5 Important Yoga Tips For Everyone

By Raj S. Gupta

Tip #1: Why are you practicing Yoga?

The first step is to figure out why you want to practice Yoga. What are your goals? Do you want to practice Yoga daily, weekly or bi-weekly? Does your schedule allow for a few minutes everyday, or you can take a 2 hour class once a week? Are you completely clear about your purpose for doing Yoga? Answers to these questions will help you determine what style of Yoga would best fulfill your goals. There are many styles to choose from and many types of teachers to learn from. Yoga studios and fitness gyms offer a variety of classes to fit your unique needs.

Tip #2: Talk to your doctor or other competent medical professional

This is probably, the most important step for you to take before starting any Yoga program. As with any exercise program, including Yoga, the advice of a professional is important for your safety. Yoga can be enjoyed by the vast majority of people provided they are aware of the limits of their capabilities. Many postures many not be suitable or even dangerous in certain circumstances. A pregnant woman doing an inverted body pose for example, could expose herself to significant risk. The advice of your doctor cannot be stressed enough depending on your unique condition. If you have a specific condition, find out from your doctor if Yoga may worsen your current condition. You may want discuss the program an organization offers with your doctor, and determine your suitability with it. You could also bring a book with the postures and show it to your doctor and discuss whether they are appropriate for your condition. A DVD or video would also be good to show your doctor.

Tip #3: The correct Yoga style

Nowadays there are so many styles of Yoga to choose from, and this could be a good thing. Everyone has a different taste and goal for practicing Yoga. Some may want a style that focuses on heavy physical activities, and others may want to enjoy a style that incorporate a particular philosophy that resonates with them. You can educate yourself on several Yoga styles, or even try a few, then pick one that you like and that you feel you can stick to for the long term. The whole idea here is that the style should be enjoyable to you so you can continue to invest your time practicing and keep reaping the benefits of your practice.

Tip #4: Don't compare yourself to anyone

Yoga is a personal journey, based on your current level and capabilities. You don't have to compare yourself to anyone. Your teacher may be an advanced practitioner, and many students would like to be like him or her. They may try to overstretch and force themselves into a posture which may be beyond their capability at the moment. This is not advisable as it can lead to serious injuries. Regardless of how far you are comfortably in your posture, you will gain the benefit of the posture. By continued practice you may reach the perfection in the posture depending on your physical condition. Always follow the advice of your instructor and the steps involved in the posture. Remember never to imitate other students or your teacher and force yourself beyond your capacity into a posture.

Tip #5: Be patient and be persistent

Patience is a great virtue. Don't be discouraged if you are not getting the benefits you expected right away. You need to maintain your practice and make it a part of your life as a normal routine such as brushing your teeth. Almost everyone doing Yoga would agree that they enjoyed benefits after their first day of practice. If you are new to Yoga, you will also enjoy these benefits. There are however, some postures that require a little more work to get them right, and you may not be happy with your results. Don't worry, in time you will get there. Every time you practice Yoga, you get better and better. Being consistent is the key to progress in Yoga. For many people time is a big factor, preventing them from being consistent. Find a regular schedule and stick to it.

About The Author: Raj S. Gupta teaches how to eliminate daily stress through a highly effective Yoga Program that is completed in only 7 Minutes. He has also written a FREE Ebook titled "27 Important Yoga Tips For Maximum Benefits" To download your FREE copy visit http://www.7MinuteYogaProgram.com

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Nude Yoga - Would You Try It?

By Colette Halberstadt

Nude yoga is not a mainstream yoga form. It ignites great contradiction and controversy by way of challenging individual's ideas and customary ways of thinking. Although naked yoga is not suited to everyone, those practicing the art find their naked yoga classes an approach that aids in further developing and advancing their experience and unity of mind, body and soul.

