YogaHolidays Blog

Author credit Jennifer Dawson
Photo by Rima Kruciene on Unsplash

Yoga is an exercise, a form of alternative medicine, and traditional form of relaxation and meditation dating back centuries. One part of your body that can benefit from yoga, in particular, is your skin. New forms of yoga, such as hot yoga, can help improve circulation and give you clearer skin in moderation. Approaches to yoga similar to facial yoga can decrease wrinkling in your skin. And yoga users may have less stretchy skin and obesity-related skin conditions.

Author credit  -  James Hirlehey

Have you ever wondered how wellness and Astrology can go together? Whether you use Western or Vedic astrology you can use your Sun sign to enhance your overall health, yoga practice, or wellness routine! Medical astrology is one of the earliest forms for practical uses for astrology. Each zodiac sign has a specific vibration that matches certain foods, exercises, and health needs. Here are different styles of Yoga paired with each zodiac sign!

Aries ♈︎

Aries is a fire sign and therefore has a lot of excess and impulsive energy. Doing a Yoga practice, such as Hot Yoga, is perfect for this zodiac sign. You do not mind the heat and will love to break a sweat while you work out.

Author credit Jenny Johnson.

From the Grapefruit Diet to the Cabbage Soup Diet to the Paleo Diet, it seems that every decade (and maybe even every year) there’s a new fad diet promising shortcuts to health, energy, and above all, weight loss. Sometimes seemingly appearing out of nowhere, more often than not in conjunction with a handful of celebrity endorsements or the release of a new book touting their benefits, these diets seem at first glance almost too good to be true. Unfortunately, deeper research into the benefits of these styles of eating tends to confirm just that – while they may produce some immediate, short-term effects on the body that give the illusion of lasting change, they are no substitute for the lasting health benefits of a yogic practice. As a matter of fact, these fad diets can actually inflict serious damage on the body.

Aurhor credit  Emily Brathen

We all know that yoga offers a myriad of amazing benefits not just for the body but also for the mind and soul. However, while we’re sure that it does strengthen the muscles and improve your flexibility and balance, you might still wonder: does yoga help you lose weight? If so, how exactly? Continue reading to find out the answer!

Great discounts now available with Adventure Yogi in Santorini and Cornwall

Santorini holiday 30th June - 7th July and 7th  - 14th July. 
Twin room to share: Was £989pp Now £695pp  
Single occupancy: Was £1400pp. Now £995pp

Cornwall retreat 14th-21st July 
Twin room to share with ensuite. Was £475pp. Now £395pp
Twin room to share with shared bathroom: Was £445pp. Now £375pp

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The In Sabina programme in Italy has had a change of teacher.

Author credit Amanda Bentley

Yoga is quite popular today.
It can trace its roots back to India where there are strong mystic and religious traditions. Today, yoga is popular as a form of exercise and for keeping people fit. It has very little to do with its religious origins and more people are doing it every year.
Since everyone seems to be doing yoga these days, the question is whether you should be teaching it to your kids. The answer is yes and here are 5 reasons why you should:

In India where it originates from, yoga is more than a physical or spiritual task. It is a tradition and a culture. History says yoga began in the sixth and fifth centuries BCE. However, its popularity as a form of physical exercise only spread to the western world in the 1980's.

 Yoga is a form of physical practice that involves stretching the body and working the muscles through specific angles. Yoga also involves working the joints through certain positions. In India, Yoga is believed to be of great spiritual, mental and health benefits. In fact, yoga has become so popular that many sportsmen and women engage in it.

A recent survey showed that the number of people that practiced yoga in the United States of America increased from four million in 2001 to about twenty million in 2011. In fact, former American leader Barack Obama approved yoga as an effective form of physical exercise. He once stated "Yoga has become a universal language of spiritual exercise in the United States, crossing many lines of religion and cultures,...

Adaptogenic herbs are a loosely-related class of plants that impact a variety of body systems, usually by reducing stress hormone production in the adrenal gland. Chronic stress, anxiety, and depression are common in modern society. Worldwide, folks are overstimulated with electronics and inundated with hectic schedules. The adaptogens in this article can help relieve stress.

If you’ve been doing yoga for a while, chances are you are pretty comfortable with the mechanics of most of the basic poses and are aware of the tremendous yoga benefits for women and man. You know how to draw your navel into your spine to engage your core. You know how to use your breath to help you sustain a challenging pose or work toward one that seems difficult. You have learned most of what you need to know about your own body to be able to suit the poses to the places that work for you. As you go through a practice, you feel like you are pretty much secure in the major anatomical points of each of the poses.

While this doesn’t mean you feel like you have “mastered” yoga, it’s a major milestone for most yoga students. It might come after months, or even years, of practice, but you’re probably aware of each step along the way, as poses become more accessible and your knowledge deepens.

That’s an exhilarating feeling, no question. But, it can also trigger a sense of frustration, especially for driven yogis. The more you become adept, the more challenging it can seem to search for the next step in your yoga journey.

Look at this as an opportunity to delve into the next level of yoga. This can mean taking a closer look at the details of your physical practice. It can mean intensifying your meditation. Maybe you want to enrich your knowledge of yogic tradition. Whatever it is, now is the time to look past the “what” and explore the “why” and “how” behind your yoga. Here are five tips to do just that.

