Examining The Self

My Yoga Online is proud to introduce its' new Mind Body TV featuring shakti mhi. This thought-provoking video segment examines concepts of self-perception. What are our authentic thoughts? What are our authentic feelings? How do we see ourselves in the eyes of others and how do we draw from this in our creation of the self? shakti talks about how we develop our own concept of who we are from the moment we are born.



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About shakti mhi: After nearly 30 years of personal practice and teaching thousands of students around the globe, shakti mhi has made Yoga her passion and her life's purpose. Since the age of 14 when she first discovered Yoga, she has traveled the world in search of Yoga and Zen teachers who would expand her knowledge of all aspects of Yoga. Her dedication to the ancient ways of yoga led her to study with a variety of accomplished Zen teachers, deepening her understanding of the original intent of Yoga. Learn more about shakti.


Preview shakti mhi's selection of download products available at MyYogaOnline:

Guided Zen Meditation - click to preview
This class will prepare you for silent meditation. When you hear the sound of the gong, you will sit for ten minutes in silence.

Full Body Relaxation - click to preview
Enjoy being guided into deep mental serenity and physical release through song and visualization.

Evironment Friendly Thanksgiving

Make this year’s Thanksgiving more meaningful by making your celebration more healthful, environmentally friendly and authentic. If you plan ahead and keep things simple, this more sustainable type of Thanksgiving doesn’t have to involve more work or expense, so it can satisfy your appetite, your spirit and your conscience. This could be the first year of a new tradition for your family.

1) Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

• Reduce the amount of waste your produce by buying only as much as you need and choosing products that come in packaging that can be recycled.

• Carry reusable bags when you do your shopping, and use cloth napkins that can be washed and used again. A set of four organic cotton napkins might set you back $20, but you won’t have to buy attractive paper napkins for the rest of the holidays…or the coming years. ..

Eco-Friendly Thanksgiving

Neck Strain Prevention Pilates Tip

My Yoga Online is now offering an on-going series of online Video Tips on Yoga, Pilates, and Wellness topics. This week's Pilates Video Tip is by Anita Siez. Anita demonstrates the foundational skills needed for your Pilates class to prevent neck strain in upper spinal flexion along with key elements to finding the upper abdominal connection.



New Video Tips will be added weekly. Subscribe to our newsletter services to receive updates on these new videos along with other new features at My Yoga Online.

Make Your Coffee a Green Coffee

Before you drink coffee and tea, keep these tips in mind:

1. Think Local Brew

Seek out the coffee and tea that have traveled the least distance to reach you and also aim at supporting local, independent farms, cafés, and roasters.

2. Mug shots
Find that perfect mug and make the investment. Not only is a reusable mug more pleasurable to sip out of than a paper cup, but it will replace an untold number of disposable cups, plastic sippy tops, “java jackets,” and other disposable paraphernalia. Make a quick tally of how many disposable coffee or tea cups you use in a month…yeah, it’s probably a lot...

Greening Coffee and Tea

New Vinyasa Yoga Video Class

This advanced Power Yoga class explores long standing sequences and arm balancing postures. Build strength and steadiness while expanding your awareness to inner connection.



To experience the full video go to VINYASA YOGA CLASS

New Yoga Video - Padma Beginner Class

We are pleased to announce two new videos available on My Yoga Online featuring Padma of Padma Yoga and Meditation:
Mountain - Classical Yoga postures and breathing to develop a gentle foundation.
Ocean - Classical Hatha Yoga flows creating fluid movement and rejuvenation.

Purpose and Focus Through Yoga

We live in an age of distractions and clutter that cloud the mind, create heaviness on the physical and burden the soul. In Yoga, these distractions and obstacles are called Chitta Viksepa. With even small adjustments in behavior, thought, and action, we can shift to a greater state of clarity and focus. This clearer sense of focus allows purposefulness to abound and abundance to flow.

Purpose and Focus Through Yoga...

Yoga Poses - Exploring Warrior 1

Virabhadrasana 1 (Warrior 1 pose) is a wonderful warming yoga posture that can be enjoyed in most hatha yoga practices when aligned mindfully. Yielding numerous benefits Warrior 1 pose strengthens the shoulders, arms, thighs, ankles and the muscles of the back; expands the chest, lungs and shoulders; stretches the hip flexors, abdomen, and ankles; develops stamina and endurance in thighs and core muscles; stimulates abdominal organs and digestion; improves balance, concentration, and core awareness.

