Yoga, training and health inspiration for you

If you - like me - absolutely love to travel this might have already, or it soon will, cross your mind. Traveling has some many faces: Excitement & love, challenges & growth, friendship & laughter, loneliness & fear. It’s a great teacher – but is it a sustainable way of life?

Aligning with more sustainable habits

It’s easy to point fingers when talking about traveling and flying. At the same time it's hard to be “politically correct” in todays society. The short answer to the question whether traveling is a sustainable way of life, could be a simple ’no’. But I’ll explore that ’no’ just a little bit through this article.

Perhaps you - like me - have been aligning your life with more sustainable habits as you’ve reacted to how our often destructive, often unconscious, behaviour is f*cking up our dear planet.

• Maybe you’ve cut down on eating meat or completely took that out of your diet.
• Maybe you’re using less plastic by saying no to straws and bringing your own bag to the supermarket.
• Is that oat milk in your latte instead of the good old cow version?
• You’re going to second hand stores realising that you don’t need the newest version of everything and that five t-shirts - not fifty - is enough.
• I have to admit, it feels good to align with these habits, I feel lighter in my mind, body and spirit from all the de-cluttering, both on my plate and in my closet.

Some changes comes naturally – others don't
But I don’t want to be a hypocrite. Some changes come naturally and when they don’t, turning a blind eye wont solve the matter. It’s always hard changing a habit. Even though change is the most natural thing, it’s one of the things we resist the most.

When writing this I’m sitting in my lofty shorts and with no shirt on a beautiful island in the Andaman Sea. Trainings and work opportunities brought me here, and unlike my friend Eva Eriksson who rode a bike around the planet I didn’t bike here - I flew.

As a freelancing Yoga teacher and massage therapist many of the happenings I’m interested in takes place all around the world. When earlier this year I was taking one of those ‘How-much-carbon-dioxide-do-you-emit’ tests I - not entirely un-smug - answer the lowest alternative to most questions, then came the final question: How many hours did you fly during last year?

Turns out flying brings up your carbon footprint quite a bit.

I’m currently being torn between the urge to learn exiting techniques and meeting inspiring people around the world and staying put in Sweden, simply for the sake of not adding to my carbon footprint. Especially I feel a responsibility as a yoga teacher, often talking in my classes about different aspects of Ahimsa (non-violence) and aparigraha (non-greed). And if we don’t practice, we should not preach - don’t judge a man until you’ve walked in his shoes.

Traveling inspires and engages

As the years have passed, flying has become vastly more efficient than it used to be, but at the same time the amount of people flying has increased dramatically. Should we be worried? Well yes. I think we should. But should we ’say no’ to flying? This could potentially be a really, really long discussion but I’ll keep it short here.

Rather than pretending it’s not a problem I like to bring it up for discussion and bring it into light and I welcome your opinion as well. I’ve been fortunate to meet some of the most inspiring people out there; pioneers in taking on environmental and cultural problems. Whether it's building sustainable housing, cleaning the oceans from plastic, building support groups for abused women, these people have gotten there by going out into the world and taking action.

Traveling does this splendidly. It inspires, it motivates, it engages. I’ve seen this again and again.

In this day and age when we’re seriously planning manned missions to Mars and where cars, (and soon probably airplanes) drive themselves, I think the necessary step is not one backwards, but forward with awareness.

If we bring awareness and openness into the discussion, we have a chance to strive forward looking for possible solutions to the issue rather than losing ourselves in a game of pointing fingers – It’s their fault! No problem has ever been solved by pointing out whose fault it is - instead, take ownership.

Bringing awareness into your actions

I keep coming back to that - like with everything - we should watch our behaviour. “Why am I doing this” is always a great question to ask yourself. Do I really need this thing or this experience or could I reach the desired feeling in another, more sustainable way? Simply by bringing awareness into your actions you’ll naturally make wiser - and closer to heart decisions. And sometimes the answers will be a little uncomfortable.

Recently for me this came in the form of an offer to teach in Costa Rica at a yoga/surf camp for a month. It all sounded great with a beautiful Shala overlooking the ocean but going twelve time zones away, to do this I would have to cross half the face of planet earth, for a single month...I simply couldn’t justify it. I had to say no.

Just like with your closet where cluttered shelves will just drain your energy, one or two trips with purpose might serve you better than ten different ones simply because you can.

A mantra that truly resonates with me comes to mind; less is more. I’d like to take a stand for doing what you can and doing your best without telling people what they should do. You can’t teach anyone anything, they have to do that themselves.

I think it’s possible that people I’ve come to know on my travels with the world as their work place contribute less to global warming than a typical urban citizen. Especially if you take into account the accumulated effects in the long run, thinking for generations to come not only how it effects us today.

Giving back more than you’re using in the long run is the key, and remember, there are many ways to give and only you know which way is best for you. And how will you know if you don’t get out there and try. See which ones you fail at, which ones you're better at, try them again and gradually find your own gift to give this world. Growth only comes through experience, you can't skip the experience.