So why substitute nude yoga as an alternative to the 'normal' everyday yoga class, and what really is the difference? In fact, the yoga poses are not any different to what you would find at your more common Hatha yoga or Bikram yoga classes, but you would be performing the usual poses completely naked. Although this may make many of us almost have a heart attack at the very thought, naked yoga is naked for a number of reasons. Firstly, not only does it strip away competition and superficiality allowing you to focus more on your yoga than on what people around you are wearing, it also aids in developing self esteem for those individuals aspiring to become more comfortable with their body image. Performing yoga positions naked can also provide you with greater motion and flexibility as well as allowing you to achieve proper alignment during poses.

So how do you know if you are suited to this form of yoga and what should you be aware of prior to seeking out a naked yoga class? Generally speaking, the people that benefit from and enjoy nude yoga are individuals that enjoy trying out new things, aspire to improve their body image, want to learn more about yoga and most importantly understand that nudity in yoga has a very different meaning to that of sexuality and sexual behavior. It is very important to gather information about nude yoga centers or classes in your area prior to booking a session. Nude yoga should be run by a qualified yoga practitioner that is devoted to creating a safe and non-threatening environment. The atmosphere should be non-sexual in nature and the atmosphere should be a comfortable and relaxed one. In certain nude yoga classes lights are dimmed, clothes are removed as part of a yoga ritual and focus is always kept on the yoga practice and not those practicing around you. There are certain nude yoga classes that do not follow these guidelines and are groups that have changed the art into a sexual experience. If you are seeking yoga with a hint of sexuality, rather seek out information regarding tantric yoga or classes for couples in your area than joining the first group that you stumble on.

Wrapping up, Nude Yoga is not for everyone but for some it can aid in allowing one to accept one's body in a natural state and improve the body, mind and soul unity experience desired from yoga practice. I know that for many, even with understanding the benefits of Naked Yoga, the only time they may come close to a 90 minute class of naked yoga would be in the form of an embarrassing and shocking nightmare. The idea here is that you should choose a yoga class that suits you best and allows you to benefit from the art in a setting that makes you the most comfortable, whether it be naked or not.

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The Art Of Yoga Breathing

By Kenneth Koh

It is very beneficial to pay careful attention to the breath and to learn to control it in various ways. It is beneficial in the areas of physical health and in your practice of yoga. Apparently, the breath, the mind and the body are intricately link, that whatever you do to one will affect the other.

In yoga, it is vital to learn how to use the correct patterns of breath in order to get the most out of your yogic endeavours. Correct breath patterns must be practiced and observed before meditation and asanas. Correct breathing alone, can unwind your whole body, rid your body of unwanted toxins and rid your mind of anger, stress, tension and worry.

Do not risk harm by attempting to perform these exercises without consulting a trained yoga teacher or without seeking medical advice from a doctor. A yoga teacher can teach an appropriate breathing pattern to cater to your needs and your condition. To perform the pranayama and gain the most out of them, it is best to integrate it with the two of the three holistic approaches, asanas and meditation.

Helpful Notes

- Breathe in and out through your nose.

- Clear any blocked nostril. If your left nostril is blocked, lie on your right side for a few minutes and vice versa

- Never perform pranayam after asanas.

- If pranayam is to precede your asanas routine, set aside a time when you won't be interrupted.

- The idea is to lead yourself to a relaxed state so do not force your breathing and never do it in haste.

Long Deep breathing

The most basic and natural of all breathing techniques is the long and deep breathing as it relieves stress and tension. It brings down toxic buildup in the mucus linings of the alveoli of the lungs, cleanses the blood and as a result of increased oxygen flow to your brain and body, your health improves in many ways.

Technique

Do sit in a comfortable manner. Relax your shoulders and chest. Breathe in, relaxing the abdomen, pushing your belly forward, expanding it. Then, as you breathe out, allow the abdomen to shrink back in, tightening your belly muscles and pushing the air out. Do this and not straining yourself. Open up and release the breath. You may put one hand on your belly to feel the abdomen expanding and contracting as you inhale and exhale. Perform in even lengths. Exhale for the same length of time as you inhale.

