An essential oil is a liquid that is usually distilled most often by steam or water from the leaves, roots, flowers, bark, stems, or other elements of a certain flowers or plants. Contrary and dissimilar to the use of the word “oil” are not really oily-feeling or gooey at all. Most are clear and have visible qualities, but some such as patchouli, orange and lemongrass are amber or yellow in color.100% Copper Neti Pot for Nasal Cleansing

It contains a true essence of the plant or flower it was derived from. And are exceedingly concentrated and intense and a little even a small dab goes a long way.Ayurveda Pura Massage Oils – Exclusive Blends for the Ultimate Massage Experience

These are often and typically used by diluting with carrier oil such as sweet almond, apricot kernel, grapeseed and then applying this blend and mixture directly to the skin for absorption.Ayurveda Pura – Unique and inspiring Ayurvedic herbal teas

Cautious inhalation can also provide and give therapeutic benefit and advantage as the molecules enter the lungs and are absorbed into the bloodstream.

Usually it is sold and market for individual use in very small bottles. This can be very high in quality and cost. Various factors that can affect and impinge on the quality and value of the oil include the rarity and uniqueness of the plant, country and conditions that the plant was grown, cultivated, quality standards of the distiller, and how much oil is produced by the plant and flower.Ayurveda Pura Massage Oils – Exclusive Blends for the Ultimate Massage Experience

It is frequently purchased in any stores as with different blends and mixtures. The advantage and benefit if it is a blend of pure essential oil is that you can save a lot of money from having to pay for it individually. The disadvantage and drawback is that you have no control over the blend and mixture nor can you reliably mix the blend and the ingredients with other oils.Ayurveda Pura Massage Oils – Exclusive Blends for the Ultimate Massage Experience
By Emma U. Davis

What is the difference between doing yoga and being in yoga?

“Have you done yoga?” or “Do you do yoga? is not an uncommon question in this contemporary society that we are living in. The statistics say that 20% of the population in the USA have at least once practiced one form of yoga or meditation. An even more interesting fact is that 10% of the entire US population consistently practice one form of yoga or meditation.

It is funny to note how no one ever asks anyone else, ‘Are you in yoga’? Doing yoga and being in yoga are two very different things.

To understand the difference between these two, we need to understand the actual word ‘yoga’ a little deeper.

If you ask anyone on the street the question, ‘What is yoga?’ majority of people will give answers like,

- ‘It means doing stretching exercises’

- ‘It is for getting your body flexible’

- ‘It is a good workout’

- ‘You can get a nice body from doing it’

- ‘It means doing a lot of complicated postures’

- ‘It means twisting your body up like a pretzel’

None of the above answers are completely wrong, they simply lean more toward the more superficial understanding of what yoga is.

Rarely, you may get one or two people who give answers like, ‘Yoga means union’ or ‘It means connecting your body, mind and spirit’.

The latter two answers are substantially closer to the true meaning.

Finally, if you ask Patanjali (who is a great sage that lived over 5000 years ago and is considered the ‘Father of Yoga) he would most likely tell you, ‘Go and open my book The Yoga Sutra which is the greatest authority on yoga and read the second sutra’. In the second sutra, Patanjali gives the definition as ‘yogah chitta vritti nirodaha’. Paramahamsa Nithyananda translates this sutra as, ‘Withdrawal from mental thought patterns is yoga’.

This is actually the true definition as given by Patanjali; it is actually a State of being. You can do yoga postures but you cannot do yoga; you can only be in yoga. Yoga is not just body postures, it is not exercise.

Yoga is the deep restful awareness, the beautiful uniting between your body, mind and being, the state you can experience when the thought patterns, the inner chatter, the very mind itself comes down.
By Ma Gnaneshwari Mayi

Are your muscles feeling tight and painful? Holistic treatments will help you to understand the source of your tension, and to relieve nagging pain in your middle back muscles.

Healing with holistic treatments.

The ‘mind-body-spirit’ trend helps us understand how to treat our bodies with holistic treatments. However, a mind-body-spirit approach is not necessarily holistic, either.

For pain relief, a holistic remedy should address pain symptoms throughout your whole body. A health practitioner might ask you questions about how you feel emotionally, but the focus will often be on immediate physical symptoms.

Physical assessments by holistic practitioners include examination of your past injuries, your posture and muscle alignment, daily habits, physical demands of work, recreation and sports, and lifestyle habits like exercise and eating nutritious foods.

Holistic treatment will address many possible causes of your pain. If you do not find the deeper source of your pain, you will only treat symptoms and the pain will return. Therefore, holistic medicine may be more effective at keeping your pain away long-term.

Relieving middle back muscles.

You need immediate and long-lasting relief. These 3 therapies can help:

1) Therapeutic Massage- To keep it holistic, make sure your therapist gives you a regular massage. You do not want them to only focus on your middle back muscles. A complete massage will contribute to stress relief, and to detecting muscle habits that may be hurting you.