Read more

• Managing hardship through connection, by Eleonora Ramsby Herrera.
• A farewell to emotional harms, by Frida Starvid.
• Breathe life into your life - part 1, by Ulrica Norberg.

About Stefan Ericsson

As a full-time freelancing Yoga Teacher and massage therapist Stefan wholeheartedly dedicates his time to learning about the human body and how we with playfulness can tap into our own inherent power. From the Himalayas to Hawaii he has collected inspiration from the cultures encountered along the way and today he teaches a style that respects, plays with, and challenges all body types.

Yoga has been a mayor influencer to the way Stefan lives his life today. All areas of life including the way he eats, dresses, dances & moves. Sharing this with his students is a true gift, and seeing all the different ways the knowledge impacts people from all walks of life is nothing short of amazing. The styles of practice that appeals to him the most is hatha, yin and vinyasa for those days you just want to play and sweat. If you want to know more about where Stefan teaches you can find his classes here or follow him at Instagram.

Siitä lähtien kun jooga ja meditaatio tulivat elämääni, ne ovat olleet minulle kuin kannatteleva ystävä elämän vaikeina aikoina. Samalla ne ovat kuitenkin olleet myös opettajia monissa asioissa. Joogaharjoitus on esimerkiksi opettanut katsomaan asioita uudesta näkökulmasta ja tämän kautta lisännyt lempeyttä suhteessa omaan itseen. Miten nämä asiat liittyvät toisiinsa?

Uskalla olla ulkopuolella

Uudella näkökulmalla tarkoitan neutraalin kuuntelijan, havainnoitsijan, roolin ottamista sen sijaan että ryhtyisi heti toimimaan ja reagoimaan kaikkeen mitä mieli eteen tuo – jälkimmäinen on varmasti monelle meistä, kuten myös itselleni, paljon tutumpi olemisen tapa. Jatkuvassa reaktiivisuuden tilassa oleminen on kuitenkin pitkällä tähtäimellä kuormittavaa.

Objektiivinen havainnoitsija katsoo asioita ikään kuin uusin silmin. Hän riisuu pois ennakkoluulot ja tuomitsevan asenteen ja hänen katseensa on lempeä ja myötätuntoinen. Hän päästää irti tunteiden arvottamisesta ja luokittelemisesta hyväksytyiksi ja ei-hyväksytyiksi tai ”oikeiksi” ja ”vääriksi” ja antaa kaikkien tunteiden ja tuntemuksien virrata läpi. Todistaa mitä on, tässä hetkessä.

Aito yhteys löytyy näkökulman muutoksesta

Neutraalin havainnoitsijan roolin ottamisessa on pohjimmiltaan kyse empatiasta. Empatia on kyky ottaa toisen ihmisen perspektiivi ympäröivään maailmaan. Se on taito mennä toisen ihmisen maailmaan. Empaattisessa kohtaamisessa annamme toisen ihmisen ymmärtää että hän on tullut kuulluksi ja nähdyksi.

Vasta kun otamme neutraalin kuuntelijan roolin, voimme aidosti olla empaattisia itseä ja muita kohtaan. Joogamatolla näitä taitoja voi harjoitella ja vahvistaa suhteessa omaan itseen. Erityisesti meditaatio ja passiivinen, samassa asennossa usean minuutin ajan viipyvä yin jooga ovat opettaneet minulle äärimmäisen paljon hyväksyvästä läsnäolosta ja siitä, kuinka tärkeää hyvinvoinnin kannalta on oman itsen kuuntelu sen sijaan että reagoi heti eteen tuleviin tuntemuksiin.

Empatia on yhteyden polttoaine

Myötätunto on kuin valonsäde, joka hohtaa lempeyttä ympäristöönsä ja muihin ihmisiin, eikä sitä voi koskaan olla liikaa tässä maailmassa. Se on työkalu riita- ja konfliktitilanteissa ja auttaa toimimaan rakentavasti tilanteissa, joissa olemme ehkä aikaisemmin toimineet hyökkäävästi vihan tai pelon kautta. Se on myös aidon yhteyden polttoaine ja apuväline kaikissa elämän sosiaalisissa suhteissa, oli kyse sitten ystävyydestä, parisuhteeesta tai vanhemmuudesta.

Myötätunto on aina myös harjoitus, kuten sosiaalitieteilijä ja kirjailija Brené Brown muistuttaa, ja sitä tulee ylläpitää jos haluamme säilyttää yhteyden itseemme ja ihan kaikkeen ympärillä olevaan.

