs, and an ongoing yoga practice you’ll be ready to run to your greatest finish line feeling and looking your best! Just like peanut butter and jelly, yoga and running are great together!"},"category":["fitness","yoga"]},{"id":"cl81n0o6wh1g80ajz2gpco553","slug":"yoga-at-home","author":{"name":"Will","teacherMytSlug":"will-1","pictureUrl":"will.jpeg"},"title":"How to Start Doing Yoga at Home","subTitle":"Everything you need to know for an at-home yoga routine","seoTitle":null,"seoDescription":"Get a beginner’s guide to starting yoga at home with tips and suggestions for setting up your own practice, including online yoga classes and private lessons.","readTime":null,"excerpt":"Learn how to perform yoga at home with this quick and easy guide","tags":[],"createdAt":"2022-09-14T13:07:13.39269+00:00","coverUrl":"cqivxw3vkrcihpumlny7.jpg","content":{"text":"There are lots of reasons for doing yoga at home instead of a yoga studio, some of which include distance, busy schedules, kids, financial concerns, and health issues. The good news is you can set up your own yoga practice at home, and still get all the benefits of a regular yoga routine — without the studio. It can also be a great way to integrate yoga into your life on a regular basis, and it’s easy to do in your own home.\\nCan Anyone do Yoga at Home?\\nAnyone can perform yoga at home, and you don’t have to be an advanced yogi to try. Even beginners can practice yoga in a home environment, all you need is adequate floor space, a few (optional) pieces of equipment, and guidelines for practicing the primary yoga poses. \\nIf you’re a beginner, it’s recommended to first learn from a certified yoga instructor, so you can progress with the proper technique and alignment to avoid injury. Thanks to online learning platforms like\\n MyYogaTeacher\\n, you can still practice yoga at home with the help of a qualified teacher.\\n11 Tips on How to Perform Yoga At Home\\nThe idea of starting a yoga practice in your very own living room can seem daunting or intimidating at first, especially if you’re accustomed to attending classes in a yoga studio. But with a little bit of preparation and creativity, you can set up your own yoga space and develop a mindful yoga routine that can benefit your life.\\nHere are some suggestions to help get you started:\\n1. Make Space in Your Home for Yoga\\nIt’s easy (and fun) to make your own yoga space, and you can design it as a temporary space or a dedicated one, depending on your needs. All you need is enough floor space to move around and stretch out the full length of your body — a little more than the length and width of your yoga mat. This can be your living or bedroom floor, your kitchen, or your backyard. Just make sure there isn’t any furniture or objects lying around that could get in your way or cause injury.\\n2. Decorate With Calming Accessories\\nYou can also create a comfortable and inviting space for yoga by hanging calming or inspiring artwork on the wall, lighting a candle or incense, and keeping a few house plants nearby for a pleasing atmosphere. The more you can tailor and dedicate your space for yoga, the easier it will be to motivate yourself to keep up a steady routine. Hanging a mirror in front of your practice space is also helpful in maintaining the correct alignment while performing postures.\\n3. Be Prepared With the Right Equipment\\n\\nYou’ll want to invest in a yoga mat, and it’s wise to also keep modifying props on hand — like blocks, bolsters, blankets, and a strap. If you’re just starting out and you’d like to improvise for props, you can use pillows, blankets, and other items around the house to suit your needs. Just make sure your props are sturdy, supportive, and nearby for when you need them.\\n4. Practice Regularly\\nThe best part about practicing yoga at home is it can be done any time you want. The challenge lies in your dedication and commitment to the practice even when your couch appears more inviting.\\n \\nAccording to this study\\n, it can take anywhere from 18 to 254 days to create a new habit. It’s important to be patient with yourself and identify guidelines for your practice that you can realistically follow through with. \\n5. Schedule Your Yoga Session\\nSet yourself up for success by committing to your yoga practice at a certain time of day, and for a specified number of days per week. It’s best to start out easy with goals that are achievable and progress as you gain momentum. For instance, if you’ve never been an early riser, don’t expect yourself to suddenly start practicing yoga at dawn. If that’s the case, try scheduling your yoga session for late morning, afternoon or evening, and keep your existing schedule in mind when planning a time that works for you.\\n6. Keep it Simple\\nRegardless of your experience or ability level, practicing yoga at home means watching out for your own safety. Make sure you have props handy for when you need them, and avoid overdoing it with strenuous poses. When it doubt, keep your routine simple. Even if you’re an advanced yogi, those basic, primary yoga poses are still an important part of a holistic yoga practice, and may be less likely to cause injury.\\n7. Listen to Your Body\\nThe best way to avoid getting hurt while practicing yoga at home is to listen to your body. If any posture causes you discomfort or pain, stop practicing it immediately — no matter how easy or difficult the pose. Don’t push yourself too hard, and remember to focus on your alignment. If you are unsure of how to execute a specific pose, try learning it from a certified instructor before performing it on your own at home.\\n8. Take an Online Yoga Class\\n\\nBy far the best way to practice yoga at home is with an online class. This way, you get all the benefits of doing yoga at home in your own time, with the added help of an instructor who can make sure you’re performing poses safely and effectively. You can find\\n \\nonline group classes\\n for every type of yoga at\\n \\nMyYogaTeacher\\n, with over 42 classes offered throughout the day. Private, 1-on-1 instructors are also available for at-home yoga, giving you plenty of options to get the right kind of training while still practicing in the comfort of your own home.\\n9. Squeeze in a Short Practice\\nThe beauty of an at-home yoga practice means you can squeeze in a quick session when you just have 20-30 minutes of time. Even short yoga routines are beneficial for your body and mind, and performing a few of the primary yoga poses on a daily basis will change your life for the better. Try incorporating the Sun Salutation flow series into your morning routine when you first get out of bed in the morning, or practicing some relaxing poses like Legs-Up-The-Wall or Savasana in the evening. \\n10. Switch it Up and Make it Fun\\nYoga doesn’t always have to be serious, and you can make your home yoga practice fun and spontaneous for you and your family. Practicing with your kids is a great way to help them learn mindfulness and self-awareness, while stretching and strengthening their growing bodies. You can also take your practice to the backyard to enjoy sunshine and good weather, or invite friends over to share in the experience. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box!\\n11. End Every Practice With Savasana\\nWhen practicing yoga at home, it can be tempting to skip important parts of the journey due to time constraints, distractions, or disinterest. If there is one element of yoga you should never skip, it’s Savasana, or otherwise known as Corpse pose. Always end your practice with 5 minutes of relaxation to help your body integrate the routine. Keep a blanket nearby to warm your body after it has cooled down, and consider an eye pillow to help you relax. Your body and mind will thank you as you move on to the rest of your day, having given yourself the gift of healthy movement to better your life."},"category":["yoga","therapy"]}],"randomPosts":[{"id":"cl7zwz24chnlt0biyk8wtb0cj","slug":"start-hatha-yoga-practice","author":{"name":"Namrata Khandelwal","teacherMytSlug":"namrata-2","pictureUrl":"namrata-k-pro.jpg"},"title":"Interested in starting a Hatha yoga practice? 10 tips to get started!","createdAt":"2022-09-13T08:10:21.940734+00:00","coverUrl":"kwfhavtczeih1sjadbhk.jpg","content":{"text":"Are you new to yoga? Looking to develop a practice but don’t know what style or where to begin? Hatha yoga is a great choice for beginners looking to build a routine or veterans looking to deepen their practice of breathing and flexibility.\\nFirst things first, What is Hatha Yoga?\\nHatha yoga is a form of gentle yoga made up of poses and breath work and often starts or ends with a meditation. This type of practice can be challenging because in most traditional Hatha classes, poses are held for 30 seconds to a minute. \\nStyles of Hatha Yoga that we offer at \\nMyYogaTeacher\\n:\\nHatha Yoga - This practice focuses separately on each asana. Focusing on connecting each asana with the breath and deepening each pose. This practice allows for breaks between poses and is more gentle and slow paced. \\nHatha Vinyasa - Known as a flow class, adding in the vinyasa makes the practice a little more fast paced. The poses are more linked together and the movement is connected to your breath work. \\nWhat are the benefits of a Hatha Yoga Practice?\\nThere are many benefits to building a hatha yoga practice. On the surface, for your physical health, hatha can increase flexibility, strength and balance!  Hatha is proven to fight signs of aging and  help with joint or muscle pain and improve blood flow!\\nWhen you turn your practice inward, it can also deepen your sleep and with the addition of the breathwork, your practice can also help you cope with anxiety or depression symptoms. \\nHatha is a great place to start your yoga journey because you can take your time to get familiar with the poses and learn to connect them to your breath.  It’s good for the body and the mind!\\nHere are 10 tips to get you started with a Hatha Yoga Practice:\\nKnow your why - Before you start to build your practice, it’s important to establish why you’re coming to your mat. Is your reason for physical health, mental health or maybe just to press pause on your day and breathe? Each flow can be personalized for whatever brings you to your mat each day.\\nBe a student! - Take a class with us so you can learn how to flow on your own. Sometimes before you fly solo, you need a co-captain. And if you never decide to fly on your own, we're happy to have you here with us! Our teachers are the best and we think you'll love their classes!\n⁠\n⁠Check out these three Hatha classes we love!\n⁠\\nHatha for Beginners\\n\n⁠\\nHatha Yoga Intermediate\\n\n⁠\\nHatha Vinyasa\\n\\nLearn to breath - In this practice, you'll be holding in poses and breathing into the space you create. The traditional breath practice for a hatha yoga class is\\n Ujjayi breathing\\n otherwise known as victorious breath. This breathing practice is often used in yoga because it forces you to slow down and focus on your breathing and its connection to your movement. \\nChoose your asasas - While Hatha is usually a gentle practice, there is no right or wrong way to build your Hatha flow. The goal is just to focus and move your body! All you need is a minimum of three to five poses to get started! Start by reviewing the poses you know and then when you’re ready, add more as you grow.\\nPractice your pause - once you know what asanas you’d like to practice, grab a stopwatch! Work on holding each pose for 30 seconds, then 45 seconds, then a minute. Don’t forget to breathe into it. And if you can, try to find space and deepen into each pose as you practice more. \\nFind a way to beat the mental fatigue - Don’t give in to the voice in your head that says you can’t do this.  Holding the poses can be difficult at first. Have a little grace and try your best not to give up. Practice your mantras to keep you going. Our favorite? Your stronger than you think!\\nBuild a meditation practice - When building a meditation practice, it’s important to figure out what you need from it. Do you need mantras to help you keep going? Do you need to visual what's coming? Or do you need to focus inward on your breath and the current moment. Remember, there’s no wrong answer. Play with this practice. Add it to the beginning, then the end and see where it serves you. Can’t settle in for quiet reflection? Try journaling instead. \\nBe benevolent to yourself - In Hatha yoga, one of the most important practices is the principle of non-violence (ahimsa) this means do no harm to yourself or to others Try to go through your life being kind to yourself on and off your mat. For more on this practice, check out \\nthis article\\n by Yogauonline\\nRead the text- Like a lot of Yoga, hatha isn’t just based on a movement practice. In fact, there are two connected texts to teach you the foundations of this practice. \\nHatha Yoga Pradipika \\n- a 15th century Sanskrit manual on the practice and style. \\nSiva Samhita\\n - from the hindu perspective breaking “yoga” the practice, down into five parts.\\nTrack the progress of your practice - Once you’ve developed your practice, there is no ‘ end' in yoga, we can only keep coming back to deepen or extend our practice. That’s why it’s a “practice” because there is no perfect. You can always adjust. Some days you’ll need more, some days less. But all the days…you'll need yoga. \\nFive poses to get started with Hatha Yoga:\\n1. Childs Pose\\nFocus on your third eye here. Move your head from right to left to massage your forehead.\\n\\n\n2. Cat Pose\\nBreath into your spine as you arch your back away from the floor. Relax your neck.\\n\\n\\n3. Down Dog\\nFocus on lengthening your heels into the floor and pushing your hips towards the back of the room. \\n\\n\\n4. Forward Fold\\nSurrender into this pose. Reach your palms towards the floor and deepen your stretch with every exhale.\\n\\n\\n5. Savasana\\nRelax your entire body into the ground. Release all the tension and slow your breath. \\n\\n\nNow that you have the tools you need, you’re ready to go! Find where your practice fits best and get ready to feel relaxed and enlightened! If you’re doing hatha for physical health, try adding the practice in after another workout or at the end of your day. \\nLooking  to build a practice for relaxation or to wind down from your anxiety? Try starting your day with practice and a cup of green tea! \\nMyYogaTeacher\\n has tons of options available to you! See you on your mat! "}},{"id":"ckr7tf4oolv3u0c25s8cz6qrj","slug":"what-are-sun-salutations","author":{"name":"Priyanka","teacherMytSlug":null,"pictureUrl":null},"title":"What Are Sun Salutations? Start Your Day Right With These Moves","createdAt":"2021-07-17T13:38:03.578839+00:00","coverUrl":"ljd9egtasslviqhw4lqm.jpg","content":{"text":"It’s a simple question that we get asked a lot as yoga instructors.