The simple things in life are often the most powerful ones, aren’t they? Sharing simple Yoga and breathing approaches can transform someone’s life.

This is what I re-discovered a few weeks ago while teaching relaxation at UCLA for a special all day event to the catering and dining staff. Even though Yoga has become so popular in the United States, not everyone has access to it. The catering staff people work really hard with more than one job and moreover they stand on their feet all day.  They definitively do not have much access nor time to practice Yoga. I led them in a deep guided relaxation called Yoga Nidra, a 5,000 year old practice.

Here is the amazing thing about Yoga Nidra: 20 to 30 minutes of this practice is equivalent to 2 to 3 hours of deep sleep. Your body, mind and psyche relax so deeply.

It is one of Yoga’s best kept secrets!

They were lying down on their back with their legs on a chair or against the wall with their eyes closed and their whole body relaxed. Listening to my voice taking them through a rotation of consciousness throughout their entire body and then into the spontaneous movement of their abdominal breathing. We finished with a fulfillment visualization which they really enjoyed. Visualizing your happy place and imagining yourself there, feeling utterly fulfilled as if all of your desires and needs are met today and always. How does it feel? Seeing it, feeling it, tasting it, knowing and believing that it will happen!

As they “woke up” from our short practice, their faces looked relaxed and they were beaming, smiling to their ears. Just seeing their happy and peaceful relaxed faces truly touched me. I must have taught close to 300 people this day every 10-15 minutes. It was intense but truly rewarding for them and for me. Sharing the simple yet powerful Yoga tools and spreading more peace, wellbeing and relaxation.

What is Yoga Nidra really and what does it do for us?

This guided Yoga Nidra will help you release physical, emotional and mental tensions and leave you feeling relaxed, restored and rejuvenated. More than just the art of deep relaxation with this powerful practice, you will learn techniques to increase your will power, deepen your inner strength and align with your inner purpose, manifesting a richer and more fulfilling life experience.

If you wish to experience Yoga Nidra, this guided deep relaxation, visit my yoga store.

Try this slow Yoga breathing Tai Chi practice for relaxation and centering.

An Introduction to Yoga Tantra Flow

‘Where the Sacred Meets the Everyday’ – let’s face it, who doesn’t need more of that right now?  Isabelle Du Soleil, Yoga teacher and tantrika shares more about ‘Yoga Tantra Flow’.

Does Yoga + Tantra = Sex?  Read on!

‘Tantra’ is certainly one of the most misunderstood Yoga traditions in the West.  It is a powerful tool for our times.  It is a field that I started to explore 20 years ago.  Tantra is practiced by householders living in the world, for people who do not renounce life.  It is for those who choose to ride the wave of life’s constant currents and challenges, for those who show up day after day and who wish to learn to flow through change; stable, yet flexible, open and fulfilled.  In Sanskrit, ‘Tan’ means ‘to stretch ‘and ‘Tra’ means ‘beyond’.

Tantra works with energy: Prana (the sustaining life force) and Kundalini Shakti (the evolutionary and creative snake-like power) which permeates all life.  Our body is seen as a sacred temple where Kundalini Shakti lies dormant, waiting to awakened.  This is a slow and gradual process where our consciousness rises, transforming our life’s perceptions, understanding and experiences.

The most striking effect on me is an inherent feeling of freedom with a sense of infinite possibilities.   One of Tantra’s premises is that “everything is possible”.  I feel more alive and vibrant.  It also helped me face and overcome many obstacles and heartbreaks, including the passing of my beloved mother 6 years ago.  Over the years, it has given me a road map for transformation.

What is Tantra?

Tantra Yoga is a 5000-7000 year old vast field of yoga wisdom, science, art and techniques.  The ‘Maithuna ritual’ or spiritual love-making branch represents about 0.1% of Tantra teachings totality.  Maithuna rituals aim at experiencing oneness and bliss between the individual and the universal through the worship of Shakti.

