Coconut oil and apple cider vinegar for healthy skin

Coconut oil and apple cider vinegar have many amazing uses. Right now I’m using them as natural detox remedies to clear my skin as I suffer from acne rosacea and would like to cure this condition from within.

Take 1 tbsp of coconut oil and gargle in your mouth for 15-20 minutes, until it becomes white and frothy, then spit it out. Do this every morning for a month before eating or drinking anything. Then clean your mouth out afterwards – gargle with some water and clean your teeth as usual.

Then drink 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar in at least 25cl water.

Then go have your breakfast!

Transformational Yoga Chakra Set

I hope you find this visual guide of the Chakra Set of Transformational Yoga useful for your own self practice.

While in each asana or posture, meditate on your 4 bodies in succession:

  • Physical body: observe your physical body and blocked energy pockets
  • Prana body clearing with Kapalbhati
  • Mental body clearing with Brahmari
  • Psychic body clearing with Om Ma

Om shanti.

Chakra Mantras for Self Purification

The following mantras should be used as part of your purification routine, and support the pranayama, asanas and chanting of Transformational Yoga.

Each mantra to be repeated 3 times, whilst observing the vibrations created by the sound, starting with the relaxation mantras, followed by the cleansing mantras, and lastly the activation mantras.

CHAKRA RELAXATION PURIFICATION ACTIVATION
Mooladhara SA LAM OM LAM MA
Swadisthana RE VAM OM VAM MA
Manipura GA RAM OM RAM MA
Anahata MA YAM OM YAM MA
Vishuddhi PA HAM OM HAM MA
Ajna DA CHAM OM CHAM MA
Sahasrara NI SHRI OM SHRI MA

The mantras are very powerful and effective as they work on all 4 bodies and all 7 chakras simultaneously. The above mentioned mantras are often a base used by different traditions of yoga and tantra in order to prepare for higher practices.

Om shanti.

Strength through stillness

The holiday season is but a distant memory, we’re not sure whether Summer really is on the horizon, and we’re only just re-remembering that Spring always dances a merry dance of sunshine and cold, cold rain. At this time of year, we are yearning for stability in our lives even more than usual, and with a grounding Transformational Yoga practice we can find our strength through stillness.

The term grounding means connecting to the earth, and is associated with feelings of balance, centeredness and connection.

For many of us it requires a shift in our thinking mind, as we’ve become used to leading goal-oriented lives: going forward, moving up, growing up, waking up…which we can still be and do, though it’s also important to have strong foundations, healthy roots.

According to the chakra system (energy centres linked to our endocrine system) and in Ayurveda (traditional Indian medicine), “root” issues (like family, security, boundaries and new beginnings) often manifest physically (for instance in the back, legs, feet and bones). To counter these root issues, let’s go outside and relax into nature…

A simple practice

Either standing or sitting, take a minute to ground yourself. Feel the strength and security in your feet, up through your legs and up and outwards across your hips. You are a part of the earth, you are fully supported. Breathe in, grow upwards; breathe out, ground downwards.

Grounding through asanas

Maha Yoga Tadasana 1Maha Yoga Tadasana 2 Tadasana, or mountain pose, is one of the most balancing poses in yoga. Tada means mountain, and in the pose, your feet are firmly rooted to the ground while the crown of your head acknowledges the sky. While in tadasana, imagine your feet sprouting roots that draw deeply down into the ground.
Benefits: Improves posture // Strengthens thighs, knees, and ankles // Firms abdomen and buttocks // Relieves sciatica // Reduces flat feet
Virabhadrasana II (Virabhadra = the name of a fierce warrior, an incarnation of Shiva, described as having a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, and a thousand feet, wielding a thousand clubs, and wearing a tiger’s skin), or Warrior II requires concentration and core strength. With an unbalanced muladhara (root) chakra, your fight or flight instinct is activated. Virabhadrasana gives you the strength to face your fears.
Benefits: Strengthens and stretches the legs and ankles // Stretches the groins, chest and lungs, shoulders // Stimulates abdominal organs // Increases stamina // Relieves backaches, especially through second trimester of pregnancy // Therapeutic for carpal tunnel syndrome, flat feet, infertility, osteoporosis, and sciatica
Maha Yoga virabhadrasana ii
Maha Yoga uttanasana Uttanasana, or standing forward bend, helps soothe the mind from “monkey mind” or anxious thoughts. Stress and anxiety are hallmarks of unbalanced muladhara (root) chakra. Coupling uttanasana with deep breathing stabilizes and focuses the mind.
Benefits: Calms the brain and helps relieve stress and mild depression // Stimulates the liver and kidneys // Stretches the hamstrings, calves, and hips // Strengthens the thighs and knees // Improves digestion // Helps relieve the symptoms of menopause // Reduces fatigue and anxiety // Relieves headache and insomnia // Therapeutic for asthma, high blood pressure, infertility, osteoporosis, and sinusitis
Setu Bandha Sarvangasana is bridge pose, another grounding pose that stabilizes the core and deepens as the feet become more firmly rooted in the floor. Setu bandha sarvangasana lifts the spirit with the heart, establishing a bond between our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual bodies.
Benefits: Stretches the chest, neck, and spine // Calms the brain and helps alleviate stress and mild depression // Stimulates abdominal organs, lungs, and thyroid // Rejuvenates tired legs // Improves digestion // Helps relieve the symptoms of menopause // Relieves menstrual discomfort when done supported // Reduces anxiety, fatigue, backache, headache, and insomnia // Therapeutic for asthma, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, and sinusitis
Maha Yoga setu bandha sarvangasana 1Maha Yoga setu bandha sarvangasana 2


Hug a tree

Whether with yoga asanas, a tree visualisation, getting back to nature or by hugging a tree, we can treat our “nature deficit disorder”.

