#yogaisequanimity

[luanafarayoga]

The practice of Postural Yoga has been a gift in my life through which I have found healing, it has been a medicine in the relationship with my body, with my ego, with myself. After some years of dedicating my life to contemporary dance, and after entering in an internal battle with my need of attention and external recognition, I found Asana. In the practice of Asana I have found a way to express my deepest emotions, and the possibility to move subtle energies than otherwise would be condensed in my physical body. Through the practice of Asana, I have started to walk a path, the path to see inside, to see that which is invisible to the human eyes, that which we call soul. #asana #posturalyoga #svadhyaya #selfstudy #yogaismymedicine #practicekindnessandcompassion #yogaisequanimity https://www.instagram.com/p/BtoS5nFl7Ye/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1fi4umsqhrwo7

[luanafarayoga]

Everyday the practice teaches us something. Today my body was tired and my energy low, Tamasic. There are somethings we take for granted and when we realize they are not, we learn humbleness. Equanimity in the practice means to not feel defeated or victorious for what we believe is “achieving” or “failing”. 📷👉🏽 @fotosbyboca #utthitahastapadangusthasana #asana #yogaisequanimity https://www.instagram.com/p/Bthkh0TlA3M/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=f9epenag2ml

[luanafarayoga]

You don’t have to put your leg behind the head to practice yoga, or to touch your head with your toes or even to touch the floor with your hands. I do Eka Pada Sirsasana in my asana practice because this is where my body naturally leads me to. This, similar to other postures less demanding of flexibility such as Janu Sirsasana, takes me to a place in which I have to bring all my attention to the breath, a place where I feel I have to do efforts in order to create space in my spine without creating rigidity, because I feel the benefits of it in my digestion... but we can get this benefits from many other postures which don’t require to put your leg behind the head. My Asana practice helps me to build heat or Fire 🔥 (Agni), so that I can purify my body from toxins, so at some point the 6 poisons of the mind can start to be burned: lust/ desire, anger, attachment, greed, envy/ jealousy and pride. For me Asana is a tool, it’s a means but not a goal. The state of yoga might come or not, in the meantime, our efforts whichever they are, are supposed to be helping us to become more aware of who we think we are, of what we really are, and the work that has to be done to remove the layers of what we are not. 📷👉🏽 @fotosbyboca #asana #ekapadasirsasana #asanapractice #svadhyaya #selfstudy #selfknowledge #selftransformation #consciousnessawakening #practicekindnessandcompassion #yogaisequanimity #luanafarayoga https://www.instagram.com/p/BtAK5pvgtGb/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1ib8mxbf7u18y

[luanafarayoga]

Here I am, saying good bye to the beach with this magnificent sunset. Now I’m ready to start my journey to India. This is going to be my 7th trip to India, an auspicious journey, specially because this time I’m traveling with my beloved partner and husband @fotosbyboca who is beyond a partner, my companion on the spiritual path. I receive what is as a gift, sometimes I react with attachment to expectations and many times I try to control things as my desires and end up suffering, but everyday at some point of the day I remind myself that I am alive, and I’m just a leaf that floats in the winds of the Universe, so I feel gratitude within my heart. Thank you all which and who is part of my journey! . 📷👉🏽 @fotosbyboca #gratitude #sunset #costaricasunset #trivikramasana #yogaisequanimity #luanafarayoga https://www.instagram.com/p/Bsa07LaApzx/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=2c1k3tu3tgna

[luanafarayoga]

Happy New Moon! 🌑🖤🌑 Today is a day for introspection, for reflecting on those emotions we have buried without even listening to them. Use the darkness outside to acknowledge the darkness within. Listen to the silence that resides underneath what seems to be an unstoppable noise in our mind. We try so hard to not be affected by outside circumstances, by our thoughts and actions, but the very truth is that for most of us being untouched by the outside is very far from reality, we get continuously affected by other’s words and reactions, by our own thoughts, by the unexpected results of what we thought was under our control. And so we develop emotions of discomfort, frustration, resentment, anger. The main problem is not the emotions but how we deal with them. We feel guilty of these emotions, and so we reject them, we condemn ourselves because we are feeling these dense energies. Guilt and repression are also dense energies of low vibration, so by repressing and rejecting something that is already inside of us, we just create even more heaviness inside. Instead of trying to not be affected by something when you are already, accept you are affected, not with guilt, but with understanding and compassion. That is the very first step to transform our dark emotions and thoughts into light. 📷👉🏽 @fotosbyboca #selfobservation #selfknowledge #svadhyaya #practicegratitude #practicekindnessandcompassion #yogaisequanimity #luanafarayoga https://www.instagram.com/p/BotyvBIn5Bt/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=9yetor0c42ss

[luanafarayoga]

