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The Pali word vipassana means to see clearly, and that’s exactly what we do in meditation. First we calm the mind and then we use the calm, clear mind to examine ourselves. Set your meditation timer to 25 minutes. Spend the first few minutes calming your mind with breathing meditation. Then it’s time to switch to vipassana. This is switching from calming to investigating. When you’re ready, start doing a body scan. Begin at the top of your head. Pick an area the size of a large coin and pay attention to all of the sensations in that spot. Simply note and observe. Meet any feeling, whether it be pleasant, negative or neutral with equanimity. Continue scanning your entire body from head to toe. If you finish your scan before the timer rings, you can either start a new scan, return to the breath or focus on metta.

How was your mindfulness today? Mindfulness is about momentum,. Keep building on success, even if you were mindful for 5 minutes today, that’s your foundation for tomorrow!

Time: 25 minutes Focus on vipassana this week. Start each session with enough breathing meditation to calm your mind and then switch to body scanning. As your sits get longer, keep strong 💪

Time: 25 minutes Focus on vipassana this week. Start each session with enough breathing meditation to calm your mind and then switch to body scanning. As your sits get longer, keep strong 💪

How was your mindfulness today? Mindfulness is about momentum,. Keep building on success, even if you were mindful for 5 minutes today, that’s your foundation for tomorrow!

Time: 25 minutes Focus on vipassana this week. Start each session with enough breathing meditation to calm your mind and then switch to body scanning. As your sits get longer, keep strong 💪

A mindfulness practice is a lifelong pursuit. The stronger your mindfulness is, the better your sitting meditation will be. Likewise the stronger your sitting meditation, the easier it is to be mindful.

Yoga helps unlock your inner creativity, push out the negativity, increase flexibility and strengthen your body. This 14-day program will teach you the basics of the Sun Salutation, a series of postures that warms, strengthens and aligns the entire body. This program is designed to be taken over 14 days for all levels of fitness, however, participants may take up to 30 days to complete it. Listen to your body and move through each pose or sequence at your own pace

Sun Salutations (Surya Namaskar) are a foundational yoga practice intended to warm the body and celebrate the radiant energy of the sun. Many cultures honor the sun as “the physical and spiritual heart of our world,” and the practice of honoring the sun has both physical and spiritual significance. In yoga, the way in which we salute the sun is by moving through a series of dynamic asanas (movements). While you may practice Sun Salutations across various disciplines, they are best known as the foundation of vinyasa yoga. Vinyasa means to place in a special way, so it is essential to be mindful of your alignment as you flow from pose to pose. Ideally, Sun Salutations are practiced facing east, with an eye toward the rising sun. The origin timeline of Sun Salutations are debated within the yoga community, dating as far back as thousands of years, while some believe the tradition began in the early 20th century. There are many adaptations of the sun salutation where minor variations can be identified. What remains true in all versions, however, is that the basis of any sun salutation stems from eight key poses: Mountain Pose (Tadasana), Upward Salute (Urdhva Hastasana), Standing Forward Bend (Uttasana), Low Lunge (Anjaneyasana), Plank Pose, Four Limbed Staff Pose (Chaturanga Dandasana), Upward Facing Dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana), and Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana). The Sun Salutation brings us full circle through a movement palindrome, working the right side and the left, and finishes where we began--in our tadasana variation with the hands at heart-center, anjali mudra.

Find your tadasana. Hinging at the elbows, sweep the arms outward and inward, bringing the hands into heart center, our anjali mudra (salutation seal).

In Urdhva Hastasana (Upward Salute), you will begin to work on extension from the ground to the sky, elongating the body. While this pose may seem easy, many people suffer from tight shoulders, causing an unpleasant sensation of immobility and discomfort. Flexibility and good positioning can be achieved through practice and repetition, but the pose may also be modified to accommodate beginning practitioners experiencing these issues.

Step 1: Find your tadasana. Ground through the four corners of the feet. Focus on your midline and find stability. Begin to engage the quadriceps, as practiced during tadasana. Step 2: Focus on finding neutral spine alignment. Drawing the attention to the pelvis, imagine a weighted string pulling you down from the tailbone, creating a tether to the earth. This imaginary tether will prevent the spine from curving in excess as you find length. Tuck the ribs in. Step 3: If the hands are not already facing forward by your sides, externally rotate the shoulders so that the palms rotate forward. Remember to initiate movement from the roots of the limbs. Think about rotating the shoulder at the joint, rather than the wrist. Revisit your cues for tadasana - broaden through the collarbones, draw the shoulder blades towards the spine. Inhaling, begin to lift the arms until they are inline with the shoulders. Thumbs should be pointing up to the sky. Make sure you can just see your thumbs within your peripheral vision. As you continue to rise up alongside the ears, begin to turn the pinkies facing forward. Bring the palms together with the shoulders plugged in. Exhale rooting down. Step 4: Inhale to create space between the ribs and lengthen through the crown. Do not let the ribs splay out. Chin remains parallel to the ground. Hold the pose for 8-10 breaths and release the arms by your sides on an exhale.