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Alice G. Walton

what is pranayama
The Language of Yoga

Eight Limbs of Yoga: Pranayama

The goal of the fourth limb of yoga, pranayama, is to gain control of the breath. Learning how to change your breath actually allows you to halt (and redirect) that stress reaction, which is "turned on" all too often…

what is samtosha
The Language of Yoga

Niyamas: Svadhyaya

More recently, svadhyaya has come to mean "self-reflection." Self-reflection is the thing most of us not only resist, but resist with vigor. Sitting with all our pain and trying to understand it by looking into it can feel like…

what is samtosha
The Language of Yoga

The Niyamas: Samtosha

What samtosha is all about is going back inside and trying to tweak our own reactions to life, so that we can learn to sit more calmly and less reactive in the presence of whatever life throws at us.…

Brahmacharya
The Language of Yoga

The Yamas: Aparigraha

The last yama is usually translated as non-greed or non-possessiveness. But a better way to think of it might be learning how to deal with our innate desire for more, or at least, to sit with the desire, observe…