Team Yogahood

To Om or Not to Om?

For many of you, chanting is the final frontier in finding your style and voice. Once you can confidently lead your students in a powerful chant, they'll feel a greater sense of connection within the community you've created. By Kelly McGonigal Connect to Your Power with Chants in Yoga Classes Although you and ...

Breakfast Ideas for Yogis

If agni is healthy, you have tremendous energy throughout the day. It's early morning, and the nutty aroma of hot cereal wafts through Ayurvedic doctor David Frawley's kitchen in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he's director of the American Institute of Vedic Studies. He drinks a cup of soothing chai, then ...

How Yoga Nidra Can Help You Get More Sleep

Need a nap? Yoga nidra may be the key to feeling well-rested. Here’s how “yogic sleep” can be even more effective than conventional sleep. Each time you practice yoga nidra meditation, you’re stilling the waves of the mind through conscious entry into the sleep state. How? You start with sensing the body and ...

The Yogi’s Ultimate Crystal Ritual Guide

Six ways to use your crystals during your meditation or asana practice to make their effects even more powerful.     The ways in which you interact with your crystals and experience their benefits is very personal. You might prefer to meditate with rose quartz, keep green aventurine on an altar, and sleep ...

Pratyahara: What It Means To “Withdraw”

In a world of information overload, the yoga practice of pratyahara offers us a haven of silence.   In a world of information overload, the yoga practice of pratyahara offers us a haven of silence. During my first few months of yoga classes, the teacher taught us to backbenddeeply during the first step ...

Reclining Hero Pose (Supta Virasana): Step by Step

Lay Virasana back and to take the stretch in the thighs and ankles up a notch. Caution: Supta Virasana, the reclining variation of Virasana, is an intermediate pose. DO NOT perform this pose unless you can sit your buttocks relatively easily on the floor between your feet. (soup-tah veer-AHS-anna) supta = lying ...

8 Nutrients You Need for Better Sleep

Set yourself up for restful nights by padding your diet with vitamins, minerals, and amino acids that support serotonin, a brain chemical that contributes to relaxation and sleep, as well as foods that contain natural melatonin. 1. Magnesium Get it from: Almonds, cashews, dark chocolate, pumpkin seeds, salmon, yogurt 2. Melatonin Get it from: Bananas, ...