Practice easy breathing with Jala Neti (neti pot)

Currently, we spend so much time at home & are quite worried about our health. One way to occupy yourself in a positive way is to practice prevention regarding your health.

Yoga and yoga cleansing exercises for example.

Yoga cleansing exercises are known as ‘kriyas’. They assist our bodily functions to remove waste products. Since we live in a world where the air, water & food are more and more polluted, we need ‘kriyas’ as our bodies can’t quite deal with this pollution on its own anymore.

There are 2 ‘kriyas’ which are easy to practice on a daily basis:

• Jala Neti – nasal cleaning
• Kapalabhati – cleanings of lungs and bronchial tubes

Jala Neti is a simple technique for cleaning the nose, nasal passages and sinuses. This cleansing method is especially beneficial for people that suffer from allergies, often have congested sinuses OR common colds. It’ll help to maintain easy breathing and combats pollution. The neti pot is used together with lukewarm water and some Himalayan or sea salt. Instead of buying expensive nasal sprays, jala neti is an easy, cheap way to prevent you from getting sick.

Jala Neti (sanskrit) means water cleaning. You can buy a neti pot online (i.e.: online) or in a yoga studio near you (i.e. Sampoorna in Brussels) and only need some salt (i.e. sea salt or Himalayan salt). A neti pot will cost you between 5 & 20 euros (depending on the quality, type (plastic or ceramic).

How to use the neti pot?

1. Poor lukewarm water (ideally filtered water) in your neti pot,
2. Add a teaspoon (but less in the beginning, experiment as it may burn) of salt to the water, cover the neti pot with your clean hands and shake well,
3. Hang your head over the sink & poor the water into one nostril, keeping the head tilted pot-side up,
4. Keep your mouth open to breathe through your mouth,
5. The water will come out of the other nostril, let the entire content of the neti pot run through your nostrils,
6. Blow out the excess water through both nostrils and repeat the process with the other nostril.

In the beginning you might find it scary or some water will come into your mouth, don’t worry nor get scared, take your time, experiment with more or less salt, colder or warmer water until you’ve found which combination of salt/ water works best for you. Do not swallow the water, it’ll simply flow through the nostrils through the tilting of your head.

You’ll be amazed of what comes out of your nose and how much lighter your head feels after this cleaning exercise.

Repeat it on a daily basis.

If you feel a cold coming up, you can repeat jala neti two to three times a day.

TIP: add the jala neti to your morning ritual, after a little practice you’ll only need a few minutes for both nostrils and will immediately after feel the difference as it’ll be much easier to breathe & do your Pranayama.

31 January 2019 – special morning yoga class at 7AM

Warrior pose

To end this month in style, I’ll be teaching a 7AM class this Thursday 31 January at your favorite authentic Brussels’ yoga studio: Sampoorna. What a great way to start your Thursday, right? Hope to see you there. You may register online if you like (not obligatory).

• 7AM – 60 minute class at Sampoorna Yoga Studio

 

Om shanti -ॐ शान्ति

Practice yoga cleansing exercises, kriyas

In yoga several cleansing methods (kriyas) are used to help the body get rid of toxins and waste products to, in short, keep the body healthy.

Ayurveda, the ancient science of self-healing, prescribes a daily routine as this plays a very important part in your overall health. This routine includes the cleansing of your tongue, after having examined it. Use a tongue scraper to clean it and also massage the tongue and all it’s correlated internal organs. Try to do this daily and observe the changes in your oral health.

 

Another very important practice is jala neti. I wrote a blog post about it some years ago and it’s still very accurate. Obviously the information comes from the great classic Sanskrit manual on hatha yoga: Hatha Yoga Pradipika as well as the ayurvedic science and continues to prove it’s value to human health.
In short, by practicing jala neti daily, you’ll clean the passageways of air in the head and help avoid any conditions of the sinuses, allergies or hay fever. As we’re approaching the flu and cold season, I strongly advise yoga practitioners to practice jala neti cleansing daily. You’ll also feel that your Pranayama will be much easier.

• If you live in Brussels, pick up a tongue scraper and neti pot at Sampoorna Yoga Studio, they’re inexpensive and will give you great benefits for your health and yoga practice.

Om shanti -ॐ शान्ति

A new yoga video: Anuloma Viloma Pranayama

My plan is to put all the yoga videos I made some months ago online in the coming weeks and months. I just need to add voice-overs, that takes time. Hereby already a Pranayama video: Anuloma Viloma, video # 2.

