I am excited to share that I will be having a series of guest posts by Darren Rhodes. From advanced to beginner, I hope you will enjoy them.

Darren has been director and owner of YogaOasis studios in Tucson, Arizona since 1999. He is co-creator of yogahour, an all-levels, flow yoga style that offers precise alignment instructions with succinct delivery. In 2008, Yoga Journal named Darren one of the Top 21 Teachers Under 40 who are “shaping the future of yoga.”

Would love to hear your feedback, as always ~ Namaste, Stephanie

maksikanagasana 2

dragonfly pose 2

hand to chin

shape

(from eka pada sirsasana)

1. With the right leg behind the head, bend the left knee and place the sole of the foot directly in front of the right sit bone.
2. Lean to the left and lower the left forearm and hand to the floor.
3. Place the right hand in front of the left knee—in line with the left elbow—hands outer shoulder-width apart.
4. Bring the right elbow to the outside of the left thigh—just above the knee.
5. Lean forward and lift the hips up and to the left.
6. Lift the left foot off the floor and straighten the leg.
7. Lift the left hand to hold the left side of the face. Look forward. Hold the pose and breathe.
8. To come out, lower the lifted hand and hips to the floor. Release and straighten the top leg.

Repeat on the second side.

safety

• Flex the feet and flare the toes.
• Isometrically bend the top knee to engage the hamstrings.
• Straighten and strengthen the extended leg. Flare the toes.
• Tone the pelvic floor and low belly.

refinement

The point of taking the hand to the chin in a pose like this is to invoke playfulness. Play must always remain part and parcel of this path. Otherwise seriousness will stifle, instead of stoke, your sadhana.

360 YOGA POSES IN YOUR POCKET 

Take the knowledge and experience of master yoga teacher Darren Rhodes wherever you go with his new eBook, Yoga Resource Practice Manual.

All rolled into one, the Yoga Resource Practice Manual is a reference work, an instructional guide, a photo library, and a collection of Darren Rhodes’ personal anecdotes from over two decades of practice and more than a decade of teaching. Whether you are a brand new beginner interested in learning step-by-step practice instructions, or a seasoned practitioner looking to take your practice to the next level with advanced tips and techniques, this eBook has something for you.

The eBook features:

• detailed practice instructions for 360 unique yoga poses and 425 photographs
• safety instructions with modifications for special conditions and varying abilities
• poses organized into 10 distinct categories, helpful for sequencing and class preparation
• hyperlinked visual indexes to easily locate poses
• audio pronunciation of each Sanskrit pose name
• a video library featuring Darren Rhodes’ unique teaching style

Purchase the book:

For iPad or iPhone: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/yoga-resource-practice-manual/id602290236

For Kindle or Kindle Fire: http://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Resource-Practice-Manual-ebook/dp/B00BE9ANOY/

For all computers: https://www.inkling.com/store/book/yoga-resource-practice-manual-darren-rhodes-1st/

Take a video tour of the eBook: http://youtu.be/DFjbDY3Av2M (for Computers) or http://youtu.be/DFjbDY3Av2M (for iPads)

Learn more here: http://www.yogaresourceebook.com/

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It’s a known fact that healthy nutrition is important. Vegetables, fruit, salads – so far so good. But did you know that yogis have actually been benefiting from special foods to improve their yoga exercising for more than 2000 years? Well, there you go…

It was detected that food and herbs all have a special basic quality (called guna) which has a certain influence on our emotions and well-being. Some food makes you nervous or restive, others tired and others again just make you feel good. Taking advantage of this knowledge they used the energy of the food to develop mind and body to reach higher states of awareness.

The science of Yoga divides food into three categories – sattvic, rajasic and tamasic food. Following you’ll find some examples for these three types:

1. Sattvic food: nuts, seeds, cereals, vegetables, fruit, dairy products, honey and herbal tea
2. Rajasic food: meat, fish, fast food, coffee, tea, chocolate, root seasonings and vegetables
3. Tamasic food: pork, eggs, alcohol, vinegar, spoiled and fermented food

Tamasic food should not be consumed because it produces gases and toxic products in your body and causes secretion of bad smells. Rajasic food should be avoided as it is very hard to digest and many waste products are accumulated. Due to these body reactions it is recommended that a healthy diet should only consist of sattvic food if possible. It helps feeling well and balanced because it is energizing and easy to digest. It should be prepared in a gentle way to conserve the ingredients and with little spices.

Anke Wieselis the founder of Yoga on holiday, a great listing for Yoga retreats worldwide at http://yoga-on-holiday.com. She practices Yoga as a holistic lifestyle and loves dancing, travelling, yummy veggie food and her lovely adopted cat Bibiki. Daily holiday offers and discounts are up for grabs if you like the Facebook Fanpage http://www.facebook.com/yogaonholiday. 
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Monday is all about to-do lists, right? I’ve got a wonderful addition to your list – The Madison Improvement Club. 

This new club in Phoenix is just the place to “Let the Party begin”. There is spin, there is yoga, there is amazing food ~ and the best part is there is a community place to gather. I was lucky to connect with my old friend and teacher Alex Austin.

