Inspiring Blog Posts from Sadie Nardini

I have been reading Sadie Nardini’s blog posts in Yoga Journal’s Yoga Diary and have found them very inspiring. Sadie’s posts give insight into how yoga can transform our lives. When I read her posts, I can relate to the subject as her posts talk about how we sometimes hold ourselves back in our yoga practice as well as in life. Many a times we spend all our time and energy trying to accommodate other people’s needs, leaving ourselves drained and frustrated.

Sadie gives examples of how the teachings of yoga can lead us to change our perspective and transform ourselves into the next level.

Her blog post on “Rocking Your Abhyasa” talks about being ready when we are called into action. By developing a consistent yoga routine and facing every yoga pose and moment when we feel challenged is an opportunity for us to become the most of ourselves. When we can do this, our dharma (life’s path) – the things we are called to do will be easier as we have all the tools ready for us to rock it. It is the same in life, if we want something in our life, we have to work at it, whether it is the dream job that we have always wanted or the promotion we think we deserve.

Reading her blog posts have helped to motivate and encourage me in pursuing my passion for yoga further and bringing what I learn into my daily life.

The Climb

I was driving home last night when the radio station played Miley Cyrus’s The Climb and as I listened to the lyrics, I realized that some of the words reflect how I felt when I am doing my yoga poses.

When doing poses like headstand and arm balancing poses, I sometimes hear a voice inside my head saying “You’ll never be able to do it”.

Yoga is a journey of learning and with each practice I have learned to listen to my body instead of my head. I learned that when my breath and movements are in sync, the poses are easier to execute and I will be able to do those poses that seemed impossible.

Yesterday, I managed to bind my hands in Marichyasana D during the Ashtanga Led class on my own and as I reflect back, I know it is because I never give up that I am able to do so. The journey was hard and painful; the twisting of the hands was sometimes painful (due to wrong techniques being used!). But with guidance from Azmi on using the breath and an anchor to twist, I am finding it easier to twist and bind my hands together.

It is also the same for my head stand, no matter how many times I fall, I have to do the pose as I am able to see my progress each time I go up; with each time being able to stay longer in the inversion an achievement by itself.

To all you new yogis and yoginis out there, keep the faith and all will be coming and along the way, enjoy the climb!

“Ain't about how fast I get there, ain't about what's waiting on the other side,
It's the climb, yeah!
Keep on moving, keep climbing
Keep the faith, baby, It's all about, it's all about the climb”

"Lock - in" your Life Force with Bandhas

Energy or the Life force flows through us, to keep us alive. It is the flow of this energy, which regulates our bodily and mind functions. Irregularity in this flow or pattern leads to various ailments and mental tensions.

Life Force is like water; it has to flow through our body and provide a certain amount of energy to each of our cells. Some times, due to our lifestyle or thinking, these flows get disturbed. Certain parts of our body get either too much or too less of energy. The energy may not be reaching some places and at other parts there may be stagnation of energy. Such imbalances lead to headaches, backaches, constipation, sexual disorders, stomach ailments or any other disorder depending on one's imbalance.

Besides Pranayama, Bandha is another yogic practice to regulate this life force.

Pregnant women, people suffering from high blood pressure, peptic and duodenal ulcers or heart ailments should not practice Bandhas.

Bandha in Sanskrit means 'to lock or tighten'. In Bandha practices, the breath is locked or concentrated in a particular area of the body. The body is tightened to retain the energy in that part for some time. This locking of life force has a lot of beneficial effects.

Bandhas help in massaging of the internal organs and removal of stagnant blood. Besides, the practice of Bandhas regulates the nervous system, delays aging, increases vitality and leads to spiritual development.

Bandhas help to release the psychic knots. Psychic knots are like whirlpools of energy created in the wrong areas of our body, over years because of our lifestyle. These knots prevent the natural flow of energy, leading to imbalances.