There are many other Tantric paths emphasizing oneness and bliss between the individual and the universal.  The universe is regarded as the divine play of Shakti (feminine, dynamic and creative principle of existence) and Shiva (masculine static form of the divine or pure, undifferentiated consciousness).  Tantra’s teachings describe the universe’s creation as a sacred dance.  There is no separation between the mundane and the sacred/spiritual world.  As energy follows thoughts, we aim at mastering our mind to master our energy.  Quantum physics mirrors Tantra in that it identifies a pulsating living force.  This Spanda or primordial vibration correlates to quantum physic’s description of the electron constantly flickering in and out of existence.

What is ‘Yoga Tantra Flow’?

Yoga Tantra Flow is an embodiment of Tantra’s energetic practices through vinyasa flow and meditation.  It is a dance where Tantra meets Vinyasa Flow yoga.  Some of the energetic practices include breathing or pranayama, bandhas or energy seals, kriyas or energy consciousness movement, mantras and sacred sounds, visualizations, purifications and meditations.

How can I experience Yoga Tantra?

There are 2 easy ways:

- In living in such a way where relationships are the catalysts and revealers of our karmic and dharmic patterns.  We can see our shortcomings and resistances.

- In awareness of the spine in Yoga Tantra practices.  By turning our attention there, we awaken, activate and balance our energy and psyche.  It is recommended to work with an experienced teacher.

The secret is “riding the waves”; any surfer or yogi would answer us.

The Sri Vidya Yoga teachings remind us:

“All that is happening is waves rising and falling neither meaningful, nor inauspicious”.

This truth applies, whether we are talking about waves of external events or waves of emotions. Daniel Odier, one of my spiritual Tantra teachers, invites us to truly taste, touch and become one with life. I mean our daily life as it unfolds in our relationships, as it moves us in a pleasing or unsettling way. The Tantra wisdom tells us to embrace our feelings, emotions and desires as they arise within us, not to deny them nor push them away. Yes, we are always so willing to bury our head in the sand and pretend that our inner conflicts do not exist.  If you feel angry, feel it and ride the emotional wave within as if you were riding a tiger, Explore the sensations and feel the burn while you observe yourself at the same time.  Complete the emotional rollercoaster until you touch the core of your being, you will return to the original state of inner balance.

An emotion is energy in motion. Riding the emotional waves allow us to transform or rather transmute the raw emotion into powerful life energy. We then become more alive and aware. We are ready to explore new territories and stretch our boundaries.

We speak of living in the flow. But what is the flow? It is as a continuous and fluid progression or sequence of moments, events or feelings creating an inherent order. We feel as if time has stretched or suspended. There is a sense of ease and enjoyment as if we had become part of the cosmic dance of life called “lila in Sanskrit. We experience this playfulness and fulfillment at times in sports, games, art and in our hobbies.

How can we recreate it at will?

1- First, acknowledge change and fluxes as a constant.

2- Become open and flexible in your mind and body. Practice dance, Yoga or any martial arts.

3- Find your life’s purpose and take the smallest step or action towards it that will have the greatest impact on your life.

4- Set up your goals and directions then sail with life’s currents.

5- Cultivate presence in every moment with a relaxed awareness.

6- See the underlying beauty in every one and everything.

7- Ride the waves of your obstacles, challenges and successes with equanimity.

8- ALWAYS PLAY, EXPLORE AND BE CREATIVE.

Often I hear from people I meet that they do not know how to start to practice Yoga. They also ask me what is the process of Yoga and how will it help them in their life. Here are the 4 initial steps one will go through in this beautiful disciple in of Yoga. It i simple, easy and so accessible to all at any level of health, fitness and at any age.

How and where do I start a Yoga practice?

Initial Step: It is the embodiment stage. Yoga through the physical embodiment of movement and breath is really giving us this opportunity to return to inhabit our bodies again. It’s a very important step and it’s usually the initial step.

Second Step:Then as we start to become regular in our practice and develop this really deep liking for the flow of Yoga, we become more intimate with our breath. We practice this ujjayi breath- inhale/exhale through the nostrils with that soft sound at the back of the throat like the sound of an ocean wave- throughout the class, the practice or the sadhana in Sanskrit.

