Transform & grow

Thanks for sharing, Selva! It's a powerful transition, new motherhood. May you enjoy the process and continue to grow. Lots of love for you and your newborn! Also, thanks for the suggestion. Will keep that in mind for future classes. xx

Jai! So happy to hear this! And yes, headstand is in your future. :-) xx

Thank you so much for your answer Irina. Love the name your teacher gave too! It was so perfect timing. Thank you.

Hi Jocelyne, Happy to hear the class left you feeling quiet - and that you found ease in the lunge! Good question about the breathing technique... it's a combination of a mudra and pranayama that was called 'fearless breath of love' by one of my teachers. I must say I love that name... I don't know if there even is a Sanskrit name for this one - if anyone knows, I'd love to hear from you! The combination of the mudra and pranayama is said to calm the mind, which helps us to find the strength & courage needed to look within with loving kindness, so we can see what our path is and fearlessly go where we need to go. xx

Thanks for your comment, Helen! Kapalabhati can be a tricky pranayama, I know. The most helpful thing to do is to take it easy. Place your warm hands on your lower belly, just below the navel. Totally relax your belly, let your belly become soft. Notice how your belly automatically starts to move forward with every inhalation and draws in with every exhalation. Just be aware of this movement. This is the first step and you can stay here and practice breathing like this for as long as you'd like. The next step is to inhale deeply and then exhale completely. Now, invite a medium sip of air into your lungs. You're not inhaling fully but it's not a tiny inhale either. Don't overthink this though. ;-) Now, pull in your belly powerfully and exhale. It's a bit like sneezing, where you automatically pull in your belly and exhale because of that. Just as with sneezing, don't think too much about what you're doing here. Relax the belly again after your exhale and you'll notice that an inhalation comes all by itself. Repeat the strong exhale by pulling in your belly. Relax again, inhale automatically. Once this is going really well, start to do this more quickly: short inhalation, strong exhalation, short inhalation, strong exhalation - and so on. The focus is really on the exhalation, the inhale happens all by itself. Most important part is to breathe in your belly. This also means that you'll relax the belly after every exhale. Hope this helps! Keep breathing! :-) xx

Thanks so much for your kind words, Laurie! xx

You're welcome, Prapti! Glad you enjoyed the practice. x

Happy to hear this! Thank you, Amy.

Hi Elizabeth, Thanks for you kind words and question! It sounds as if you're overdoing the exhale and inhale during khapalabhati. If you scroll up a little bit on this page and read my response to Helen's comment, you could practice it in a slower and gentler manner. If the sound is still there when you practice this way, you could let me or one of you teachers in class know - but I think if you start to practice slowly and with ease, the sound will stop. Love!

Thanks, dear Neny! Much love to you on your journey in yoga. x

So good to read your comment, Adam! Thank you for your kind words and for sharing your experience. Happy to hear kapalabhati is going well now and that your breath is present! Indeed, no breath, no yoga... As for your question - I have quite a few hip opening classes here on Ekhart, especially some of the for women and restorative classes. I know, the for women classes might feel a little bit weird, but you might enjoy them as they help to open up in a gentle way. Other than that, I'm working on a class with a hip / back / hamstring focus. Coming up in a little while. Love, Irina

You're welcome, Verena! :-) xx

So glad to hear, Armanda! x