Kirjoitustehtävä

Ota eteesi kynä ja paperia (tykkään itse tehdä intuitiivisen kirjoituksen harjoitukset vanhanaikaisesti vihkoon). Kirjoita seuraavasta sanasta intuition kautta muutaman minuutin ajan, eli pyri kirjoittamaan se, mitä mieleesi tulee ensimmäisenä. Päästä irti kielioppisäännöistä ja itsekritiikistä ja anna oman intuitiivisen viisautesi virrata paperille. Yritä olla nostamatta kynää paperista.

• Myötätunto
  • Lue kirjoituksesi hiljaa itsellesi ja reflektoi. Miten sanat resonoivat sinussa? Toteutuvatko ne suhteessa omaan itseen?
• Mieti kolme sellaista tapaa arkeesi, jotka vahvistavat myötätuntoa suhteessa omaan itseen. Ole itsellesi armollinen. Mitä konkreettisempi ja "pienempi" teko tai asia, sen helpompi se on toteuttaa joka päiväisessä elämässä.
• Mikä asia ei edistä oman itsen myötätuntoista kohtaamista arjessa? Mistä voin päästää irti? Se voi olla esimerkiksi jokin pinttynyt ajatustapa/idea itsestä tai arjen rutiini, jota et ole ehkä aikaisemmin pysähtynyt miettimään.

Kirjavinkkini aiheeseen liittyen

• The Gifts of Imperfection (Brené Brown)
• Daring Greatly (Brené Brown)

Anna-Mari Pentikäinen on helsinkiläinen joogaopettaja joka uskoo, että liikkeessä, kirjoittamisessa ja hengityksessä on kaikissa parantavaa voimaa. Hän opettaa mm. Sylva Ry:n FUCKCANCERYOGAA syöpäkuntoutujille, yin joogaa UNISPORTilla, yritysjoogaa eri alojen yrityksille ja avoimia joogatunteja pienryhmille kotijoogastudiossa Katajanokalla. Kuva Anna-Marin Sri Lankan Manifest Magic -joogaretriitiltä Sri Lankalta. Tulevat joogaretriitit, workshopit ja viikkotunnit löydät: annamariyoga.com

Videovinkit

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Can you be steady but still soft and relaxed? These are traits that really can help when you are leading, especially a group of kids. Yoga teacher and author Helen Larsson tells you more about a playful way to lead.

Lead in a steady yet playful way

I love the concept of sthira-sukham from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, which means steady but at ease. I also love to explore how I can take what I experience and learn on the yoga mat into everyday life. How can we be steady, focused, aware and awake in all that we do, but still be at ease, gentle, soft and relaxed.

 I like to play with this and it’s so useful.

For instance the other day, when I was riding. The horse needs you to take the lead but if you become rigid, inflexible and harsh it will protest. The other way around, if you are too soft and yielding the horse won’t listen to you at all. It’s also really helpful in my work as a kid’s yoga teacher.

When I started, more than six years ago, I wasn’t good at the sthira-part. I was way too flexible and lacked the steadiness. The kids felt that and tested me in many ways, which was a great learning ground. Children just like horses need to feel that you are the leader, but if you get rigid and too strict they will start hating yoga. They need you to be steady but in a playful, fun and relaxed way.

You can apply this to anything. To the way you walk to work, the way you clean your house, the way you speak when you have an important presentation to do, to the way you sit in front of the computer and so on and so forth.

So, will you play with me, right now, whatever you are doing? See if you can be steady but at the same time soft and relaxed. How does it feel?

 One thing that works for me when I become to rigid is smiling. And forget about perfection, it’s boring.

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More about Helen

Helen has practiced and studied yoga for almost 25 years. She teaches yoga for all ages and specializes in yoga for children and yoga for stress management and recovery. Helen also holds workshops and trainings in children's and teenage yoga and has written a book on children's yoga in Swedish, "Yoga with children" (Lava Publisher).

Can feelings as anxiety be a substitute for something we are too scared to encounter? For yoga teacher Frida Starvid anxiety had been a loyal companion for a long time. After hearing about a theory called Affect phobia she started digging deep into herself. What other feelings can hide there under our anxiety?

Anxiety seen as a substitute feeling

“Anguish, anguish is my heritage, the wound of my throat, the cry of my heart in the world…” The year is 1916, and the Swedish poet Per Lagerkvist, then 25, is ridden by existential angst (you might know Per – he recieved the Nobel Prize in Literature after 11 years of active membership in the Swedish Academy; another depressing story but in a different way.)

Almost a century later, I was 30 and also burdened by anxiety. During the previous years, I´d had moments in places where the light of living was overwhelming only in its absence. Sure, I had a good degree and a pretty decent CV. I was brave and free, had an exciting job and was travelling the world. But the flipside was that I felt emotionally detached. Close relationships were very challenging, and I often found myself lost; lacking some unspoken direction.