Third Step:That’s when we start to find that thread, that oneness, that state of beingness, that state of Yoga as the body and the breath and the mind come together, merge together on this one thread.

Fourth Step: The next step that is a very logical step for a student of Yoga, a disciple of Yoga (and we’re all disciples of Yoga), is to take time in silence to meditate, to be with oneself. It is like returning at home within  to reconnect with yourself. That is another definition of Yoga; fourth definition of Yoga which is to connect our five senses, our mind and to our inner Self, to the source of who we are truly. Returning to the seed, to the spark, (to the spin if we’re talking quantum physics) our being of who we are. You return to the essence, to the source. This is your daily practice whether it is a for a few minutes or an hour, it doesn’t matter.

How do I get started?

You want to start by being in silence. You sit at a particular place and you find that inner contemplation. The capacity to withdraw the senses within from the outside world to your inner world and to develop a higher sensitivity that allows you to become more subtle more aware of your inner currents- of you inner energy levels. You even start to feel and understand your inner body physically. You can start to qualify inner sensations as you move: openness, areas that are closed, tight or loose.

Some people have asked, “Well, this is very interesting and nice but all of this Yoga is really ancient and doesn’t apply to our lives today, our urban & industrialized lives”. The classical teachings of Patanjali are so releveant to our times. They  constitute  a major reference sacred text, considered as the seminal classical teachings of Yoga and written as sutras or aphorisms. Patanjali was an incredible sage living around 2,000 years ago, at a time when the Yoga teachings had become very scattered & diluted. He was the one who brought all the teachings back together, condensing them into short & concise  aphorisms transmitted from teachers to students/disciples. Those wisdom teachings are like pearls of wisdom- golden nuggets of the Classical Yoga philosophy.

Why are those tools that are ancient so relevant to you, to all of us today? 

Because those techniques are so universal. Those approaches allow us through the practice of Yoga in the West to really reconnect to our body, our physical body because we are disconnected from the five elements, from nature, in the way we live. We are very much disconnected from our bodies if we sit for eight hours in a chair and lot of people do unfortunately. Yoga is so relevant for our century because those tools are invaluable for our evolution. They provide us with a road map to recondition and balance our nervous system, to harness the powers of our mind, to balance our psyche and to nourish our soul. Regular practice of the Yoga, breathing, meditation and energetic practices will accelerate our inner and outer transformation as as an individual and as a world community.

Living in America is truly a blessing for anyone interested in Yoga. It is offered everywhere: in gyms, in spas and hotels and of course in Yoga centers and schools nationwide. Yoga can be learnt, studied and practiced in many ways.

But what is Yoga? What defines Yoga? Where does it originate from? Is Yoga a religion?

Yoga (Sanskrit, Pāli: योग yóga) refers to traditional physical, mental and spiritual disciplines originating in India. The Sanskrit word Yoga has many meanings, and is derived from the Sanskrit root “yuj,” meaning “to control,” “to yoke” or “to unite.” Translations include “joining,” “uniting,” “union,” “conjunction,”.Yoga is not a religion, it is a perennial philosophy. As it was created in India, there are some cross cultural influences from Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. Yoga also constitutes one of the six orthodox (āstika) schools of Hindu philosophy. Major branches of Yoga include Tantra Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga. 

The Raja Yoga tradition as a philosophical pillar of  the Yoga teachings, is represented and  compiled in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and it is part of the Samkhya tradition. Many other Yoga sacred texts discuss many aspects of Yoga, including the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the Shiva Samhita and various Tantras.

Yoga is a discipline, an art, a science and a philosophy. It is a practice of the body of the mind, soul and heart. It is also an energetic practice.  Yoga can be defined as a tool and a technique, an approach, a body of knowledge to understand life, to describe the phenomenon of life and how to live in the best possible way. The tools and techniques of Yoga allow us to overcome obstacles and understand who we are, the true Self within.