\\nWhat is a Sun Salutation and why is it important? After all, this simple series of asanas is included in almost every single yoga practice from beginner to advanced.\\nObviously, there’s something important about it, right?\\nThe answer is yes.\\nIn my yoga class on myYogaTeacher, \\nBeginner’s Guide to Sun Salutations\\n, yogis learn all about this wonderful series of yoga poses and how impactful they are to a regular yoga practice and your day!\\nNot an MYT member yet? You should definitely check it out! \\nSign up for your free 2-week trial\\n and get access to 35+ different group yoga classes every single day, at all times of day!\\nIn the meantime, let’s talk about this traditional series of poses and how they help you start your day – and yoga practice – right!\\n[CTA-DEFAULT]\\nWhat are Sun Salutations?\\nThe Sun Salutation is a practice involving a flow of 8 different yoga poses linked together in a graceful sequence.\\nBecause the sequence moves the body in all different directions, sun salutations help clear the energy centers of the body and heat it up so all the muscles and joints are ready for deeper poses. \\nSun salutations are also invigorating as a stand alone sequence! If you don’t have a lot of time for a full yoga practice, 5 minutes of sun salutations is a surefire way to rev up your body, boost immunity, and stretch out tight muscles.\\nThe 8 basic poses of a Sun Salutation sequence\\nTadasana (Mountain Pose)\\n\\n\\n Urdhva Hastasana (Upward Salute)\\n\\n\\nUttanasana (Standing Forward Bend)\\n\\n\\n Anjaneyasana (Low Lunge) \\n\\n\\nPlank Pose\\n\\n\\nChaturanga Dandasana (Four-Limbed Staff Pose)\\n\\n\\n Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward-Facing Dog Pose)\\n\\n\\nAdho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog Pose)\\n\\n\\n\\n\\nThe movement from posture to posture is accompanied by an inhale or exhale. You’ll experience this in my Beginner’s Guide to Sun Salutations class. It’s really fairly simple, and there are plenty of ways to modify the poses to meet your fitness level!\\nBenefits of Sun Salutations\\nI briefly discussed some of the reasons we incorporate these poses into a yoga practice, but here’s a more in depth explanation of the benefits of sun salutations!\\nBody and mind preparation\\nFirst, I want to talk about how the sun salutation sequence can be a stand alone practice to start your day. Many people (even avid yogis) don’t want to wake up before the crack of dawn and spend thirty minutes to an hour doing yoga.\\nIf yoga feels like a burden, then you won’t do it. And we definitely don’t want you to feel this way about your yoga practice!\\nYou don’t need to practice yoga for a long time to prepare your mind and body for the day. The sun salutation flow is an excellent way to get in even 5-10 minutes of yoga in the mornings. And the best part is, once you memorize this easy sequence you:\\nDon’t need a computer, phone, or tv\\nDon’t need any voice guidance\\nCan do it almost anywhere\\nDon’t necessarily need a yoga mat or props\\nYou can still reap the benefits of yoga with this flow. It awakens your mind, your muscles. It gets your breath going and revives you mentally, physically, and emotionally. And you can perform these moves throughout your day if you need a little pep in your step during that afternoon slump.\\nIf you’re starting this flow in the morning, you might want to modify the first couple of rounds to allow your body time to loosen up!\\nSun salutations build internal heat\\nSo another great benefit of sun salutations is their ability to quickly warm up your muscles, ligaments, and tendons in preparation for bigger, deeper yoga poses.\\nJumping straight into deep, engaged postures is not beneficial.\\nSun salutations give our body time to rev up, kind of like a car before a big race! These poses allow for the release of synovial fluid, which lubricates your joints. They also require you to engage your core, which is an important aspect of almost all yoga poses. \\nJust as importantly as releasing lubricating fluid for your joints and warming up your core, sun salutations gently stretch out tight or sore muscles. This prevents injury when practicing those deeper poses I mentioned.\\nSun salutations clear energy pathways\\nMaybe this is a little woo for you, but the energy centers in your body are a real thing!\\nIf you’re not familiar with your chakras, here’s a brief description of all of them:\\nRoot chakra - responsible for your sense of security and stability, located at the base of your spine\\nSacral chakra - located just below your belly button, responsible for sexual and creative energy and your emotions\\nSolar plexus chakra - located in your stomach region, responsible for confidence, self-esteem, and helps you feel in control of your life\\nHeart chakra - all about your ability to love and show compassion and empathy\\nThroat chakra - helps you communicate verbally, express yourself\\nThird eye chakra - located on the forehead between the eyes, linked to your intuition and imagination\\nCrown chakra - located on the top of your head and represents your connection to self, others, and the universe/divine\\nEvery asana from the sun salutation flow touches on one of these energy centers! And clear chakras promote stress relief, clear mind, increased focus, more creativity, more feelings of security and safety, and being more in touch with your emotions, feeling more compassionate.\\nWho wouldn’t want to feel this way?!\\nCombined with your breath, the sun salutation sequence will bring so much life to your...well, life!\\nIf you haven’t taken the jump into the wonderful world that is myYogaTeacher yet, I’d love to have you check out one of the several yoga classes I teach, \\nBeginner’s Guide to Sun Salutations!\\n\\nNot sure yet? That’s ok! \\nMyYogaTeacher offers a free 2-week trial! You can sign up for it here, completely risk free!\\n\\nI’d love to see you on the mat!"}},{"id":"ckfqz1ipk01yq0126vja711fn","slug":"afternoon-slump-recharge-your-whole-body-in-10-minutes","author":{"name":"Amanda","teacherMytSlug":"amanda@myyogateacher.com-1","pictureUrl":"amanda-pro.jpg"},"title":"Afternoon Slump? Recharge your whole body in 10 minutes","createdAt":"2019-12-15T00:00:00+00:00","coverUrl":"mark-zamora-x0a7bo1qodu-unsplash.jpg","content":{"text":"Reset your nervous system, clear out unnecessary thoughts, and get back to a balanced state with this 10-minute yoga sequence.\\n\\nLooking for a routine guaranteed to bring your energy back? Book a free session with one of our experienced teachers to help design the routine perfect for you. \\nNot signed up? Click here to take advantage of 5 free sessions now (supplies limited).\\n\\n\\nEasy Reset \\nYoga Routine\\n\\n\\nForward Fold\\n\\n\\nSeated Twist\\n\\n\\nSide Bend\\n\\n\\nLegs Up The Wall\\n\\n\\nChild's Pose\\n\\nForward- FoldPlace your feet about 3 feet apart. Exhale bring your arms and torso down into a forward fold. You can place your hands on the floor, a block, or even on a chair.Take 5 deep breaths. Come back to the starting position with an inhale.Seated TwistWhile seated, place one hand behind you and the other on the opposite knee. Take five breaths, reaching the top of the head towards the ceiling. On an exhale, return to center and repeat on the other side. Side-bendInhale lift both arms up, and if you like, interlace the finger and flip the palms to the ceiling. Exhale and reach your palms towards the to the side. Inhale to come back to center and repeat on other side.Legs Up the WallEasy peasy. Bring both legs up a wall and extend the arms outward. Take at least 10 breaths, or more if you're enjoying it!Child's PoseFrom a kneeling position, exhale and bring your forehead to the floor. Relax the hips towards to the heels and extend the arms in front of you. Hang out for as long as you like. \\n\\nHeadphones on! \\n\\nWant a guided experience by one of our expert teachers? Check out this relaxing sequence by Aparna! Ready to book a session? \\nClick here to take advantage of 5 free sessions now\\n (supplies limited).\\n\\n\\n"}}],"relatedPosts":[{"id":"cknfz1b6ocvjy0a81nie3aq02","slug":"yoga-for-stress-and-anxiety","author":{"name":"Rohan","teacherMytSlug":null,"pictureUrl":null},"title":"Practice Yoga for Stress and Anxiety Relief","createdAt":"2021-04-13T11:58:36.28949+00:00","coverUrl":"yoga_for_stress_and_anxiety.jpg","content":{"text":"We've all experienced stress and anxiety at some point. It's a natural, human response to stressful situations and can even save us from danger. Sometimes, it can go deeper than that and become a full-blown anxiety disorder that disrupts our lives.\\n\\nMy class, \\nYoga for Stress and Anxiety\\n can help!\\n\\nYoga for Stress and Anxiety: The Research\\nSince the 1970s, researchers have been looking into stress-reduction techniques and tools. Meditation is one such technique that you hear a lot about, but yoga as a whole practice hasn't gotten the same level of attention until recent decades.\\n\\nAccording to researchers at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, a new study from August 2020 found that yoga was significantly more effective for generalized anxiety disorder than simple education on stress management.\\n\\nAnother study from the Ilam University of Medical Sciences (February 2018) found that yoga plays an effective part in reducing stress, anxiety, and depression. The study went on to conclude that yoga can be used as complementary medicine for these conditions.\\n\\nYet another study from The Center for Health Behavior Research at the University of Mississippi (2011) found that yoga offers a host of benefits: enhanced muscular strength and body flexibility, improved respiratory and cardiovascular function, recovery from and treatment of addiction, reduction in stress, anxiety, depression, and chronic pain, improved sleep patterns, and enhanced overall well-being and quality of life.\\n\\nIf you're not using yoga for stress and anxiety management, now's a great time to start. \\nSign up for a free two-week trial of myYogaTeacher\\n and get access to my class as well as more than 35 other live, online yoga courses every single day.\\n\\nWhat Do Stress and Anxiety Look Like?\\n\\nStress and anxiety can look and feel different for different people. For some, it might be a feeling like waiting for the other shoe to drop. For others, it might be all-consuming. Here are some of the symptoms that typically signal stress and anxiety:\\nPersistent feelings of uneasiness, panic, and fear\\nMuscle tension\\nHeart palpitations or a rapid heartbeat\\nDifficulty sleeping\\nIrritability\\nConstricted breathing\\nCold, sweaty palms\\nRumination on unhelpful, negative thoughts\\nIf your feelings of stress and anxiety are keeping you from living your life, we recommend talking to your doctor about treatment options. But don't forget to practice your yoga!\\n\\nAlleviating Stress and Anxiety Through Yoga\\nOur bodies are pretty miraculous, especially with the body's ability to heal itself. Of course, stress and anxiety can drastically reduce that healing. Fortunately, yoga can help us bring calm, peace, and stillness back into our lives.\\n\\nYoga helps to modulate stress response systems, reducing the stress and anxiety we feel. And, yoga can even help us respond to stress more easily.\\n\\nWe recommend a complete yoga practice that includes more than just asanas. In addition to poses and movement (asanas), you'll want to incorporate \\npranayamas (breathing techniques)\\n, meditation, and yoga philosophy.\\n\\nYoga Practices to Alleviate Stress and Anxiety\\n\\nIn this section, we're going to talk about specific asanas, pranayamas, meditations, and mudras that will help you ease stress and anxiety with yoga. While you can absolutely practice this on your own, I would love to have you join my Yoga for Stress and Anxiety class on myYogaTeacher. You can \\nsign up for a free two-week trial of myYogaTeacher\\n and not only get access to my class but access to 35+ other live, online group classes every single day.\\n\\nYoga Poses\\nThere are several yoga poses that can help alleviate stress and anxiety. Here's a short sequence that you can practice at any time. Start seated in a comfortable position and move through the poses as feels comfortable and soothing for you.\\nSeated neck rolls\\nMarjariasana (cat pose)\\nBalasana (child's pose)\\nAdho Mukha Shvanasana (downward-facing dog pose)\\nUttanasana (standing forward bend)\\nVrikshasana (tree pose)\\nJanu Shirasasana (one-legged seated forward bend)\\nPaschimottanasana (two-legged seated forward bend)\\nSetu Bandha Sarvangasana (bridge pose)\\nSarvangasana (shoulder stand)\\nMatsyasana (fish pose)\\nDhanurasana (bow pose)\\nSavasana (corpse pose)\\nPranayama (Breathing)\\nBreathing is a powerful tool for combating stress and anxiety. Here are a few different breathing exercises you can try when you feel stress or anxiety creeping up:\\nDeep breathing\\nNadi Shodhan Pranayama (alternate nostril breathing)\\nBhastrika Pranayama (bellows breathing)\\nUjjayi Pranayama (ocean breathing)\\nBhramari Pranayama (bee breathing)\\nMeditation\\nMeditation helps you calm yourself, grounding you and producing feelings of stability. There are several different types of meditation to choose from, but research has shown that mindful meditations are great for reducing stress and anxiety. Here's a mindful meditation that walks you through progressive relaxation:\\nFind a quiet place where you won't be disturbed and make yourself comfortable. Close your eyes.\\nStarting with your head, tense the muscles in your face and scalp. Hold this as you inhale for a count of eight.\\nOn the exhale, relax your face completely. Unclench your jaw, relax your forehead and eyes, let everything just fall away. Repeat this clenching and relaxing until your face feels completely relaxed.\\nRepeat this process down your entire body: neck, shoulders, chest, abdomen, right arm, right forearm, right hand, left arm, left forearm, left hand, buttocks, right leg, lower right leg, right foot, left leg, left foot.\\nIf you're short on time, you can focus on just your four main muscle groups.\\n\\nMudras\\nMudras can also help you combat stress and anxiety.\\n\\nA mudra is a symbolic or ritual gesture done with the hands and used in combination with Pranayama. They activate our body's potential for healing and growth, stimulating different parts of the body to improve the flow of energy.\\n\\nHere are five mudras I recommend for stress and anxiety:\\nGyan Mudra: Join the tips of your index fingers and thumbs with the other fingers outstretched and together in a relaxed position.