Exploring Virabhadrasana...

Eco_Friendly Pets

1. Clean up after them

Cat owners should avoid clumping clay litter at all costs. Not only is clay strip-mined, but the clay sediment is also permeated with carcinogenic silica dust that can coat your cat’s lungs. In addition, the sodium bentonite that acts as the clumping agent can poison your cat through chronic ingestion through their fastidious need to groom. Because sodium bentonite acts like expanding cement—it’s also used as a grouting, sealing, and plugging material—it can swell up to15 to18 times their dry size and clog up your cat’s insides. Eco-friendly cat litters avoid these problems; a happy cat is a cat that doesn’t claw your face off. Scoop up your doggie doo in biodegradable bags.

Greening Your Pets

Health Benefits of Nuts

Enjoy our latest nutrition article, "Health Benefits of Nuts" reviewing the numerous nutritional and health benefits of nuts. Nuts are excellent sources of protein, minerals, healthy mono-unsaturated fats and other nutrients as well they're good for promoting a healthy cardiovascular system.

September 22 Is World Car Free Day

Tomorrow is world car-free day. Every September 22, people from around the world get together in the streets, intersections and neighborhood blocks to remind the world that we don’t have to accept our car-dominated society. It’s a perfect day for us to imagine what our cities might look like, feel like and sound like without cars...

World Car Free Day...

A New Way To Practice Yoga

My Yoga Online is a premium Yoga Video Studio streaming top quality Yoga Classes, Pilates Exercises and Meditation Practices on demand anytime anywhere in DVD quality. My Yoga Online works with the best teachers and offers a wide range of classes in Hatha, Power, Ashtanga, and Kundalini, as well as Pilates and Meditation, ranging from five to ninety minutes in length, beginner to advanced.

Learn more about MY YOGA ONLINE

The Global Mala Project

On September 21st - 23rd, more then 35 countries, hundreds of yoga studios and thousands of yoga practitioners worldwide will gather as a part of the Global Mala Project.

The global collective, from Hong Kong to Tel Aviv, London to Cape Town, Sydney to the hub event in Los Angeles will form a "mala around the earth". Join this worldwide community with fundraising celebrations to raise awareness and funds for some of the most essential issues of our times. Breathe the change you want to envision in the world!

Global Mala Project

Conserving Water

The availability of clean water is one of the central issues of our time, and we all need to do our part to use this resource wisely. Clean water is paramount to the eco-system of our planet. Here are some tips for saving water:

1) Turn off the water while brushing your teeth, washing your hands and washing dishes

2) Do only full loads of laundry and dishes: if your washing machine has a setting for the amount of clothing you’re washing (small-large) choose a low setting

3) If your dishwasher has an option to run a “full” or “short” cycle, choose the short cycle...

...More About Conserving Water...

Shopping For Back to School The Environmental Way

Every year, parents spend millions of dollars on back-to-school supplies. This year, be sure to shop green. Remember that many thrift stores carry school supplies that will cost you a fraction of retail prices.

Avoid excess packaging. A large percentage of solid waste stream is the result of unnecessary packaging. When given a choice, choose the product that is sensible, not over-packaged, and reuse or recycle packaging.

Look for green labels that let you know the product is certified as environmentally friendly.

Read More...

Yoga Posture Stretch For Hamstrings

In Janu Sirsasana and many other Yoga Forward Bend Poses, we explore the expansion of the hamstring muscles. The resistance of the hamstrings against the sit bones (ischial tuberosities) limits the motion of the pelvis structure in relation to the thigh bone, thus reducing the amount of forward bending motion we can generate at the hip joint. By applying the principal of reciprocal inhibition in our Yoga practice, we can manipulate the neural signals of key muscle groups to more effectively relax the hamstrings and to increase our ability to fold into our Yoga Forward Bend poses.
READ MORE

Yoga Position Wrist Protection

I teach Hatha Yoga classes at a variety of Yoga studios, some with carpet and some with hardwood flooring. Regardless of the flooring type, I often see common hand-placement errors in wrist-loading Yoga poses like Downward Facing Dog that can chronically lead to compression injuries in the wrists. Having the proper placement and understanding of how to manipulate the surface area of the hands can significantly reduce the incidence of wrist injuries in your Yoga practice.
READ MORE

Washing Clothes With Care - The Environmental Way

Wash with care. Wait until you have a full load, turn the clothes inside out and use the lowest water temperature possible. Choose phosphate-free and biodegradable detergents READ MORE....