Anuloma Viloma or Alternate Nostril Breathing is one of the 2 Pranayama exercises that should be practiced on a daily basis in the Sivananda Yoga tradition. After the Kapalabathi breathing exercise follows the Anuloma Viloma.

Enjoy your practice: hereby the video with voice-over for 8 rounds of alternate nostril breathing (Anuloma Viloma).

Om shanti -ॐ शान्ति

Join me on Sunday 17 January for the 11AM class

Tomorrow morning (Sunday 17 January) at 11AM, I’m replacing Eknath in the Sampoorna Yoga Studio in the center of Brussels.

Join me for 60 minutes of relaxation, asanas and Pranayama. A great way to start your Sunday.

Om shanti -ॐ शान्ति

Practice yoga using this blog

Maybe you browsed this blog already and know that the entire Sivananda yoga class is described for your use and benefit.

In order to share the teachings of Gurudev Swami Sivananda and Swami Vishnudevananda even more, I’m posting a daily reference to a full 90′ class on the Facebook page to encourage practitioners to come to the blog and discover the entire sequence with its benefits and step-by-step guidance per exercise or pose.

Start your class with Savasana, followed by 3 “Om’s,  Pranayama (Kabalabathi & Anuloma Viloma), then warming up the body with Surya Namaskara and leg lifts, on to the asana sequence:

1. Sirshasana
2. Sarvangasana
3. Halasana
4. Matsyasana
5. Paschimotanasana
   1. Purvotanasana
6. Bhujangasana
7. Salabhasana
8. Dhanurasana
9. Ardha Matsyendrasana
10. Kakasana
11. Pada Hastasana
12. Trikonasana

You end your class with a nice long Savasana and then 3 “Om”s.

Om shanti -ॐ शान्ति

Offer yourself a great gift: take your yoga TTC this winter

I’ve mentioned in a post before that doing the Sivananda yoga Teachers’ Training Course (TTC) changed my life for real. Hence I’d like to share with you the upcoming possibilities to take your yoga practice and your spiritual development to the next level: Sivananda Yoga centers and ashrams around the world offer a full month’s intensive TTC.

Simply choose your location and register to benefit from the numerous advantages of making this important step towards a more balanced and dedicated yoga practice:

===>>> Read more about the why and how of doing your TTC.

Om shanti -ॐ शान्ति

 

The importance of Pranayama

Pranayama is a key part of my yoga classes. And after a couple of classes most of the students get it, or at least go with the flow. Sometimes there are students in a class (new to yoga, or new to the way I teach my classes) that don’t get it. They sit there, play with their toes, look around them, jawn, looking bored, … Often I think how great it would be to be able to teach each new student a private class to explain the importance of Pranayama and to teach them the exercises that I was taught in my different TTC’s.

In short,  Pranayama (Sanskrit: प्राणायाम ) is one of the 5 points of yoga: proper breathing. It teaches us to control our breathing, to control our minds and meditate easier. ‘Prana’ means : subtle energy, life force or vital energy. ‘Ayama’ means: to extend or draw out.

“Pranayama uses breathing techniques to influence the flow of prana in the nadis or energy channels of the energy body (Pranayama kosha).” -> From the book: Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha by Swami Satyananda Saraswati.

In today’s world, people often don’t breathe properly, meaning, they breathe in the top parts of their lungs only. You may notice this when you are stressed out or when sitting with hunched shoulders in front of your PC. As soon as you lie on your back and try to breathe deeply in through the nose into the abdomen, you will realize the force of proper breathing: you will quickly feel more energized, more calm. Personally I found Pranayama to be life-changing. One day without my morning Pranayama exercises shows me directly the need for it. I am more calm, focused & in the present moment when I practice breathing exercises in the morning.

What does Pranayama teach us? It teaches us to breathe properly, to use the full capacity of the lungs, to draw more freshly oxygen in & more stale air out of our body. This gives more oxygen to the cells, including the brain.

In a regular 90′ yoga class, I teach two main pranayama exercises: Kapalabathi & Anuloma Viloma.

If you are new to yoga, try to just follow the explanations and the counting of the breathing exercises, try not to judge (yourself, other students, the teacher) as hopefully you’ll soon become aware of the subtle changes in your breathing and your life thanks to the benefits of these exercises.

