Taksu Spa for our RYT200 Yoga Teacher Training Course
Our Venue Set in the heart of Ubud is Taksu Spa, the host of Shades of Yoga’s teacher training. Although it is in the heart of Ubud its set back on one of the quieter …
Yoga Lifestyle
We are all individuals, But interconnected. We are all Unique, But Share So Many things. We are all on a Journey; Moving, Flowing, Evolving.- Yoga Lifestyle
7 Things to Do in Ubud When You Are Not Training
Hello, my name is Charlotte and I recently graduated from the Shades of Yoga 200h Teacher Training course in Bali! Living and training in Ubud is a really magical experience! The training programme is intense, …
8 things you don’t need to become a yogi.
If you are into yoga you probably have bumped into articles like ’10 signs you are a true yogi’ and get completely confused. During my years of practicing and teaching yoga I experienced moments of …
Why you should practice yoga EVERY DAY!
Till a few weeks ago, I used to practice yoga almost every day. I’d diligently go through vigorous practice on a daily basis, punctuated occasionally by a couple of off days. Seeing that I used …
Why I believe in what we do at Shades of Yoga
This is a special blog post, giving an insider view of Shades of Yoga YTTs. As one of the Shades of Yoga trainers I wanted to share my sincere thought about the yoga teacher trainings …
The Shades of Yoga/Taksu Experience
By Natalie Thomas – May 2018 My time in Ubud, Bali during my 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training If someone would have told me at the beginning of April what the month of May had …
Five Tips to Build A Strong Home Practice
Home practice is an important part in our yoga development as we learned in our teacher training. With home practice we learn to listen and respond to our body. It is also something that brings us …
5 Elements of Ayurveda
Ayurveda, the Vedic wisdom of life tells us about five elements. Five principles of matter. Those five cosmic principles are ether, air, fire, water, and earth. These five elements are not to be understood as …
Why is meditation so hard?
Meditation will deepen your yoga practice and benefit your health and wellbeing in many ways but in truth, learning to meditate can be hard. In the profoundly spiritual surroundings of beautiful Bali, during your Shades …
Selecting All Of Your Yoga Necessities: A Guide
With yoga now such a massive part of the western world, it comes as no surprise that yoga products are also taking the world by storm. You’ll often hear beginner practitioners walk into a studio …
Anatomy of Movement – Muscles
Today we will focus on movement. So, lift your arm up. Wow, how did that happen? You just wanted to lift your arm up and it just lifted up. Can you explain what you did …
A students experience of Uluwatu
Shades of Yoga recently added a brand spanking new location and venue for their yoga teacher trainings that I was lucky enough to be a part of. The location is the beautiful area of Uluwatu, …
There’s Magic in Mudras
Use mudras to deepen your yoga practice, prepare you for yoga teacher training, and focus your prana or life force energy. Over the years we’ve noticed that most students who come to Shades of Yoga …
Exploring Uluwatu
Uluwatu is located on Bali’s Bukit Peninsula, at the very most southwestern tip of the island. Uluwatu is known for it’s limestone cliffs, magnificent beaches, and world class surf for both beginners and professionals alike. …
The Wisdom of the Body, Proprioception
Have you ever tried standing on one leg with your eyes closed? Will you be able to hold Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana (Hand to Big Toe Pose) or even Vyksasana (Tree Pose) with your eyes closed? …
Yoga and Spirituality
Traditionally yoga was a purely spiritual practice. Today people do yoga for many different reasons. The question is: is it a bad thing to do yoga for reasons other than Spirituality? Let’s take a look …
The Ego. What is so negative about it?
The yogic wisdom advices us to liberate from the boundaries of the ego. But what are those boundaries? And, if they are so bad and unnecessary why do we have them? The ego represents the …
How do you choose a Yoga Teacher Training Course
There are hundreds of different yoga teacher training programs to choose from.. Which is the right for you? The decisions involved in choosing the right school for your yoga teacher training is quite a hard one …
Pratyahara: Internalization of senses
Yoga is so much more than the physical mat practice that is relatable these days. The very word Yoga comes from the Vedic Sanskrit word to unite or to add or to join. Yoga gives …
The seat of our personal power, Manipura chakra
The word chakra is not unfamiliar in todays moderns world. We have so many lovely chakra meditation sessions, chakra healing sessions, chakra crystals, chakra balancing therapies. The word and its view points are discussed at …
Daily practice for Breath Work
Pranayama is one of the most important parts of a yoga practice. It is the fourth limb in the Eight limbed system of yoga by Patanjali. Prana itself is also known as the life force …
This is it!
“What? What do you mean this is it? There must be something more than this. It has to be. This can’t be it!” Maybe we have been in such situation that we question ourselves and …
Choose the Gentle Road instead of the Fast Lane in Life
Gentle in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary means “free from harshness, sternness, or violence”. Thus, this relates very well with the concept of ahimsa – non-violence which is the first Yama in Patanjali’s eight limbs of Yoga. Being …
Eastern Wisdom to Get Through Difficult Times
If you are in difficult times now, I feel your heart and my prayer goes to you. In Indonesia, we grow up seeing these hard times as part of life and it is called “cobaan” …
What Does “Practicing Yoga” Mean?
When people hear that I am a yoga teacher, many times they casually inform me that the reason they are not practicing yoga is because they are not flexible enough to do “yoga”. I would ask them then, “What do you think “yoga” is?”. Usually they will laugh and say something like “putting your legs behind your head”.
My Shade of Yoga
We are all individuals, but interconnected. We are all unique, but share so many things. We are all on a journey; moving, flowing, evolving. We all have our own Shade of Yoga, many shades, evolving …
The Path of Yoga: Spiritual or Physical?
Spiritual or Physical? Yoga means to “yoke” and to put it simply, the purpose of yoga is to connect back with the Divine, to experience oneness with the Divine. So yoga is a spiritual practice. …
Mindful Travel to Transform Yourself
Travel and Discover “The world is flat”, said Thomas L Friedman in his book “The World is Flat”. I like the book because the first time I read it, I was travelling during a break …
Breathing IS Sexy! Introducing Pranayama (the study of the breath) as a tool to stay more present and focused on and off your mat
In connection with the previous article Where’s Your Head? We are exploring how elements of Hatha Yoga can help us become a more connected, more attentive and even a more authentic version of ourselves. Through the …