Then one day around Christmas of 2011 I overheard a conversation between my mother and her friend, and something caught my attention: “… in McCullough´s theory, anxiety is not seen as a real emotion or affect per se. Instead, anxiety seems to be a substitute feeling, produced in order to cover up or defend oneself from another emotion that one is too scared to encounter…” I looked up, contemplating what I´d just heard. My anxiety had been a loyal companion for a long time, and it defined my inner workings to a large degree. What my mum´s friend had said flipped a huge coin for me. It would just take some time and research before it finally dropped.

Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy

In short McCulloughs theory is about analysing psychological issues, proposing that most of their causes are related to conflicts about feelings, or affects. The theory, called affect phobia, was developed mainly by Leigh McCullough, Director of the Psychotherapy Research program at Harvard University. Through extensive clinical research, the method is well proven to work for a variety of psychological diagnoses, and sorts under a strand of therapy called STDP – Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy. From its name, you´ll gather that the durational factor is important – the goal is to get substantial improvement, the sooner the better. You work with concrete formulations of your issues, and the therapist plays an active role. There´s no beating around the bush, no silent nods. Essentially, it´s not much Freud and very little bullshit.

Avoidance of undesired feelings

Affect phobia – a fear of feelings - is explained by the fact that as small children, it´s our caretaker´s responsibility to mirror and validate our emotions. Their job is to help us understand what we´re feeling and guide us how to constructively act based on these emotions. Since no parents are flawless, however, most of us learned that some emotional expressions were less welcome than others. Perhaps you had a father who got very uncomfortable when you cried – you´d soon learn that showing sadness wouldn´t score you any attachment points; you´d probably swallow your tears and give him your best smile instead. Or perhaps you had an older sibling who acted scornful if you became overly excited about something – you will likely refrain from openly bursting with joy in the future and instead act indifferent. For small children, adaptation is a game of survival.

In this way, we establish a set of defences to help us avoid undesired feelings, and these patterns persist through adulthood. Interestingly, our defences can express themselves as thoughts (for example thoughts of self-contempt), behaviours (perhaps constant doing and achieving) or in the form of other emotions. In a typical example, someone who doesn´t dare to show grief covers up by becoming very angry. And anxiety belongs to this category, as a primordial catch-all shield.

Do you dare to really feel?

It all sounds pretty simple, but it´s decidedly complex. As the rigorous person I am, I went and bought a book – Treating Affect Phobia, a text book for psychotherapists by McCullough et.al – and started reading. After 50 pages I realized that I am indeed no therapist, but that I had to go and get myself one, now that I knew what I needed. And then, with the help of Leif Havnesköld (one of the most experienced affect therapists in Sweden, now sadly passed) I started untangling my inner life. There was stuff in there I had no idea existed, as most of my feelings – both negative and positive – had been buried under a heavy load of shame. And many of my defence responses were so automatized that my first step was to identify them and learn to hinder myself before they set in.

In the end, emotions are what makes us feel alive. We live in an era still heavily influenced by Descartian thought – I think, therefore I am – and when emotional openness is encouraged, such as in opinion-driven social media, we tend to forget that many feelings are not ”pure”, but rendered through a filter of personal experience. If we honestly don´t want to let our one-year-old selves rule our world, I hereby – joyfully and shamelessly – encourage everyone to do a bit of psychological digging.

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Read more

• What I talk about when I talk about yoga, by Frida Starvid f.d. Boström
• On the Pursuit of Slackness, by Frida Starvid f.d. Boström
• Yin & Restorative: The art of pausing – part 1, by Ulrica Norberg

About Frida

Frida Starvid f.d. Boström is a Vinyasa, Ashtanga, Rocket and Yin teacher (200+140 hr), educated in India, Sweden and Spain. She started off as an architect but after a burnout she decided to shift careers. Her first trip to an ashram in India in 2015 led to many more, and evoked her already existing curiosity about philosophy and meditation, as well as fun and physically challenging yoga. Frida gives regular classes and assists at yoga teacher educations in Sweden and abroad. Read more about Frida at her website or follow her at Instagram: @frida_bostrom

How can yoga and the yoga community can help us to heal in a world that from time to time undenaibly will be changelling? Through yoga and the yoga community we can, with practice and time, learn to master the waves of life, while simultaneously enjoying the moments when we reach calm waters.

The balancing act that is life

Being human means having to encounter endless challenging waves that, more often than not, arrive uninvited into our life space. There is no way around these waves. Once we come out of one wave and the water of life calms down, it is only a matter of time before another wave arrives and challenges our strength and ability to remain above the surface. Should we live our lives in fearful anticipation of the next wave to strike? In truth, doing so would not give us much space to enjoy the richness of beauty and love that life has to offer. Instead, we can learn, little by little, to become better swimmers and to master each wave as it comes our way, while simultaneously enjoying the moments when we reach calm waters.

