"In the breath, the soul finds an opportunity to speak."

From “Breath” by Danna Faulds

You may have noticed that all yoga classes, no matter the style, begin and reinforce an emphasis on intentional breathing. Teachers that weave Sanskrit (the ancient language of India in which classical yoga texts are written) into their classes will refer to this focus as Pranayama breathing. 

Pranayama is defined as the regulation of the breath through certain techniques and exercises. In Sanskrit it is derived from prāṇa "breath" + āyāma "restraint."

Another similar translation of the concept describes prana as the life force or breath sustaining the body; with ayama translating to “extend or draw out." Together two mean breath extension or control.

"In many ways, the cosmic energy that is Prana corresponds to that of modern nuclear physics, which regards all matter as energy ‘organized’ in different ways. This is Prana with a capital P. It is Prana that knows no boundaries. Its source is the energy of the universe, that which is unchanging within you, your very soul, and it feeds your energy body, what the ancient texts call the pranamayakosha. Prana (small p) refers to the energy in the atmosphere – oxygen-rich air. This prana, also known as vaya, feeds the physical body, what the ancient Yogis called the annamayakosha.

What does knowing how to breathe look like? It is breathing that moves like a wave through your body, originating in the diaphragm rather than the thoracic region of the chest. It is full and deep and calm. To breathe this way, the body must be relaxed. When we consciously tense the muscles and hold the breath, there is a relaxed feeling that accompanies the release. So the simplest way to relax is by contracting the muscles while holding the breath, then letting the muscles and breath release completely."

Amy Weintraub

If you are a beginner to pranayama techniques, check out this in-depth Breathing Lessons article online that includes instructions for several variations on breathing exercises you can include with your home yoga practice. 

​Shiva Rea has been practicing yoga since the tender age of 14, and is one of the leading yoga instructors of our times. First driven to explore the enlightening world of yoga to understand her birth name, Shiva’s goals have since progressed to include sharing her knowledge with any and all comers. Shiva believes that yoga enables everyone to realize their true potential. She focuses on Vinyasa (roughly translated, “breath-synchronized movement”), and enjoys worldwide fame as a teacher of Prana Flow Yoga and Yoga Trance Dance. Shiva Rea’s expertise in the Krishnamacharya lineage of yoga as well as Tantra, Ayurveda, Bhakti, Kalaripayattu, world dance, somatic arts, and yogic arts has led her to be invited to many important conferences and festivals in the yoga world, including Chant 4 Change, Yoga Journal Conferences, the Telluride Yoga Festival and special events at Kripalu and Omego. 

She has participated in pro-environmental events, and led retreats and pilgramages all over the world. During these retreats, Shiva helps students experience transformational yoga, healing, and sacred sanctuaries to supplement and freshen their yoga knowledge. Her teacher training programs merge Tantra, Yoga, and Ayurveda to prepare teachers for meditation, advanced asanas, and service in the world. 

Shiva’s fame extends to the world of media as well. She has been featured in a variety of yoga and fitness publications, and produced award-winning yoga DVDs and CDs. These products have helped revolutionize the in-home practice of yoga. Shiva Rea’s unique blend of traditional and revolutionary yoga, fitness, and music has enabled her to attract both novice as well as long time practitioners. Shiva Rea currently lives in Pacific Palisades, California. 

The strongest foundation for romantic love is two partners that enter a relationship with their own established self-love and acceptance. 

But what do we mean when we use the term "self-love?"

According to Deborah Khoshaba, Psy.D., a Clinical Psychologist and Director of Training and Development for the Hardiness Institute, self-love includes the following behaviors.


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Become Mindful
​People who have more self-love tend to know what they think, feel and want. They are mindful of who they are and act on this knowledge, rather than on what others want for them.

Act on What You Need Rather Than What You Want
You love yourself when you can turn away from something that feels good and exciting to what you need to stay strong, centered, and moving forward in your life, instead. By staying focused on what you need, you turn away from automatic behavior patterns that get you into trouble, keep you stuck in the past, and lessen self-love.

Practice Good Self-Care
You will love yourself more, when you take better care of your basic needs. People high in self-love nourish themselves daily through healthy activities, like sound nutrition, exercise, proper sleep, intimacy and healthy social interactions.

Set Boundaries             
You'll love yourself more when you set limits or say no to work, love, or activities that deplete or harm you physically, emotionally and spiritually, or express poorly who you are.

Protect Yourself
Bring the right people into your life. I love the term frenemies that I learned from my younger clients. It describes so well the type of "friends" who take pleasure in your pain and loss rather than in your happiness and success. My suggestion to you here: Get rid of them! There isn't enough time in your life to waste on people who want to take away the shine on your face that says, "I genuinely love myself and life." You will love and respect yourself more.

Forgive Yourself
We humans can be so hard on ourselves. The downside of taking responsiblity for our actions is punishing ourselves too much for mistakes in learning and growing. You have to accept your humanness (the fact that you are not perfect), before you can truly love yourself. Practice being less hard on yourself when you make a mistake. Remember, there are no failures, if you have learned and grown from your mistakes; there are only lessons learned.

Live Intentionally
You will accept and love yourself more, whatever is happening in your life, when you live with purpose and design. Your purpose doesn't have to be crystal clear to you. If your intention is to live a meaningful and healthy life, you will make decisions that support this intention, and feel good about yourself when you succeed in this purpose. You will love yourself more if you see yourself accomplishing what you set out to do. You need to establish your living intentions, to do this.

Thank you to everyone that attended this afternoon's Beginner Yoga class at Ways to Wellness. Today's class theme involved many different translations and interpretations that define yoga, to expose students to the tradition's rich history. 

Yoga has its roots in Indian thought, but its content is universal because it is about the means by which we can make the changes we desire in our lives. The actual practice of yoga takes each person in a different direction. The practice of yoga only requires us to act and be attentive to our actions. We begin where we are and how we are, and whatever happens, happens.

What is Yoga?
​Translations, Interpretations & Personal Definitions 

Yoga is the Calming of the Fluctuations of the Mind.

Yoga, in Sanskrit, means to completely know yourself, and to be at peace in yourself.  


​This is a very personalized peace, that includes freedom for all suffering, doubt and confusion.  

At its most practical level yoga is a process of becoming more aware of who we are, teaching us about balance and health, and unfolding our potential.  
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Yoga allows us to be more aware of ourselves and feel connected. It is a never-ending process of self-discovery.  

Buddha describes yoga as “the journey of the self, through the self, to the self.”  

Yoga for me (Yoga Teacher Katie Engels), is a systematic way to focus ongoing learning with regard to self-care.

Thank you to everyone that joined us today for yoga where we closed our practice with this beautiful poem by Tomlinson to reflect on the power of pausing to observe stillness. 

Farewell to Van Gogh

The quiet deepens. You will not persuade 
One leaf of the accomplished, steady, darling 
Chestnut-tower to displace itself
With more of violence than the air supplies
When, gathering dusk, the pond brims evenly 
And we must be content with stillness.

Unhastening, daylight withdraws from us its shapes 
Into their central calm. Stone by stone
Your rhetoric is dispersed until the earth 
Becomes once more the earth, the leaves
A sharp partition against cooling blue.

Farewell, and for your instructive frenzy 
Gratitude. The world does not end tonight
And the fruit that we shall pick tomorrow 
Await us, weighing the unstripped bough.

Charles Tomlinson 1960