When To Do This:

- Before meditation

- Before going to bed

- Before a meeting, presentation or a big decision

- Before studying, before an exam, or an interview

- And whenever you can think of --- in the car, at work, or while waiting in line
Alternate-nostril breathing

Alternate-nostril breathing encourages mind to heighten levels of discrimination, concentration and thoughts. It also boostmore energy and oxygen to the physical body and helps calm your nerves and improve circulation.

Before You Begin

For a more advanced technique, seek advice from a yoga teacher or an acarya (spiritual teacher). Your acarya will coach the pranayama technique that will be most beneficial to your mental and physical health and prepare you to complement the pranayama with mantra and meditation. No one should risk harm by practicing these techniques without seeking advice from a trained yoga teacher.

Technique

Sit in either Padmasana or Siddhasana. Close your eyes. Press and close the right nostril with your right hand thumb. Inhale a deep breath through the left nostril. After taking a full breath, close the left nostril with the middle, taking the thumb away from the right nostril and slowly releasing the air out, expelling the breath fully and inhale through your right nostril. After a full inhalation, close your right nostril with the thumb and release the fingers from your left nostril and exhale through your left nostril. This finishes one round. Start off with three rounds each time and gradually step up the rounds as you progress through the weeks.

When To Do This

- Do this in a well-ventilated, clean, smoke-free, dust-free, odor-free room.

- Do not perform this technique after asanas (yoga exercises).

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The Benefits of Yoga

By Conrad Raw

Yoga is a discipline for self-development that is more than 5000 years old. There are many types of Yoga, but most include physical postures, breathing control and meditation. Stress reduction techniques include mental imagery, stretching, controlled breathing and physical movement in the form of postures. The goal of any Yoga discipline is to improve flexibility and obtain peacefulness in the body and the mind. This will have the over all effect of leaving you with the ability to deal with everyday stress in a more productive way.

Understand that Yoga is not a cure-all. It can help with certain medical problems such as depression and combined with a healthful diet, aerobic exercises and medication, has benefits in a reduction in some cardiovascular disease and blood pressure levels. Yoga is an important part of the Hindu religion and is a way of life for them, but it doesn't necessarily mean that you would need to change your life style in order to reap the benefits of Yoga.

One of the most popular Yoga discipline in the U.S. is Hatha Yoga. Hatha Yoga is designed to increase flexibility and to calm the mind. It focuses on poses or postures along with controlled breathing. In a Hatha Yoga class, you will probably learn a number of poses that induce stretching and twisting. Some poses are meant for calming the mind as well as increasing flexibility like the Viparita Karani pose or the legs up the wall pose. The Cat Cow stretch will have you on all fours on the floor with your wrists underneath your shoulders with the knees underneath the hips. This pose will increase spinal flexibility and strengthen the stomach muscles.

Hatha Yoga is called the Yoga of postures and includes relaxation exercises designed to open the nadis or energy channels which will allow the energy to flow freely through the body. Other poses are designed to relax internal organs, which can prevent diseases such as hypertension or high blood pressure and diabetes. Hatha Yoga requires concentration on postures, called asanas and pranayama or controlling the breath.

In Hatha Yoga, mastering a comfortable pose where you will be able to keep that pose for a certain length of time is important in the practice of real meditation. The more poses you can master, the better you are able to develop inner meditation techniques. Also mastering the breath is important because controlled breathing will eventually allow the balancing of the right and left hemispheres of the brain.

Conrad Raw is an expert in practical techniques for personal and spiritual development. He is the author of "Forbidden Secrets Of Personal And Energetic Development." He travels the world to learn and teach and is the founder of Greater Human Potential, a website devoted to bringing you easy to learn techniques to increase your human evolution. Visit his website for a free newsletter filled with tons of great tips and advice.