\\nAgni Shakti Mudra: Touch all four fingers on each hand to the palms of the same hand (almost in a fist shape). Then, join the tips of the thumbs together.\\nKalesvara Mudra: Bring the tips of the middle fingers together and the first and middle joints of the index fingers together. Then, bring the thumbs together, creating a heart shape, and gently curl the rest of the fingers in. Connect the thumbs to the sternum and reach your elbows out to the side.\\nApan Vayu Mudra: Fold the index fingers to touch the tip to the base of the thumb. Then, bring the tips of the middle and ring fingers to the tips of the thumbs. The pinky finger stays straight and points outward.\\nUttarabodhi Mudra: Interlock the fingers of both hands together and keep the thumbs and index fingers extended and touching. Point the tips of extended index fingers up and the thumbs down.\\nWrapping Up\\nThere's a lot of research that indicates yoga is a wonderful way to reduce stress and anxiety. But we're all different. If you have stress or anxiety that is debilitating, please be sure to reach out to your doctor.\\n\\nIt's also possible that yoga can reveal strong feelings and emotions that you've been suppressing. Practice yoga in a place that makes you feel safe and secure. And don't forget to \\nsign up for a free two-week trial of myYogaTeacher\\n so you can join my next class!"}},{"id":"cl77o54vxciuw0ck85uv39v9x","slug":"yin-yoga-for-digestion","author":{"name":"Bharath","teacherMytSlug":"bharath-1","pictureUrl":"bharath-pro.jpg"},"title":"Yin Yoga for Digestion","createdAt":"2022-08-24T13:45:35.992969+00:00","coverUrl":"kfzbgmsrthjpcvpiht8o.jpg","content":{"text":"If you experience bloating, gas or upset stomach but don’t exactly know the source, yoga can be great to help aid in your daily digestion. Yoga can help you to regulate your digestion, get a detox or relieve stomach pain from a meal gone wrong. If you’re looking to add yoga into your routine, we’d recommend yin yoga for help with digestion and stomach issues\\nWhat is Yin Yoga?\\nYin Yoga is a slower, restorative style that targets your deep connective tissues. Rather than a traditional vinyasa class that fatigues your muscles, yin goes deeper to connect under your skin to your ligaments, deep tissue and bones. This practice goes back centuries and is actually based in Chinese medicine.\\n“The practice of yin yoga is based on ancient Chinese philosophies and Taoist principles which believe there are pathways of Qi (energy) that run through our bodies. By stretching and deepening into poses, we’re opening up any blockages and releasing that energy to flow freely.” - Mind body green\\nWhy Yin Yoga?\\nYin Yoga allows you to come to your mat and answer the question “what does my body need today?” When you come to your mat for this style class, you can do a body scan and connect to your body. Notice how you feel and what’s bothering you today. Then, you can target your practice for your specific need or ailment. If you’re taking a live \\nyin yoga\\n class, the instructor will usually open class by giving you an opportunity to answer that question.\\nHow does yin yoga aid in digestion?\\nWhen you do yin or restorative poses for digestion, the poses target your spleen and stomach to aid in your digestion and promote detox qualities. You may think if your stomach is bothering you, it’s definitely something you ate. However in reality, the spleen can also carry worry. If you are stressed, upset or chronically worried, you may be experiencing pain due to stress. So coming to your mat and releasing your stomach and spleen may not only detox bloating or pain, but could also lighten your mental or emotional load. \\nWhen should you do Yin yoga to relieve stomach distress?\\nThere is no perfect time to do yoga. Every hour of the day is good for yoga if it fits in your schedule! But for maximum results, we recommend first thing in the morning or right before bed. \\nIf you choose to do your yin practice in the morning, your detox will continue all day and help your body to maintain homeostasis throughout the day. If you choose to do it at night, not only will you continue to detox while you sleep, you will benefit from a deeper more restful sleep and wake more rejuvenated.\\nSo what Yin yoga poses will help with your pain or symptoms? Try these poses to help with tummy issues whenever and wherever you are! If you prefer to practice alone or have a tight schedule, find time to fit these poses in during your busy day! Make sure to drink water after to aid in the process.\n⁠\n⁠Following are the 10 recommended yin yoga poses for digestion :\\n\n⁠1. Ardha Matsyendrasana (Seated twist)\\nThis move will release anything trapped in your GI tract and beat bloat. \\n\\n\\n2. Marjaryasana/Bitilasana (Cat/Cow)\\nThis set of poses massages the inner abdominal and stimulates digestion. \\n\\n\\n3. Supta Matsyendrasana (Supine Twist)\\nThis pose is said to relieve constipation and bloating\\n\\n\\n4. Pawanmuktasana (Wind Reliever)\\n This pose eases gas and bloating and increases blood flow in the stomach. \\n\\n\\n5. Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose)\\nThis pose stretches the stomach and supports digestion. \\n\\n6. Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Dog)\\nBreathing into your belly in this shape can help to create space in your intestines. \\n\\n\\n7. Trikonasana (Triangle Pose)\\nThis pose releases stress and stimulates your organs. It will help to speed up normal digestion.\\n\\n\\n8. Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose)\\nThis pose brings new blood flow to the stomach & helps to wake up fatigued tissue and muscles.\\n\\n\\n9. Uttana Shishosana (Puppy Pose) \\nThis pose helps to stretch your belly. It’s suggested for after a large meal. \\n\\n10. Viparita Karani (Legs Up The Wall)\\nReverse your blood flow, give into the ground and let go. Letting go will slow down your heart rate and release any blocked stress. \\n\\n\\nTry these poses on your own time when you’re experiencing stomach distress or add them to your morning routine for  digestive support throughout your day! Don’t think you’re ready to flow on your own? Join us for a class! \\n[CTA-GC]\\nClasses to take to aid in digestion or detox: \\n\\nYin Yoga with Annelise\\n - This intermediate class is great for before bed and will help with an overnight detox. \\n\\nRestorative with Swathi\\n - This all levels class will keep you in long holds to aid in detoxification and target deep tissue release. \\nOther holistic ways to relieve stomach issues:\\nIf you want to take your new digestive practice off your mat, add these simple things into your daily routine to keep your belly happy all day long! \\nTea\\nIn many scientific studies, Tea has been found to be great for digestive health because of its flavonoids. This ingredient can be found in many teas and is proven to calm the stomach and help to regulate the digestive process\\nGreen Tea\\nGreen tea is known to aid in a healthy daily detoxification because of its high levels of flavonoids which occur naturally in the fruits and veggies used to make green tea. Green tea will detox the liver and other major organs. The high level of antioxidants will keep your skin clear and refreshed as well! \\nGinger Tea\\nGinger is like nature’s pepto bismol. It can release gas and improve digestion by moving along what may be blocking your digestive process. While green tea is great for a slow all day detox, ginger tea is fast acting and gets to work immediately after drinking.\\nPeppermint Tea\\nPeppermint has been known to relieve gas, bloating and pain in the stomach. It’s a great choice for days when you feel cramping or intense stomach pain. Peppermint tea is great for staying hydrated if you’re not feeling well and is also great for a full day detox. \\nWhich brings us to our next category, When your belly is bothering you, it’s important to hydrate! It can feel overwhelming when your stomach hurts to drink water or remember to focus on your hydration, but being dehydrated could cause you much more pain or trauma. If you’re already not feeling well, try these options for hydration! \\nLemon Water\\nLemon water can aid in digestion because the citric acid in the lemon helps to break down and digest food. Lemon water also works harder to hydrate your system than plain water. It won’t run through your system or sweat out as quickly. \\nCoconut Water\\nDrinking coconut water after meals helps with digestion and helps your body to avoid bloat. The electrolytes in coconut water also help to keep your system functioning normally which promotes healthy digestion! \\nSo if you want fries on the side of your salad or ice cream after dinner tonight, no worries! Just keep this list of digestive aids handy and tomorrow, you’ll be good as new! Every day is a new day to start again…and your belly will thank you for incorporating these healthy options into your life. "}},{"id":"ckoa1aav4qv5a0b63w9h2eb4j","slug":"yoga-101-what-is-yoga","author":{"name":"My Yoga Teacher","teacherMytSlug":null,"pictureUrl":null},"title":"Yoga 101: What Is Yoga? Everything You Need to Know Before Getting Started","createdAt":"2021-05-04T12:54:40.207865+00:00","coverUrl":"ozfwdauigdcdmkiwkeqs.png","content":{"text":"What Is Yoga?\\nYoga is an approach to physical and mental health and wellbeing that has been around for thousands of years. According to Sadhguru, the word \"yoga\" means \"that which brings you to reality.\" Taken literally, the word means \"union.\" Many take this to mean a \"union of the body and mind.\" Some might add \"spirit\" to the mix.\\n\\nThe word comes from the Sanskrit root word \"yuj,\" which means \"union,\" \"integration,\" or \"wholeness.\"\\n\\nThere are more than 300 million people in the world who practice yoga, according to the Yogi Times and the Economic Times. And roughly half of that number is yoga practitioners from India, but more and more people around the world are coming to yoga for various reasons, including 36 million people in the United States who make yoga a nearly $12 billion industry in the country (Statista). In this Yoga 101 article, you'll learn more about the practice of yoga, different yoga paths and styles, and the benefits of yoga.\\n\\nTo get the best possible understanding of yoga, we encourage you to \\nsign up for a free two-week of myYogaTeacher\\n. Once inside, you'll have two weeks to try more than 35 live online yoga classes every single day from Indian teachers who have a comprehensive understanding of the entire yoga practice. We even offer a \\nYoga 101 class\\n that you'll probably enjoy if you're here reading this article!\\n\\nPaths of Yoga\\n\\n\\nYoga philosophy\\n tells us that the cause of our suffering is a disconnection from our true self. That's why Vedanta offers four yoga paths to help us reconnect with our true selves. Let's take a look at these four paths of yoga: Bhakti, Jnana, Karma, and Raja.\\n\\nBhakti Yoga (Devotion)\\nBhakti yoga is the path of yoga built on self-realization through devotion. It's typically practiced through kirtans or bhajans (devotional chants) and helps practitioners work through intense emotions by focusing on the divine being.\\nBhakti yoga is all about prayer, worship, and ritual that gets the practitioners closer to the spirit, letting the ego and desire go.\\n\\nJnana Yoga (Knowledge and Wisdom)\\nJnana comes from the Sanskrit for \"knowledge.\" This is the path of intellect and wisdom and involves the study of sacred texts as well as contemplation and self-analysis. Those practicing Jnana are seeking to break through illusion to find the true meaning of life.\\n\\nJnana yoga is called the \"science of the self,\" by Swami Sivananda and the philosophy of Vedanta teaches self-inquiry to discover your true nature.\\n\\nKarma Yoga (Selfless Service)\\nKarma means \"action.\" Through Karma yoga, we learn to be kind and compassionate without expecting anything—even kindness and compassion—in return. Karma yoga is practiced through any acts of service when you put others’ needs before your own and feel grounded during these acts.\\n\\nThis practice is \"work as worship,\" cosmic love and tolerance when we act without expectation of personal gain. It is seen as liberating, through selfless service we free ourselves from karmic bonds and find peace.\\n\\nRaja Yoga (Meditation)\\nThe fourth path of yoga we're going to talk about is Raja yoga. Raja means \"royalty\" or \"kind\" in Sanskrit and balances the three other paths (Bhakti, Jnana, and Karma) to help you find inner peace and self-awareness. While asanas and pranayamas are integral to Raja, the main practice is silent \\nmeditation\\n.\\n\\nThis type of yoga is also known as Ashtanga because the practice can be divided into \\neight limbs\\n:\\nYamas, or ethical standards: Ahimsa (non-violence), Asteya (non-stealing), Brahmacharya (chastity), Aparigraha (non-attachment), and Satya (truthfulness)\\nNiyamas, or self-discipline: Saucha (purity), Santosha (contentment), Tapas (austerity), Svadhyaya (study), Isvara Pranidhana (surrender)\\nAsana: the postures practiced in yoga\\nPranayama: breath control\\nPratyahara: internal awareness\\nDharana: concentration\\nDhyana: meditation\\nSamadhi: fulfillment, joy, ecstasy\\nStyles of Yoga\\n\\nNow that you have a better understanding of the paths of yoga, let's turn our attention to the styles of yoga that you might find in any yoga studio. Styles of yoga range quite a bit, from power yoga and other demanding classes, to gentle yoga, and more meditative classes.\\n\\nSome of the styles of yoga have a yoga lineage (like Kriya, Hatha, Ashtanga, and others), but yoga lineage has become less important to practitioners as yoga becomes more readily available to different cultures and people around the world.\\n\\nThis is by no means a complete list of the different styles of yoga. Inside \\nmyYogaTeacher\\n, you'll also find offerings like gentle yoga, chair yoga, and therapeutic yoga for things like thyroid, \\ndiabetes\\n, and more.\\n\\nKriya Yoga\\nKriya yoga is an ancient practice that includes pranayama and meditation. Swami Paramahansa Yogananda is the guru known for bringing Kriya yoga to the Western world. This style of yoga uses meditation to lead practitioners to spirituality.\\n\\nHatha Yoga\\nHatha yoga is a broad term that encompasses yoga styles using asanas (poses). \\nHatha classes\\n tend to be slower-paced and train practitioners to regulate their breath and meditate while in poses. It's truly a \"moving meditation.\"\\n\\nVinyasa Yoga\\nVinyasa yoga uses movement and breath, similar to Hatha. However, \\nVinyasa\\n tends to be a faster pace and flows through asanas rather than holding them. It's a physically demanding practice without a set structure.