What are we bringing together in that state of oneness that is Yoga?  We bring together and merge mind, body, breath, and spirit- that more intangible aspect of the Self. For example in the Ujjaii  breathing technique where we breathe deeper through both nostrils accompanied by a visualization of the breath flow moving  up and down the spine. And as we breathe, we focus our attention effortlessly from the base of the spine up to the crown into the spine on the inhale and down on the exhale. We bring our mind on the thread of our breath within the spine. This action, attention and visualization bring those three aspects: body, mind & breath together, merging as one.

A few days ago, I was in the most optimal condition, teaching a private class in Hollywood on a sunny morning and the most unbelievable thing happened that I wanted to share with you.

So here we are with my private student on the roof of a nice building in Hollywood. Imagine a 360 degree view from the Hollywood sign to the Pacific Design Center, all the way to Santa Monica and the Ocean. My student is lying on her back.  It is a beautiful Californian day with blue sky and sunshine.

My student is relaxing on her back, breathing slowly and peacefully. From the corner of my eye I see this cook with his white coat coming out from the door of the elevators onto the roof and wheeling this big cart. The only way through for him is to come over the mat, but my student is in relaxation. So I’m thinking “Can he go another way?”.

I have to move her out of his way. He passes through and says “Good morning! By the way, I’m going to be roasting a pig right here on the roof.” My eyes went so wide. Here we are in the most optimal situation, rocking good this private class and the man wants to roast a pig of all things right there next to us.

So I’m trying to tell him “Maybe you can do it later in about 45 minutes?” and he goes “No, I can’t. It takes a long time to roast a pig. It’s the only place I can do it.”

And at that moment,I understood an amazing Yoga insight  from this burlesque situation: a Yoga teaching in real life, very simple indeed:

1-When we reach a plateau in our life, when things are really good and smooth sailing, this is when the waves of changes come through. Life changes all the time and all we can do is embrace changes. And we need to expect challenges and changes in order to find that flexibility. 

2-The other lesson from that incident is that there’s nothing we can entirely control. We do control or co-create our destiny to a certain degree but yet there’s always an element of uncertainty calling for surrender;Which allows us to become supple and flexible.  As we are navigating our life’s currents and experiences, we need to totally accept and embrace reality as it comes and not resist at all costs.

As the buddha said, “The only certainty in life is change”. 

So what is the roasted pig in your life at this moment? That is the question. 

And are you ready to embrace changes and flow with them even if you don’t want to?

The 9 Yoga Secrets for Radiant Beauty

Who does not want to look and feel fabulous? Who said beauty is out? So today let’s be vain and beautiful!

Born and raised in France, I was surrounded by history, fashion and beauty. Later on in my teens, I took on Yoga and discovered a vast well of knowledge cultivating life, radiancy and inner beauty. In Tantra Yoga, the body is sacred: it is considered as a vessel and a temple to be respected, nurtured and loved. The synthesis of both inner and outer approaches to beauty makes for a new paradigm: living beauty through our daily habits. Do you want to know the 9 Yoga secrets for radiant beauty?

1- YOUR BODY: Scrub or Brush your body every morning  for one minute or so just before your get in the shower, with either a scrubbing glove or a soft brush to remove dead skin and activate blood circulation.Then do a brisk oil full body massage still on dry skin, up and down on long bones and in a circular manner around the joints. It will wake you up, moisturize & soften your skin. It will also lubricate your joints, connective tissue and ligaments. Use sesame or safflower or coconut oil (best in summer). I recommend the www.banyansbotanicals.com organic Ayurvedic oils.

2- YOUR FACE: Gently exfoliate your face once a week. Apply a facial moisturizing mask at least once or twice a week. Before bed, always cleanse thoroughly your face to remove all pollution. dirt & make up then moisturize your skin. Your face will rest and rejuvenate overnight.

3-  YOUR SLEEP: Follow the sun’s cycle. Get to bed early for your beauty sleep, before 10 or 10:30pm if you can. Wake up early and rise with the sun.

