Announcing my new book "Ancient Yoga for Modern Practitioners"
Did you ever wonder exactly how yoga impacts your nervous system? Or how to craft a yogic home practice that is tailored for your constitution? A home practice that is rooted in tradition and that will ground, balance, and allow you to find optimal wellbeing?
In this book, we will explore yoga practices as short as 5 minutes, to support you in overcoming common imbalances such as panic attacks, depression, inattention, and more. This book will give you a step-by-step program to help promote your journey towards a balanced nervous system. It contains broken-down suggestions of up to hour-long programs for different afflictions. That way you can custom make the duration and intensity of your home practice.
We will explore pranayama (breathing exercise), namaskars (salutations or movement meditations), asana (postures), mudras (hand gestures), mantras (repeated sounds to control and focus our mind), and meditation. We will also outline ways of synchronizing our practices with nature, ways to use the elements as healing, and enhancing our life experience. And ways to take advantage of increased energetic junctions such as the full moon when they occur. If you always wanted to know why we do certain practices in yoga, and craft a rich, personal, and transforming home practice, this book is for you.
Author Bio
Leila has a Masters's degree in Social Science from Lund University and is an E-RYT 500 registered Yoga Teacher with over 1000 hours of studies. Leila completed her 500 hours with Shiva Rea, studied with Sally Kempton, Christoper Wallis, Kia Miller, and Janet Stone, amongst others. She has also had the privilege of studying in-depth with direct disciples of both Patthabi Jois and BKS Iyengar, to whom she owes incredible insights into human physiology as it relates to yoga asana and advanced pranayama revelations. Other styles that are part of Leila's practice and teachings are Kriya Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, and Tai Chi. Leila currently teaches Prana Flow and Prenatal Yoga at Google, tailored private individual and group classes, and partners with companies to bring Yoga and meditation into offsites.
Excerpts
“Yoga, initially, through the breath, can help stimulate the nervous system toward balance. Even three minutes of smooth, mindful, deep breathing without the addition of more refined or sophisticated yogic breathing techniques, improves attention, relaxation, and the ability to cope with a challenging situation.”
“The greatest misunderstanding of our kind is that we have to “become” something and that we have to accumulate wealth in order to fill our inner void. Most societies reinforce these views, so very few of us manage to live in the moment without striving. We end up wasting our short time on this earth by chasing desires that, when consummated, only leave us feeling more empty than before. We can accumulate what we believe to be the ideal life or the perfect career or a garage full of luxury cars, only to feel that void greater than ever. Because the chase has ended, we got what we wanted, but we are still not fulfilled. At least as long as you’re chasing, you are occupied. But for the ”lucky“ few who get there, the void becomes unbearable. Or rather the lack of knowledge of how to fill that void. The emptiness that you feel inside you, that can sometimes threaten to engulf you, wants to be filled with life force, not material objects.“
“Yoga, as a complete system and way of life, works to promote your well-being by grounding you. It slows you down to a point where you can turn inward and tune into your true inner essence, which is part of the whole. By slowing down we are able to move beyond the chatter of mind and connect with our soul. This soul is just part of the greater soul or life force, that encompasses everything. Some people would refer to this life force as god or goddess.”
“As yoga practitioners, we also use nature to connect with the all-encompassing life force. Actual well-being relies on your ability to slow down and listen to your real needs, not your preprogrammed needs.”
“To use this system optimally it’s useful to have an established practice of about twenty minutes a day to connect back to. To more effortlessly access the flow state, you first need to establish a familiarity with it. It’s like filling up a pot with water. If it’s already full, it’s easier to make it overflow with just a few drops.”