Om Shanti

Workshop: Breathing is at the heart of yoga with Gayatri (Canada)

Breathing is at the heart of yoga.

As we cultivate the breath, we open to the transformative potential of our yoga practice. The breath allows us to cultivate energy in ways that can profoundly enhance our asana and meditation practices in addition to improving our lives off the mat.

This workshop integrates both the East and the West exploring anatomy and physiology of respiration as well as the subtle energy body. Topics will include the autonomic nervous system, koshas, prana vayus and nadis.

Practices will include thoraco-abdominal breathing, ujay, anuloma viloma, kapalabhati and brahmaree pranayam. We will learn how to guide ourselves and (if you’re a teacher) students in cultivating awareness of the principal bandhas.

Gayatri is a visiting teacher from Ontario, Canada. Following an illness and back injury, she turned to yoga as a means to return balance to her life.

A lifelong learner with a fascination for the human body, Gayatri is a highly sought out instructor, teaching anatomy to yoga instructors throughout North America,Europe, and India.

In her work as a nurse and a yoga therapist, Gayatri works with people struggling with injuries, chronic physical, emotional or life-threatening illnesses and addictions, working toward holistic wellness.

Gayatri focuses her warm and nurturing energy on her clients, identifying goals together and developing concrete plans for achieving them.

PLACE: Sampoorna Yoga Studio, Rue du Houblon/ Hopstraat 40, 1000 Brussels

DATE/ TIME: Saturday 7 February 2015, 3-6 PM

PRICE: 45€ (35€ students/ unemployed)

BOOK NOW

Starting a home yoga practice

It’s one thing coming to a yoga class on a regular basis, but it’s quite another practicing on a daily basis. When you start with yoga, it’s important to find a studio and teacher(s) that can teach you the basics in the right way: proper relaxation, pranayama, sun salutations, asanas and if you are lucky, yoga philosophy and meditation. Then you’ll come once a week, or more often, to class. However, yoga doesn’t stop there, yoga can be a way of life. It can transform you quite literally.

Finding yoga has been beneficial to me in so many ways. For instance, helping to relax by learning to breathe properly. This knowledge makes every day situations much lighter and easier to deal with, whether it’s giving a presentation in front of a crowd, telling bad news to somebody or dealing with aggression. Going back to your breathing grounds you, makes you powerful, in control and self-assured.

Learning to relax properly has helped me to connect to my physical body and made me recognize tensions in parts of my body that I wasn’t aware of before and enables me to do something about them, to unwind.

Obviously you first need to know how to do sun salutations and asanas in order to get the benefits and not get injured while practicing. If you’ve been coming to class regularly for some time and know the sequence of a basic Sivananda hatha yoga class, you can start your own (daily) home practice in addition to coming to a group class.

Yoga can give you tremendous energy, vitality, wisdom and peace of mind. When you practice on a daily basis, it becomes part of you and helps you in each and every aspect of your life as you become more grounded and in control of your thoughts, your mind and body.

In the morning you are especially stiff, most of us are, so make sure to do at least 8 sets of sun salutations before doing any asana in order to warm up your body properly.

A 20 minutes home practice:

• Initial relaxation in savasana = 2 minutes
• Chant OM 3 times
• Pranayama:
  • Practice either 3 rounds of kapalabathi (with retention) or
  • 8 rounds of anuloma viloma (inhale left, 4 counts, retain 16, exhale right 4, inhale right 8, retain 16, exhale left 8 = 1 round) = 8 minutes
• Sun salutations: 8 to 10 sets (4 or 5 rounds on each leg) = 8 minutes
• 1 asana of your choice =1-2 minutes
• Short relaxation in savasana = 2 minutes
• Chant OM 3 times

A 30 minutes home practice :

• Initial relaxation in savasana = 2 minutes
• Chant OM 3 times
• Pranayama:
  • Practice either 3 rounds of kapalabathi (with retention) or
  • 8 rounds of anuloma viloma (inhale left, 4 counts, retain 16, exhale right 4, inhale right 8, retain 16, exhale left 8 = 1 round) = 8 minutes
• Sun salutations: 8 to 10 sets (4 or 5 rounds on each leg) = 8 minutes
• Shoulder stand = 2 minutes
• Plough =1 minute
• Savasana = 5 breaths
• Fish = 1 minute
• Savasana = 5 breaths
• Sitting forward bend = 2 minutes
• Inclined plane = 4 breaths
• Forward savasana = 5 breaths
• Cobra = 5-8 breaths
• Forward savasana = 5 breaths
• Triangle or tree pose = 5-8 breaths on each leg
• Final relaxation in savasana = 4 minutes
• Chant 3 times Om

You can add a silent meditation to your practice: sit in meditation focusing on your breath: inhale on 4 counts, exhale on 4 counts) = 5-12 minutes > set a timer.