Hardship co-exists with enjoyment and satisfaction, love co-exists with loss, trust co-exists with fear, and in the same way movement co-exists with stillness. So too does an active lifestyle co-exist with times of recovery and rest. However, this co-existence is a continuous balancing act that requires the ability to self-regulate through awareness and conscious action. The demands of daily life can easily overwhelm us. Thus, maintaining a balanced life can feel unachievable at times. Perhaps, it may be of some comfort to know that balance in and of itself, is never a static moment in time, but an ongoing movement involving listening and adjusting to present circumstances.

Balance requires focus and strength, as well as breath and softness. It requires courage and trust and a great deal of patience. It can remain inside us in the eye of the storm and in the depth of the dark waters. In times of stress and hardship, yoga can serve as a helpful tool that brings us closer to balance. The practice of yoga offers a space and opportunity to slow down and to take care of our body-mind-heart relationship. Additionally, it can help to improve our interoceptive awareness and ability to listen to our bodies’ needs, so that we can better manage and regulate our physical sensations, psychological mood states and autonomic balance. Thus, yoga does not only have the potential to make us feel better and more balanced, but also, to teach us how to do so.

The nurturing influence of yoga
A growing field of empirical studies are examining the influence of yoga on people in workplaces, in schools and in primary healthcare. These studies show that yoga reduces perceived stress and anxiety, while improving one’s ability to manage stress and situations of distress. Additionally, studies suggest that yoga further improves aspects of well-being such as positive affect, feelings of peace, focus and endurance, self-confidence, life purpose and clarity of mind. In addition to this, an important element that is often overlooked in studies like these, as well as in discourses on yoga, is the positive influence that a yoga community can bring.

The social element of people coming together in a safe and welcoming space where social relationships can be developed and nurtured offers another layer of support and connection, which in turn cultivates the circumstance for transformational growth. Yoga is a practice that is both individual and relational; a practice that has the potential to bring us closer to ourselves and to our loved ones. Furthermore, in times of hardship, the practice of yoga, interweaved with the support and connection with people around us, is crucial to keeping us afloat and making us stronger. Love as a form of connection (yoga i.e. union) is the answer to it all. Choose love.

We work too hard.
We’re too tired to fall in love.
Therefore we must overthrow the government.

We work too hard.
We’re too tired to overthrow the government.
Therefore we must fall in love.

– Rod Smith, “Pour le CGT”

References

• Hartfiel, N., Havenhand, J., Khalsa, S. B., Clarke, G., & Krayer, A. (2011) ’The Effectiveness of Yoga for the Improvement of Well-being and Resilience to Stress in the Workplace’, Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 37, 1, pp.70-76.

• Köhn, M., Persson Lundholm, U., Bryngelsson, I., Anderzen-Carlsson, A., & Westerdahl, E. (2013) ‘Medical Yoga for Patients with Stress-Related Symptoms and Diagnoses in Primary Health Care: A Randomized Controlled Trial’, Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2013.

• Noggle, J., Steiner, N., Minami, T., & Khalsa, S. B. (2012) ‘Benefits of Yoga for Psychosocial Well-Being in a US High School Curriculum: A Preliminary Randomized Controlled Trial’, Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 33, 3, pp.193-201.

• Prasad, L., Varrey, A., & Sisti, G. (2016) ’Medical Students’ Stress Levels and Sense of Well Being after Six Weeks of Yoga and Meditation’, Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 16.

• Sarkissian, M., Trent, N., Huchting, K., & Khalsa, S. B. (2018) ’Effects of a Kundalini Yoga Program on Elementary and Middle School Students’ Stress, Affect and Resilience’, Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 39, 3, pp. 210-216.

• Wolever, RQ., Bobinet, KJ., McCabe, K., Mackenzie, ER., Fekete, E., Kusnick, CA., & Baime, M. (2012) ‘Effective and Viable Mind-Body Stress Reduction in the Workplace: A Randomized Controlled Trial’, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 17, 2, pp. 246-258.

Photo: Talitha Gamaroff

Mindfulness videos with Eleonora

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We are not in control. We are governed by reaction and fluctuation. By our own patterns, habits and programming. Can you really say that you are light, free and can you communicate with yourself and others in a way that leave you inspired and motivated? Happy even? If yes, you have got it. If no, then you don't ride the waves of prana. But you could! Here, in this months concluding fourth part on the theme of breathing I'll tell you more.

Go to part one, part two and part three in this series about breathing to learn even more.

Learn to listen to your breath

When prana is spread evenly throughout the cellular body, compassion and equanimity arise and the fluctuations of the mind ceases. This phenomenon can be achieved by cultivating the art of listening intentionally to your breath. To let go of the need to manoever and control the breath. Pranayama and meditation are acts of letting go. With these practices you learn how to let go of psychological blockages and attachments. They will over time help you to free yourself from who you think you are and get you in touch with the essence of who you really are. 


Really, the only thing that stands in between the percieved y o u and the real y o u is the identification of yourself. What you can and can't do. Our emotional dams block the flow of prana. This disruption creates an increased tension in your body, mind and spirit that directs itself as pain, stress, anxiety, anger and frustration as well as weakness in the body due to poor circulation and breathing musculature. When you see yourself as separate from everything conflict with everything often arise. There is little peace and relaxation in that mode, mostly wear and tear. Fight and flight. 