2) Acupuncture- This toolbox of ancient methods redirects energy and circulation in your body. It can redirect your body to work in healthier ways.

3) Yoga- Yoga involves stretching, which loosens muscles and joints. It increases blood flow and improves movement.

Yoga is especially helpful for the middle back muscles.

Yoga involves dynamic movements, including rotation. Middle back muscles are especially vulnerable to tension due to movement in only one plane. The mid-back muscles are used excessively for forward-and-back movement (flexion-and-extension). Gentle twisting, or rotation, restores blood-flow and flexibility to the middle back, in particular.

With a holistic approach to your pain relief, you can discover more reasons that might be contributing to your back pain. And you can feel relieved that you are treating yourself with natural therapies.
by Nina Schnipper

Spikenard oil is probably an essential oil you’ve never heard of and there is good reason for that. This essential oil is extremely rare and was once considered to be so precious that it permitted use was for kings and high priests. But for those who want the royal treatment, you can certainly find this essential oil easily enough…if you’re willing to pay for it.

Spikenard oil has been prized in ancient cultures, and was even mentioned in the bible. This is the oil that Mary Magdalene used to anoint the feet of Jesus. She then wiped the oil away and it is said that her hair perfumed the entire house. It was also said that one of Jesus’ disciples complained that the oil should have been sold and the money given to the poor, since it was so expensive, even in biblical times. But Jesus said that the oil should have been saved for his burial, since the poor would always be there, but he would not. Even 2000 years ago, this oil was highly prized.

Spikenard oil comes from the Spikenard plant. This plant is native only to the Himalayan Mountains, at elevations between 11,000 and 17,000 feet. The stems of the plant are crushed and processed using steam distillation. The result is an oil with a light amber color and a medium consistency. It has a strong, earthy scent that is very potent, so a little goes a long way.

Spikenard oil has potent sedative properties. This oil is most often used to treat anxiety and insomnia, although it is used to treat a number of other conditions. It is also quite useful in calming the heart. It can be combined with Ylang-Ylang and rubbed on the chest for a calming effect.

Spikenard oil is also an effective anti-inflammatory and anti-spasmodic. It can be used to ease excessive menstrual bleeding as well as ease muscle spasms. This oil is very good for healing skin conditions and has been used by tribal healers to treat conditions that can’t be treated by any other means.

This oil is closely related to Valerian, so if you are familiar with Valerian, then you have an idea of the effect you will get from Spikenard. So if the price of Spikenard is too much for your budget, you could substitute Valerian in your essential oil blend.

One of the most effective ways to use Spikenard is in an essential oil diffuser. Just add a few drops to an oil diffuser, and place next to your bed. Allow the oil to warm for about 30-45 minutes and then remove the heat source (blow out the candle or unplug the warmer), and climb into bed. You’ll be sleeping like a baby in no time. To use Spikenard on your skin, try blending it with Lavender, Vetiver, Sandalwood and Lemon. You can use this essential oil blend in a massage oil and apply to the bottom of the feet.

This essential oil is certainly worth the price you’ll pay for it. So if you are having anxiety or sleep problems, give  it a try.

By Debbie Gez

Given the stress and strain of our daily lives, we must learn to retreat in a place away from chaos and be that much closer to finding inner peace, balance and harmony. Attitudes to health, spirituality, lifestyle and mankind’s place in the environment have changed dramatically and people are seeking answers to their everyday existence. It is this pursuit of happiness and inner peace that has introduced the discipline of yoga to mankind. The practice has developed over the period of 500 years, turning into a science focused on improving the mental and physical health of individuals. The main principle of Yoga revolves around the concept of mind over matter, and it teaches individuals to master one’s mind and senses leading to the cessation of misery. Yoga, unlike other exercises, is an antithesis of the ‘no pain, no gain’ philosophy; graceful, fluid movement’s replace muscle pounding workouts, creating a balance of mind, body and spirit

Consider Training

If you’ve been practicing yoga for some time and have gotten better at it, maybe you should consider getting a thorough training. Of course, it doesn’t mean that you should start training others, but it can help increase your knowledge and develop a deeper understanding about the theory of Yoga, its history, and the various postures and forms of yoga. And if you choose, you can go on to become a registered trainer/teacher of yoga.

Teaching Yoga

Today, we have well over 30,000 yoga instructors and thousands of studios across America engaged in teaching and passing on their wisdom of yoga to individuals who aspire to attain peace and health. The teaching of yoga is not associated with a set of hand or body movements, or just sitting and meditating, but to establish a unique and direct connection with the universe. The universe here refers to the environment, the surroundings, nature, and all that is part of our world. The person who over time is able to gain or raise himself / herself to such a high level of enlightenment or mentorship is recognized as “acharya”, which is a Hindi word meaning teacher or mentor.