BeSssst – yoga in Brussels

Citizenne invited me as a yoga teacher for their BeSsst event on Saturday morning on December 13th in Brussels.

I’ll be teaching a group of beginning yogins the basics about relaxation, breathing, sun salutations and yoga asanas and will fit in some yoga philosophy as well.

Afterwards we’ll find a busy spot in the centre of town to do yoga whilst trying to remain peaceful and calm despite the noise around us.

We’ll end with a veggie lunch.

PS: I think the class if full, but you can always try to register 🙂

Yoga session during moon cycle

My moon cycle (or monsoon as I like to call it) is very painful and long. I tend to avoid doing inverted asanas, such as headstand and shoulderstand. But there are other asanas to do in order to decrease the discomfort & cramps.

In my experience, it’s helpful to prepare for the arrival of your monsoon by doing daily Pranayama and Asana practice.
During your moon cycle (especially the first days), practice Kapalabathi breathing exercises, followed by a series of slower Surya Namaskara (Sun Salutations) (at least 2 on each side) and adding a sequence of the following asanas:

1. Paschimotanasana (sitting forward bend): during this painful time of the month, you might want to add a bolster on your legs to allow your body to rest on the bolster so you can surrender more easily to the asana. Do try to keep your back as straight as possible and your chest open (don’t allow it to collapse).
2. Bhujangasana (cobra): come into the pose, but don’t force coming up too high, find your edge of the day and then allow your belly to remain on the mat, focus on your back muscles.
3. Salabhasana (locust).
4. Dhanurasana (bow): come up in the pose and stay for a couple of breaths before you perform the ‘rocking boat’: moving back and forth on your belly whilst keeping your back muscles engaged, hence massaging the front side of your  upper body and your abdominal organs.
5. Ardha Matsyendrasana (half spinal twist): by bringing your leg closer to your body you’ll give a nice massage to your abdominal organs.

 

These asanas all have a way of massaging and toning the abdominal organs helping to relief cramps.End with a nice long Savasana (relaxation) where you put your hands on your lower belly and breathe deeply and slowly, abdominal breathing through the nose. Allow your whole body to relax, to sink into the mat, you might want to put a bolster under your knees if your cramps are particularly painful (in your upper legs, lower back and belly).

>>> TIP: Make your Surya Namaskara during the actual moon cycle a lot slower than usual, you’ll feel probably more heavy so it’s good to be  a bit easier on yourself but you can still perform then and get the benefits for your body and mind.

Yin yoga poses also offer tremendous benefits, I’ll write more on that in a later post 🙂

Join the Pranayama workshop on 1 June 2014

Deepen your yoga practice by connecting with your breath

The Sampoorna Asana Challenge workshops, on the first Sunday of each month, are long hatha yoga classes focusing on a specific theme. In the Asana Challenge classes you can grow in your practice by fine-tuning your poses by through precise instruction and correction and learning poses step-by-step.

On 1 June the theme is PRANAYAMA (proper breathing):

In the yogic tradition, the breath is seen as the outward manifestation of prana, or vital energy. Gaining control of the breath by practicing breathing exercises – pranayama – increases the flow of prana through the body, which literally recharges body and mind. Your aim should be to pranayama for up to 30 minutes every day, preferably in the morning to kickstart your digestion and start your day refreshed.

In this Asana Challenge we take the time to practice the key breathing exercises (abdominal breathing, full yogic breath, Kapala Bhati, Anuloma Viloma) step-by-step in a correct way, learning how the breath can influence our mood, health and asana practice.

Tip: eat lightly and at least 2 hours before your practice

Who? This workshop is open for all levels, including beginners.

