New Years Eve Sadhana

Grounding, calming and healing. Ganesha is the God of knowledge, wisdom, remover of obstacles and new beginnings. 

New Years Greeting

Wishing you a Happy & Peaceful New Year!

Love, Helén

Wishing You A Peaceful Holiday

Best Gift To Yourself...

The best gift you can give yourself is the gift of self-care... Let yourself bask in moments of tranquility. Sit down for some tea or coffee and lit a candle, roll out your yoga mat, take a seat on your meditation cushion, take a walk, slow down and breathe deeply, connect to spirit, wrap a blanket around you and lie down in savasana... take time for you, just be.

Love & Light,
Helén

Peace

Use your asana practice, breath and inner wisdom to release stress and tension.

 Peace to you. 

Chakra Series

Someone is helping me planning the chakra series starting January 4 on Living Bliss Yoga. More information to come...

Have a wonderful weekend! Love, Helén

December Theme & Create A Sacred Space...

December is here and we have a new theme... TRANQUILITY. December is a beautiful and sacred time but sometimes it can become very stressful and hectic... so I feel that why not try to bring some everyday tranquility into our life and practice. 

Tranquility: the state or quality of being tranquil; calm, peaceful, serene, blissful, quiet. 

The aim with this theme is to help you become aware of how you can both create, embrace and indulge in tranquility (even in the most hectic time).

Why not start with a sacred space. A small sacred space for your inner world... We can also call it an altar or inspiration table/space. A space where you can be to a find peace and stillness. A space where you can meditate, practice yoga, write, reflect or just be. Your tranquil space...

“You must have a room or a certain hour of the day or so where you do not know what was in the morning paper...a place where you can simply experience and bring forth what you are, and what you might be... At first you may find nothing is happening... But if you have a sacred place and use it, take advantage of it, something will happen.” ~Joseph Campbell

With Love,
Helén

Living Bliss Yoga - Who & Why

Yesterday I finished shooting a rejuvenating & restorative yoga sequence for LBY's December videos. Tomorrow there will be some more action in front of the camera. When I first started shooting yoga videos I felt so conscious and weird and uncomfortable. But very slowly that feeling started to shift when it became clear to me WHO I'm doing this for and WHY. When I step onto that yoga mat I think about my beautiful yogini tribe (and you know who you are) and other women that this will resonate with. Someone that is craving a joyful, heartfelt and creative yoga practice that they can do in the comfort of their home. Someone that wish to cultivate self-care, build physical strength and stamina, honoring their intuition, opening up and see their inner beauty. A women that wish to have yoga as a lifestyle.

WHY? Yoga empower, transform and bring us health and joy. It is my wish to create an experience where movement, meditation and yoga (both on and off the yoga mat) becomes a platform towards living a healthy creative life that aligns with your true authentic self.  

Relax…come home to yourself...

Monday Motivation

My morning practice altar. There is no right or wrong way to practice. Explore different pathways, different movements. Be brave and follow your intuition.

Energy

Today I want to share with you some things that I do to boost my energy. Since the days are getting much shorter it is very natural to feel less energized. I do have to say though that I think it is very important to listen to our body and decide if we need an energizing asana sequence, breathing exercise or just REST. 

This is the time to really take care of yourself before the busy holiday kicks in.

~Stay hydrated with water, fresh juice and soups.

~Load up on vitamin C.

~Eat a lot of leafy greens.

~Do your practice. Here is a link to a short sequence that you can do to boost your energy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hfi7dBNiSzQ
~Practice fire breathing/kappalabhati. It is an energizing and forceful breathing exercise  that creates clarity and vitality. Sit in a  comfortable position either on a chair or cushion. Spine is straight and chest is lifted. Place both hands around your navel. Inhale through your nose and fill up your belly, exhale through your nose and let your belly sink in, repeat three times. Inhale and then exhale forcefully while your belly is moving in towards your spine and contracting your abdominal muscles. Allow your inhalation to happen naturally. Repeat the exhalations around 30-40 times. Then inhale fully and pause at the top of your inhale for a short moment. Feel the space and stillness within. Exhale all the air out. Repeat kappalabhati one more time.
~Relax in a restorative pose. There are many wonderful restorative poses you can do but this one is a favorite of mine. It opens the whole front body, stimulates the heart and improves circulation. Relaxing for body and mind. 
Supta baddha konasana - Reclining Bound Angle or Resting Goddess Pose

Props: one bolster or a few firm pillows. 3 blankets, one behind your head and two rolled up and placed under your thighs. Optional props: One strap and eye pillow. Place strap around your sacrum, inner thighs and hook around your ankles. Place the eye pillow over your eyes. Stay for 10 minutes.