We are always trying to hide our light because we are afraid to shine... maybe because we were taught that our light was not radiant, or because we are afraid that if we shine too much we will turn off other’s light... which ever reason there is in our minds, is not real, it’s just what we have decided to believe in order to avoid facing the undeniable truth that we all are ever brilliant light. . . Stop hiding behind the fear to fail, go out there and take responsibility, do that which you have postponed and do it illuminating everything with your light. If you fall then you will fall shining, so you will find joy on starting over again. . . So don’t hide, the world needs your light, but even more important, you need to be your own light. SHINE! . Dream, Believe, Create & Trust... and no matter what, be grateful for who you are! . . 📷👉🏽 photo by @fotosbyboca some months ago in Rome . #belight #practicekindnessandcompassion #consciousliving #awake #yogaisequanimity #luanafarayoga https://www.instagram.com/p/BrnMcyVAdRq/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=18ek71u8zwkin

[luanafarayoga]

E Q U A N I M I T Y Remaining still under the shakes of life. Soft breath in the middle of crisis. Peaceful movements to unexpected challenges. Undivided behavior to worldly distractions. Remaining honest while having to prove it to nobody. Equanimity is yoga. #yogaisequanimity #ubbhayapadangusthasana #yogaasana #practicekindnessandcompassion #luanafarayoga https://www.instagram.com/p/BsVj2bUgqrD/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=cq5iqvmiyqty

[luanafarayoga]

I honor the process of being a student. It inspires me a lot to meet teachers that share with no desire of being right. This days studying and practicing first with Mark and Deepika and now with Petri, have been transformative in many senses. They are amazing teachers, humble, truthful and inspiring human beings, each one has its own unique way of devotion to practice, which reminds me in a beautiful way that when we share from a place of truthfulness we are all manifestations of that truth, with different languages we all are looking for the same: transcend suffering, embody true happiness, experience real freedom, get to know who we really are... which in essence are one and the same destination with different languages and paths. I’m grateful for finding teachers that inspire me to be truthful and to trust. . 📷👉🏽 @fotosbyboca #practicekindnessandcompassion #yogaisequanimity https://www.instagram.com/p/Btj6k1-lOKr/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=68ng4pljpi71

[luanafarayoga]

So this is the short story: We were everyday suffering from the cold. Freezing at night, getting wet and because of it not been able to really enjoy the place. This week we just started to study with Ushaji and Siddhartha Krishnaji which is the reason why I come to Rishikesh. But the weather this time was relentlessly cold and rainy. We didn’t come prepared for it and I have to be honest: I don’t like cold. In yoga we do all this practices to learn to let go of the desires, the attachment to pleasure, and to let go of expectations, this is also called Vairagya. Yesterday I understood something: the main point of the practice is to do the work so you stop suffering. But sometimes while we do the work, we suffer more. So sometimes, if you can’t let it go, you have to go... It was hard to decide to leave our classes but we are very much looking to be in a warm place so now we are heading to south India in search of the warmth and the ocean... Goa, here we go! 📷👉🏽 @fotosbyboca #ekapadarajakapotasana #vairagya #yogaisequanimity #practicekindnessandcompassion #luanafarayoga https://www.instagram.com/p/BtC19l7gphJ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1253beiw33p0t

[luanafarayoga]

If you have been in Rishikesh, you might recognize this beautiful tree... do you? What are your memories of it?? My main memory of this tree is to be standing on a line next to it for hours waiting for the ATM. My other memory is of being afraid of falling off the scooter when driving the inclined and windy hill of which this beautiful tree is at the top. My third memory is to see all the men dressed in orange (sadhus) with their food containers. So many memories and so grateful to be here! 📷👉🏽 @fotosbyboca #rishikesh #gratitude #namaste #anjalimudra #yogaisequanimity #indiajourney (at Rishikesh) https://www.instagram.com/p/BsqL7bxAWbb/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1nmi84ytjmul6

[luanafarayoga]

I love being in India, but I miss so much the sunny days of January in Costa Rica. Rishikesh is cold in January... ❄️ Realizing about this simple yearning shows me the nature of our minds which is always seeking outside, which is always being distracted by outer circumstances and specially for desires rooted in likes and dislikes. In order to be present and embrace it fully we have to do the work, we have to remind ourselves about what we really are, about what lays underneath all the shells of conditioning with which we tend to identify. Through observation, we see our fears, cravings, attachments, rejections and all forms of ignorance, and so we take the reins. For me, that is the practice. 📷👉🏽 by @fotosbyboca #yogapractice #svadhyaya #selfobservation #selfstudy #transformation #consciousnessawakening #practicekindnessandcompassion #yogaisequanimity #luanafarayoga https://www.instagram.com/p/BsmbOllA8bR/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1uov2a7bm1ya4

[luanafarayoga]

The fruits of the practice are not in the achievement of complex postures. The practice, as we call it, is not just what we do on the mat. Our postural practice is a small portion of it. That is a great tool to access the inside through the gross, to access the subtle through that which we can feel and understand. “The practice” is much more than the posture. The practice is also our capacity of remaining still through the breath while we move using the least amount of effort. The practice is in our capacity to observe our thoughts throughout the day, our emotions and reactions and our capacity of taking control over them, by understanding where they are coming from. The practice is in the work we do to acknowledge about our inherent fears, our identification with our individual existence, our seeking for happiness in ephemeral pleasures that never satisfy us, our rejection towards those things and people we don’t understand or like... Practice is about becoming aware of our state of spiritual ignorance and by observing, by studying our inner self everyday, for a long period, with no interruption and with sincere devotion, learn to transcend it. Then the fruits of practice start to rise through a natural transformation. Equanimity, kindness and compassion, through which one is able to experience Truth, Consciousness and Bliss. We shouldn’t Practice seeking the fruits, the fruits are hidden in the practice itself but would not manifest while we are craving for them. 🎥👉🏽 still frame by @fotosbyboca at @vida.mountain #abhyasaandvairagya #vairagya #yogapractice #practicekindnessandcompassion #ekapadasirsasana #yogaisequanimity #luanafarayoga https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqu9_PIAmOh/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=lfkxl2tdmvds