Author credit Justin Faraday

What is it about yoga that fills you to the brim with such a strong feeling of well-being? While you focus on your breath and the fluidity of your asanas, your brain is busy releasing endorphins, boosting neuroprotective proteins, balancing hormone levels, and increasing the expression of anxiety-reducing neurotransmitters. You step out of the yoga studio soaked to the bones in sweat and stumbling in the euphoric haze of the “yoga glow.”
Yoga is a therapeutic combination of meditation and exercise. The end result is a sort of supplement-free nootropic stack. Yoga enhances cognition and soothes brain chemistry from the inside out. Here’s a closer look at a few of the ways that your yoga glow is the manifestation of a happy brain.

Author credit Amelia Johnson 

Introduction

Life gets busy, doesn’t it? While yoga practice in its very nature bids you to slow down, the reality of life is that there are lots of school or work schedules which cannot stop. Think of the assignment that needs to be submitted, the housework that needs to be done, career and work deadlines to be met, and the family-related responsibilities to be accomplished.

What does all this mean? Fitting yoga in your busy schedule is about committing, using the little free time, or, at times, trading off some responsibilities.

But there are some ways through which you can conveniently practice yoga amid your busy life. This is how.

Author credit - Manmohan Singh.  A yoga teacher and a blogger.

Summary: Yoga is about connecting body, mind and soul. A healthy body and mind are needed for a happy soul to reside in.
The article will guide you to a healthy mind and body through these yoga poses.

Rightly said! Yoga is not just a workout- it is about working on yourself. In this hurried-up life, stress and body issues come in handy,
yoga is a perfect way to keep our body and mind fit. A healthy being is a combination of both mental and physical health.
Yoga is the therapy which rejuvenates you, provides inner-bliss, and keeps you focused, healthy, and stress-free.

Here are some yoga poses which are great for mental and physical health.

Author credit Michael Morelli

You can get a lot of benefits from doing yoga. Apparently, the numbers of people who are starting to take yoga classes today are quite increasing. 

Although yoga routines are usually utilized for mind and body healing, you could actually lose weight by simply doing yoga.

Note that yoga routines are not meant for losing weight or shedding excess calories. But if you really want to get rid of those fats and extra pounds,
yoga could help you do it provided that you will be paying attention as well to your fitness routines and meal consumptions such as your healthy diet plan.

Here are some of the most effective yoga poses that will help you with your weight loss plans:

Author credit - Manmohan Singh.  A yoga teacher and a blogger. 

Summary: Weight Issues is one of the increasing health problems. Read the article to explore the potential of using yoga for weight loss.

Being overweight or obese comes with a lot of health issues like diabetes, heart ailments, skin problems, etc. And as we know that gaining weight is easy but losing is not. Hours of workout, skipping meals and stress of not losing weight can do a lot of bad things to you instead of good. But through yoga, one can achieve all. So let’s see the potential of using yoga for weight loss.

Author credit - Manmohan Singh.  A yoga teacher and a blogger. 

Summary: This article aims to elucidate the six best yoga poses for strength and flexibility

To live in this fast-paced era one needs to be high on strength and vigor. However, the daily humdrum of life leaves us completely exhausted.
What one yearns for is great physical and mental strength along with improved flexibility. Is there any method to achieve strength and flexibility?
Yes, this phenomenal quality is present in the science of yoga.

The art of yoga offers endless benefits to the practitioner. On a physical level, it increases strength, improves flexibility, recharges energy levels,
and lubricates tendons, joints and so much more. It ensures optimum supply of blood to body organs, keeps various health issues at bay and detoxifies the body.
Yoga, being an excellent exercise for the physical body is also about mindfulness, focus and mental flexibility. The yoga practice helps an individual to cognitively
adapt to change without undue stress and helps an entity solve problems of life logically. When you dwell in the practice of yoga on regular basis, you will start to
notice increased physiological and psychological strength.

Here is a list of six yoga poses for increasing flexibility and strength.

THE SOUND OF SILENCE

Author credit Will Cottrell of YOGAHOLIDAYS.NET

Hi folks,
At this time of year it's easy to feel surrounded by noise and chaos. 
So it's useful to understand that there's something else underlying all this sound and activity, something that's far more powerful.
If you can find it, it's a great tonic with which to clear your head for the New Year.

Author credit Krima Flint

Sometimes, the hunt for a perfect yoga mat can make you feel like you are questing for a Holy Grail.
The combination of price, grip, length, color, reliability, and thickness would always make you feel confused in between the choices.

And with those price tags, you don’t want to get an imperfect one. Here is my list of five yoga mats that you can surely trust .

By Kulraj Singh, Principal Physiotherapy at Tavistock Clinic

Although originally practiced as a means for spiritual development, yoga has a host of physical health benefits also.
It’s widely known that yoga helps with flexibility, range of movement in our joints, and can even help battle symptoms of clinical depression, but can it improve muscular strength?

In the search for a stronger mind, a healthier body, and a better over-all disposition; more and more people are becoming yogis. If you have decided that yoga is the workoutforyou; then we’ve got you. Just read through this yoga essentials beginners’ yoga kit guide, and you’re all set.