READ MORE

Clothes Shopping For Sustainable Living

• Think about where your clothes come from. Clothing made under fair-wage and labour practices will usually advertise it.

• Wear organic. Though cotton is marketed as clean, fresh, and natural, conventional varieties are anything but. It takes a third of a pound of chemical fertilizers and pesticides READ MORE...

My Yoga Online Introduces New Seaside Video

My Yoga Online introduces a new hatha yoga class "Seaside Yoga Flow" to its selection of outdoor yoga videos. This invigorating, flowing, hatha yoga practice will bring energy and inner stillness to your body, mind, and spirit.

Seaside Yoga Flow

Body Rolling Techniques For Yoga and Pilates Safety

Body rolling techniques like Yamuna have grown in popularity and have worked their way into Yoga and Pilates classes. Body rolling incorporates gravity based body positions and movements along with various sized balls to massage blockages out of muscles, fascia and connective tissues.
READ MORE...

Yoga And Meditation Practice

As we explore our Yoga Meditation practice, we can learn various techniques and applications to bring us to places of greater connection. A useful tool to create this greater connection in our Meditation sessions is Jiva Bandha. Jiva means "soul or the consciousness of the living being" and Bandha means "internal lock". Jiva Bandha is the subtle locking of the tongue to the palate.


READ MORE...

Protecting Your Neck in Hatha Yoga

Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand Yoga Pose) and Halasana (Plow Yoga Pose) are the most common Yoga inversions that move the neck into a deep forward flexion. These inverted Yoga postures provide wonderful benefits in our Yoga classes:
* tones the legs, buttocks, back, and core muscles
* stretches the shoulders and improves flexibility of upper spine...

READ MORE...

Use Yoga For Neck and Shoulder Pain Relief

We have a new article "Hatha Yoga as Physical Therapy for Neck and Shoulder Pain" that offers great insight into the likely cause of chronic neck and shoulder pain in most people. This Yoga anatomy article explores alignment cues for your Yoga exercises and aids in bringing awareness to your overall posture in helping alleviate these chronic conditions.

READ MORE...

Hatha Yoga Balancing of Flexibility and Strength

Hatha Yoga explores various methods of expanding into the muscles and joints creating freedom and healing properties. As much as we enjoy creating flexibility from our Yoga poses, we need to understand the necessity of balancing this growing flexibility with strength and endurance.

There is a growing interest in restorative and passive-style Hatha Yoga classes like Yin Yoga. These Yoga practices incorporate a beautiful method of creating layers of physical, mental and emotional release. Yin Yoga is designed to move flexibility through the muscle tissues into the connective tissues.

READ MORE...

Twisting Yoga Poses and Positions

Twisting Yoga poses like Ardha Matsyendrasana (Half Twist pose), Parivritta Trikonasana (Revolving Triangle pose), and Parivritta Parsvakonasana (Revolving Side Angle pose) create joyous benefits. The twisting motions increase mobility in the vertebral column, massage internal organs, massage nutrients in and through the spine, aid in moving material through the digestive system, tone back and core muscles, and balance energy flow throughout the main energy channel (Sushumna) that travels along the line of the spine.

READ MORE...

Yoga Pose For Stretching Hamstrings

One of the benefits of many forward bending Yoga poses is expanding and stretching of the hamstring muscles. We should take time in our Yoga classes to align the sit bones and leg bones so we can target the proper line of stretch of the hamstring muscles. With this alignment, we should understand the basic anatomy and mechanics of the various hamstring muscles.

READ MORE...

Sustainable Seafood

An estimated 90% of all large, predatory fish are already gone from the world's oceans.

