03: Yoga for Women with Emma Balnaves

Jun 21

I am thrilled to welcome Emma Balnaves to the show today to discuss the unique yoga system she teaches, called Shadow Yoga.

Shadow Yoga is a circular approach to Hatha Yoga that emphasizes understanding ancient texts and connecting with the 108 characters depicted on a temple in Chidambaram.

Today, Emma and I dive into Shadow Yoga, exploring its intellectual aspects and the role of the mind in harnessing and absorbing energy. Stay tuned to discover how to cultivate a new relationship with your body through Shadow Yoga.

Introduction to Shadow Yoga

Shadow Yoga, also known as Chaya Yoga, was developed by Emma’s husband, Shandor Remete. Shadow Yoga is a synonym for Hatha Yoga and derives its name from ancient tantric texts. Emma explains that it involves working through different layers or shadows to reach the true self.

Comprehensive Approach to Yoga

Shadow Yoga encompasses preludes, pure dance, asana, pranayama, mudra, and kriya, covering all steps in traditional Hatha Yoga. Emma explains that the term shadow was chosen over the Sanskrit word, Chaya, to make it more accessible. The practice draws from an old lineage of Hatha Yoga, particularly from Gorakhnath, and involves movements performed on the feet to prepare for floor activities.

Historical and Cultural Context

Emma explains that the movements in Shadow Yoga were practiced by ancient groups predating Patanjali and Buddha. Those groups performed caranas that involved all the limbs, intended to draw practitioners into a state of trance for meditation. She emphasizes that Hatha Yoga is a spiritual path, not just exercise, and contrasts modern practices that often lack traditional elements.

Importance of Leg Strength

Emma notes that traditional activities involved more leg work, which is missing in modern lifestyles. The standing movements of Shadow Yoga came from martial arts, dance, and calisthenics, designed to strengthen the legs and prepare the body for advanced practices.

Women's Health and Yoga

Emma highlights the importance of adapting yoga practices during various life stages. During menopause, energy shifts inward, requiring changes in yoga routines. She mentions the Shaolin tradition, where practices evolve from intense physical activities in youth to internal cultivation in later years. That helps women adapt to bodily changes without clinging to past capabilities. Emma stresses using the right yoga tools during transitions to manage symptoms and weave a new relationship with the body. Accepting and supporting bodily changes rather than trying to fix them allows women to navigate menopause more effectively.

Harnessing Female Energy

Harnessing female energy involves understanding and utilizing reproductive energy for overall health. Emma describes how women, unlike men, have natural initiations through menstrual cycles, pregnancy, and menopause. Those stages require different approaches in yoga practice.

Menopause and Acceptance

Emma advises women in perimenopause to accept the transformation rather than trying to fix it. She highlights the importance of supporting the body with natural practices and adjusting yoga routines to accommodate changes.

Menstruation and Menopause: Energy Shifts

Describing the energy shift from menstruation to menopause, Emma explains that during menopause, the energy moves inward rather than outward. She emphasizes the importance of hatha yoga practices during this transformational time, which helps direct the mind differently, allowing women to adapt to the changes without clinging to past experiences.

Yoga as a Spiritual Practice

Yoga is a spiritual journey to the true self, free from familial and societal imprints. Emma advises focusing on spiritual growth as one moves into midlife, using yoga practices to support this ascent. She differentiates between yoga as exercise and spiritual practice, advocating for simple, supportive activities that nourish the body and mind.

Practical Tools for Menopause Symptoms

Emma shares practical yoga tools for managing menopause symptoms. She describes how specific poses and pranayamas can help balance the mind and body, sharing examples like alternate nostril breathing for mental balance and shitali for cooling excess heat, highlighting the importance of selecting the right tools during transitions to address symptoms effectively.

“Padmasana for women is one of the best asanas. It cures all disease, especially for women, because it directly affects the ovaries”

— Emma Balnaves

Simplicity and Consistency in Yoga Practice

Emma advises maintaining a simple and consistent yoga practice, even if it is just 20 minutes a day. She suggests doing basic warm-ups and a few asanas to cultivate the mind and body. She explains that such a practice is sufficient for most people with busy lives, highlighting the importance of consistency over duration.

Personal Experience and Adaptation

Emma stresses the importance of listening to your body and adapting your practices. She describes her routine of putting her legs up the wall to refresh herself and emphasizes the significance of paying attention to your needs each morning.

Daily Routines and Seasonal Adaptation

Emma highlights the importance of adapting to seasonal changes for optimal health and well-being. She explains that her food intake changes with the seasons, so she focuses on whatever is in season to align with natural cycles.

Evening Wind-Down Practices

In her evening routine, Emma meditates before sleeping, focusing on the base chakra to ground the mind. She advises against focusing on breathing to avoid mental distractions and tailors her practice to her energy levels each day.

Encouragement for Women

Emma encourages women to find simple, effective yoga practices that fit their lives. She highlights the value of starting small and adapting as needed, explaining the benefits of even short daily practices. She invites women to explore these practices and supports them in navigating life transitions with yoga.

Emma’s Bio:

Emma Balnaves is an internationally respected teacher of Shadow Yoga, one of the traditional forms and philosophies of Hatha Yoga. She has been teaching since 1998 and is the co-founder of Shadow Yoga.

Emma was introduced to yoga in her early teens when she became intrigued by the mystery of the practices and the feelings they evoked inside her.

After graduating in visual communication, majoring in photography at the University of Adelaide, and working in the creative arts in Sydney, New York and London, Emma committed herself to a life of teaching yoga.

After decades of in-depth study and research in yoga, Ayurveda, and other internal arts, Emma began incorporating the full spectrum of yogic processes in her teaching. In 1998, together with Sundernath, her husband, she began extensive travel – teaching and training internationally.

In 2019, Emma completed her first film « Agniyogana » , a documentary inspired by a desire to share the essence of these teachings and to bring a better understanding of all aspects of the practice.

Emma’s second film, Pure Dance, is a ‘work in progress.’