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The 5 Layers of Self-Awareness

By
Beth Gibbs, MA, E-YRT 500, C-IAYT
quiet reflection is one way to peel back the layers of self-awareness.

For centuries, philosophers have pondered the connection between mental and physical health. Science now recognizes the mind/body connection. Research continues to find evidence that our thoughts, feelings, beliefs, attitudes, and handling stress can positively or negatively affect our physical health. Modern research on the psychological aspects of self-awareness can be traced back to 1972 when Psychologists Shelley Duval and Robert Wicklund developed their theory of self-awareness:

Svadhyaya: Try This Life Stage Review to Develop Clarity and Self-Awareness

Clarity is an essential quality to embody to understand who you are and what difficulties you face, how they make you feel, and why you react or respond to them the way you do. Clarity is related to the niyama... Read more
Female yoga student legs on yoga mat. Yoga props for Iyengar lesson

Foot Yoga: Wake Up Your Toes

If setting down roots is the fundamental act in a yoga practice, then we’d best pay attention to our feet, the primary roots for all standing poses, and for much of our life off the mat. The more time we spend... Read more
Women practicing Iyengar yoga stretching in Down Dog Pose using blocks and the wall

Sparks of Divinity: BKS Iyengar’s Wisdom

Have you ever read words that changed your life? Here are some that recently changed mine: “If doubt arises in your discipline, let it come. You do your work and let doubt go about its work. Let’s see which... Read more

Tapas

I’ve always thought of tapas, (the third niyama not the Spanish appetizers), as it is most often defined: “burning or heating in order to purify.” So, of course, that brings to my mind a nice, sweaty yoga... Read more

The First Niyama: Saucha

In the Yoga Sutra, Patanjali delineated the eight limbs of yoga. These precepts are intended as guidelines to living a life with meaning and purpose. They may be seen as a kind of map for seekers of greater... Read more
group yoga class, diverse yogis practicing warrior 2 pose, virabhadrasana

If You Bring One Thing to Your Yoga Practice, Make It This

In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali delineated the eight limbs of yoga. These precepts are intended as guidelines to living a life with meaning and purpose. They may be seen as a kind of map for seekers of greater... Read more
big bodied woman practicing yogic meditation

Big Benefits: How Yoga Benefits Big Bodies On and Off the Mat

When I first started practicing yoga, I was by far the largest student in any of my yoga classes. The very first yoga class I ever attended was in the early ’90s. It was held in a huge gym at my university,... Read more
Online Yoga for Pain Relief

The Fourth Yama: Brahmacharya - Established in Divine Consciousness

In the Yoga Sutras , Patanjali delineated the eight limbs of yoga. These precepts are intended as guidelines to living a life with meaning and purpose. They may be seen as a kind of map for seekers of greater... Read more

The Third Yama: Asteya – Non-Stealing

In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali delineated the eight limbs of yoga. These precepts are intended as guidelines to living a life with meaning and purpose. They may be seen as a kind of map for seekers of greater... Read more

​Is it Safe to Begin Your Yoga Practice with Seated Poses?

Once, when I was on vacation, I did my first SUP yoga session (yoga on a Stand Up Paddle board). Practicing yoga to the gentle rhythm of the ocean waves was divine, but the way the asana practice was... Read more