Shazia Omar

Why journaling matters

The act of journaling is not merely putting pen to paper; it’s a gateway to self-discovery, a path to healing, and a way to navigate the bustling world with clarity and purpose. Journaling inspires creativity as a writer and a sense of self-acceptance, as one begins to see events and emotions from a different perspective. It also helps us rewrite our own narrative, once, twice, weekly, daily, until we find a story that empowers us; a story of learning and healing and growth.

The power of Ayurveda: Fortify your immunity with natural remedies

It’s not enough to rely on pharmaceuticals to save us when we are sick. We need to make our constitutions strong through yoga and herbal supplements that have been known to help humans for centuries.

Yoga's miracle cure: Nauli Kriya and its impact on gut health

Nauli Kriya is a yogic cleansing practice that involves isolating and churning the abdominal muscles and organs. While it's not a direct treatment for medical conditions like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), constipation, or gas problems, some practitioners and yogic traditions believe that it can have a positive impact on digestive health.

Yoga for heart healing

Grief can manifest in the body as tension, tightness, and emotional distress, and yoga poses can provide relief and a holistic approach to healing. Here’s how yoga poses can assist in releasing grief.

Tools for cultivating happiness: Yamas and Niyamas in yoga

The purpose of yoga is to achieve liberation from suffering through the realisation of our true nature. By practicing the eight limbs of yoga, we purify our conscience so we can perceive our inner divinity. Two of these eight limbs, the yamas and niyamas, are the social and personal ethics that form the foundation of a yogic lifestyle that enables us to advance along a spiritual path towards enlightenment. These are tools for cultivating happiness and self-confidence. When you come across an obstacle, a moment that tries your patience, a person that rubs you the wrong way, think of it as an opportunity to practice using these tools. This will help you put your spirituality into action.

Yoga and the nervous system

Yoga is relevant in our age. Far from being mystical and otherworldly, it is a teaching firmly grounded in the physiological realities of science. Our experience of the world depends entirely on the state of our nervous system. This, in turn, is influenced by a host of factors – genes, diet, environment, and lifestyle. If the nervous system is fresh and rested, the body is healthy and the mind is alert. As a result, our thoughts are powerful and clear, our actions, which are manifested thoughts, are successful and rewarding.

Purpose of yoga as explained by the Sutras of Patanjali

There are many wisdom traditions and spiritual maps to help you journey inwards. Yoga is one of these. Vedic scholars in ancient India spent many years in meditation to intuit this knowledge. Buddha studied with many of these teachers before his awakening. The knowledge was passed down orally till they were most accurately transcribed in The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. For this article, I am drawing from a fabulously accessible version translated by Alistair Shearer.

In Love with Indaba My Favorite Yoga Studio

Every now and then, you come across a place where you would like to pitch your tent and stay forever. For me, that’s Indaba Studio in Marylebone, London.

November 10, 2020
November 10, 2020

The Jewel in the Lotus – A Mantra for Peace and Happiness

Om Mani Padme Hum. Known as the Compassion Mantra, or the Jewel in the Lotus, this is a powerful Buddhist prayer. This mantra is a tool to train the mind to achieve ultimate peace and enjoyment. The mind dictates our experience of happiness and sadness, so we must learn to control our mind.

September 29, 2020
September 29, 2020

Heart to heart on World Heart Day!

It is more than just a tireless muscle that governs our flow of blood to the rest of the body; the heart is also an energy centre that governs our ability to give and receive love, and our ability to heal from loss and grief.

August 11, 2020
August 11, 2020

Healthy Digestion through Yoga: Nauli Kriya

Nau means boat (like nauka) and Li means cling, so in nauli kriya, the abdominal muscles cling to the abdominal wall while moving like a boat on the rolling waves of the ocean. It allows you to massage the organs in your abdominal region through the circular movement of the abdominal muscles.

June 2, 2020
June 2, 2020

Eight limbs of Ashtanga yoga

Ashtanga is a vigorous and demanding physical practice. Maintaining a daily routine of the ‘primary series,’ as the sequence of asanas is called, requires discipline and dedication as well as an entire overhaul of one’s lifestyle.

May 12, 2020
May 12, 2020

Balancing your energy

The body is more than the sum of its parts. It is physical and energetic. Various parts of our body generate various frequencies and the body

March 31, 2020
March 31, 2020

Ujayyi Breath to Boost your Immunity During Covid-19

Ujayi breath — breath of fire — helps us burn away toxins in our system. Prana is the life force, also known as chi, ki, and the Force in various cultures. We inhale ‘prana,’ and to expand our capacity to draw in more life force we practice ‘pranayama,’ or perform breathing techniques designed to increase the flow of prana.

March 10, 2020
March 10, 2020

Tete-a-tete with James ‘Fish’ Gill

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Fish in Sri Lanka. His approach to yoga as a form of healing and therapy was gentle and inspiring. The following is a takeaway from that meeting.

February 11, 2020
February 11, 2020

Wellbeing and Wanderlust

If your new year’s resolution included health, happiness and positive lifestyle, then making time for a yoga retreat is the best gift you can give yourself.

November 26, 2019
November 26, 2019

Tete-a-tete with Ellen Johannesen

I was always interested in spirituality and yoga felt like an extension of that. I grew up in Norway and I loved to dance. I loved to move.

November 12, 2019
November 12, 2019

The Brahma mudra

Externally simple, the Brahma mudra allows you to access deeper channels of inner focus. Everyone can do it, but its potency grows as students go deeper into their practice.

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