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Learning the Popular Styles of Yoga - Ashtanga, Bikram, and Kundalini

By Paul Jerard

Ashtanga yoga can also be an athletic style of yoga. It is based on a demanding series of pose changes, sometimes connected by jumps. Designed for flexible, and usually young, bodies, Ashtanga has gained popularity in the Western world because of its intensity. Some popular students of this style are Madonna and Sting. An advantage of this style is that it can be self-led. Usually the yoga instructor will teach students a series of poses and lead them in the routine. After mastering the poses and changes, the students can go through the routine at their own pace. Since this is done in the company of the yoga instructor, and other students, progress can be monitored and mistakes corrected.

For a completely different experience, there is Bikram yoga. Also known as Hot yoga, Bikram is a modern style, focusing on a set series of poses performed in a heated room. The creator of the style, Bikram Choudhury, designated twenty-six poses that constitute the Bikram style. The temperature of the room is ideally set to 105 degrees. By keeping the room at a high temperature, the muscles of the body are more flexible. This is a controversial style because of an intellectual property lawsuit by Choudhury. Only those yoga instructors, certified in his method, are permitted to teach Bikram yoga.

On the other end of the timeline is Kundalini yoga. An ancient form, that is relatively new to the West, Kundalini focuses on the spiritual aspects of yoga. The yoga instructor leads students through a series of poses, making sure that movement is linked with breath. The idea behind this discipline is to cause dormant energy in the lower body to become free and move upwards. For students seeking an athletic workout, Kundalini is not the place to look; but it is still an important style for a yoga instructor to understand.

From the purely physical yoga, to the more spiritual forms, a yoga instructor must be well versed. If you want to be a great yoga instructor, you should understand the basics of each major style, even while you focus on your favorite style. In this way, you'll be ready to answer any student's question and guide them to the right style.

© Copyright 2008 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, has written many books on the subject of Yoga. He is a co-owner and the Director of Yoga Teacher Training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA. http://www.aurawellnesscenter.com He has been a certified Master Yoga Teacher since 1995. To receive a Free Yoga e-Book: "Yoga in Practice," and a Free Yoga Newsletter, please visit: http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

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Yoga - Meditations Treats Overweight Well

By Praveen Rao

How to keep our body fit 'n fine? It's a question which is asked from 50% of the total human beings surviving on earth. Doctors and physicians tries their best to satisfy peoples but then also several queries remain stuck. Now days people all around the world again accepting the old age trends and their style of living, eating etc.

Yoga, a real gift of nature to cure obesity and overweight without spending any penny from your pocket. If we talk about history it's a witness for the successful story of meditation and yoga. So let me explain the meaning first before I proceed. "Yoga" originates from the Sanskrit verb yuj, to yoke or unite. It focuses on harmony between mind and body. Yoga derives its philosophy from Indian metaphysical beliefs. Though the exact origins of Yoga are unknown but Yoga is considered to be the oldest physical discipline in existence. Some people think it's a way of diverting and fully concentrate our minds in the worship of god.

Yoga uses various processes to achieve healthy, lively and balanced approach to life and some of them are mentioned below:

-> Meditation
-> Breath
-> Posture
-> Movement
-> Relaxation

Progress in Yoga depends upon how much effort we are prepared to put into, what our thoughts are on the subject and what our ambitions are. Thus, by necessity Yoga is highly practical. Yoga is not academic and I like that. You can become a Yogi simply reading a book or this website. So be honest to yourself and maintain regularity if you join yoga classes or at home.

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Learning Yoga For Your Good Health

By Gabriel J. Adams

For many of us, cranking out a ten-minute mile on a treadmill or pounding the floor of the racquetball court can mean major joint pain. Fortunately, you can cover all three of your major exercise types (aerobic, anaerobic and stretching) through a low-impact activity like yoga.

Yoga is an ancient Indian practiced designed to promote relaxation, health and flexibility. By using a series of poses and breathing techniques, yoga also works on the practitioner's balance, strength and overall health.

