Fifth Niyama - Isvara Pranidhana

The last Niyama, Isvara Pranidhana, is the big daddy of the Niyamas. It’s about devoting ourselves to something greater than ourselves whether we call this God, Universe, Source, Divine Love, Allah...you get the point. Sometimes, the act of putting our faith in the hands of something we cannot see, hear, or touch puts our minds in to overload and this is where the struggle begins. We tend to think we can ‘do it all’ ourselves or we need no help from others. At times in our lives, we all need help from another. This is where surrender comes in.

Fourth Niyama - Svadhyaya

Have you ever been upset and found yourself reaching for a journal or calling a close friend, just to work through your feelings? Often, your frustration abates without finding a solution to the problem, per se, but instead the inner peace comes from digging deeper into your feelings and discovering something about yourself.

The fourth Niyama, Svadhyaya, means “self study.” It comes from the terms “sva,” meaning “self,” and “adhyaya,” which means “examination” or “inquiry.” To achieve Svadhyaya, we must make a conscious effort to find self-awareness in every activity we perform.

Third Niyama - Tapas

The third Niyama of yoga practice is Tapas, which means heat. This heat is the fire within you that motivates you to better yourself, but Tapas also requires self-discipline and purpose. Tapas is about making disciplined choices to shape your life, in order to achieve peace.

Practicing Tapas can include the development of many disciplined habits, such as making time each morning for yoga, journaling, or cooking yourself a simple breakfast. Even making the bed each morning can be a discipline you practice. In this sense, Tapas can also be described as consistency in habit. Tapas, or fire, means that you will cleanse and purify yourself of habits that are not benefiting you and replace those habits with disciplined practices that self-improve.

Second Niyama - Santosa

The second Niyama, is Santosa, which means contentment and modesty. Santosa is about being content and at peace with what we have. That can seem difficult in the face of hardships and struggles, but part of becoming a yogi is accepting that there is a reason for everything and that one can find contentment even in times of difficulty. Sometimes, life unfolds in mysterious ways, and practicing yoga will help you trust in the karma that is working all around us. To find contentment in difficulty is to place your trust and faith in the knowledge that things will happen as they happen – and that’s okay.

First Niyama - Sauca

The practice of yoga is much more than poses. Yoga seeks to join body, mind, and spirit and help you achieve self-awareness, balance, and peace within yourself and in your connection to the world around you. Around 200 AD, the philosophy of yoga was written in a sacred text called  The Yoga Sutra by a yogi named Patanjali. In the text, Patanjali describes eight steps that provide the foundation of a yoga practice.

What is Reflexology?

 Reflexology is a hands-on (literally!) healing art practice that involves applying pressure to certain areas of the feet, hands, and ears. These body parts have reflex points, which are tied to the body’s organs and bodily systems. Applying pressure to the right points provides benefits for that particular organ or system, improving overall health or targeted health of one specific area in the body, such as the liver, bladder, or lungs.