During pranayama we literally drink litres of vitality and immunity. We supercharge the blood with extra oxygen. When we retain the breath, we literally inject more oxygen into the bloodstream.

Practicing pranayama is tenacious. Few people keep at it. Maybe for a few weeks, then something more ”fun” and ”important” takes over. Some people just want the quick fix and others notice the rapid changes and that can be confusing and some get afraid of the gained insight and strength. Pranayama practice is subtle and affect us at the root of mental and physical exictense. That is why we need it daily; since it is delicate and powerful. It will change you towards your optimal potential.

Be in your body
I cannot emphasize enough that one needs to be in the body in order to succeed with pranayama. To stay safe you should not overestimate your vitaly and stamina. Your mind might want to achieve a lot. But this is a powerful practice and one needs to cultivate a sensitivity towards hearing the bodys signals since it tells you the state of your inner organs and systems. Therefore a solid asana practice (or martial arts, pilates, tai chi or qigong is great as well) is important.

First, asanas help to revitalise our limbs, organs and nervous systems. Then they open up our vital force that lies dormant in our pranic sheath. Asana and breathing in asana help purify the channels, which if clogged, can overwhelm the system and practitioner. So if your heartbeart races, you experience shortage of breath, increase itch, powerful headaches, pressure in the head, eyes or ears; your body tells you that it cannot release the pressure inside its systems due to toxins, tensions, weakness and/or stress.

Pranayama is the next step after you can sit still. Think about it. You might be able to do advanced asanas, run and move a lot but have a problems sitting still. Sitting still can be hard. And that is where you can really strenghten the mind, brain and nervous system. When the body can circulate itself for 30 minutes and leave the power of awareness over to you to cultivate, train and practice what governs all of you; the BREATH.

The practice of pranayama takes us beyond our skeletal, muscular and circulatory systems, even beyond the nervous and endocrine systems. In its essence, this practice aims to attain mastery over the life force itself. And in that pursuit, your body heals, your mind gets strong and focused and your spirit free and happy. You are on you way to your strongest and truest you.

• For further reading go to my YINYOGA book (Skyhorse Publishing)

• Take part of my new 10 weeks course here on Yogobe - The Art of Breathing

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Eteerisiä öljyjä voidaan käyttää arjessa monipuolisesti omaa hyvinvointia edistämään. Ne voivat esimerkiksi tukea jooga- ja meditaatioharjoitusta ja niistä voi löytyä helpotusta kaamosväsymykseen ja flunssaan. Miten tuoksuja käytetään oikein? Entä mitkä tuoksut sopivat talveen? Pyysimme Frantsilan Anna Karhu-Cormieria kertomaan parhaat vinkit tuoksujen käytössä.

Eteeriset öljyt voivat luonnollisen tuoksunsa takia tuntua aluksi vierailta, sillä olemme usein tottuneet synteettisiin hajusteisiin. Aitojen eteeristen tuoksujen maailma on sananmukaisesti aito ja hyvin runsas. ”Aikanaan, kun löysin aidot eteeriset öljyt, muistan niiden yllättäneen tuoksujen kirjollaan", Karhu-Cormier muistelee. Hän kertoo käyttävänsä nyt tuoksuja myös joogaharjoituksensa tukena.

Monipuolisuudellaan hurmaavat tuoksut

Tuoksuja voidaan käyttää monin tavoin ja ne soveltuvat niin fyysisen kuin psyykkisen hyvinvoinnin hoitamiseen. Lisäksi niitä voidaan käyttää monipuolisesti ihonhoidossa. ”On laaja skaala erilaisia tapoja käyttää öljyjä. Ne sopivat monipuolisesti mm. ihonhoitoon iho-ongelmien hoidossa. Esimerkiksi tulehtuneen ihon hoidossa roomalainen kamomilla on lempeä ja hoitava eteerinen öljy, kun taas esimerkiksi palaneen ihon hoitoon sopii ihoa uudistava ja rauhoittava laventeli." Iholle laitettaessa eteerinen öljy on hyvä laimentaa pohjaöljyyn. Ihon hoidossa suositeltu laimennos on 1-2 tippaa eteeristä öljyä sekoitettuna ruokalusikalliseen pohjaöljyä.

 Monikäyttöisiä öljyjä voidaan käyttää myös diffuusereissa, joilla saadaan ilmatilaan hoitavaa tuoksua. Niitä voidaan yhdistellä myös hoitaviksi parfyymiöljyiksi, jolloin öljy sekoitetaan pohjaöljyyn, esimerkiksi jojobaöljyyn, jota myös Frantsila käyttää luonnollisten parfyymien teossa. Itse tehdyn parfyymilaimennoksen suositeltu annostus on noin 8-12 tippaa eteeristä öljyä 10 ml jojobaöljyyn.

