Shazia Omar

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.

Retreat from chaos, refresh your soul

Looking for a meaningful way to celebrate your holidays? I’ve got just the treat for you!

The Art of Communicating by Thich Nhat Hanh

We all carry habit energy, learned behaviours, picked up from our parents. We carry the wounded inner children of our parents and ancestors within us. The past is not gone if the suffering is still there. We must recognise the presence of the suffering, listen to our inner child, and tenderly embrace the child to heal the suffering.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Interview of a Yogi: Gillian Breetzke

I have always been interested in spirituality, and wanted to understand more about life and our existence here on earth.

Tete-a-tete with Daniel Stringer

How did you get interested in yoga?

Tête-à-tête with Michela Accerenzi

When I moved to Dhaka and was invited to a yogilates’ class, I did not know what to expect, but after the very first class with Shazia Omar, I knew I had found something I needed.

Lions Breath – Roar Away Your Toxins!

Arguably Simhasana is the funniest looking yoga pose, but also, Lion’s Breath is a powerful way to release toxins and clear your mind!

Tête-à-tête with Tim Feldmann

Tim is one of the most amazing yoga teachers I have come across. Prior to yoga, he was a dancer, but a near-lethal fall left him unable to walk. Years of yoga helped him rehabilitate and heal. Today, we will venture into his amazing story.

A tête-à-tête with George Anthony

I had the pleasure of meeting George, an inspiring yogi, on one of my yoga training getaways in Koh Samui. His dedication to the practice, his sincerity and his humour, his commitment to his students, caught my interest. After exchanging a few words, I asked him for an interview and here it is.

The rise in the popularity of yoga

If the body is stiff and the mind is rigid, what life can one live? The practice of yoga is to remove weeds from the body so that a garden can grow. Yoga stretches and strengthens the mind, body and spirit. No wonder yoga is the top choice for people living healthy lifestyles.

Interview of a yogi: Ulfath Kuddus

I am my mother's biggest fan, and growing up, I did everything she did- I basically wanted to be her! She was really into yoga (and Jane Fonda)

Interview of a Yogi: Helena Rosenthal

Helena Rosenthal first encountered the Ashtanga Vinyasa method when she was just 19 years old. For the past 11 years, she has taught at her own shala Ashtanga Pitanga in São Paulo, among many other local studios.

Repose in Every Pose: Relaxation on the Mat

One of my favourite books on yoga is 'Light on Life' by BKS Iyengar. Revisiting the text after a couple of years, I am once again inspired by the insight Iyengar offers yoga practitioners. Below, I have tried to highlight some of his recommendations for practicing yoga postures (asanas).

Kapal Bhati — Frontal Brain Purification

Kapal bhati is a kriya, or yogic practice, which invigorates the brain and awakens the dormant centres which are responsible for subtle perceptions. Kapal means forehead. Bhati means light, but also 'perception' or 'knowledge.'

Healing Experience in Thailand

The course I took was a holistic immersion into three limbs of yoga. The daily practice consisted of two hours of breath work (pranayama), two hours of meditation (dhyana), one hour of chanting, as well as one hour of exercise (asanas).

Pranayama – Expanding Your Energy

There is a vital energy or life force flowing through us all, maintaining physical functions that keep us alive and healthy. Various cultures have assigned different names for this single life force; Qi, Chi, The Force. The Sanskrit term for life force is “prana.”

Flower Moon

Today's full moon is called the Flower Moon in honour of May's abundant blooms. Flower Moon observations revolve around the bounty and beauty of nature this time of the year. The name has Native American origins, and in North America at this time, there are multitude of wildflowers in bloom, such as anemones, wild garlic, indigo, bluebells, lupines, sundrops, and violets.

Know your knees

Ask any med student, and they will all agree that the knee is probably the most complex joint in the body. As a matter of fact most of the people who take up my course come with problems related to weak knees, or injury. Others suffer back aches that originate from their knees, although they do not even realise it.

Corporate yoga for productivity in the workplace

Yoga improves mental, psychological and physical health. Mindfulness techniques can help people reduce stress. Meditation can help

Strong to the Core

There are three core muscles in the abdominals: the transverse, the rectus and the internal and external obliques. In pilates, this core is referred to as the Power House. The power house is made up of three sets of muscles”

No More Back Pain

Most of us spend hours at the office, sitting on a chair (that is perhaps not ergonomically designed), with our necks bent towards a

Of mindfulness

The greatest present you can give is your presence!

The healthy and holy detox — Yoga during Ramadan

It is a month of introspection, devotion and self-discipline. Comprising 30 days of abstinence, during Ramadan, it is important to keep your mind and body strong.

A new age lifestyle for health and happiness

In the frenetic modern world, ingesting toxic air pollution, preservative-loaded food and the pressures of earning a living, now more than ever we need to draw on ancient wisdom to find a balance that nurtures health and happiness.

Sonic salutations to the sun

Surya Namaskar has many benefits. Here are a few: weight loss, better blood circulation, strengthening of muscles and joints, improved flexibility and toning, improved digestion and respiration, improved sleep, reduced depression and anxiety, regularised menstrual cycle, reduced blood sugar level, detoxification of the body and calming of the mind.