~If you don’t have the time to put together all the props just simply lie down on your back for savasana/ deep relaxation. Stay for 10 minutes. 

Namaste,

Helén

Nourishment

Happy November!

NOURISH... 

What comes to mind when you hear that word? 

This month on LBY our theme and main focus is NOURISH. We will reflect on its meaning and how we can nourish our body, mind and spirit. Throughout this month we will use different tools and practices that cultivates self-nourishment. The asana practice will be rejuvenating, restorative, empowering and filled with heart openings. 

Seek out some creative, healing, inspired nourishment. You deserve it!

Give yourself a moment of self-nourishment with THIS FLOW! Enjoy!

Namaste,

Helén

Peaceful Halloween Flow

Happy Blissful Halloween!

Enjoy this flowing yoga sequence for halloween or any day you wish to calm your mind and move your body!! 

Flow Into Peace

Love, Helén

Morning Ritual + Happy Hamstrings Video

Do you have a morning ritual? I have one that I LOVE. Last night I caught myself wishing it was morning so I could do my nourishing morning ritual... The way we start our day have such a great impact on the rest of the day. It’s in the morning we can really set the tone for our day. My morning ritual involves; meditation (often with a mudra and mantra), light a candle and drink my coffee while reading an inspiring book. Some days I practice yoga right after that, some days I don’t and I do my practice later. 

The morning ritual doesn’t have to be complicated or a “big thing.” Just something special that put us on the right track for a new beautiful day. 

Here are some beautiful morning rituals:

 

Move. Stretch. Flow. Create circulation in your body. Let prana flow.

Light a candle and take a seat. Connect to your breath and your body. Visualize how you want your day to be and how you want to feel. Sit in stillness for 5 -10 minutes.

Take a walk and connect to nature. Breathe deeply and set your intentions for the day. 

Make yourself a green smoothie and start your day feeling energized and clear.


















Create a morning ritual that you LOVE. Something that you can wake up to every morning and enjoy. 

Click here to enjoy Happy Hamstrings Yoga Video! 

With Love,
Helén

Not enough time for a full practice?

Hello & Namaste,

Just wanted to share some thoughts around time and practice...

Some days our schedule is so packed with things and obligations that needs to get done that a full yoga practice seems out of the question. Sometimes that can become a stress factor in itself...I can’t do my practice, I don’t have enough time...etc etc. The last thing we want and need is creating stress around our practice. So instead we can do some “yoga-on-the-go.” Just a few simple poses that can shift your energy and the way you feel right away. 

Happy Practicing, 
Helén

Side Stretching
Opens the side ribcage and lungs for deeper fuller breathing. 5 breaths each side.

Goddess Pose with Lion’s Breath
Stand in your truth. Be fierce. Lion’s Breath: as you inhale squeeze your face together and as you exhale with an aahhh sound you stick your tongue out and look up. Repeat lion’s breath 3 times and then stand in goddess pose for 5 more breaths, breathing in and out through your nose.

Heart Opener
Lift you heart and gaze. Open your chest and create space with your breath. Both uplifting and energizing. Stay for 8 breaths.

Hip Opener
Opening our hips can release a lot of tension in our lower back but also emotional tension stuck in our hips. Breath deeply for 8 breaths each side.

What is a successful yoga practice?

Hi & Namaste!

