Here are the winners of the #IowaOpenHeartChallenge
Thank you to those who participated in YogaIowa’s first-ever yoga challenge, the February Open Heart Challenge. We hope it was able to bring peace, warmth and a bit of fun…
Asana like an Olympian: A Winter Olympics yoga lesson from Challenge To Change
Instead of merely watching these spectacular events from the couch, why not encourage your inner Olympian with some winter sports-inspired yoga?
Iowa teachers feel called to Christian yoga
Though 77 percent of Iowans are Christian, the idea of connecting Christ with yoga is relatively novel in a state where most yoga is taught from a secular perspective. Teachers in Newton, Cedar Rapids and Sioux City now teach Bible-focused classes at affordable rates.
Is yoga a religion? Defining yoga’s most spiritual terms
There are many paths in yoga, but they share common, historically rooted, spiritually oriented terms. From om to namaste, karma to dharma, understanding the language of yoga may help shed light on your own practice.
Buddhist monk and yoga teacher Daishin Eric McCabe found strength is stillness
Ames-based McCabe found Buddhist meditation during an existential crisis in college, and has been on a “journey into the present moment” ever since.
Join YogaIowa on Instagram for our heart-centered February yoga challenge
YogaIowa is hosting the Open Heart Challenge over the month of February, with heart-centered postures posted to Instagram all 28 days. Participants have the chance to win prizes.
A look into Ashtanga, the rigorous style that sparked the yoga renaissance in the West
Because of its popularity, age and origin, Ashtanga has a fascinating amount of history, practices and lore. Here are three of its defining characteristics.
Kino MacGregor discusses her new book, God and the importance of daily practice
Kino MacGregor teaches Ashtanga yoga to a worldwide audience through her popular social media channels, yoga DVDs, vlogs and four published books. She also co-founded OmStars, a subscription-based streaming service offering video courses from 20 yoga stars. Originally from Miami, MacGregor now travels the globe leading classes honoring both traditional and contemporary ideas of yoga.
Starting a Yoga Journey: Forget about the “perfect shape”
“There is no such thing as alignment in yoga,” she said. My initial response was to think, “What does she mean ‘there is no such thing as alignment in yoga’? I am an ‘alignment-based’ instructor, for God’s sake!”
Sink into a gong bath
The sound begins quietly at first and then slowly becomes louder and more rhythmic and trance-inducing. The vibrations wash over your body. Time seems to slip away and what feels like five minutes can really be 30. That is the power of a gong bath.
Transformative Travel: Nepal’s yoga melting pot
It was a castle in the sky. It felt that way at least, way up high, nestled at the edge of the jungle up the mountains. I hugged a cup of black tea to my chest and stared out over the Himalayas. I had come to Nepal to become an internationally certified yoga teacher and complete a 200 hours training program at Nepal Yoga Home under the direction of yoga guru Prakash Acharya.
An Ashtanga sequence from tapas yoga shala
Ashtanga yoga is designed to create discomfort, forming physically and mentally strong students. To get the flavor of Ashtanga practice, begin with 3-5 repetitions of Sun Salutation A to build heat and connect breath and movement.