Category: Understanding Yoga

Navaratri: Lakshmi and Prosperity

Margaret Kruszewska
Navaratri Lakshmi ProsperityProsperity can be a difficult idea, if not an outright taboo subject, in some spiritual circles - including in yoga communities.  While renouncing all worldly pleasures, including the enjoyment of being comfortable and well physically, can be a yogic path-it is by no means the only or even the ultimate path.  (more…)
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Navaratri: Lakshmi

Margaret Kruszewska
Navaratri LakshmiToday begins the next 3 days dedicated to Lakshmi energy.  I remember seeing an image of Lakshmi on many cash registers in Indian shops. Lakshmi is the goddess of prosperity and well-being.  She understands how life energy flows in the material world.  She is pictured with the elephant, sits on a pink lotus and often has gold coins streaming from her palms. (more…)
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Understanding Gunas

Margaret Kruszewska
Yesterday's entry started me thinking about the much misunderstood "tamasic" guna described in yogic philosophy, actually arising from Ayurvedic principles. The gunas are used to describe the physical world:  there are 3 forms- "sattvic" "rajasic" and "tamasic"  - everything is a combination of these 3 states of gross matter.  Food is categorized this way, as are personalities and activities.  (more…)
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Give Yoga a Rest

Margaret Kruszewska
Although there are super-teachers who say that even when they are sick they continue their physical yoga practice, I'm not one of them. I usually tell students to notice when their bodies are clearly signaling to take a full and complete rest. (more…)
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Yogic and Vedic

Margaret Kruszewska
I attended a  presentation today on yoga and noticed that the lecturer used the terms "Vedic" and "yogic" interchangeably.  While not entirely wrong, it not really right either!  There are schools of yoga that consider yoga to have arisen from the Vedic traditions, (the written text of the Vedas), however yogic practices existed before Vedic times.  (more…)
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Pranayama and Breath

Margaret Kruszewska
If you've ever attended a yoga class and heard this word pranayama, you know it has to do with working with subtle energies and breath.  In some schools it is considered an advance practice while others, such as the one I trained with, introduce pranayama techniques from the beginning.   (more…)
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Missing Yoga

Margaret Kruszewska

I’ve heard this comment so often. Someone hasn’t done yoga in a while and then finally has an opportunity to take a class and at the end they say, “I’ve missed doing yoga.” I’ve even said it myself, when I’ve been pulled away from a regular practice.

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Teaching Yoga: What it Takes

Margaret Kruszewska

Teaching YogoI have taken a year off from teaching regularly after an intense 5 years of teaching; sometimes as many as 15-18 classes a week. But one of my spiritual teachers mentioned to me last week that I should be teaching again.

Today I receive an inquiry from a studio that has an open time slot and would I be interested. Somewhere in my beginning...

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