\\n\\nAshtanga Yoga\\nAshtanga yoga is another physically demanding style of yoga that helps increase flexibility, as well as build strength and stamina. With Ashtanga, practitioners work through the same series of poses every time.\\n\\nIyengar Yoga\\nIyengar yoga was created by B.K.S. Iyengar in the 1960s. This style of yoga focuses on precise movements and alignment. Poses are generally held for a long time and props are used to help practitioners perfect their form or get deeper into poses.\\n\\nKundalini Yoga\\n\\nKundalini yoga\\n is a spiritual and physical yoga practice designed to release the energy trapped in the lower spine. This style of yoga uses fast-paced postures and breathing, chanting, mantra, and meditation. It was introduced in the West during the 1970s by Yogi Bhajan.\\n\\nBikram Yoga\\nBikram yoga is often called \"hot yoga\" since it is practiced in a humid, heated room (105º and 40% humidity). It's named after Bikram Choudhury and includes a series of 26 postures, performed twice, in a fast flow. It's a challenging practice that improves endurance and flexibility. As more and more practitioners try to distance themselves from the style's founder, you'll find a deviation from the series of postures as well as room temperatures and humidity.\\n\\nYin Yoga\\nYin yoga focuses on seated postures held for long periods of time. It's a slower-paced style of yoga and can be quite meditative. Poses are generally held from 45 seconds to two minutes.\\n\\nPower Yoga\\nThere are several different forms of \\npower yoga\\n but it's always intense and fast-paced. It combines flexibility, strength, concentration, and breathwork into a flowing style and was originally created for athletes.\\n\\nRestorative Yoga\\nOn the opposite end of the yoga spectrum from power yoga is restorative yoga. This style of yoga focuses on body relaxation and freeing your mind. It borrows pieces from several other yoga styles. Like Iyengar, \\nrestorative yoga\\n practice encourages the use of props to encourage complete relaxation through body support. Like Yin, the poses in restorative yoga are held for a long time (though much longer than in Yin).\\n\\nBenefits of Yoga\\nSo far, we've covered the paths of yoga as well as several different styles of yoga. But you may be wondering why you'd practice yoga in the first place.\\n\\nThere have been so many scientific studies about the practice of yoga and its benefits. Those benefits range from physical to mental to emotional. Here are some of the benefits you can expect.\\nBetter posture. Yoga postures can help strengthen shoulder and back muscles. That strength then leads to better posture.\\nImproved flexibility and mobility through a combination of active movement and held stretches.\\nIncreased strength. Yoga isn't easy. Many of the poses \\nchallenge muscles\\n in the legs, shoulders, and core.\\nCardiovascular strength and endurance. Several yoga styles can improve your cardio through movement and flowing poses that increase the heart rate.\\nBetter brain function and stress management. Many styles of yoga include meditation that has been shown to calm the mind, relieve stress and tension, improve concentration, and stabilize mood. The addition of Mudras (hand positions) and Pranayama, or controlled breathing, only heightens those positive effects.\\nWrapping Up\\nBy now, you should have a much better understanding of what yoga is, the paths and styles of yoga, as well as which forms of yoga you might want to check out. To gain access to different styles of yoga, we invite you to \\nsign up for a free two-week trial of myYogaTeacher\\n where you'll find 35+ live online yoga classes of various styles every single day to choose from."}}],"blogContent":{"id":"ckl8t3amwk53k0b75i0e4wek4","slug":"trataka-candlelight-meditation","author":{"name":"Anuj","teacherMytSlug":"anuj-1","pictureUrl":"anuj-poonia-1.jpg"},"title":"How to Do a Powerful Trataka (Candle Gazing) Meditation","createdAt":"2021-02-17T02:18:23.420756+00:00","updatedAt":"2022-08-01T06:55:01.585885+00:00","coverUrl":"ckl8t3amwk53k0b75i0e4wek4.png","seoDescription":"Join Anuj for Trataka candlelight meditation to bring stillness to your body and your mind. Plus, learn about the benefits of Trataka!","content":{"text":"Trataka is a candle gazing meditation technique that uses sight to bring stillness to the body and mind. You can practice Trataka using any object—a star, a point on the wall, the ground in front of you. Trataka is traditionally practiced using an actual candle flame.\\nIn this meditation, I'm going to take you through six practices to strengthen your eye muscles before we move into a three-part candle gazing meditation. If you enjoy this practice, please find more classes with me on \\nmyYogaTeacher\\n.\\nBefore we start, I want to remind you that candle meditation typically requires a lot of concentration and can not be performed anywhere like other forms of meditation can. Be sure you have a quiet space prepared where you will not be interrupted before beginning this practice.\\n[CTA-TRATAKA]\\n\\nBenefits of Trataka Meditation\\nTrataka meditation has been around for generations. It has survived over time due to several benefits. Specifically, Trataka meditation:\\nAlleviates stress and anxiety\\nImproves concentration and memory\\nStrengthens your eyes\\nPurifies and stimulates the sixth chakra, Ajna, that controls intuition and mental awareness\\n\\nHow to Do a Trataka Meditation\\nFirst, we encourage you to remove your glasses while you're doing a candle meditation. It's also important that you maintain a distance of 1–1.5 meters between you and your candle, and that you don't blink during the candle gazing.\\n\\nPalming Techniques\\nFor this Trataka meditation, you'll need to know three different kinds of palming. Here's what cupping your hands looks like:\\n\\nGentle\\nRub your palms together to generate heat in your hands. Rest your palms in a cupped shape around your closed eyes.\\n\\nPress and Release\\nRub your palms together to generate heat in your hands. With your palms in a cupped position, place them around your closed eyes. As you inhale, apply light pressure around your eyes with your cupped palms. On the exhale, release the pressure (keeping your palms cupped around your eyes. Repeat this for five cycles of breath.\\n\\nConstant Pressure\\nRub your palms together to generate heat in your hands. With your palms in a cupped position, place them around your closed eyes. Apply constant pressure around your eyes with your cupped palms. Maintain the pressure for five cycles of breathing.\\n\\nStretching and Relaxation\\nWe're going to start our Trataka candlelight meditation with a few stretches to bring relaxation into the body.\\n\\nSit up tall in a chair or cross-legged position with your palms on your knees. Roll your shoulders back to open your chest and close your eyes.\\n\\nBreathe normally, allowing a gentle smile to rest on your face. Maintain this smile throughout your practice... And throughout the rest of your life.\\n\\nObserve your breath as it comes in and flows out, noticing the cool air that's coming into your nose and the warm air that's leaving your nose.\\n\\nInhale. On the exhale, lightly twist your torso to the right. Inhale back to the center and exhale to the opposite side. Inhale back to the center and relax for a moment.\\n\\nNext, drop your head to the right side on the exhale. Inhale to return center and repeat on the other side. Continue to warm up your neck, tilting your head back and forward, inhaling each time as you return to center.\\n\\nJoin your palms together at heart center, \\nnamaste\\n, and let's join together in chanting \\nOm\\n.\\n\\nRub your palms together to generate heat in your hands, cup your palms around your eyes, and blink your eyes open.\\n\\nPress your palms into your knees and tilt your head back, eyes looking up, stretching the front of your neck. Exhale your chin to your chest, stretching the back of the neck. Repeat this five more times.\\n\\nBring your palms to your shoulders on either side of your neck with your fingertips pointing down your back. Pull down slightly on your shoulders as you exhale, tilting your head back, your eyes look up towards the ceiling. Hold this stretch for a count of five.\\n\\nNext, bring the fingertips of each hand together and place your fingertips on your shoulders with your elbows touching in front of your body. Start rolling your shoulders, circling your elbows down, out, up, and touching them in front of your body 10 times. Reverse this movement for another 10 counts.\\n\\nNow, swing your arms to the front and back of your body, allowing them to cross in front of your body on the exhale. Do this 10 times.\\n\\nStretch your legs out in front of you and shake them out a bit, moving them side to side. Then, start rapidly bending and straightening your knees. This is a good practice for both relaxation and knee pain.\\n\\nBring your arms out to the side of your body and inhale. On the exhale, bend to the right side, dropping your elbow to the ground and stretching along the left side of your body. Let your left arm reach up and over your body. If you're sitting in a chair, just bend over to the side as far as you can to feel the stretch.\\n\\nInhale, coming back to the center, and exhale to the other side.\\n\\nRepeat this movement several times, keeping your hips square and planted on the ground or chair.\\n\\nInterlace your fingers in front of you and stretch your arms up over your head, inhaling. On the exhale, allow your arms to float down to your side and then behind you, grabbing your right wrist with your left hand. Exhale and bend forward over your legs, keeping your arms behind you. Repeat this a few times, inhaling to come up and exhaling to fold forward.\\n\\nTwist once more to the right and then the left.\\n\\nEye Movements\\nNow we're going to move into six practices to strengthen the muscles around your eyes.\\n\\nPractice One: Eye Movements—Up and Down\\nSit up straight. For focus, you can bring your thumb out in front of you or, if you're comfortable without it, that's fine, too. Inhale, look to the tip of the thumb, and fix your gaze. Begin to move your thumb up and down, following the movement with your eyes without blinking and without moving your head. Remember to smile. Try to keep your eyes in each position for one second (up for one second and down for one second). Do this 10 times and finish with rest palming.\\n\\nPractice Two: Eye Movements—Right and Left\\nThis time, you'll be following the movement of your thumb to the right and left, without blinking and without moving your head. Keep your eyes in each position for at least one second. Do this 10 times and finish with rest palming.\\n\\nPractice Three: Eye Movements—Right-Up and Left-Down\\nFollow the movement of your thumb on the diagonal—up to the right and down to the left. Once again, do this without blinking and without moving your head, keeping your eyes in each position for at least one second. Do this 10 times. This time, you'll finish with press and release palming.\\n\\nPractice Four: Eye Movements—Left-Up and Right-Down\\nRepeat the diagonal eye movements, this time going up to the left and down to the right. Do this without blinking and without moving your head for 10 repetitions, with your eyes in each position for at least one second. Finish with press and release palming.\\n\\nPractice Five: Eye Movements—Clockwise Rotation\\nNow, we're going to move our eyes in a clockwise rotation—right, up, left, and down. Don't blink and don't move your head. Be sure to keep your eyes in each position for at least one second. Complete this clockwise rotation 10 times before finishing with constant pressure palming.\\n\\nPractice Six: Eye Movements—Anti-Clockwise Rotation\\nRepeat the rotational movements, this time going left, up, right, and down. As always, don't blink and don't move your head, just your eyes. Keep your eyes in each position for at least one second and complete the anti-clockwise rotation 10 times. Finish with constant pressure palming.\\n\\nLeave your eyes closed for a few seconds and relax before we move into the meditation. Now you are ready for our candle meditation.\\n\\nTrataka Meditation: Effortless Focusing\\n\\nStart your Trataka meditation by turning down the lights and sitting between 1–1.5 meters from your candle. Sit in a pose that's comfortable for you and that you can hold for the duration of the meditation. Once you're comfortable, close your eyes.\\nWith your eyes closed, observe the lightness around your eyes. Listen to your breath. Slowly, with your head angled down slightly, blink your eyes open, looking softly at the floor.\\n\\nFor the next minute, try not to blink.\\n\\nLook at the base of the stand that your candle is sitting on. Slowly bring your gaze up the length of the candle stand to the base of the candle itself. Then, let your gaze move up the candle to the flame. Look at the flame for the next 30 seconds.\\n\\nClose your eyes and do press and release palming. Release your palms back down to your knees.\\nCandle gazing takes practice. Be patient with yourself as you're learning this process.\\n\\nTrataka Meditation: Intense Focusing\\nBlink your eyes open, looking softly at the floor. For the next minute, don't blink.\\n\\nOnce again, look at the base of the candle stand and slowly move your gaze up the candle stand to the base of the candle. From there, let your gaze continue up the length of the candle to the flame. Look at the flame of the candle and deepen your focus. See the wick inside of the flame. Watch the wick burn inside of the candle flame for 30 seconds.\\n\\nClose your eyes and do constant pressure palming. Release your palms back down to your knees.\\n\\nTrataka Meditation: Bhramari Pranayama\\nBlink your eyes open, again looking softly at the floor. Don't blink for the next minute and a half.\\n\\nLook towards the base of the candle stand, slowly bringing your gaze up to the base of the candle itself before continuing up the length of the candle to the flame. Focus on the flame of the candle for the next 30 seconds. Bring your awareness completely towards the flame, deepen your awareness and focus. Really look at the flame, observing its shape, color, and size. Notice the flame's aura and the particles around it.\\n\\nClose your eyes and do constant pressure palming.\\n\\nThis time, instead of dropping your palms back to your knees, allow them to remain on your eyes as we move into Bhramari Pranayama, or humming bee breath. Take a deep breath in and hum, producing a sound like a buzzing bee, allowing your body to feel the vibration.