Poikkeuksina suoraan iholle käytettäviksi soveltuvat laventeli ja teepuu. Teepuu auttaa ihon infektioihin ja esimerkiksi finnien ja muiden epäpuhtauksien hoidossa. Se on antibakteerinen ja sitä voi käyttää laimentamattomana pienelle kohdealueelle. Laventelia sanotaan eteeristen öljyjen äidiksi ja se rauhoittaa sekä ihoa että mieltä. Sitä voidaan käyttää unettomuuden hoitamisessa ja sen tiedetään aktivoivan serotoniinin tuotannon, joka antaa keholle impulssin rauhoittua. Laventelia voi myös käyttää pienelle kohdealueelle hoitamaan palanutta ihoa.

Eteeriset öljyt ovat voimakkaita aineita, joten niitä tulee aina käyttää viisaasti ja kohtuudella. Tämän takia myös useimmat öljyt laimennetaan ennen iholle laittoa. ”Tärkeää on, että laimennuksessa käytettävä öljy on tuoksuton. Hyviä aineita sekoitukseen ovat jojobaöljy, argaaniöljy, viinirypäleensiemenöljy, aprikoosiöljy ja Frantsilan hellä öljysekoitus, joka on tuoksuton ja levittyy hyvin iholle.”

Talveen sopivat öljyt

• Käytä kaamosaikana energisoivia tuoksuja, jotka kohottavat mielialaa (sitruuna, rosmariini, havupuut sekä appelsiini)
• Ota kylmyyden keskellä lämpöä tuovat öljyt käyttöön esimerkiksi lisäämällä niitä kylpyyn (kardemumma, inkivääri,mustapippuri ja ylang ylang)
• Kokeile yhdistää eteerinen öljy jooga- tai meditaatioharjoitukseesi (laventeli, santelipuu ja frankinsensi)
• Helpota talviflunssaa luonnollisilla öljyillä: timjami ja eukalyptus ovat yskän hoidossa hyviä sillä ne hoitavat keuhkotiehyeitä (flunssaisen höyryhengitys: keitä 2l kuumaa vettä ja lisää sekaan 1-2 tippaa eteeristä öljyä)
• Kaamosajan keskellä energisoivan ja hemmottelevan kokovartalo- tai jalkakylvyn saat aikaan esimerkiksi käyttämällä Frantsilan mustakuusi tai greippi öljyä. Mustakuusella ja muilla havupuilla, kuten mänty ja kataja, on vahvistava vaikutus. Kylpyyn lisättäessä emulgoi eteerinen öljy esim. suihkugeeliin, näin saat eteerisen öljyn liukenemaan veden sekaan.

Eteeriset öljyt joogaharjoituksessa

Luo oma hoitava parfyymi, jota voit käyttää ranteilla, ohimolla, nilkoissa, sydänkeskuksessa ja korvannipukoiden alla joogaharjoituksessa. ”Tämä on mielestäni yksi parhaista keinoista tukea joogaharjoitusta eteerisen öljyn avulla silloin kun tilassa on paljon ihmisiä. Mieto parfyymi tuoksuu kantajalleen muttei valloita koko huonetilaa. Joogassa tuoksua voi myös käyttää tilassa mutta on huomioitava että jokaisella on hyvin omat tuoksumieltymyksensä,” Karhu-Cormier muistuttaa.

Eteeristä öljyä voi myös sipaista housunlahkeisiin, hihansuihin tai vaikka kaulahuiviin. Muistathan kuitenkin, että öljy voi tahria vaatteita.

Frantsilan eteerisistä öljyistä löytyy myös ayurvediset tuoksusekoitteet, joita voit käyttää joogaharjoituksen tukena; Pitta on rauhoittava ja viilentävä, Kapha taas virkistävä ja aineenvaihduntaa aktivoiva ja Vata tasapainoittava. Löydät valikoimasta myös jokaiselle sopivat ayurvediset pohjaöljyt, joihin eteeriset öljyt voidaan sekoittaa: Rauha (pitta), Harmonia (vata) ja Virkeä (kapha). Frantsilan luomuyrtit ovat uutettu pohjaöljyyn.

Anna Karhu-Cormier toimii Frantsilan Luomuyrttitilalla luovana johtajana, lisäksi Anna on Diplomi fytoterapeutti sekä jooga-opettaja. Oman parfyymin voit luoda Marketissa osoitteessa Pohjois-Esplanadi 19, jossa Frantsilan luonnontuoksujen parfymeria Apothecary sijaitsee. Tutustu Apothecaryyn tarkemmin täällä tai vieraile Frantsilan verkkosivuilla: www.frantsila.com.