It is so important that we conserve what remains in the oceans, and harvest and consume seafood in a sustainable manner.

To help consumers and restaurants make more informed choices when selecting the seafood they consume or serve, the Vancouver, British Columbia Aquarium has developed programs to help identify sustainable seafood choices.

What does sustainable seafood mean?

READ MORE...

Recipe For Tomato Salad

Enjoy our new article about the health benefits of tomatoes.

This night shade vegetable yields numerous nutritional benefits including the prevention of many cancers. We have also added a quick and simple Tomato Salad recipe.

Yoga Nidra - Yogic Sleep and Pratyahara

Yoga Nidra is a powerful practice of creating an altered state of consciousness by planting healing seeds of affirmations (or sankalpa). As a form of Pratyahara, Yoga Nidra moves one to a state where one can withdraw from the senses and the influences of the mind which do not serve us on the path of enlightenment.

READ MORE...

Yoga Poses for Back Pain Prevention

Hatha Yoga has an array of back bending or back arching Yoga exercises that deliver a wealth of health benefits when done correctly. Back bending Yoga poses can be intimidating to those who have low back pain or previous low back injuries. When performed with the right intention and alignment techniques, back bends can be safe, effective, and revitalizing.

READ MORE...

Green Living - Preventing Leaking Electricity

When electronic devices are left plugged in, electricity can continue to be drawn from the power supply. Anything with an adapter, clock, timer, memory, or remote control continues to use electricity even when the device is turned off. For example, a TV leaks about 6 watts all the time. Referred to as “leaking electricity” or “phantom load”, this wasteful consumption of electricity is rising worldwide as the number of gadgets increase in peoples’ homes. An average home leaks about 450 kilowatt-hours each year or approximately 5% of the annual hydro bill.

READ MORE...

Defining Yoga Postures - Asanas

Asana can be defined as a physical Yoga posture or position that is designed to help master the body and enhance the body’s functions. Yoga poses are, in essence, Yoga exercises creating strength and endurance, improving circulation and energy flow, cleansing organs and other systems, and expanding muscles and joints.

READ MORE...

Benefits of Yoga and Weight Loss

An important part of a balanced health and wellness program is managing your body composition and understanding what is a healthy body weight for your body type. A consistent Yoga practice, Yoga diet and observance of Yoga principles and lifestyle habits can help you find this balance in managing your body weight..

READ MORE...

Power Yoga Grace in Vinyasa Flows

Power Yoga and Ashtanga Yoga classes are beautiful explorations of more physically challenging Yoga flows. Within these more vigorous Yoga practices, we should continually guide ourselves back to the intention, grace, and definition of the asana (Yoga pose).

READ MORE…

Link With My Yoga Online Health and Wellness Resource

At My Yoga Online we strive to create a resource community for not only Yoga and Pilates but for health and wellness, green living, nutrition, and pretty much everything related to helping better our lives and environment.

If you have a BLOG or WEBSITE that you feel can help contribute to our healthy living community we would love to share and link our resources with yours.

Go to My Yoga Online to join our community now.

Namaste

Live Earth Day SOS

Today is Live Earth day and around the world people are making pledges to change our environment for the better. Through concerts in New York, London, Rio, Johannesburg, Shanghai, Hamburg, Sydney, and Tokyo artists, musicians, and environmentalists are raising awareness about global warming and what we can do as individuals to help save our planet. Please visit Live Earth to make your pledge toward change.

Cleanse with Flax Seed

Enjoy my new nutrition article "Get Your Daily Cleanse with Flax Seed".

Forward Bends: Moving With Safety

Forward bending Yoga poses provide great release and rejuvenation to the back lines of the body. When done correctly, they yield wonderful physical, mental, and emotion benefits. When done incorrectly or with ego, they can produce serious damage including herniated intervertebral discs. read more>> FORWARD BENDS

(ie. Adho Mukha Svanasana, Uttanasana, Janu Sirsasana, Baddha Konasana)

My Yoga Online Blog

My Yoga Online is pleased to introduce My Yoga Blog.

Please take the time to visit My Yoga Online and enjoy unlimited access to a premium selection of online Yoga, Pilates, and meditation videos anytime anywhere in DVD quality with expert teachers.