4-  YOUR WATER INTAKE: Drink a minimum of 2 liters of purified or mineral water a day. Give up the sodas and any sweet beverages that induce pimples and yeasts.

5-  YOUR FOOD: Eat fresh nutritious organic food whenever possible. Choose from vegetables and fruits of all colors, green, orange, red, yellow for your daily intake of chi, anti oxidants and vitamins.

6- YOUR BREATH: Slow down your breath and breath consciously through the nostrils both on the in and out breath. Enhance your lungs capacity with Yogic breathing techniques or pranayamas and build your cardiovascular capacity with aerobic exercises..

7- YOUR MOVEMENT : Move, exercise and practice Yoga at least once a week. Emphasize inverted postures such as shoulderstand, plow, headstand and handstand to enhance your blood circulation throughout your body and  to irrigate your brain and face. You will slow down the aging process and look amazing.

8- YOUR STRESS RELIEF: Release stress, relax and rejuvenate. Allow yourself to unwind and meditate for a few minutes every day or practice a supported rejuvenative L shape inversion at the wall with your back on the floor, your sitting bones agains the wall, your legs up in the air leaning against the wall, your arms open to sides and your eyes closed covered with a scarf or an eye pillow. Get a massage or go to the spa. Relaxation releases stress, reduces facial wrinkles and cellulite while strengthening our hormonal, immune and nervous systems.

9- YOUR HAPPINESS: Re-ignite the joy and playfulness within. Smile, laugh and be happy for no reason.

The Dalai Lama said : “ The miracle of all miracles is to be alive”.

I recall a few years ago having a passionate discussion with a Yoga Teacher friend of mine on this subject. Yes, Yoga does have cardiovascular benefits, particularly the Flow Yoga and the Kundalini Yoga approaches such as Ashtanga Yoga, Power Yoga, Vinyasa Flow and Kundalini Yoga. Yoga does build strength and stamina.

Continuous deep breathing in Yoga enhance blood circulation and increase the oxygen amount in the bloodstream, heart, organs and body in general. The cool down end part of a class will recondition and pacify the nervous and cardiovascular systems. Think of it as the yang and the yin benefits of Yoga.

In the Flow Yoga practice which is a more dynamic and challenging approach, breath links to movement in a continuous way like a dance. The Yoga postures or asanas are woven together in a flowing practice which builds inner heat & sweat increasing the heart rate at a steady faster pace during most of the class. Often, the room is heated adding more heat to the body. Sun Salutations used as a warm up the first 20 or 30 minutes of a class, are a good example of the purifying and activating benefits of Yoga on the cardiovascular system.

Kundalini Yoga unique cardiovascular benefits are based on the activated Sat Kharma breathing techniques such as breath of fire or Kapalabhati and the rhythmic repetitions of movements or Kriyas linked with breath and mantras, for example, standing on your feet with your arms up to the sky, hands together, you turn to one side and to other and so on for 10 minutes.

Yes, yoga will definitively boots your cardiovascular system and create a blissful experience.

A Yoga Flow Retreat is not your typical vacation. It is a special time that you give to yourself for rejuvenation, relaxation and Yoga. The locations are amazing, often in a tropical, warm and sunny climate surrounded by nature: on the beach, in the mountains or in the rainforest. I call it the “Yoga Club Med immersion” as the retreat is all planned and organized for you including some afternoon group excursions. You travel in the world with a purpose: deepening your Yoga/ breathing and meditation practice while enjoying the company of like minded people, making new “best friends” and finding balance within.

Why do we go to Yoga Flow Retreats?
- Because we need to unwind, relax and recharge in nature
- Because we want to have fun and find pleasure in our life
- Because we love Yoga and we want to experience that blissful inner journey
- Because we need to slow down and nurture ourselves
Because we want to explore the world with a purpose
Because we want to be part of a like-minded community
Because we want to be still and silent
Because it feels so good to not cook, not drive and not work for one week
Because it is a unique life affirming and transformative experience that allows us
TO RETURN HOME WITHIN AT PEACE