Breath carries everything. Breath is a life force; we begin our life with a breath and we end it with a breath. The breath, body, and mind all work together. If one of these is agitated, the others will follow. If one is calmed, the others will follow. From the breath we receive oxygen, which nourishes the blood, organs, and cells, and Prana — life force — travels on oxygen. Join this second part in our month of breathing!

Body, mind and spirit are one

You can read part one in this series about breathing here.

The main objective of hatha yoga (physical yoga), is to create an absolute harmony of the interacting activities and processes of energy, mind and physical body. In hathayoga ha represents prana, the vital force, and tha represents mind, the mental energy. Therefore hathayoga is about the union of pranic (prana shakti) and mental forces (manas shakti).

When this occurs, the awakening of higher consciousness happens in the individual. Every object in the universe, from the atom to the star is composed of these two energies. When they interact with each other, creation happens and when they are separated they move back to their source and creation is dissolved. This is described as the total annihilation of matter; the same way as physics do.

All matter in this creation is alive and conscious. Therefore everything has potential and everything is alive. In yoga, consciousness and life are known as purusha and prakriti, in tantra they are named shiva and shakti. In hathayoga they are named pingala and ida and in taoism as yang and yin and in physics as energy and matter. They have different names in different times and philosophies.

Even so, the dualities of matter and energy can be translated to the human nature. We have a physical body but we also have a subtle counterpart too. So what happens on the inside when you think? What happens inside you when one thought results in the next?

In yoga, one should always keep in mind that the body, mind and the spirit are not three; they are one. At one level you see the body and at another you see it as the mind. The spirit is never different from the body and vice versa. They are one.

It's all about the focus – conscious breathing

The prana shakti and manas shakti are usually in an unbalanced and unharmonized form in us. Either of them are usually predominant over the other, creating imbalances in mind, body and spirit. Due to this imbalance, physical disease and mental diseases manifest. The techniques of yoga like asana (body posture), pranayama (the art of breathing properly) and kriyas (to focus the mind) is to bring these into better harmony and learn how to calm the nervous system and cleanse the body from toxins.

The nervous system needs to be trained since it is the carrier of impulses through the sensory and motor channels. For an uninterrupted flow of energy to pass throughout the body, it is vital that you move into pratyahara, or sense withdrawal. If not, then it is hard to meditate. Pratyahara is the bridge between the physical/mental and the subtle body awareness and of spirit.


The first tool to apply to move into pratyahara is learned how to breathe properly and through breath to start to move and direct energy, or Pranayama.

The subtle body is the energetic mold of the physical body. It is more accessible to the mind and consious control. On a subtle level, change is somewhat fragile and demands powerful intention. Once change on a subtle level has filtered down on a physical level it tends to be more stable. This means it is difficult to make and maintain change purely on a physical level. For example; a person can exercice and eat properly and perfect and yet be affected by ill health.

“Whatever controls Prana controls the minds and whatever controls the minds controls Prana”

– Hathayoga Pradipika 4. 21

Through breath our physical body is linked to the mind, and the mind to the life force, Prana. The breath enhances the mind-body connection, so when we start to cultivate the breath, we connect to our higher self.

The yogic texts and masters state very clearly that in order to balance the mind, one needs to control the prana inside. If prana is restless, mind becomes restless and vice versa. The mind is very difficult to control by the mind and the more ones tries the more the split grows. By practicing pranayama correctly, the mind is automatically stilled.

The general idea is that pranayama ought to remove blockages in the autonomic nervous system in order to have the breath run even in both nostrils.

When the flow is even in both nostrils, your nervous system is in harmony and you move easily into meditation and flow better with life.

About the breath

• The breath is one of only two functions of the body that is both voluntary and involuntary (the other function is blinking). If we can master breath consciously, we can control other functions in the body like heart rate, blood pressure, and breath. Through the breath, we can access the parasympathetic nervous system and activate the relaxation response in the brain, which results in stress reduction for our entire system.

• Most people are not breathing to their fullest capacity, which actually means that the nerve cells do not get fully activated, which chokes the life force in us. Through conscious breathing, we can mindfully generate more oxygen for the body.

• Tightness or stress in the body often creates tightness in the breath. Think of wearing a body suit that is too tight — it is hard to breathe. When your body is tight and tense, you can’t breathe fully. You can be tight in your breathing body just like you are tight in your physical body. Some of this is physical strain impinging on the breath volume; some is emotional or mental blockage preventing us from breathing fully.

So the more we can learn conscious breathing the better. 
We enhance our quality of life via how we breathe. 
Welcome to my Pranayama Course where we embark on learning the magic techniques of pranayama.

• For further reading go to my YINYOGA book (Skyhorse Publishing)

• Take part of my new 10 weeks course here on Yogobe - The Art of Breathing

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More reading

• Creating a space for the wild birds to settle down, by Eleonora Ramsby Herrera
• Yin & Restorative: The art of pausing – part 1, by Ulrica Norberg
• Yin & Restorative: The art of pausing – part 2, by Ulrica Norberg