Jalandhara Bandha (Jaa-lun-dhaar Bun-dh) or The Chin Lock

Sit comfortably in Vajrasana or Padmasana (cross legged) with knees touching the floor.
Place palms on knees.
Inhale deeply, filling your lungs. Retain and hold your breath inside.
Now keeping your back straight, bend your head forward, so that the chin touches the notch between the collar bones. Keep the chin tightly pressed to create the lock
Straighten the arms, hunch the shoulders upwards and forwards, so that the arms too are tightened.
Hold the lock for as long as you are comfortable. Feel the pressure of air, and the blood flow in your chest.
Then relax the shoulders, bend the arms, release the chin lock, slowly raise the head and exhale.
Never exhale or inhale during the chin lock. Do so only after release of lock and with head upright.
Practice 5 rounds with breath retained inside (after inhalation with lungs filled up) and then 5 rounds with breath retained outside (after exhalation with empty lungs)
Jalandhar Bandha has many benefits-
Physically -It helps in managing throat problems, excess mucus and thyroid imbalance. It also improves the quality of voice and stammering.
Mentally- It helps in management of anger and stress.
Spiritually- It works at the level of Vishuddi Chakra.

Moola Bandha or the Anal Lock

Sit comfortably in Vajrasana or Padmasana (cross legged) with knees touching the floor.
Place palms on knees.
Inhale deeply, filling your lungs. Hold your breath and contract muscles of the perineum/cervix area by drawing them upwards.
Hold the lock for as long as comfortable. Feel the tightening of your muscles.
Release contraction and exhale slowly.
Repeat this 10 times and may be increased to 30.
Anal Lock may also be done in conjunction with Chin Lock -
Sit erect. Inhale deeply.
First do the Chin lock, and then the Anal lock.
Hold as long as comfortable. Become aware of the pressures in your entire body.
Relax, by first releasing the Anal lock and then the Chin lock.
Raise your head and exhale.
Practice 3 rounds.
Also practice 3 rounds with external retention.
Moola Bandha has many benefits-
Physically -It helps in managing problems of sexual organs, constipation and piles. It tones the pelvic area. It also strengthens the sphincter muscles of the anus and stimulates the intestinal peristalsis.
Mentally- It helps in sublimation of sexual energy.
Spiritually- It helps in awakening of Kundalini.

Just like, with all yogic practices, with Bandhas too one should keep his awareness high. You must keep listening to your body during the practice and stop at any indication of discomfort. Patience and practice will lead to wonderful and blissful results.

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Animal Yoga

Yoga poses are named after animals, so it is therefore not surprising that animals are doing the yoga poses. Below are some pictures I found of animals in some familiar yoga poses.

Flamingos do the tree pose naturally when they are standing.



A squirrel doing the “plough” pose.



Supta Padangustasana A (Sleeping Big Toe Pose)



A duck stretching to Warrior 3.



A dragonfly in full focus and stillness in the feathered peacock pose.

A Delightful and Enlightening Yoga Retreat

Came back from the Bali yoga retreat on Monday night and had such a wonderful time there. It was such an enlightening trip and the yoga retreat was all the more fun with four lovely Malaysian celebrities along.

Before the trip, I had wondered how the retreat would be like as looking at the schedule, we would need to get up at 7.30 a.m. every morning for the full yoga practice with another yoga workshop session at 5.00 pm in the evenings. I was amazed to find the high energy level as everyone came back for more each day even though our bodies were aching and sore from working our psoas (pronounced "so-az") and gluteus maximus for the yoga asanas as well as from all the walking for our shopping trips in Ubud and Kuta. We had also stayed up late most nights as we were having so much fun getting to know each other.

It was a perfect group of 10 pax with a yogini, Ade from Indonesia joining our group as Azmi was able to make the necessary adjustments that each of us needed and when we needed to partner up to do some of the poses like headstand.