It has been shown to reduce blood pressure, lower cholesterol levels, diminish back pain and improve cardiovascular health. Depending on the type of yoga you do, yoga can be an aerobic, anaerobic or stretching exercise or all three.

Essentially, yoga tones and stretches all your joints and muscles. Not only does this unique form of exercise deliver physical benefits, it also reduces stress while promoting relaxation. When it comes to aging well, yoga is one of the best activities you can do.

Some types of it are more strenuous than others, so before you sign up for a class or purchase a yoga DVD, you may want to make sure you're choosing a yoga program that's right for you. Keep reading to learn about the five major types of yoga:

Integral Yoga: This is a basic and very gentle form of yoga with a set pattern of postures. The emphasis is on pose control, relaxation and deep meditation. Integral yoga is perfect for beginners.

Ashtanga Yoga: You may see Ashtanga yoga listed as "power yoga." This type of yoga moves fast and focuses on a continuous flow of movement through the traditional yoga poses. By incorporating strength, aerobic exertion and flexibility, Ashtange embodies all three types of exercise.

Kundalini Yoga: This form of yoga is extremely spiritual and tends to focus predominantly on breathing exercises, chanting, relaxation and meditation.

Iyengar Yoga: Iyengar yoga focuses predominantly on positioning and poses that are precise and correct. Using wooden blocks, buckets or straps, Iyengar concentrates on alignment and the actual structure of a pose. Though slow and steady, Iyengar is not recommended for yoga beginners.

Bikram Yoga: Also known as "hot yoga," Bikram yoga is typically done in a room heated to anywhere from 80 to 100 degrees. Vigorous and intense, this form of yoga may be too much for those suffering from respiratory problems, high blood pressure or cardiac issues.

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Using Breath to Deepen Your Yoga Practice

By Conrad Raw

If you're a practitioner of yoga, you know how important it is to breathe correctly when going through the poses. Traditionally you are told to inhale and exhale fully as you move deeper into a pose to enable your body to stretch further, bring more benefits to you.

There are many other ways that yoga practitioners have used breath through the centuries, and in fact a whole discipline of yoga is devoted to the breath. But even if you don't want to fully explore pranayama as part of your practice, you can use these techniques to bring more energy and vitality into your life.

To yogis, the most important place where we take in life force energy is through the nerve endings in the nose, so it is vitally important to breathe in and out through your nose whenever you want to give yourself an energy boost.

Another important aspect of breathing in yoga has to do with the fact that the brain's pulse is connected to your breath rather than to your heartbeat. Altering the breath therefore alters your brain wave patterns, which is important in meditation but also for getting a feeling of relaxation and energy from your yoga practice.

There are many different ways to breathe, of course, and different yoga teachers and practitioners have their personal favorites. But there is actually a rhythm at which you can breathe that is optimal for hooking up with the rhythm of the brain.

It's really easy to do: breathe in through your nose for six heartbeats, hold for three heartbeats, and exhale through your nose for six heartbeats. When your lungs are empty, inhale again immediately with no break.

If you are feeling stress or a low energy level, doing this for a couple of minutes will make you feel refreshed. You can also practice this breathing when you're doing yoga and no particular method of breathing is suggested for a particular pose.

This method of breathing is also great if you would like to do a little meditation at the end of your yoga practice. Lie in corpse pose or sit comfortably on a meditation mat or pillow. Close your eyes and begin this cycle of breathing.

As you breathe, give yourself a body scan from the toes up, relaxing any tension you might still be feeling in your body. Relax and feel the vitality of this deep breathing course through your body.

After practicing this breathing method a few times, you will find yourself doing it throughout the day to relieve stress or when you need to clear your mind.

Conrad Raw is an expert in practical techniques for personal and spiritual development. He is the author of "Forbidden Secrets Of Personal And Energetic Development." He travels the world to learn and teach and is the founder of Greater Human Potential, a website devoted to bringing you easy to learn techniques to increase your human evolution. Visit his website for a free newsletter filled with tons of great tips and advice.

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