\\n\\nPlace your hands behind your back, grabbing your right wrist with your left hand, and inhale, arching your back and looking up to the ceiling. On the exhale, fold forward. Return to an upright position with your palms on your knees.\\nObserve the silence within you and find the awareness toward your body. Observe the changes in your body, especially in the eye muscles.\\n\\nContinue with your eyes closed. Move into savasana, laying down on your back with your palms facing up. Feel free to cover yourself with a blanket, if you'd like. If you're sitting in a chair, you're welcome to stay there and relax with your eyes closed.\\n\\nRelax in savasana for several minutes.\\n\\nWhen you're ready, interlace your fingers over your head and give yourself a full-body stretch. Keeping your eyes closed, bring your knees to your chest, roll to one side, and return to a sitting position.\\n\\nJoin your palms together at heart center, \\nnamaste\\n. Take a deep breath in and finish by chanting \\nOm, Shanti, Shanti, Shanti\\n.\\n\\nFinish with rest palming and blink your eyes open. Congratulations on completing your candle meditation! \\n\\nWant to take a guided live class? Sign up for a \\nfree trial of myYogaTeacher\\n and get access to 35+ live classes every single day.","html":"<p>Trataka is a candle gazing meditation technique that uses sight to bring stillness to the body and mind. You can practice Trataka using any object—a star, a point on the wall, the ground in front of you. Trataka is traditionally practiced using an actual candle flame.</p><p>In this meditation, I&#39;m going to take you through six practices to strengthen your eye muscles before we move into a three-part candle gazing meditation. If you enjoy this practice, please find more classes with me on <a title=\"https://www.myyogateacher.com/group-classes\" href=\"https://www.myyogateacher.com/group-classes\">myYogaTeacher</a>.</p><p>Before we start, I want to remind you that candle meditation typically requires a lot of concentration and can not be performed anywhere like other forms of meditation can. Be sure you have a quiet space prepared where you will not be interrupted before beginning this practice.</p><p>[CTA-TRATAKA]</p><p></p><h3>Benefits of Trataka Meditation</h3><p>Trataka meditation has been around for generations. It has survived over time due to several benefits. Specifically, Trataka meditation:</p><ul><li><div>Alleviates stress and anxiety</div></li><li><div>Improves concentration and memory</div></li><li><div>Strengthens your eyes</div></li><li><div>Purifies and stimulates the sixth chakra, Ajna, that controls intuition and mental awareness</div></li></ul><p></p><h2>How to Do a Trataka Meditation</h2><p>First, we encourage you to remove your glasses while you&#39;re doing a candle meditation. It&#39;s also important that you maintain a distance of 1–1.5 meters between you and your candle, and that you don&#39;t blink during the candle gazing.</p><p></p><h3>Palming Techniques</h3><p>For this Trataka meditation, you&#39;ll need to know three different kinds of palming. Here&#39;s what cupping your hands looks like:</p><img src=\"https://media.graphcms.com/a5iYuEQXQPmnORpFZ1OJ\" alt=\"cupped palms.png\" title=\"cupped palms.png\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" /><h4>Gentle</h4><p>Rub your palms together to generate heat in your hands. Rest your palms in a cupped shape around your closed eyes.</p><p></p><h4>Press and Release</h4><p>Rub your palms together to generate heat in your hands. With your palms in a cupped position, place them around your closed eyes. As you inhale, apply light pressure around your eyes with your cupped palms. On the exhale, release the pressure (keeping your palms cupped around your eyes. Repeat this for five cycles of breath.</p><p></p><h4>Constant Pressure</h4><p>Rub your palms together to generate heat in your hands. With your palms in a cupped position, place them around your closed eyes. Apply constant pressure around your eyes with your cupped palms. Maintain the pressure for five cycles of breathing.</p><p></p><h3>Stretching and Relaxation</h3><p>We&#39;re going to start our Trataka candlelight meditation with a few stretches to bring relaxation into the body.</p><p></p><p>Sit up tall in a chair or cross-legged position with your palms on your knees. Roll your shoulders back to open your chest and close your eyes.</p><p></p><p>Breathe normally, allowing a gentle smile to rest on your face. Maintain this smile throughout your practice... And throughout the rest of your life.</p><p></p><p>Observe your breath as it comes in and flows out, noticing the cool air that&#39;s coming into your nose and the warm air that&#39;s leaving your nose.</p><p></p><p>Inhale. On the exhale, lightly twist your torso to the right. Inhale back to the center and exhale to the opposite side. Inhale back to the center and relax for a moment.</p><p></p><p>Next, drop your head to the right side on the exhale. Inhale to return center and repeat on the other side. Continue to warm up your neck, tilting your head back and forward, inhaling each time as you return to center.</p><p></p><p>Join your palms together at heart center, <em>namaste</em>, and let&#39;s join together in chanting <em>Om</em>.</p><img src=\"https://media.graphcms.com/sL4AcZ1AQsOE5rJ4pkQV\" alt=\"namaste.png\" title=\"namaste.png\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" /><p>Rub your palms together to generate heat in your hands, cup your palms around your eyes, and blink your eyes open.</p><p></p><p>Press your palms into your knees and tilt your head back, eyes looking up, stretching the front of your neck. Exhale your chin to your chest, stretching the back of the neck. Repeat this five more times.</p><p></p><p>Bring your palms to your shoulders on either side of your neck with your fingertips pointing down your back. Pull down slightly on your shoulders as you exhale, tilting your head back, your eyes look up towards the ceiling. Hold this stretch for a count of five.</p><p></p><p>Next, bring the fingertips of each hand together and place your fingertips on your shoulders with your elbows touching in front of your body. Start rolling your shoulders, circling your elbows down, out, up, and touching them in front of your body 10 times. Reverse this movement for another 10 counts.</p><video controls width=\"undefined\" height=\"undefined\">\n          <source src=\"https://media.graphcms.com/oDMOqmGxS4GyPGIKtKn4\" type=\"video/mp4\" title=\"elbow shoulder rotations.mp4\" />\n          Sorry, your browser doesn't support embedded videos.\n        </video><p>Now, swing your arms to the front and back of your body, allowing them to cross in front of your body on the exhale. Do this 10 times.</p><p></p><p>Stretch your legs out in front of you and shake them out a bit, moving them side to side. Then, start rapidly bending and straightening your knees. This is a good practice for both relaxation and knee pain.</p><p></p><p>Bring your arms out to the side of your body and inhale. On the exhale, bend to the right side, dropping your elbow to the ground and stretching along the left side of your body. Let your left arm reach up and over your body. If you&#39;re sitting in a chair, just bend over to the side as far as you can to feel the stretch.</p><p></p><p>Inhale, coming back to the center, and exhale to the other side.</p><p></p><p>Repeat this movement several times, keeping your hips square and planted on the ground or chair.</p><video controls width=\"undefined\" height=\"undefined\">\n          <source src=\"https://media.graphcms.com/YxeIzVz4S9uYO1paDtv0\" type=\"video/mp4\" title=\"side stretch.mp4\" />\n          Sorry, your browser doesn't support embedded videos.\n        </video><p>Interlace your fingers in front of you and stretch your arms up over your head, inhaling. On the exhale, allow your arms to float down to your side and then behind you, grabbing your right wrist with your left hand. Exhale and bend forward over your legs, keeping your arms behind you. Repeat this a few times, inhaling to come up and exhaling to fold forward.</p><p></p><p>Twist once more to the right and then the left.</p><p></p><h3>Eye Movements</h3><p>Now we&#39;re going to move into six practices to strengthen the muscles around your eyes.</p><p></p><h4>Practice One: Eye Movements—Up and Down</h4><p>Sit up straight. For focus, you can bring your thumb out in front of you or, if you&#39;re comfortable without it, that&#39;s fine, too. Inhale, look to the tip of the thumb, and fix your gaze. Begin to move your thumb up and down, following the movement with your eyes without blinking and without moving your head. Remember to smile. Try to keep your eyes in each position for one second (up for one second and down for one second). Do this 10 times and finish with rest palming.</p><p></p><h4>Practice Two: Eye Movements—Right and Left</h4><p>This time, you&#39;ll be following the movement of your thumb to the right and left, without blinking and without moving your head. Keep your eyes in each position for at least one second. Do this 10 times and finish with rest palming.</p><p></p><h4>Practice Three: Eye Movements—Right-Up and Left-Down</h4><p>Follow the movement of your thumb on the diagonal—up to the right and down to the left. Once again, do this without blinking and without moving your head, keeping your eyes in each position for at least one second. Do this 10 times. This time, you&#39;ll finish with press and release palming.</p><p></p><h4>Practice Four: Eye Movements—Left-Up and Right-Down</h4><p>Repeat the diagonal eye movements, this time going up to the left and down to the right. Do this without blinking and without moving your head for 10 repetitions, with your eyes in each position for at least one second. Finish with press and release palming.</p><p></p><h4>Practice Five: Eye Movements—Clockwise Rotation</h4><p>Now, we&#39;re going to move our eyes in a clockwise rotation—right, up, left, and down. Don&#39;t blink and don&#39;t move your head. Be sure to keep your eyes in each position for at least one second. Complete this clockwise rotation 10 times before finishing with constant pressure palming.</p><p></p><h4>Practice Six: Eye Movements—Anti-Clockwise Rotation</h4><p>Repeat the rotational movements, this time going left, up, right, and down. As always, don&#39;t blink and don&#39;t move your head, just your eyes. Keep your eyes in each position for at least one second and complete the anti-clockwise rotation 10 times. Finish with constant pressure palming.</p><p></p><p>Leave your eyes closed for a few seconds and relax before we move into the meditation. Now you are ready for our candle meditation.</p><p></p><h3>Trataka Meditation: Effortless Focusing</h3><img src=\"https://media.graphcms.com/djMUBsh8RwmT5TZ6ORj3\" alt=\"candle flame.png\" title=\"candle flame.png\" width=\"600\" height=\"399\" /><p>Start your Trataka meditation by turning down the lights and sitting between 1–1.5 meters from your candle. Sit in a pose that&#39;s comfortable for you and that you can hold for the duration of the meditation. Once you&#39;re comfortable, close your eyes.</p><p>With your eyes closed, observe the lightness around your eyes. Listen to your breath. Slowly, with your head angled down slightly, blink your eyes open, looking softly at the floor.</p><p></p><p>For the next minute, try not to blink.</p><p></p><p>Look at the base of the stand that your candle is sitting on. Slowly bring your gaze up the length of the candle stand to the base of the candle itself. Then, let your gaze move up the candle to the flame. Look at the flame for the next 30 seconds.</p><p></p><p>Close your eyes and do press and release palming. Release your palms back down to your knees.</p><p>Candle gazing takes practice. Be patient with yourself as you&#39;re learning this process.</p><p></p><h3>Trataka Meditation: Intense Focusing</h3><p>Blink your eyes open, looking softly at the floor. For the next minute, don&#39;t blink.</p><p></p><p>Once again, look at the base of the candle stand and slowly move your gaze up the candle stand to the base of the candle. From there, let your gaze continue up the length of the candle to the flame. Look at the flame of the candle and deepen your focus. See the wick inside of the flame. Watch the wick burn inside of the candle flame for 30 seconds.</p><p></p><p>Close your eyes and do constant pressure palming. Release your palms back down to your knees.</p><p></p><h3>Trataka Meditation: Bhramari Pranayama</h3><p>Blink your eyes open, again looking softly at the floor. Don&#39;t blink for the next minute and a half.</p><p></p><p>Look towards the base of the candle stand, slowly bringing your gaze up to the base of the candle itself before continuing up the length of the candle to the flame. Focus on the flame of the candle for the next 30 seconds. Bring your awareness completely towards the flame, deepen your awareness and focus. Really look at the flame, observing its shape, color, and size. Notice the flame&#39;s aura and the particles around it.</p><p></p><p>Close your eyes and do constant pressure palming.</p><p></p><p>This time, instead of dropping your palms back to your knees, allow them to remain on your eyes as we move into Bhramari Pranayama, or humming bee breath. Take a deep breath in and hum, producing a sound like a buzzing bee, allowing your body to feel the vibration.</p><p></p><p>Place your hands behind your back, grabbing your right wrist with your left hand, and inhale, arching your back and looking up to the ceiling. On the exhale, fold forward. Return to an upright position with your palms on your knees.</p><p>Observe the silence within you and find the awareness toward your body. Observe the changes in your body, especially in the eye muscles.</p><p></p><p>Continue with your eyes closed. Move into savasana, laying down on your back with your palms facing up. Feel free to cover yourself with a blanket, if you&#39;d like. If you&#39;re sitting in a chair, you&#39;re welcome to stay there and relax with your eyes closed.</p><p></p><p>Relax in savasana for several minutes.</p><p></p><p>When you&#39;re ready, interlace your fingers over your head and give yourself a full-body stretch. Keeping your eyes closed, bring your knees to your chest, roll to one side, and return to a sitting position.</p><p></p><p>Join your palms together at heart center, <em>namaste</em>. Take a deep breath in and finish by chanting <em>Om, Shanti, Shanti, Shanti</em>.</p><p></p><p>Finish with rest palming and blink your eyes open. Congratulations on completing your candle meditation! </p><p></p><p>Want to take a guided live class? Sign up for a <a title=\"https://www.myyogateacher.com/free-yoga-classes.html\" href=\"https://www.myyogateacher.com/free-yoga-classes.html\">free trial of myYogaTeacher</a> and get access to 35+ live classes every single day.