[luanafarayoga]

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I’m exited to start working on a new project with my partner in love and life. I’m not going to share yet what the project is about, all I will say is it’s about Asana 🙃. For me Asana is much more than a tool to purify the body, the systems and energetic channels. The definition of Asana given in Yoga Philosophy by Patanjali is the steady and comfortable seat for meditation. Though something similar to what we know as Yoga-Asana today has been practiced for years as per the evidences found throughout the time. Those practices originally where not called yoga though at some point of time what we know today as Yoga started to be called Asana. For me sitting in meditation is really difficult, if I sit I need Mantras or Pranayamas to at least control my crazy mind, which is still far from the meditation described in Yoga Philosophy, a complete absorption with object where the seer disappears, and becomes one with the seen. This is the reason Asana is so important for me. It quiets my mind and it does help me to sit in meditation. But also there is something trascendental for me about Asana... I used to be a dancer. I danced since my first recollections of life. Movement and expression through the body became a way to connect with my emotions, face sides of me that were not visible in the daily life. This inner connection helps me to be more truthful and aware. For this reason, Asana is my medicine, not only for my physical body, but for my soul. . . 🎥👉🏽 video: @fotosbyboca // music: @soundmandala #asana #asanapractice #mandala #yogapractice #yogaisequanimity #practicekindnessandcompassion #luanafarayoga (at Vida by Selina) https://www.instagram.com/p/Br20a4tgJEr/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=8qkho86536z3

[luanafarayoga]

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Some simple queues to incorporate in mind and body while practicing Prasarita Padottanasana: . 1- Keep the shoulder blades away from the head. This acts as a lever by activating the lower fibers of the trapezius and helps to open the chest so it keeps the spine long. . 2- Keep the legs active by pressing the ball of the feet to the floor so it also contributes in avoiding the weight to collapse backwards, and prevents the knees from hyperextending. . 3- Bend from the hips and not from the spine. By starting the forward folding from the hip joints you keep the necessary space to straighten the spine as much as possible, which protects the intervertebral discs. . Practicing with awareness can bring many physical and mental benefits, practicing with devotion brings inner peace. . #prasaritapadottanasana #yogatips #asana #asanapractice #asanaalignment #yogaisequanimity #luanafarayoga https://www.instagram.com/p/BroQOudAAou/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=147rh9u43hgyg

[luanafarayoga]

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We identify ourselves so much with our human experience... we have the tendency to believe ourselves the navel of the world every time we take things personal, every time we stick to our vision considering it the only one, or the true one, every time we insist to control life to happen as we want. Our biggest power is not in being right or in controlling the outside. Our biggest power is in qualities of our heart! We practice everyday to plant seeds of love, so they can blossom in the form of humbleness, surrendering, gratitude, compassion, kindness, consciousness and bliss. That’s when we become great, by stepping in rather than up. As Rumi beautifully wrote: “we are not one drop of the ocean, we are the whole ocean contained in a drop”. . 🎥👉🏽 @fotosbyboca 💙 . #wholeness #surrendering #practicekindnessandcompassion #yogaisequanimity #luanafarayoga https://www.instagram.com/p/BrVCyf2ArAm/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=dk8y16eas0oo

[luanafarayoga]

Asanas work in our gross body initially, but they have also the potential to work in our energetic body. The practice of Asana remove physical blockages and purify the body, improves the overall function of the digestive system, so as the endocrine, nervous, respiratory, immune and cardiovascular system. Asana provides strengt and flexibility to the muscles and mobility to the joints. Asana develops stability, control and propioception. But it also works on the mind, improving concentration and providing clarity of thoughts. Once the body and mind start to be purified through the consistent, continuos and devoted practice of Asana together with a yogic lifestyle, it starts to to work on the energetic body, specially when it is combined with breath, so not only the physical body but the nadis are purified. That’s when the subtle effects of the practice start to arise. It’s easy to get identified with Asanas, specially those which feel challenging or impressive, and that’s the nature of our ego. I do not believe we must fight it, but we should observe it and understand it, so we can let go of the attachments and identifications through compassion and not through rejection, so we can transcend that which keeps us from actually accessing our consciousness. 📷👉🏽 photo by my love @fotosbyboca at @macawlodgecr #tittibhasana #asana #sadhana #yogapractice #yogapath #practicegratitude #practicekindnessandcompassion #yogaisequanimity #luanafarayoga https://www.instagram.com/p/BooeTA6nhUs/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=16ot2cqb8obor