When? Sunday 1 June from 13:00-15:00

Price? 20€, or one “tick” in your Sampoorna Yoga pass plus 5€

• More information & registrations by e-mail

Benefits of early morning yoga

The benefits of early morning yoga are numerous, I’ll list my personal favorites here:

1. You are awake, full of energy and feel great.

A typical yoga asana class is a combination of relaxation, pranayama exercises, warming up exercises, yoga postures, final relaxation. The initial relaxation helps you to be more focused and relaxed when starting your practice. Pranayama exercises (breathing exercises) will oxygenate all the cells, renew the cells and feed your body with the much needed pure oxygen, the fresh prana will recharge your body. The warming up exercises warm up all your muscles, tendons, ligaments and stretch your entire body to prepare for the yoga postures. The yoga postures stimulate the different energy centers (chakras) in your body to release blocked energy and hence re-energize your body and mind. Final relaxation makes sure you get all the benefits of your class by allowing the nervous system to relax and to calm your mind to prepare for your day.

2. You don’t need any stimulants such as coffee to wake up.

The yoga class wakes up your physical body but also the mind. It feeds you with energy that you get through the practice. It’s a wonderful thing actually, you can recharge your body yourself without needing any external tools or things.

3. You feel proud of yourself.

Getting up early, doing yoga, being full of vibrant energy gives you a radiant complexion, a smile on your face and calmness in your mind. People will notice the difference in you and will be asking what you’ve been up to 🙂 You can and will feel proud and happy that you take good care of your body, mind & soul by practicing yoga, and especially early morning yoga as to give you the benefits the entire day.

4. You will feel more zen.

Pranayama and relaxation exercises, that will become more meditative with time, will bring you an inner calmness and peace of mind. You will feel less easily personally assaulted by aggressive or negative people and will be able to protect yourself from stress. Keep practicing your daily routine as to bring about this wonderful zen state.

Ideally, you add a 10, 20 or 30 minute silent meditation before your yoga practice to get even more benefits.

• If the above interests you, then please Join the early morning yoga class that I’ll be teaching at the Sampoorna Yoga Studio every Tuesday from 7AM to 8AM (doors open at 6:45AM).

Om Shanti

Easy breathing with Jala Neti

Yoga cleansing exercises are known as ‘kriyas’. They assist our bodily functions to remove waste products.Since we live in a world where the air, water & food are quite polluted, we need ‘kriyas’ as our bodies can’t quite deal with this pollution on its own anymore.

There are 2 ‘kriyas’ which I practice on a daily basis:

• Neti – nasal cleaning
• Kapala Bhati – cleanings of lungs and bronchial tubes (a page on this Pranayama will follow soon)

In this post I’d like to explain the benefits & the how-to of the nasal cleaning. Neti is a simple technique for cleaning the nose, nasal passages and sinuses. This cleaning method is especially beneficial for people that suffer from allergies, often have congested sinuses OR common colds. It’ll help to maintain easy breathing and combats pollution. The neti pot is used together with lukewarm water and some (preferably) Himalaya salt. Instead of buying medicine when you do get sick, jala neti is an easy, cheap way to prevent you from getting sick.

Jala Neti (sanskrit) means water cleaning. You can buy a neti pot online (i.e.: yogashop) or in a yoga studio near you (i.e. Sampoorna in Brussels) and only need salt (i.e. sea salt or Himalaya salt). A neti pot will cost you between 5 & 20 euros (depending on the quality, type (plastic or ceramic).

How to use the neti pot?

1. Poor lukewarm water in your neti pot,
2. Add a teaspoon (but less in the beginning, experiment as it may burn) of salt to the water & stir,
3. Hang over the sink & poor the water into one nostril, keeping the head tilted pot-side up,
4. Keep your mouth open to breathe through your mouth,
5. The water will come out of the other nostril, let the entire content of the neti pot run through your nostrils,
6. Blow out the excess water through both nostrils and repeat the process with the other nostril

In the beginning you might find it scary or some water will come into your mouth, don’t worry nor get scared, take your time, experiment with more or less salt, colder or warmer water until you’ve found which combination of salt/ water works best for you. Do not inhale the water, it’ll simply flow through the nostrils through the tilting of your head.

You’ll be amazed of what comes out of your nose and how much lighter your head feels after this cleaning exercise.

Repeat it on a daily basis.

If you feel a cold coming up, or already have one, you can repeat jala neti two to three times a day.

TIP: add the jala neti to your morning ritual, after a little practice you’ll only need 5 minutes for both nostrils and will immediately after feel the difference as it’ll be much easier to breathe & do your Pranayama.