</p>"},"category":["therapy","meditation"],"utmCampaign":null,"utmMedium":null,"utmContent":null,"utmSource":null,"utmTerm":null,"utmSearchString":null,"imageHyperlink":[]},"loading":false,"blog_content":[{"type":"HTML","value":"<p>Trataka is a candle gazing meditation technique that uses sight to bring stillness to the body and mind. You can practice Trataka using any object—a star, a point on the wall, the ground in front of you. Trataka is traditionally practiced using an actual candle flame.</p><p>In this meditation, I&#39;m going to take you through six practices to strengthen your eye muscles before we move into a three-part candle gazing meditation. If you enjoy this practice, please find more classes with me on <a title=\"https://www.myyogateacher.com/group-classes\" href=\"https://www.myyogateacher.com/group-classes\">myYogaTeacher</a>.</p><p>Before we start, I want to remind you that candle meditation typically requires a lot of concentration and can not be performed anywhere like other forms of meditation can. Be sure you have a quiet space prepared where you will not be interrupted before beginning this practice.</p>"},{"type":"CTA","value":"[CTA-TRATAKA]"},{"type":"HTML","value":"<p></p><h3>Benefits of Trataka Meditation</h3><p>Trataka meditation has been around for generations. It has survived over time due to several benefits. Specifically, Trataka meditation:</p><ul><li><div>Alleviates stress and anxiety</div></li><li><div>Improves concentration and memory</div></li><li><div>Strengthens your eyes</div></li><li><div>Purifies and stimulates the sixth chakra, Ajna, that controls intuition and mental awareness</div></li></ul><p></p><h2>How to Do a Trataka Meditation</h2><p>First, we encourage you to remove your glasses while you&#39;re doing a candle meditation. It&#39;s also important that you maintain a distance of 1–1.5 meters between you and your candle, and that you don&#39;t blink during the candle gazing.</p><p></p><h3>Palming Techniques</h3><p>For this Trataka meditation, you&#39;ll need to know three different kinds of palming. Here&#39;s what cupping your hands looks like:</p>\n            <picture>\n              <source \n                type=\"image/webp\"\n                data-srcset=\"https://media.graphcms.com/resize=w:930,fit:crop/quality=value:75/output=format:webp/compress/a5iYuEQXQPmnORpFZ1OJ\" \n                alt=\"cupped palms.png\"\n                title=\"cupped palms.png\"\n                \n                \n                class=\"lazyLoadingImg\"\n              />\n              <source \n                type=\"image/jpg\"\n                data-srcset=\"https://media.graphcms.com/resize=w:930,fit:crop/quality=value:75/output=format:jpg/a5iYuEQXQPmnORpFZ1OJ\"\n                alt=\"cupped palms.png\"\n                title=\"cupped palms.png\"\n                \n                \n                class=\"lazyLoadingImg\"\n              />\n              <img \n                data-srcset=\"https://media.graphcms.com/resize=w:930,fit:crop/quality=value:75/output=format:jpg/a5iYuEQXQPmnORpFZ1OJ\"\n                alt=\"cupped palms.png\"\n                title=\"cupped palms.png\"\n                \n                \n                class=\"lazyLoadingImg\"\n              />\n          </picture>\n        <h4>Gentle</h4><p>Rub your palms together to generate heat in your hands. Rest your palms in a cupped shape around your closed eyes.</p><p></p><h4>Press and Release</h4><p>Rub your palms together to generate heat in your hands. With your palms in a cupped position, place them around your closed eyes. As you inhale, apply light pressure around your eyes with your cupped palms. On the exhale, release the pressure (keeping your palms cupped around your eyes. Repeat this for five cycles of breath.</p><p></p><h4>Constant Pressure</h4><p>Rub your palms together to generate heat in your hands. With your palms in a cupped position, place them around your closed eyes. Apply constant pressure around your eyes with your cupped palms. Maintain the pressure for five cycles of breathing.</p><p></p><h3>Stretching and Relaxation</h3><p>We&#39;re going to start our Trataka candlelight meditation with a few stretches to bring relaxation into the body.</p><p></p><p>Sit up tall in a chair or cross-legged position with your palms on your knees. Roll your shoulders back to open your chest and close your eyes.</p><p></p><p>Breathe normally, allowing a gentle smile to rest on your face. Maintain this smile throughout your practice... And throughout the rest of your life.</p><p></p><p>Observe your breath as it comes in and flows out, noticing the cool air that&#39;s coming into your nose and the warm air that&#39;s leaving your nose.</p><p></p><p>Inhale. On the exhale, lightly twist your torso to the right. Inhale back to the center and exhale to the opposite side. Inhale back to the center and relax for a moment.</p><p></p><p>Next, drop your head to the right side on the exhale. Inhale to return center and repeat on the other side. Continue to warm up your neck, tilting your head back and forward, inhaling each time as you return to center.</p><p></p><p>Join your palms together at heart center, <em>namaste</em>, and let&#39;s join together in chanting <em>Om</em>.</p>\n            <picture>\n              <source \n                type=\"image/webp\"\n                data-srcset=\"https://media.graphcms.com/resize=w:930,fit:crop/quality=value:75/output=format:webp/compress/sL4AcZ1AQsOE5rJ4pkQV\" \n                alt=\"namaste.png\"\n                title=\"namaste.png\"\n                \n                \n                class=\"lazyLoadingImg\"\n              />\n              <source \n                type=\"image/jpg\"\n                data-srcset=\"https://media.graphcms.com/resize=w:930,fit:crop/quality=value:75/output=format:jpg/sL4AcZ1AQsOE5rJ4pkQV\"\n                alt=\"namaste.png\"\n                title=\"namaste.png\"\n                \n                \n                class=\"lazyLoadingImg\"\n              />\n              <img \n                data-srcset=\"https://media.graphcms.com/resize=w:930,fit:crop/quality=value:75/output=format:jpg/sL4AcZ1AQsOE5rJ4pkQV\"\n                alt=\"namaste.png\"\n                title=\"namaste.png\"\n                \n                \n                class=\"lazyLoadingImg\"\n              />\n          </picture>\n        <p>Rub your palms together to generate heat in your hands, cup your palms around your eyes, and blink your eyes open.</p><p></p><p>Press your palms into your knees and tilt your head back, eyes looking up, stretching the front of your neck. Exhale your chin to your chest, stretching the back of the neck. Repeat this five more times.</p><p></p><p>Bring your palms to your shoulders on either side of your neck with your fingertips pointing down your back. Pull down slightly on your shoulders as you exhale, tilting your head back, your eyes look up towards the ceiling. Hold this stretch for a count of five.</p><p></p><p>Next, bring the fingertips of each hand together and place your fingertips on your shoulders with your elbows touching in front of your body. Start rolling your shoulders, circling your elbows down, out, up, and touching them in front of your body 10 times. Reverse this movement for another 10 counts.</p><video controls >\n          <source src=\"https://media.graphcms.com/oDMOqmGxS4GyPGIKtKn4\" type=\"video/mp4\" title=\"elbow shoulder rotations.mp4\" />\n          Sorry, your browser doesn't support embedded videos.\n        </video><p>Now, swing your arms to the front and back of your body, allowing them to cross in front of your body on the exhale. Do this 10 times.</p><p></p><p>Stretch your legs out in front of you and shake them out a bit, moving them side to side. Then, start rapidly bending and straightening your knees. This is a good practice for both relaxation and knee pain.</p><p></p><p>Bring your arms out to the side of your body and inhale. On the exhale, bend to the right side, dropping your elbow to the ground and stretching along the left side of your body. Let your left arm reach up and over your body. If you&#39;re sitting in a chair, just bend over to the side as far as you can to feel the stretch.</p><p></p><p>Inhale, coming back to the center, and exhale to the other side.</p><p></p><p>Repeat this movement several times, keeping your hips square and planted on the ground or chair.</p><video controls >\n          <source src=\"https://media.graphcms.com/YxeIzVz4S9uYO1paDtv0\" type=\"video/mp4\" title=\"side stretch.mp4\" />\n          Sorry, your browser doesn't support embedded videos.\n        </video><p>Interlace your fingers in front of you and stretch your arms up over your head, inhaling. On the exhale, allow your arms to float down to your side and then behind you, grabbing your right wrist with your left hand. Exhale and bend forward over your legs, keeping your arms behind you. Repeat this a few times, inhaling to come up and exhaling to fold forward.</p><p></p><p>Twist once more to the right and then the left.</p><p></p><h3>Eye Movements</h3><p>Now we&#39;re going to move into six practices to strengthen the muscles around your eyes.</p><p></p><h4>Practice One: Eye Movements—Up and Down</h4><p>Sit up straight. For focus, you can bring your thumb out in front of you or, if you&#39;re comfortable without it, that&#39;s fine, too. Inhale, look to the tip of the thumb, and fix your gaze. Begin to move your thumb up and down, following the movement with your eyes without blinking and without moving your head. Remember to smile. Try to keep your eyes in each position for one second (up for one second and down for one second). Do this 10 times and finish with rest palming.</p><p></p><h4>Practice Two: Eye Movements—Right and Left</h4><p>This time, you&#39;ll be following the movement of your thumb to the right and left, without blinking and without moving your head. Keep your eyes in each position for at least one second. Do this 10 times and finish with rest palming.</p><p></p><h4>Practice Three: Eye Movements—Right-Up and Left-Down</h4><p>Follow the movement of your thumb on the diagonal—up to the right and down to the left. Once again, do this without blinking and without moving your head, keeping your eyes in each position for at least one second. Do this 10 times. This time, you&#39;ll finish with press and release palming.</p><p></p><h4>Practice Four: Eye Movements—Left-Up and Right-Down</h4><p>Repeat the diagonal eye movements, this time going up to the left and down to the right. Do this without blinking and without moving your head for 10 repetitions, with your eyes in each position for at least one second. Finish with press and release palming.</p><p></p><h4>Practice Five: Eye Movements—Clockwise Rotation</h4><p>Now, we&#39;re going to move our eyes in a clockwise rotation—right, up, left, and down. Don&#39;t blink and don&#39;t move your head. Be sure to keep your eyes in each position for at least one second. Complete this clockwise rotation 10 times before finishing with constant pressure palming.</p><p></p><h4>Practice Six: Eye Movements—Anti-Clockwise Rotation</h4><p>Repeat the rotational movements, this time going left, up, right, and down. As always, don&#39;t blink and don&#39;t move your head, just your eyes. Keep your eyes in each position for at least one second and complete the anti-clockwise rotation 10 times. Finish with constant pressure palming.</p><p></p><p>Leave your eyes closed for a few seconds and relax before we move into the meditation. Now you are ready for our candle meditation.</p><p></p><h3>Trataka Meditation: Effortless Focusing</h3>\n            <picture>\n              <source \n                type=\"image/webp\"\n                data-srcset=\"https://media.graphcms.com/resize=w:930,fit:crop/quality=value:75/output=format:webp/compress/djMUBsh8RwmT5TZ6ORj3\" \n                alt=\"candle flame.png\"\n                title=\"candle flame.png\"\n                \n                \n                class=\"lazyLoadingImg\"\n              />\n              <source \n                type=\"image/jpg\"\n                data-srcset=\"https://media.graphcms.com/resize=w:930,fit:crop/quality=value:75/output=format:jpg/djMUBsh8RwmT5TZ6ORj3\"\n                alt=\"candle flame.png\"\n                title=\"candle flame.png\"\n                \n                \n                class=\"lazyLoadingImg\"\n              />\n              <img \n                data-srcset=\"https://media.graphcms.com/resize=w:930,fit:crop/quality=value:75/output=format:jpg/djMUBsh8RwmT5TZ6ORj3\"\n                alt=\"candle flame.png\"\n                title=\"candle flame.png\"\n                \n                \n                class=\"lazyLoadingImg\"\n              />\n          </picture>\n        <p>Start your Trataka meditation by turning down the lights and sitting between 1–1.5 meters from your candle. Sit in a pose that&#39;s comfortable for you and that you can hold for the duration of the meditation. Once you&#39;re comfortable, close your eyes.</p><p>With your eyes closed, observe the lightness around your eyes. Listen to your breath. Slowly, with your head angled down slightly, blink your eyes open, looking softly at the floor.</p><p></p><p>For the next minute, try not to blink.</p><p></p><p>Look at the base of the stand that your candle is sitting on. Slowly bring your gaze up the length of the candle stand to the base of the candle itself. Then, let your gaze move up the candle to the flame. Look at the flame for the next 30 seconds.</p><p></p><p>Close your eyes and do press and release palming. Release your palms back down to your knees.</p><p>Candle gazing takes practice. Be patient with yourself as you&#39;re learning this process.</p><p></p><h3>Trataka Meditation: Intense Focusing</h3><p>Blink your eyes open, looking softly at the floor. For the next minute, don&#39;t blink.</p><p></p><p>Once again, look at the base of the candle stand and slowly move your gaze up the candle stand to the base of the candle. From there, let your gaze continue up the length of the candle to the flame. Look at the flame of the candle and deepen your focus. See the wick inside of the flame. Watch the wick burn inside of the candle flame for 30 seconds.</p><p></p><p>Close your eyes and do constant pressure palming. Release your palms back down to your knees.</p><p></p><h3>Trataka Meditation: Bhramari Pranayama</h3><p>Blink your eyes open, again looking softly at the floor. Don&#39;t blink for the next minute and a half.