The 40Hz Protocol: Ashtanga Yoga as a Multimodal Gamma Entrainment System

The 40Hz Protocol: Ashtanga Yoga as a Multimodal Gamma Entrainment System

Neuroscientists are designing elaborate protocols to induce gamma oscillations in the human brain — flickering lights, transcranial currents, near-infrared light helmets. A 2024 review in Frontiers in Neuroscience catalogues four distinct stimulation methods to achieve what the brain needs to perceive clearly, move well, and regulate emotion. Reading it, I kept having the same thought: Ashtanga yoga already does all of this. Not metaphorically. Simultaneously, and without a single device

How Your Shoulders & Pecs Power Arm Balances

Wondering what really powers lift-off in crow, plank, or handstand? It’s a dance between your shoulders and pecs—an integration of strength, support, and skillful awareness. In yoga, the shoulder girdle and chest muscles (pectorals) team up for both stability and subtlety. When you press into the mat, you’re not just pushing: you’re coordinating, refining, and responding to feedback from the whole upper body. This is tapas (discipline) and svadhyaya (self-study) in action, and it’s what allows arm balances to feel steady rather than strained. 💪 Shoulders & Chest: Dynamic Architecture In poses like plank and chaturanga, the pecs and shoulders generate the push, but true support comes from integrating the whole shoulder complex. Shoulders stay broad, elbows hug in, and the chest is alive—not collapsed….

Break Out of the News Bubble: Exploring PressReader with Your DC Library Card

Why Bother? The Case for Diversifying Your News DietHere’s the uncomfortable truth: just six corporations control nearly 90% of the U.S. media industry. This consolidation shapes not just what stories get covered, but how they’re framed, whose voices are amplified, and whose are marginalized. When a small number of companies control the production and distribution of content, they tend to prioritize certain perspectives that align with their corporate interests, and alternative viewpoints that do not align with these interests are often excluded or marginalized. PressReader is one antidote to this problem. With unlimited access to more than 7,000 publications from over 120 countries, in 60 different languages, you can step outside the algorithmic echo chamber and discover how journalists in Berlin, Buenos Aires, Beijing, or…

Knee Extension in Padangusthasana & Padahastasana

Padangusthasana & Padahastasana (Big Toe Pose & Hand Under Foot Pose) Standing forward folds that stretch the hamstrings and calves while building awareness of hip hinge mechanics. Key mobility focus: knee extension FRC Mobility Protocols These videos target knee extension for Padangusthasana & Padahastasana: Knee Extension PAILS & RAILS Knee Extension Hovers Knee Extension Lift Offs Knee Extension Passive Stretch Knee Extension

Is AI Conscious—Or Are We Animating the Machine?

When Simon Duan asks in Scientific American whether artificial intelligence is truly conscious, he flips the script: maybe it’s not about machines gaining minds, but about us extending our own awareness into the digital world. His point lands with anyone who has ever inhabited a video game avatar or, I’d argue, a yoga pose. We breathe life into the form—it’s our presence that animates what would otherwise be empty shapes. For me, this echoes what I see on the mat every day. Practice is not about rote movement—it’s about inhabiting the form with attention and intention. The posture, like an avatar, becomes a vessel that reflects who we are in that moment. Without that quality of consciousness, it really is just a sequence of shapes….

Prana in Motion: Practices for the Five Vayus

Working with the five prana vayus is like tuning into the hidden movements beneath your breath and body—more a matter of listening than willpower. These subtle currents shape our yoga practice from within, offering a pathway for energy to flow more freely and consciously (Yoga International, Clara Roberts-Oss). For a deeper context, see the Ashtanga Tech Prana Vayus study guide. Approaching vayu work is less about forcing energy or achieving results, and more about gentle awareness. Practices center on sensation, imagery, and breath, with safety and progressive pacing as priorities—especially when experimenting with bandhas and breath retentions (Stillness in Yoga). 💗 Prana Vayu: Receiving & Inspiration Try heart-focused inhalations: three-part breath that expands into the chest, or soft ujjayi with the feeling of receiving (Online…

Ankle Dorsiflexion in Padangusthasana & Padahastasana

Padangusthasana & Padahastasana (Big Toe Pose & Hand Under Foot Pose) Standing forward folds that stretch the hamstrings and calves while building awareness of hip hinge mechanics. Key mobility focus: ankle dorsiflexion FRC Mobility Protocols These videos target ankle dorsiflexion for Padangusthasana & Padahastasana: Ankle & Foot Joint Dorsiflexion PAILS & RAILS Ankle & Foot Joint Dorsiflexion Lift Offs Ankle & Foot Joint Dorsiflexion Passive Range Hold Ankle & Foot Joint Dorsiflexion PNF Ankle & Foot Joint Dorsiflexion Passive Stretches

Weaving the Winds: Integrating the Five Vayus in Subtle Body Practice

The five prana vayus aren’t five separate forces but interwoven threads—currents that mingle, amplify, and balance each other every time we move, breathe, or rest (Yoga International). Even when we emphasize one vayu in practice, all are always present, expressing the unity of pranic life. Take Trikonasana: Apana roots your base to the earth, Prana opens the chest, Samana draws everything to the navel center, Udana extends through the crown, and Vyana integrates the pose as one vibrant field (At the Core). Bandhas are like tuning dials for the vayus. Mulabandha refines Apana and stabilizes the lower-body prana, creating a foundation for energetic containment (Online Yoga School). Jalandhara bandha modulates Udana, gently guiding the upward flow at the throat. Uddiyana bandha, centered at the navel…