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SMILE AND SINK IN

Are you looking for easy ways to enjoy savasana? Although shavasana (or corpse pose) might look like the most effortless thing in the world, many yogis struggle to find comfort in this challenging posture. Whether it’s a racing mind or a fatigued body, dropping into enlightenment can seem impossible. Have you found yourself impatiently waiting for the instructor break the unending silence? The crew at OM has a few suggestions to make stillness a little more accessible.

Grab a Bolster

It isn’t uncommon for yogis to experience lower back pain in shavasana – especially if they’ve been performing a lot of backbends. Although taking the time to warm up before performing backbends and learning to backbend safely can help ease lower back pain, sliding a bolster under your knees can do wonders to treat the occasional ache. Give the instructor a wave and they’ll bring you a bolster if you forgot to grab one at the beginning of class!

Snuggle up...

The Doshas

Pitta, Kapha, and Vata may be terms you’ve heard about here and there, but what exactly are they? How do you know what you are? Do you pick your own? Does someone else choose for you?

The Doshas are are different combinations of the five elements which create three different mind-body types. Dosha is loosely translated as “energetic force”.  These elemental combinations express unique characteristics or blends of physical, emotional and mental patterns for each being.  This is a principle concept of Ayurveda, yoga’s sister science.  In understanding the Doshas better, we can gain insight into ourselves and our natural states.  We can also learn to develop yoga classes that are dosha specific and even begin to recognize certain characteristics in our students in order to provide the most effective sequencing possible. The main elements of each dosha are as follows…

Pitta: fire and water

Kapha:...

Let’s tackle some heart salutations! The beginning of a flow class typically starts with some kind of comfortable seated position. We are asked to tune into the breathe and focus our awareness. From here, the teacher will guide us into some gentle warming postures.

From my experience, almost every class uses cat/cow tilts on the hands and knees to begin to wake up the back body and the heart and chest. This combination of movement softly stimulates the abdominal organs and starts to connect your movement to your breath. The mind begins to calm down and balance and awareness are enhanced.

Everything sounds great, and is! However, if you are a teacher or regular practitioner and are craving some variety in your warm up, heart salutations could be your next cat/cow.

This variation of heart salutation is designed to give a similar warming of the back, chest, neck, and shoulders. The movement is centered more around the heart and the shoulders as opposed to the hips and the...

A singular journey through a universal experience

Yoga Teacher Training: (Day One) 

8:00 a.m. – As I walk up to the lower entrance of Cashew Hill to meet the other girls, it feels reminiscent of all those summers I spent in camp. Nervous excitement, and quiet chatter can be felt and heard before we all walk in and head up the stairs. We’re gathered to take part in a non-immersive yoga teacher training through the Caribe Yoga Academy (CYA) that will take place every second weekend, over the course of the next three months.

Some of the girls have never seen the space before, because in all actuality, it’s only a few days old. We are the first group to be training at the CYA’s brand new facility here on Cashew Hill. We all take in the site together, along with the main attraction; the enormous wooden platform perfectly positioned to offer a clear view of the Caribbean Sea. The studio space is surrounded on all sides by the lush, green jungle and...

Observed and compiled by: Emma Side

I tried yoga for the first time when I was 18-years-old, and I hated it. The weird noises, the tensing and un-tensing of the body, and yet the total lack of sweating all made me feel like I was wasting my time. I was in high school then, and I would have much rather been playing hockey or running laps. Back then, I reallyhad no idea what yoga meant, but I knew it definitely wasn’t what I wanted to be doing.

If it’s about any one thing though, it’s definite about this…

After that I didn’t even think of yoga again for another 8 years. Then in 2012 my life fell apart. I was suffering from (what I thought) was a completely out-of-character depression, and was so lost, anxious and unsure that I sat, nearly catatonic on the couch and begged my Mum and my best friend, Lauren, to give me some advice.

“How do I fix this? Where do I even start?” I pleaded.

Lauren looked at me and smiled. “Yoga,”...

Have you been neglecting your skin recently? Are you frustrated with the way your skin is reacting to seasonal and environmental changes? Or, are you just in the mood to pamper yourself like the divine being you are? If so, strawberries may be your new saving grace.

Strawberries are packed with vitamin C, alpha hydroxyl acids, salicylic acid, aspartic acid, ellagic acid, folate and fiber. These properties are known to combat acne, promote cell regeneration, eliminate toxins, heal damaged skin, fade scars, prevent aging and more!

There are countless ways to utilize strawberries in your beauty regime besides adding them to your morning smoothie…

1. The most basic way you can use a strawberry on your face is by simply rinsing the whole berry off (to ensure it is clean), and using the entire berry as a facial buffer. That’s right, it’s that simple! The conical shape of the berry is already a great shape to fit the curves and contours of the face,...

Everything contains both yin and yang energy. We have all seen the popular swirling black & white “yin-yang” icon, which symbolizes the importance of balance and harmony between light and dark, hot and cold, masculine and feminine etc. We are constantly in a state of both yin and yang, however, we can place ourselves in states where one or the other is dominant. Often times in our hectic daily lives, Yang energy dominates our bodies and minds. In order to remain balanced, increasing Yin in our lives can be highly beneficial.

Yang energy is masculine, fiery, dominating, aggressive, hard, and hot. It represents fast and loud, movement and light, aggression and strength. This is the energy that takes over when we are in an intense hot yoga class, slipping in sweat with a strong focused mind. We feel the internal fire building with heart racing and muscles contracted, burning up all of our impurities. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Yin energy. This...