</p><p></p><p>Look towards the base of the candle stand, slowly bringing your gaze up to the base of the candle itself before continuing up the length of the candle to the flame. Focus on the flame of the candle for the next 30 seconds. Bring your awareness completely towards the flame, deepen your awareness and focus. Really look at the flame, observing its shape, color, and size. Notice the flame&#39;s aura and the particles around it.</p><p></p><p>Close your eyes and do constant pressure palming.</p><p></p><p>This time, instead of dropping your palms back to your knees, allow them to remain on your eyes as we move into Bhramari Pranayama, or humming bee breath. Take a deep breath in and hum, producing a sound like a buzzing bee, allowing your body to feel the vibration.</p><p></p><p>Place your hands behind your back, grabbing your right wrist with your left hand, and inhale, arching your back and looking up to the ceiling. On the exhale, fold forward. Return to an upright position with your palms on your knees.</p><p>Observe the silence within you and find the awareness toward your body. Observe the changes in your body, especially in the eye muscles.</p><p></p><p>Continue with your eyes closed. Move into savasana, laying down on your back with your palms facing up. Feel free to cover yourself with a blanket, if you&#39;d like. If you&#39;re sitting in a chair, you&#39;re welcome to stay there and relax with your eyes closed.</p><p></p><p>Relax in savasana for several minutes.</p><p></p><p>When you&#39;re ready, interlace your fingers over your head and give yourself a full-body stretch. Keeping your eyes closed, bring your knees to your chest, roll to one side, and return to a sitting position.</p><p></p><p>Join your palms together at heart center, <em>namaste</em>. Take a deep breath in and finish by chanting <em>Om, Shanti, Shanti, Shanti</em>.</p><p></p><p>Finish with rest palming and blink your eyes open. Congratulations on completing your candle meditation! </p><p></p><p>Want to take a guided live class? Sign up for a <a title=\"https://www.myyogateacher.com/free-yoga-classes.html\" href=\"https://www.myyogateacher.com/free-yoga-classes.html\">free trial of myYogaTeacher</a> and get access to 35+ live classes every single day.</p>"},{"type":"CTA","value":"[CTA-DEFAULT]"}],"isSlugACategory":false,"searchCategory":"trataka-candlelight-meditation","showPopUp":false,"popUpType":null,"showedPopup":false,"windowWidth":null,"ctaPath":"free-trial-o","redirectURL":"#","ctaContent":[{"id":"ckxrz2i14tov40c25g1dpicsg","name":"[CTA-DEFAULT]","description":{"html":"<p><strong>Get 2 free private yoga sessions and 2 weeks of unlimited group classes</strong> with authentic yoga teachers. 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No credit card required when you sign up today!</p>"},"title":{"html":"<p><strong>Online Yoga Sessions – </strong><u><strong>Live &amp; Interactive</strong></u></p><p><strong>Learn Trataka (Candle Gazing) Meditation Today!</strong></p><p></p>"},"linkText":"Start Free Trial","linkUrl":"https://www.myyogateacher.com/signup"},{"id":"ckyisqh482ck60b79rp1r1jcg","name":"[CTA-YIN]","description":{"html":"<p><strong>Get 2 free private yoga sessions</strong>, work with an experienced yoga therapist to reduce (and even eliminate) your back pain. <strong>PLUS 2 weeks of unlimited group classes </strong>(like ‘Yoga for Back Pain’) with authentic yoga teachers. 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Plus, learn about the benefits of Trataka!","content":{"text":"Trataka is a candle gazing meditation technique that uses sight to bring stillness to the body and mind. You can practice Trataka using any object—a star, a point on the wall, the ground in front of you. Trataka is traditionally practiced using an actual candle flame.\\nIn this meditation, I'm going to take you through six practices to strengthen your eye muscles before we move into a three-part candle gazing meditation. If you enjoy this practice, please find more classes with me on \\nmyYogaTeacher\\n.\\nBefore we start, I want to remind you that candle meditation typically requires a lot of concentration and can not be performed anywhere like other forms of meditation can. Be sure you have a quiet space prepared where you will not be interrupted before beginning this practice.\\n[CTA-TRATAKA]\\n\\nBenefits of Trataka Meditation\\nTrataka meditation has been around for generations. It has survived over time due to several benefits. Specifically, Trataka meditation:\\nAlleviates stress and anxiety\\nImproves concentration and memory\\nStrengthens your eyes\\nPurifies and stimulates the sixth chakra, Ajna, that controls intuition and mental awareness\\n\\nHow to Do a Trataka Meditation\\nFirst, we encourage you to remove your glasses while you're doing a candle meditation. It's also important that you maintain a distance of 1–1.5 meters between you and your candle, and that you don't blink during the candle gazing.\\n\\nPalming Techniques\\nFor this Trataka meditation, you'll need to know three different kinds of palming. Here's what cupping your hands looks like:\\n\\nGentle\\nRub your palms together to generate heat in your hands. Rest your palms in a cupped shape around your closed eyes.\\n\\nPress and Release\\nRub your palms together to generate heat in your hands. With your palms in a cupped position, place them around your closed eyes. As you inhale, apply light pressure around your eyes with your cupped palms. On the exhale, release the pressure (keeping your palms cupped around your eyes. Repeat this for five cycles of breath.\\n\\nConstant Pressure\\nRub your palms together to generate heat in your hands. With your palms in a cupped position, place them around your closed eyes. Apply constant pressure around your eyes with your cupped palms. Maintain the pressure for five cycles of breathing.\\n\\nStretching and Relaxation\\nWe're going to start our Trataka candlelight meditation with a few stretches to bring relaxation into the body.\\n\\nSit up tall in a chair or cross-legged position with your palms on your knees. Roll your shoulders back to open your chest and close your eyes.\\n\\nBreathe normally, allowing a gentle smile to rest on your face. Maintain this smile throughout your practice... And throughout the rest of your life.\\n\\nObserve your breath as it comes in and flows out, noticing the cool air that's coming into your nose and the warm air that's leaving your nose.\\n\\nInhale. On the exhale, lightly twist your torso to the right. Inhale back to the center and exhale to the opposite side. Inhale back to the center and relax for a moment.\\n\\nNext, drop your head to the right side on the exhale. Inhale to return center and repeat on the other side. Continue to warm up your neck, tilting your head back and forward, inhaling each time as you return to center.\\n\\nJoin your palms together at heart center, \\nnamaste\\n, and let's join together in chanting \\nOm\\n.\\n\\nRub your palms together to generate heat in your hands, cup your palms around your eyes, and blink your eyes open.\\n\\nPress your palms into your knees and tilt your head back, eyes looking up, stretching the front of your neck. Exhale your chin to your chest, stretching the back of the neck. Repeat this five more times.\\n\\nBring your palms to your shoulders on either side of your neck with your fingertips pointing down your back. Pull down slightly on your shoulders as you exhale, tilting your head back, your eyes look up towards the ceiling. Hold this stretch for a count of five.\\n\\nNext, bring the fingertips of each hand together and place your fingertips on your shoulders with your elbows touching in front of your body. Start rolling your shoulders, circling your elbows down, out, up, and touching them in front of your body 10 times. Reverse this movement for another 10 counts.\\n\\nNow, swing your arms to the front and back of your body, allowing them to cross in front of your body on the exhale. Do this 10 times.\\n\\nStretch your legs out in front of you and shake them out a bit, moving them side to side. Then, start rapidly bending and straightening your knees. This is a good practice for both relaxation and knee pain.\\n\\nBring your arms out to the side of your body and inhale. On the exhale, bend to the right side, dropping your elbow to the ground and stretching along the left side of your body. Let your left arm reach up and over your body. If you're sitting in a chair, just bend over to the side as far as you can to feel the stretch.\\n\\nInhale, coming back to the center, and exhale to the other side.\\n\\nRepeat this movement several times, keeping your hips square and planted on the ground or chair.\\n\\nInterlace your fingers in front of you and stretch your arms up over your head, inhaling. On the exhale, allow your arms to float down to your side and then behind you, grabbing your right wrist with your left hand. Exhale and bend forward over your legs, keeping your arms behind you. Repeat this a few times, inhaling to come up and exhaling to fold forward.\\n\\nTwist once more to the right and then the left.\\n\\nEye Movements\\nNow we're going to move into six practices to strengthen the muscles around your eyes.\\n\\nPractice One: Eye Movements—Up and Down\\nSit up straight. For focus, you can bring your thumb out in front of you or, if you're comfortable without it, that's fine, too. Inhale, look to the tip of the thumb, and fix your gaze. Begin to move your thumb up and down, following the movement with your eyes without blinking and without moving your head. Remember to smile. Try to keep your eyes in each position for one second (up for one second and down for one second). Do this 10 times and finish with rest palming.\\n\\nPractice Two: Eye Movements—Right and Left\\nThis time, you'll be following the movement of your thumb to the right and left, without blinking and without moving your head. Keep your eyes in each position for at least one second. Do this 10 times and finish with rest palming.\\n\\nPractice Three: Eye Movements—Right-Up and Left-Down\\nFollow the movement of your thumb on the diagonal—up to the right and down to the left. Once again, do this without blinking and without moving your head, keeping your eyes in each position for at least one second. Do this 10 times. This time, you'll finish with press and release palming.\\n\\nPractice Four: Eye Movements—Left-Up and Right-Down\\nRepeat the diagonal eye movements, this time going up to the left and down to the right. Do this without blinking and without moving your head for 10 repetitions, with your eyes in each position for at least one second. Finish with press and release palming.\\n\\nPractice Five: Eye Movements—Clockwise Rotation\\nNow, we're going to move our eyes in a clockwise rotation—right, up, left, and down. Don't blink and don't move your head. Be sure to keep your eyes in each position for at least one second. Complete this clockwise rotation 10 times before finishing with constant pressure palming.\\n\\nPractice Six: Eye Movements—Anti-Clockwise Rotation\\nRepeat the rotational movements, this time going left, up, right, and down. As always, don't blink and don't move your head, just your eyes. Keep your eyes in each position for at least one second and complete the anti-clockwise rotation 10 times. Finish with constant pressure palming.\\n\\nLeave your eyes closed for a few seconds and relax before we move into the meditation. Now you are ready for our candle meditation.\\n\\nTrataka Meditation: Effortless Focusing\\n\\nStart your Trataka meditation by turning down the lights and sitting between 1–1.5 meters from your candle. Sit in a pose that's comfortable for you and that you can hold for the duration of the meditation. Once you're comfortable, close your eyes.\\nWith your eyes closed, observe the lightness around your eyes. Listen to your breath. Slowly, with your head angled down slightly, blink your eyes open, looking softly at the floor.\\n\\nFor the next minute, try not to blink.\\n\\nLook at the base of the stand that your candle is sitting on. Slowly bring your gaze up the length of the candle stand to the base of the candle itself. Then, let your gaze move up the candle to the flame. Look at the flame for the next 30 seconds.\\n\\nClose your eyes and do press and release palming. Release your palms back down to your knees.\\nCandle gazing takes practice. Be patient with yourself as you're learning this process.\\n\\nTrataka Meditation: Intense Focusing\\nBlink your eyes open, looking softly at the floor. For the next minute, don't blink.\\n\\nOnce again, look at the base of the candle stand and slowly move your gaze up the candle stand to the base of the candle. From there, let your gaze continue up the length of the candle to the flame. Look at the flame of the candle and deepen your focus. See the wick inside of the flame. Watch the wick burn inside of the candle flame for 30 seconds.\\n\\nClose your eyes and do constant pressure palming. Release your palms back down to your knees.\\n\\nTrataka Meditation: Bhramari Pranayama\\nBlink your eyes open, again looking softly at the floor. Don't blink for the next minute and a half.\\n\\nLook towards the base of the candle stand, slowly bringing your gaze up to the base of the candle itself before continuing up the length of the candle to the flame. Focus on the flame of the candle for the next 30 seconds. Bring your awareness completely towards the flame, deepen your awareness and focus. Really look at the flame, observing its shape, color, and size. Notice the flame's aura and the particles around it.\\n\\nClose your eyes and do constant pressure palming.\\n\\nThis time, instead of dropping your palms back to your knees, allow them to remain on your eyes as we move into Bhramari Pranayama, or humming bee breath. Take a deep breath in and hum, producing a sound like a buzzing bee, allowing your body to feel the vibration.\\n\\nPlace your hands behind your back, grabbing your right wrist with your left hand, and inhale, arching your back and looking up to the ceiling. On the exhale, fold forward. Return to an upright position with your palms on your knees.\\nObserve the silence within you and find the awareness toward your body. Observe the changes in your body, especially in the eye muscles.\\n\\nContinue with your eyes closed. Move into savasana, laying down on your back with your palms facing up. Feel free to cover yourself with a blanket, if you'd like. If you're sitting in a chair, you're welcome to stay there and relax with your eyes closed.\\n\\nRelax in savasana for several minutes.\\n\\nWhen you're ready, interlace your fingers over your head and give yourself a full-body stretch. Keeping your eyes closed, bring your knees to your chest, roll to one side, and return to a sitting position.