The theme of the yoga retreat was “An Art of Letting Go” and there were Pranayama sessions where we learned breathing techniques which included Ujjayi, Anuloma Viloma (Nade Shuddhi) and Kapalbhati. We also started our morning practice with a 10 minute Meditation session each day which help us to find inner peace and balance before we did the full practice. For the workshops, we learned the fundamentals of grounding our foundation. balance and focus, awareness and letting go, using our breaths to help us go deeper in the poses, working our core and facing and conquering our fears. We were taught on how to use the psoas which is critical for balanced alignment, proper joint rotation and full muscular range of motion. By engaging our psoas muscle, we are able to lift our legs higher with the least effort, with our legs feeling light as it lifts up. As we use the psoas muscle all the time, it is important to keep it limber in order for it to function smoothly with the other muscle of the body to support an upright posture and a flexible lower spine and hips. When the psoas is strained or contracted, it can lead to an increase in lower back pain, knee pain and tightness in the hips and inner thighs. We should regularly engage in stretches which will help to address a tight psoas and poses such as the triangle pose, warrior poses, forward bends and bridge pose helps to awaken the psoas.

On the last day of the retreat we had a sharing session before the certificate presentation and everyone agreed that we were bringing back what we had learned at the retreat not only to our yoga practice but also to our daily life.

The retreat ended with a spa outing where we had an exhilarating full body massage to relieve the soreness in our body before it was time to leave for the airport to catch our flight back to Kuala Lumpur. It was such a fantastic retreat where new friendships were made with a handsome yogi and 8 beautiful yoginis sharing the same passion of learning from a great teacher in the beautiful and enchanting island of Bali. I have all the lovely memories of the retreat entrenched in my heart.

Thank you Azmi (for your patience and guidance and opening your home to us, we had such a wonderful time there!), Erica (for enlightening us with our life paths!) Daphne, Attila, Hani, Sazzy (for all the craziness; it was such fun watching you gals doing the “whose line is it” at Induz, you are all so talented!), Bee Yen, Nick, Michelle and Ade (for just being there!). Hope to be with you all again at the next retreat!

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Tomorrow is Chinese New Year’s eve where the Chinese will be having their reunion dinner with the family. Whether you are having the reunion dinner at your house or at a restaurant, it is a time to feast on the abundance of delicious food with each dish on the menu having a symbolic meaning. So remember to eat “fa cai” to bring you prosperity, “ha” (prawns) to be happy and merry and “yu” (fish) to have a plentiful year.

I will be celebrating part of the Chinese New Year (which is celebrated for fifteen days) in Bali as I am joining the yoga retreat led by Azmi. We will be leaving for Bali on the fifth day of Chinese New Year and will be there for 4 days. I am looking forward to the trip as I have never been to Bali and going there for a yoga retreat means that I get to practice yoga in this land of mystic and enchantment as well as exploring what this beautiful paradise has to offer which would comprise of shopping, spas and Balinese cuisine.

Meanwhile, the first four days of the Chinese New Year will be spend collecting “ang pows” which would give me some extra pocket money to spend on the trip.

May the Year of the Tiger brings you all good health, wealth, peace, joy, love and light. Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Happy Hour Yoga

If you have been looking at Beyoga schedule for this month, you would have noticed that there is a Happy Hour Yoga class on Friday at 7 pm with Lila. You must be wondering "What is this Happy Hour Yoga class?"

Tonite, I went for the first class thinking that it would be a Yoga Dance class since Lila had told us that we might be doing the yoga dance class as our Yoga Dance class on Mondays had been pulled out from the schedule. I even wore my yoga dance pants, the pants are good for sliding on the floor as some of the poses in yoga dance needs us to do a 360 degree turn rolling on the floor.

Well, Lila had to change the class at the last minutes as she could not play any music due to some technical problems. She started the class with us sitting in a circle and putting one hand on our heart and the other hand on the back of the person next to us as we chanted three “OMs”, feeling the sound vibrating around us.

We did a few rounds of Iyengar style sun salulations before Lila got us to do some partner yoga poses where we stretch our shoulders, hamstrings and calf muscles with the help of our partner.

It was then back to our own mats to do the poses which incorporate what we did in the partner yoga poses as Lila asked us to apply the techniques while doing the pose on our own.

The stretching poses really helped to relieve the tension from my body from sitting at my office desk hunching over the computer all day and driving through the heavy traffic going to class.

But what really helped to release the final bit of tension from my body was the laughing meditation before savasana. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful class.