Hug a tree – it’s science, don’t you know?! (Yes you can, no one’s looking. And if they were, they might just want to join in!)

We will be focusing on these grounding asanas in our Transformational Yoga practice, every Wednesday morning and Sunday evening at Brixton BASS.  Book onto a new block of 6 classes beginning April 2nd. 

Yoga nidra for complete mental, emotional and physical relaxation

We all accumulate tensions going about our daily life – these may be muscular tensions, emotional tensions or mental tensions.  And with many people’s lives becoming more and more fast-paced and demanding we are constantly looking for ways to relax.  But whether we are out socialising, chilling out in front of the TV or simply relaxing in a quiet place, in most people the mind remains in a state of arousal and tension.  Without being free of our tensions we are never truly relaxed.

Yoga nidra is a guided meditation and relaxation practice, during which we learn how to relax consciously – to completely relax physically, mentally and emotionally – by focussing inwards, away from outer distractions.

The practice of yoga nidra generally lasts for 20 to 40 minutes.  Lying in savasana – on your back, arms and legs spread, eyes closed, whole body soft and relaxed, breathing at a natural pace – you will be guided with instructions that will lead your awareness to your own body, your own breath, your own mind and your own consciousness; away from the distractions of the outside world.  

There are many benefits to yoga nidra, including:

  • Reducing tensions
  • Relaxing the mind
  • Counteracting stress
  • Promoting mindfulness
  • Awakening creativity
  • Enhancing memory and learning capacity

Many practitioners find yoga nidra as restorative as sleep, or even more so.  With the practice of yoga nidra you allow yourself time and space to truly relax.  

Relax with us at Sunday evening Yoga Nidra – 7.30pm-8pm (30 min class)
Brixton BASS (nearest tube: Brixton)
Tunstall Studios, 34-44 Tunstall Road, Brixton SW9 8DA
6 week block booking = £20
or drop in for £5 per class

Call or text Katy on 07748 849 829 or email mahayogaschool@gmail.com to book your place.

Capturing the divine light

I have a friend.  A multi-dimensional friend.  He has many gifts.

I may not recall them all here, but I’ll give it a go:

Son.
Brother.
Husband.
Artist.
Painter.
Writer.
Designer.
Photographer.
Storyteller.
Musician.
Teacher.
Student.
Yogi.
Friend.

While we were teaching, studying and learning at the SriMa International School of Transformational Yoga in Auroville this January – a special place to deepen our knowledge and connect with the divine mother energy – he took the time, while being all of these things, to capture some fantastic images of the students, teachers and masters.  

Thank you Uttar Kashi, Bombay Yogi.

 

Here I’m practicing the first asana set of our Transformational Yoga practice – the Chakra Set.  I hope you find these images of the sequence useful.

Starting our practice with the Invocation Mantra

We open and close our Transformational Yoga practice with the Invocation of Divine Mother Light Mantra.

We invite the Divine Mother Light, Bliss, Consciousness and Truth into our four bodies – our physical body, our breath, our mind and our heart – for eternity.

Invocation of Divine Mother Light Mantra

OM
The universal sound

ANANADA MAYEE
We invoke Supreme Bliss into our bodies

CHAITANYA MAYEE
We invoke Awakened Supreme Consciousness into our bodies

SATYA MAYEE
We invoke Supreme Truth into our bodies

PARAMEEY
Eternally

What is the Divine?

The root of the word Divine is literally godlike, from the Latin deus, related to Greek zeus, div in Persian and deva in Sanskrit.

To some, the Divine is God. To others the Divine is the Mother, Mother Nature, Pachamama. The Divine is our True Self, our shining light.

Importance of the Invocation Mantra

–  Forming a protective energy field around us and the area surrounding
–  Awakening our inner light and true nature
–  Opening the heart to Divine Light
–  Connecting or communicating with our higher being

We invoke Divine Light directly; this is the source of all light, source of the Universe – the Supreme Mother Light, our source and creator. The source of truth, knowledge, consciousness, bliss, harmony, beauty, joy, all of which our true self embodies.

Om shanti.

Take a moment for yourself each day

  • Find a quiet place
  • Sit comfortably with your shoulders down, your back tall
  • Place your hands on your lap or on your knees, palms facing upwards
  • Close your eyes
  • Breathe in through your nose and breathe out through your nose steadily, evenly, naturally
  • Be aware of your physical body, scan it from your head to your toes
  • Be aware of your breath, the oxygen going to your vital organs, your heart, your lungs, your brain
  • Be aware of your emotions and your mind and the stillness and clarity of being in the present
  • Be aware of the love you have for yourself, for others, for mother nature, for the universe
  • Say OM three times, out loud or silently – for yourself, for others, for the entire universe
  • With your hands in prayer in front of your heart say Namaste or thank you to yourself for making the time and space simply for yourself