I’ve been asking myself; What is a successful yoga practice? Is it:To do a forward fold with straight legs. To not fall in a balancing pose. Doing headstands. Being able to do chaturangas in all vinyasa transistions. Do poses so it looks like you can join Circus De Soleil. To be able to sit still in meditation. A perfect warrior pose. Sitting in lotus pose.
Doing a full wheel pose. This list can go on... For many years I believed that the list above was a successful practice. Did I feel happy in my practice? No. I thought my practice was suppose to look and be a certain way. I truly thought that if I couldn’t stand on my head for a certain amount of time I was not a true Yogini...

So what is a successful yoga practice?

Decide, commit and just do it! That is a successful practice in my opinion!! 

Your practice is your journey. Follow your intuition and you will push yourself in the right direction. It is great to work towards moving into a certain pose, BUT remember that your journey getting there and working towards it is already perfect, because you are doing it. You devoted yourself to the practice and THAT is a successful practice!

Peace & Love,
Helén

Here is a movement meditation for you! Enjoy.

Happy October + Yoga Video

Happy October,

Autumn is the perfect season to create a steady nourishing rhythm both on and off the yoga mat. It’s a time to slow down and turn inward. We say good bye to the light warm summer days while we transitioning into the darker season. The darker season allows us to journey deeper into our inner light and spirit.

For this month we are going to cultivate a practice that will ground us, build strength, stability and boost our immune system for the colder season.  

LBY Members, 
make sure to check out the NEW yoga videos for October. A new vinyasa yoga sequence is up that will make you feel energized and grounded + a calming hamstring sequence that you are going to love. And don’t forget to download your yoga calendar!

If you not a member yet you can go to www.livingblissyoga.com to sign up. The signing up process is very easy. At LBY online studio and community I help you create both a nourishing and empowering yoga practice that you can enjoy in the comfort of your home or anywhere, anytime. You also have the freedom to choose your practice from a collection of many different yoga videos to make your practice tailored to your needs.

Check out the sequence that I just uploaded on Youtube; Yoga Flow to Wake Up & Open Your Body. Enjoy the flow! Click HERE to watch!

Love,

Helén

Happy Fall

Crisp air and colorful trees are on the horizon. Along with pumpkins, apples and warm scarfs, the fall season calls for some immune boosting yoga. This is the time to make your immune system stronger before the really cold dry air and holiday chaos comes.

Below you will find some great tools to boost your immune system!

Yoga mudra pose, Cobra pose, Sphinx pose are 3 wonderful poses that helps boost our immune system. You can practice just these 3 poses or weave them into your sequences. 

Yoga Mudra Pose

Strengthens the immune system

Stretches the legs, back and shoulders

Opens the third eye

Releases serotonin to the brain

Balances the hormones

Cobra Pose

Strengthens the immune system
Strengthens the back
Opens the chest
Releases tension and anxiety
Tones the ovaries and uterus

Sphinx Pose

Strengthens the immune system
Calms the nervous system
Releases pent-up emotions
Balancing hormones by compressing the ovaries
Releases serotonin to the brain

Bhastrika pranayama is closely related to kapalabhati/fire breath. In bhastrika pranayama both the out-breath and in-breath are forceful and vigorous. In kapalabhati/fire breath it is only the out-breath that is forceful and vigorous.

Take a comfortable seat. Sit up tall and take a few long deep breaths to center yourself. Place your hands on your lower abdominals and as you inhale through your nose you fill up your belly and as you exhale through your nose you move your belly in. Do a few of these in a slow steady pace. You can gradually begin to pick the speed up just slightly. One inhale and one exhale is a cycle. Do 8-10 cycles and then come back to your natural breath. Repeat this two more times. If you feel any discomfort, stop immediately.

Don’t do this breathing exercise if your are pregnant, if you are in your menstrual cycle, high blood pressure, lung or heart problems.

Plus a bonus tips from my cats Deedou and Derius: Take daily naps! Naps are great for you. When the days get shorter and darker the body and mind really needs that time to rejuvenate. After your nap, do a few stretches. You will feel great:)

Peace & Love,

Helén + D&D

How do you feel after your practice?

Hello & Happy Thursday!

Do you sometimes feel that you need to fight really hard against your excuses to not do a practice? Some days I can come up with hundreds of reasons and excuses to not do my practice...today was one of those days. 

