AYAMA™ RESOURCES & ARTICLES BY AARON
How to Start Your Own Yoga Retreat
It’s happened quite a bit. Too many times to count actually. I’ll be introduced to someone new; we’ll exchange platitudes for a short while before the individual will lean in close, as if letting me in on a big secret, and whisper “You know...I’ve been thinking of holding a yoga retreat of my own one of these days.” Most people’s vision never surpasses that initial bold statement....
How To Regain Control And Find Freedom In Your Life || The Four Fountains Of Life
We all experience suffering and in our life. This suffering can usually be traced back to disturbances that exist deep within our mind. Retracing our steps back to our most inner sanctuary becomes difficult and challenging. But where do our disturbances come from? The source of all our disturbances in life can be traced back to the ‘Four Fountains’ of life, our most basic and primal urges. You...
Defining Asana: The Purpose of Yoga Postures and What Happens When You Master Them
Patanjali created the eight limbs of yoga known as ‘ashtanga’, ‘ashta' meaning eight and ‘anga’ meaning limbs. These eight limbs are a pathway to living a yogic life, and the third limb is the practice of asana. So often you hear this phrase, “Yoga will change your life!” So often your friends tell you that you should do yoga. Sarah Anderson demonstrates this perfectly in this cartoon in Sarah’s...
Open Your Heart + Open Your Life || Yogi Aaron’s Secret Backbending Sequence
Sometimes the weight of the world seems to be pressing in on all fronts. The desire to breathe and feel freedom is great. For many of us, we seek out a release valve for the pressure of life by indulging in pleasures. We hope that for just a moment, we can forget our burdens and responsibilities. But this false sense of relief gained by disconnecting doesn’t really get to the heart of what is...
Heal Your Lower Back Problems || Deep Thigh Stretch
Is your lower back constantly in pain? Do you feel debilitated and sometimes can not move? Do you often see a chiropractor for relief from back pain only to have the suffering return the next day? I have some solutions for you, and I think they might change your life. One of the solutions is to for you to stop stretching. Stop stretching your lower back? It is possible that your lower back needs...
Harnessing The Power Of Wheel Pose || How To Master A Supported Yoga Wheel Pose
Do you feel burnt out? Are you at the end of your creative life? Have you forgotten all of the possibilities life has to offer? Do you feel like giving up? I often do. Yes, I Yogi Aaron, at times have felt as if the world is closing in on me. To have the feeling that the world is closing in on you is normal. We human beings are genetically wired to survive. Our basic instinct is to survive....
The Key To Unlocking Forearm Balance || How To Do Pincha Mayurasana
Like all balancing inverted postures in the yogic system, some of us embrace the practice while others avoid them at all costs. But let's be clear about something. An inverted balancing posture is either energizing or calming. Once in a while, they are balancing (such as headstand.) Postures such as handstand and forearm balance fill us with self-confidence and energy. And who doesn't need more...
How To Master Handstands || Yogi Aaron’s Secret Handstand Practice
Yoga is a practice of walking into your fear every day and facing it head on until there is no more fear. - Yogi Aaron Handstands are one for the hardest poses to master. And let’s face it, to master handstands are really scary! Well at least for most people they are… most normal people. Whenever I am about to teach handstand to a group of beginner yoga students, there is always an enormous...
Do You Have The Ability To Imagine?
One of my favorite songs of all time is and has always been "Imagine." It is a song that, for me, conjures so many possibilities of what the world could be like. In truth, "Imagine" is a song about what a world would be like if we truly endeavored, as a species, to fulfill life's purpose and our actions served the health, wealth, peace and propseperty of the entire world. In my...
A Journey Into The Heart Of Darkness || A Yogi’s Experience In The Killing Fields
There is something that scares me to the depths of my soul. What scares me is knowing that there is a deep, dark shadow side within myself capable of enacting evil and unspeakable acts. This is the same shadow side that haunts many of us. The Stanford Prison Experiment From August 14 to 20, 1971, Stanford University conducted an experiment known as the Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE). It...