\\n\\nJoin your palms together at heart center, \\nnamaste\\n. Take a deep breath in and finish by chanting \\nOm, Shanti, Shanti, Shanti\\n.\\n\\nFinish with rest palming and blink your eyes open. Congratulations on completing your candle meditation! \\n\\nWant to take a guided live class? Sign up for a \\nfree trial of myYogaTeacher\\n and get access to 35+ live classes every single day.","html":"<p>Trataka is a candle gazing meditation technique that uses sight to bring stillness to the body and mind. You can practice Trataka using any object—a star, a point on the wall, the ground in front of you. Trataka is traditionally practiced using an actual candle flame.</p><p>In this meditation, I&#39;m going to take you through six practices to strengthen your eye muscles before we move into a three-part candle gazing meditation. If you enjoy this practice, please find more classes with me on <a title=\"https://www.myyogateacher.com/group-classes\" href=\"https://www.myyogateacher.com/group-classes\">myYogaTeacher</a>.</p><p>Before we start, I want to remind you that candle meditation typically requires a lot of concentration and can not be performed anywhere like other forms of meditation can. Be sure you have a quiet space prepared where you will not be interrupted before beginning this practice.</p><p>[CTA-TRATAKA]</p><p></p><h3>Benefits of Trataka Meditation</h3><p>Trataka meditation has been around for generations. It has survived over time due to several benefits. Specifically, Trataka meditation:</p><ul><li><div>Alleviates stress and anxiety</div></li><li><div>Improves concentration and memory</div></li><li><div>Strengthens your eyes</div></li><li><div>Purifies and stimulates the sixth chakra, Ajna, that controls intuition and mental awareness</div></li></ul><p></p><h2>How to Do a Trataka Meditation</h2><p>First, we encourage you to remove your glasses while you&#39;re doing a candle meditation. It&#39;s also important that you maintain a distance of 1–1.5 meters between you and your candle, and that you don&#39;t blink during the candle gazing.</p><p></p><h3>Palming Techniques</h3><p>For this Trataka meditation, you&#39;ll need to know three different kinds of palming. Here&#39;s what cupping your hands looks like:</p><img src=\"https://media.graphcms.com/a5iYuEQXQPmnORpFZ1OJ\" alt=\"cupped palms.png\" title=\"cupped palms.png\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" /><h4>Gentle</h4><p>Rub your palms together to generate heat in your hands. Rest your palms in a cupped shape around your closed eyes.</p><p></p><h4>Press and Release</h4><p>Rub your palms together to generate heat in your hands. With your palms in a cupped position, place them around your closed eyes. As you inhale, apply light pressure around your eyes with your cupped palms. On the exhale, release the pressure (keeping your palms cupped around your eyes. Repeat this for five cycles of breath.</p><p></p><h4>Constant Pressure</h4><p>Rub your palms together to generate heat in your hands. With your palms in a cupped position, place them around your closed eyes. Apply constant pressure around your eyes with your cupped palms. Maintain the pressure for five cycles of breathing.</p><p></p><h3>Stretching and Relaxation</h3><p>We&#39;re going to start our Trataka candlelight meditation with a few stretches to bring relaxation into the body.</p><p></p><p>Sit up tall in a chair or cross-legged position with your palms on your knees. Roll your shoulders back to open your chest and close your eyes.</p><p></p><p>Breathe normally, allowing a gentle smile to rest on your face. Maintain this smile throughout your practice... And throughout the rest of your life.</p><p></p><p>Observe your breath as it comes in and flows out, noticing the cool air that&#39;s coming into your nose and the warm air that&#39;s leaving your nose.</p><p></p><p>Inhale. On the exhale, lightly twist your torso to the right. Inhale back to the center and exhale to the opposite side. Inhale back to the center and relax for a moment.</p><p></p><p>Next, drop your head to the right side on the exhale. Inhale to return center and repeat on the other side. Continue to warm up your neck, tilting your head back and forward, inhaling each time as you return to center.</p><p></p><p>Join your palms together at heart center, <em>namaste</em>, and let&#39;s join together in chanting <em>Om</em>.</p><img src=\"https://media.graphcms.com/sL4AcZ1AQsOE5rJ4pkQV\" alt=\"namaste.png\" title=\"namaste.png\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" /><p>Rub your palms together to generate heat in your hands, cup your palms around your eyes, and blink your eyes open.</p><p></p><p>Press your palms into your knees and tilt your head back, eyes looking up, stretching the front of your neck. Exhale your chin to your chest, stretching the back of the neck. Repeat this five more times.</p><p></p><p>Bring your palms to your shoulders on either side of your neck with your fingertips pointing down your back. Pull down slightly on your shoulders as you exhale, tilting your head back, your eyes look up towards the ceiling. Hold this stretch for a count of five.</p><p></p><p>Next, bring the fingertips of each hand together and place your fingertips on your shoulders with your elbows touching in front of your body. Start rolling your shoulders, circling your elbows down, out, up, and touching them in front of your body 10 times. Reverse this movement for another 10 counts.</p><video controls width=\"undefined\" height=\"undefined\">\n          <source src=\"https://media.graphcms.com/oDMOqmGxS4GyPGIKtKn4\" type=\"video/mp4\" title=\"elbow shoulder rotations.mp4\" />\n          Sorry, your browser doesn't support embedded videos.\n        </video><p>Now, swing your arms to the front and back of your body, allowing them to cross in front of your body on the exhale. Do this 10 times.</p><p></p><p>Stretch your legs out in front of you and shake them out a bit, moving them side to side. Then, start rapidly bending and straightening your knees. This is a good practice for both relaxation and knee pain.</p><p></p><p>Bring your arms out to the side of your body and inhale. On the exhale, bend to the right side, dropping your elbow to the ground and stretching along the left side of your body. Let your left arm reach up and over your body. If you&#39;re sitting in a chair, just bend over to the side as far as you can to feel the stretch.</p><p></p><p>Inhale, coming back to the center, and exhale to the other side.</p><p></p><p>Repeat this movement several times, keeping your hips square and planted on the ground or chair.</p><video controls width=\"undefined\" height=\"undefined\">\n          <source src=\"https://media.graphcms.com/YxeIzVz4S9uYO1paDtv0\" type=\"video/mp4\" title=\"side stretch.mp4\" />\n          Sorry, your browser doesn't support embedded videos.\n        </video><p>Interlace your fingers in front of you and stretch your arms up over your head, inhaling. On the exhale, allow your arms to float down to your side and then behind you, grabbing your right wrist with your left hand. Exhale and bend forward over your legs, keeping your arms behind you. Repeat this a few times, inhaling to come up and exhaling to fold forward.</p><p></p><p>Twist once more to the right and then the left.</p><p></p><h3>Eye Movements</h3><p>Now we&#39;re going to move into six practices to strengthen the muscles around your eyes.</p><p></p><h4>Practice One: Eye Movements—Up and Down</h4><p>Sit up straight. For focus, you can bring your thumb out in front of you or, if you&#39;re comfortable without it, that&#39;s fine, too. Inhale, look to the tip of the thumb, and fix your gaze. Begin to move your thumb up and down, following the movement with your eyes without blinking and without moving your head. Remember to smile. Try to keep your eyes in each position for one second (up for one second and down for one second). Do this 10 times and finish with rest palming.</p><p></p><h4>Practice Two: Eye Movements—Right and Left</h4><p>This time, you&#39;ll be following the movement of your thumb to the right and left, without blinking and without moving your head. Keep your eyes in each position for at least one second. Do this 10 times and finish with rest palming.</p><p></p><h4>Practice Three: Eye Movements—Right-Up and Left-Down</h4><p>Follow the movement of your thumb on the diagonal—up to the right and down to the left. Once again, do this without blinking and without moving your head, keeping your eyes in each position for at least one second. Do this 10 times. This time, you&#39;ll finish with press and release palming.</p><p></p><h4>Practice Four: Eye Movements—Left-Up and Right-Down</h4><p>Repeat the diagonal eye movements, this time going up to the left and down to the right. Do this without blinking and without moving your head for 10 repetitions, with your eyes in each position for at least one second. Finish with press and release palming.</p><p></p><h4>Practice Five: Eye Movements—Clockwise Rotation</h4><p>Now, we&#39;re going to move our eyes in a clockwise rotation—right, up, left, and down. Don&#39;t blink and don&#39;t move your head. Be sure to keep your eyes in each position for at least one second. Complete this clockwise rotation 10 times before finishing with constant pressure palming.</p><p></p><h4>Practice Six: Eye Movements—Anti-Clockwise Rotation</h4><p>Repeat the rotational movements, this time going left, up, right, and down. As always, don&#39;t blink and don&#39;t move your head, just your eyes. Keep your eyes in each position for at least one second and complete the anti-clockwise rotation 10 times. Finish with constant pressure palming.</p><p></p><p>Leave your eyes closed for a few seconds and relax before we move into the meditation. Now you are ready for our candle meditation.</p><p></p><h3>Trataka Meditation: Effortless Focusing</h3><img src=\"https://media.graphcms.com/djMUBsh8RwmT5TZ6ORj3\" alt=\"candle flame.png\" title=\"candle flame.png\" width=\"600\" height=\"399\" /><p>Start your Trataka meditation by turning down the lights and sitting between 1–1.5 meters from your candle. Sit in a pose that&#39;s comfortable for you and that you can hold for the duration of the meditation. Once you&#39;re comfortable, close your eyes.</p><p>With your eyes closed, observe the lightness around your eyes. Listen to your breath. Slowly, with your head angled down slightly, blink your eyes open, looking softly at the floor.</p><p></p><p>For the next minute, try not to blink.</p><p></p><p>Look at the base of the stand that your candle is sitting on. Slowly bring your gaze up the length of the candle stand to the base of the candle itself. Then, let your gaze move up the candle to the flame. Look at the flame for the next 30 seconds.</p><p></p><p>Close your eyes and do press and release palming. Release your palms back down to your knees.</p><p>Candle gazing takes practice. Be patient with yourself as you&#39;re learning this process.</p><p></p><h3>Trataka Meditation: Intense Focusing</h3><p>Blink your eyes open, looking softly at the floor. For the next minute, don&#39;t blink.</p><p></p><p>Once again, look at the base of the candle stand and slowly move your gaze up the candle stand to the base of the candle. From there, let your gaze continue up the length of the candle to the flame. Look at the flame of the candle and deepen your focus. See the wick inside of the flame. Watch the wick burn inside of the candle flame for 30 seconds.</p><p></p><p>Close your eyes and do constant pressure palming. Release your palms back down to your knees.</p><p></p><h3>Trataka Meditation: Bhramari Pranayama</h3><p>Blink your eyes open, again looking softly at the floor. Don&#39;t blink for the next minute and a half.</p><p></p><p>Look towards the base of the candle stand, slowly bringing your gaze up to the base of the candle itself before continuing up the length of the candle to the flame. Focus on the flame of the candle for the next 30 seconds. Bring your awareness completely towards the flame, deepen your awareness and focus. Really look at the flame, observing its shape, color, and size. Notice the flame&#39;s aura and the particles around it.</p><p></p><p>Close your eyes and do constant pressure palming.</p><p></p><p>This time, instead of dropping your palms back to your knees, allow them to remain on your eyes as we move into Bhramari Pranayama, or humming bee breath. Take a deep breath in and hum, producing a sound like a buzzing bee, allowing your body to feel the vibration.</p><p></p><p>Place your hands behind your back, grabbing your right wrist with your left hand, and inhale, arching your back and looking up to the ceiling. On the exhale, fold forward. Return to an upright position with your palms on your knees.</p><p>Observe the silence within you and find the awareness toward your body. Observe the changes in your body, especially in the eye muscles.</p><p></p><p>Continue with your eyes closed. Move into savasana, laying down on your back with your palms facing up. Feel free to cover yourself with a blanket, if you&#39;d like. If you&#39;re sitting in a chair, you&#39;re welcome to stay there and relax with your eyes closed.</p><p></p><p>Relax in savasana for several minutes.</p><p></p><p>When you&#39;re ready, interlace your fingers over your head and give yourself a full-body stretch. Keeping your eyes closed, bring your knees to your chest, roll to one side, and return to a sitting position.</p><p></p><p>Join your palms together at heart center, <em>namaste</em>. Take a deep breath in and finish by chanting <em>Om, Shanti, Shanti, Shanti</em>.</p><p></p><p>Finish with rest palming and blink your eyes open. Congratulations on completing your candle meditation! </p><p></p><p>Want to take a guided live class? Sign up for a <a title=\"https://www.myyogateacher.com/free-yoga-classes.html\" href=\"https://www.myyogateacher.com/free-yoga-classes.html\">free trial of myYogaTeacher</a> and get access to 35+ live classes every single day.</p>"},"category":["therapy","meditation"],"utmCampaign":null,"utmMedium":null,"utmContent":null,"utmSource":null,"utmTerm":null,"utmSearchString":null,"imageHyperlink":[]},"recommendations_group_class":[{"session_uuid":"75ad1b8b-95f6-4935-930d-cdca5b445037","student_uuid":"e327c088-feba-44f5-97f0-1a7db39ebc4f","teacher_uuid":"9e762297-1079-4495-887c-b41db385a749","teacher_name":"Archana R","teacher_first_name":"Archana","teacher_slug":"archana-1","teacher_photo":"https://res.cloudinary.com/dgerdfai4/image/upload/v1646054216/teacher/photos/dtxftizggajugd5lnruf.jpg","group_session_name":"Breathing and Meditation","group_session_description":"Meditation stills and calms the mind. 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