How do we deal with that...? The way I deal with it is the WHY!! Why do I practice yoga? How is it going to make me feel, am I going to feel better than I’m feeling right now? Have I ever regretted a practice? So when I answer these questions to myself my answers are much more reasonable than my excuses. Every time I finished a practice I feel so much better. I feel stronger, lighter and more myself. How do you feel after your practice? Take a moment after every practice to just sit in stillness and notice the shift in body, mind and breath. And thank yourself for standing up against your excuses. 

I just uploaded a calming chakra flow sequence on Youtube. So if you are in need of some peace and harmony try it out. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOzGGW-9I9I

Peace & Namaste,

Helén 

Listen to your body + Feel calm and relaxed in 5 minutes

The last couple of days my yoga practice has been slightly different than what I had planned. Instead of a strong vinyasa flow or a yogini workout I’ve been doing a calming and rejuvenating practice. Sometimes a short practice, a calming flow, a restorative practice or just sitting down to breathe deeply is enough. We don’t always have to push ourselves. Forcing ourselves to do a strong vigorous practice for the feeling of accomplishment is not always so wise. Sometimes we just need to let ourselves be. Be with what is and know that we are enough.

Nadi Shodhana also called alternate nostril breathing is the breathing exercise for relaxation and harmony. It calms your nervous system and balances the opposites (solar-lunar, yin-yang, male-female) within the body. 

Sit up tall. Bring your left hand in to Jnana mudra (circle left thumb and index finger) and place your hand on your thigh. With your right hand, bend your right index and middle finger to touch the fleshy part of your palm. Bring you right hand up to your nose. Close your right nostril with your thumb, inhale through left nostril, close left nostril with your right ring finger, lift thumb and exhale through right nostril, inhale through right nostril, close with thumb, exhale through left nostril. Continue with this in your own rhythm 3-5 minutes. Before you start you might want to put some lavender oil on your right wrist.

This breathing exercise is wonderful to practice before going to bed or when you wish to feel calm and relaxed. You will feel a shift right away!

Love,

Helén

September Theme & Yoga Video

Happy September!

I hope you are well and that you had a wonderful start of the month. Many of us go through a lot of changes and transitions at this time of the year and it can be slightly stressful from time to time. During times like this I always try to stay on top of my practice as much as possible because it will help me feel grounded, calm and in control. 

Let this yoga sequence help you to de-stress, feel calm and clear. Click on the link below to watch the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC5ULwNDibo

This month on LBY the theme is balance. We will focus on establishing a nourishing routine so it becomes a habit. I believe that balance lies in our daily routine and habits. It is the sum of our daily choices that makes us feel balanced and at ease. Creating new routines and habits are not easy. Change is hard and sometimes uncomfortable. But with great planning, clear intention and focused commitment it is possible. We all lead very busy lives, however it is important to not neglect our practice, not only for the health of our body but also for our mind and soul.

If you’re not a Living Bliss Yoga member yet you can sign up at; http://www.livingblissyoga.com

You won’t regret it! Having a home yoga practice is empowering and it brings us nourishment on all levels. When we take action and practice consistently there is a powerful shift that happens within. 

Namaste,

Helén

4-week Yoga Series Coming Up

Join me for a 4-week Beginners yoga series at Brookville Healing Arts in Chevy Chase, MD starting September 9

This 4-week series is designed for those who wish to explore yoga’s amazing benefits. Each week covers a different theme that will bring you nourishment on all levels. Get ready to build strength, become more flexible and increase your energy level. 

Week 1; Ground & Connect, improve your balance and strengthen your lower body 

Week 2; Open & Release, open your hips and free up tension and tightness

Week 3; Fire & Flow, strengthening your core and enjoy the benefits of twisting asanas

Week 4; Heart Opening, stimulate and open your heart center, strengthen your upper body to improve your posture 

Dates: Tuesdays; September 9, 16, 23 and 30

Time: 9-10:15AM

Cost: $110 for all 4 classes

Where: Brookville Healing Arts, 7019 Brookville Rd, Chevy Chase

Registration: email me at annahelenapril@me.com to sign up. Spot is not secure until payment is received

                                       

Namaste,

Helén

Short & Effective Meditation

Look into your own heart.