Becoming a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT)

The Yoga Alliance is a non-profit body established to promote yoga, its instructors and institutes focusing on spreading the knowledge and technique associated with yoga, while supporting instructors by providing certifications, acknowledging their experience and level of wisdom through practice and mentoring. Once certified, the instructors can use the title “Registered Yoga Teacher” with their names, or the acronym RYT.

Training Programs

The Yoga Alliance certifies individuals on the basis of completing and qualifying for a comprehensive program. The program has 2 parts, each comprising of learning and adopting the discipline and theory of yoga, and practicing it as a lifelong experience. The initial program is referred to as the 200 hour training program, which focuses in developing a starter level understanding of the history and philosophy of yoga, as an art and as a method of self-realization and self-purification, and attaining a state of stability and relaxation, and enriching oneself with the true attributes of oneness.

Yoga instructors normally complete this initial course and practice yoga on their own, through instruction and mentoring and also by passing the knowledge and technique to others who aspire to learn more about the benefits of yoga and practice it. This program can last anywhere between a few weeks to a few months, depending on the training program chosen.

This however is not the end, and it is followed by a secondary training process, which is called the 500 hour training program, essentially adding to the initial 200 hour program. The extended program focuses on lessons based on asana and prayanama and attuning to the multidimensional body, mind and soul. The advanced program would also focus on refining evaluation skills needed for assessing imbalance at the physical, psychological or spiritual levels, including assessments of joints, breathing and the subtle body. The theory of this program is derived from various sources making a perfect blend that serve primarily as a guide and support personal practice. With regular practice it is the aim of the program to reveal the wisdom of yoga to the practitioners.

Once certified, the teachers then embark on a lifelong journey of learning and seeking wisdom to broaden their horizon through instruction, learning and teaching, and through establishing self-discipline and practice. Through this, each practitioner sets out to explore themselves, their inner path, and the unlimited potential for healing and wholeness that lives in the reunion of mind, body and soul

By Brandon Johanson

The Acupressure mat also called Shakti Mat can also be used as a tool to deepen your yoga practice. Experiment with your mat to see which poses you can perform, starting with the basic routine outlined below.

You may wish to place a thin cloth over the acupressure mat to make some of the poses more comfortable to hold. As you become used to holding poses on the mat, you can perform them directly on the spikes.

Let’s begin our energy boosting, meridian clearing Acupressure mat yoga routine.

Tadasana

Step onto your Acupressure mat, lowering your weight evenly onto the acupressure spikes. Inhale and on the exhale stand up tall. Balance your weight evenly across the balls and heels of your feet. Tuck the pelvis under and draw the shoulders back and down. Take five deep, even breaths. From here, we will move into our next pose.

Uttanansana – Standing Forward Bend

Inhale the arms up above your head. Exhale and bend forwards from the hips, bringing the hands to the mat. Inhale as you look up and lengthen through the spine then exhale your head back down. Remain here for a few breaths then slowly inhale back up to standing.

Vrksasana – Tree

Ground down through your left foot, finding your balance. Inhale the right leg up, bringing the right foot to a comfortable position somewhere along the inside of the left leg, or in half lotus if you are advanced. When you feel balanced here, inhale your arms up above your head into prayer position and focus on a point on the floor in front of your acupressure mat. Stay here for as long as is comfortable.

To come out of Tree pose, inhale and on the exhale bring the arms down, releasing the right foot back down to the Acupressure mat. Repeat on the other side.

Pascmottinasana – Seated Forward Bend

Sit up tall on your mat with the legs straight out in front of you, lengthening the spine. On an exhale, bend forward from the hips, drawing your head towards your legs. Keep the back straight, spine long, Place the hands on the legs or, if you can reach, the feet.

Draw the head closer to the legs with every exhale. Feel the spikes of the acupressure mat energising the meridians along the backs of your legs as you draw deeper into the pose. Inhale to come back up.

Salabasana – Locust

Lie with your lower abdomen on the spikes of the mat. The legs are straight out behind you, arms by your sides, chin supported on the floor. Inhale and lift the legs, arms and chin off the floor, holding the pose as long as is comfortable. Exhale down and repeat for three sets.

Continue from here into Dhanurasana, bow pose. To finish this routine, come onto your back, rocking backwards and forwards on the mat, then perform your favourite spinal twist and come into Savasana, corpse pose for relaxation and meditation.

There you have it, a basic 15 minute yoga routine to use with your Acupressure or Shakti Mat. How fantastic do you feel after that? The energy is pulsating through your meridians, enlivening and energising your body and mind. Build on this routine by gradually adding in your favourite poses and when you’re ready to increase the intensity of the practice, remove the cloth to perform the poses directly on the spikes. Namaste!

By Sam Clarke