Alex was one of the first people I met when I moved to Phoenix. It was yoga love at first sight. He has an enormous capacity to give and share. His knowledge of anatomy and how it relates to the practice of yoga is inspiring. When I met him I knew I was home. I’m thrilled to share him, and this wonderful new place to practice, with you.

Lyrics from a song Alex played during his class was “You are the love you give.” I’d say that could be Alex’s song of life.

Let me know how you like it when you go. Namaste, Stephanie

 

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I feel it is my responsibility as a yoga teacher to inspire, educate and share. Are you living your life from a place of scarcity or abundance? It’s a question I ask of myself in my daily check in.

I recently met a very inspiring person, Silvia Mordini. I’m hoping to schedule a video interview with her soon, but wanted to share her with you today because she has a couple of Yoga Retreats coming up that still have spaces available : http://blog.silviamordini.com/yoga-retreats.asp.

Who has not dreamed of going to Italy  ? ~ and if you have already been perhaps a yoga retreat would be a first for you.

Silvia “is deeply honored to serve her students”. Her genuine ability to give, connect and inspire brings about positive and permanent  life changes. I know, I’ve been lucky to spend time with Silvia and her energy and passion and heart centered life are contagious. I hope you’ll give her a shout.

You can also find her on Twitter @inspiredyogagal and her Facebook page is (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1164596386) and of course who does not love love love Pinterest : http://pinterest.com/alchemytours/ and Instagram : alchemytours.

I highly recommend connecting with Silvia. Please let me know if you do? I’d love to share your experience here. Namaste, Stephanie

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I am thrilled to introduce you to the dynamic and passionate Sophie Abdenabi. We met months ago when I visited Mosaic in San Diego, CA.

Sophie feels “ blessed to work with this wonderful organization called MOSAIC. MOSAIC is comprised of four unique brands (MOSAIC Yoga, MOSAIC Health, MOSAIC Wisdom, MOSAIC Soul) all working towards the mission to provide an environment and framework for individuals to develop their own uniqueness, intelligence and power so they can utilize their gift in service to others and the community.”

Without further delay… Please meet Sophie (and of course when you are in San Diego make sure and find her at exporemosaic.com)

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Wow – what a day. Nothing like getting back into my site and being thrilled beyond belief to accept two awards in one day. Epic !

This was in my inbox: “The Institute for the Psychology of Eating. We are the world’s leading school in nutritional psychology and focus on providing students and professionals with a certification in Dynamic Eating Psychology and Mind Body Nutrition.

We recently wrote an article on the Top Yoga Blogs (http://psychologyofeating.com/best-yoga-blogs/). We wanted to provide our audience with a curated list of what we believe are the top blogs on women’s empowerment that align with our philosophy and provide added value to the Internet.

After spending a few weeks combing through the web, we found One with Life and believe it is a resource our readers can trust.”

Thank you so much for this great honor. I’m back up and running and will be posted with renewed passion at this great award.

Namaste,

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Wow — I am so thrilled and honored… I just learned I received this amazing award from HA Programs.org. And I’m in amazing company — look here to see who else was named one of the Top 25 Sites for Fitness and Health in 2012 . My site has been down for months. I had a fatal error message and it took my wonderful life partner, Michael, to figure out how to get back in. He gets the award today from me for Top Tech Guy.

I opened up my email account and this was waiting there for me : “I’m quite happy to inform you that your site has been included! You can view the list here: http://www.mhaprograms.org/top-25-fitness-health.html

We pored through hundreds of worthy sites focused on health and fitness topics, covering everything from running and cycling to yoga and nutrition. We selected our final 25 based on factors including readership, focus on health and fitness topics, quality of information, search ranking, and site age.

Our site aims to be a resource for students and professionals in healthcare, so we feel it is essential to highlight those making health and fitness a part of their everyday lives. We hope our readers will share these great sites with their colleagues and friends. After all, the ultimate goal of every healthcare professional is helping people live happier and healthier.”

Thank you for the inspiration to get crackin’. I’ve got an interview with an amazing yoga teacher from Mosaic in San Diego coming next.

Thanks again for the emails and feedback. Namaste – Stephanie

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Very excited to share The Sedona Yoga Festival has over 100,000 page views this month ~ it’s been great doing all of the social media for an amazing group of people.

http://www.facebook.com/sgsmedia?fref=ts
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Congratulations to co-directors Marc Titus & Leah Adams for creating a successful yoga festival. The Sedona Yoga Festival has been more than successful ~ it’s been inspiring. I know what it’s like to create something with a small crew of amazing people and they have pulled off quite a feat. Today is the last day, but everyone I have spoken to is thrilled to hear there will be a SYF2014.

Have you been to a yoga festival? Would love to hear your insights and experience ~ Namaste, Stephanie

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Hurray! I have one of the top 10% most viewed @LinkedIn profiles for 2012. http://www.linkedin.com/pub/profile/10/031/300Tweet