Who looks outside, dreams;

Who looks inside, awakes.

~Carl Jung

I hope you are savoring these late summer days!

Wherever we are, vacation or not, it is so important to pause, enjoy the moment and really connect to our core. It’s in these reflective moments we can find clarity. For me it’s when I get my best ideas.

I encourage you to take a moment and just pause, breathe and connect with yourself. I’ve created a short and effective meditation that will make you feel grounded and connected. We start the meditation with a mudra that is very powerful. Mudras are yoga in your hands that can create a healing quality from within.  Anyone can enjoy these healing mysterious gestures while sitting, standing, lying down or walking. Meditation is a wonderful tool to recharge, refocus and reconnect to your inner self.

When to meditate? 

Best time is to meditate first thing in the morning, after your asana practice or before going to bed. 

Click here to view the meditation video.

Namaste,

Helén

A Chakra Flow Video

Wake up the energies in your sacral chakra with this sequence and get an overall feeling of balance and harmony.

Click here to view the video.

Motivation Monday

Happy Monday!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I had a good weekend in Washington D.C. but Sunday was a little stressful because we had to take our cat Deedou to the emergency, but he will be ok. I’m so grateful for these 24/7 animal hospitals. I think my stress level had been so much higher if I hadn’t done my morning practice. I did a new yogini workout and it felt great. I wrote down the sequence so I can create a video and share it on the LBY community. 

Sometimes we need a little “motivation-boost” for our practice. So I put together a list of points that I find very helpful in boosting my motivation. I hope it can help you too when you’re in need of a little motivation!

-Write down why you are practicing yoga and how it makes you feel! Take a POST YOGA moment to write it down. How does it feel in your body, breath and mind!? Write it all down and then go back to those notes when you’re in need of motivation.

-Create a space for your yoga practice. Organize the space in the evening so it looks really inviting when you wake up in the morning. Roll out the yoga mat, put out the props and lay out your yoga clothes. 

-Have an accountability partner. Tell someone about your practice and then check in with them later. LBY members; share your practice on LBY. Go to the community and write about your practice and how it makes you feel. We will hold you accountable!!!

-Is it the length of the practice that makes you not want to do it? Sometimes we think that we need to do a 60 minutes or longer practice to get the benefits but that is not true. Instead of not doing anything just do a 5 minute practice or just a few asanas. Even though the practice is short you will feel a shift. 

-Plan in your practice in your calendar. Figure out a time that will work the best and just do it. It’s all about priorities. LBY members; print out your yoga calendar and put it up where you can see it everyday. 

-REFLECT ON YOUR BIGGEST EXCUSES TO NOT GET GOING WITH YOUR PRACTICE AND SEE IF YOUR EXCUSES ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR HEALTH, WELL-BEING AND SANITY. 

Yoga for the love of it!!

Namaste,

Helén

Welcome

Hello,

My name is Helén Andersson Sears and welcome to Living Bliss Yoga Blog. Through this blog I hope to motivate and inspire you to make yoga become a part of your lifestyle.

I love my daily practice. It makes me feel alive and vibrant. I want you to love your practice too. I want you to have a joyful, deep and nourishing experience. When we take action and practice consistently there is a powerful shift that happens within. Having a home yoga practice is empowering and it brings us nourishment on all levels.  

For so long I had this dream about having my own practice that I could come to everyday. A practice that would make me feel strong, empowered, alive and vibrant. A practice that I could do in the comfort of my home and make it a part of my lifestyle. 

I started this process of creating a home yoga practice in 2009. In the beginning I felt unsure and I didn’t know what was right or wrong. Well what I learned along the way is that there is really no right or wrong way, just different. So I made it my way and I want to share that with you. It’s not about mastering a difficult pose, it’s about getting into the flow of the practice. It’s not about doing a perfect practice, it’s about enjoying the practice. It’s about tapping into your inner strength and discover your true self, and feeling good and fit in body, mind, heart and spirit.  

YOGA FOR THE LOVE OF IT!

Namaste,

Helén