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.
YogaIowa Recommendations: Winter 2018
Browse the books and podcasts that are helping us keep our New Year’s resolutions, ponder Eastern philosophy and meditate on love and relationships prior to Valentine’s Day.
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.
No topic is off-limits in Sioux City’s Talking Circle, where Native American spirituality offers healing
“This sacred space has given people the freedom to be able to say things, I think, they desperately want to say, but have nowhere else to say them.”
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.
Inside Gong Fu Tea, Des Moines’ international tea oasis
With around 150 teas available and staff on hand to help customers shift through the offerings, the East Village tea shop provides a chance to make a conscious decision to slow down and savor the moment.
Staying grounded on Mount Kilimanjaro
The first glimpse of light rose above the clouds in a dark pink hue. My eyes watered from the wind, from the cold, from the adjustment to the new light — from the sheer awe of it all. There I was at the highest point in Africa, in the midst of a dream turned reality.