Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Relax and Get Fit with Yoga Positions, Stretching and Meditation
... children and senior citizens are promoted by many physicians today. However, a key element to remember when doing yoga is to take your time because it takes awhile to learn the positions correctly and coordinate your muscles, mind and energy.
Many of the positions used in yoga involve stretching, which relaxes your muscles and reduces tension. Basically, there are two types of stretching - dynamic and static. Dynamic stretching involves motion and static stretching requires no motion. Stretching makes you more limber and reduces the risk of physical injury to your joints, muscles and tendons, which is a great advantage when embarking upon other forms of exercise. Stretching also reduces soreness and tension in your muscles and tendons and increases suppleness, lubricates connective tissues and even r...more
Yoga in Thailand
...ood for you, so when people advise you to eat what you like and transmute it I dont believe thats beneficial, when you do this you are succumbing to your cravings.
The most amazing practice I have come across is Sun Yoga, which was taught to us in a workshop in Thailand by an amazing Yogi named Uma Sankar, you can check his site at www.sunyoga.info
He practices meditation by staring into the sun each day and claims that this fully nourishes oneself, he has not eaten or drank anything since 10 years, neither does he need sleep! When I have the chance I spend 30 minutes before sunset or after sunrise which is actually more beneficial as it is the fresh rising prana that you ingest.
Moving on from there another amazing pract...more
Bikram Yoga Explained
...g Yoga Class Book all fall under his copyright. This development is very controversial within the United States yoga community as the poses are not something one can or should copy write.
Some practitioners strenuously object to the idea that Bikram seeks to have exclusive control over a series of postures that are just derived from traditional practices. It would be like a baseball pitcher attempting to copy write a curve ball or David Beckham trying to copy write his famous curving kick. Also, some object to Bikram's long term goal to create a formal nationwide potentially even worldwide franchise of studios.
Whether you agree or disagree with Bikram's copyright claim it is certainly worth trying the method in class or at home. There is no doubt the sequence and breathing is helpful to any yoga practitioner.more
Raja Yoga The Royal Science of Meditation
...The Indian scriptures unequivocally declare that every soul is divine and the ultimate purpose of human life is to experience that state of divinity. They advocate four different paths, which are not mutually exclusive for attaining this goal-the path of devotion (Bhakthi Yoga) the path of selfless service (karma Yoga), the path of intellectual inquiry (Jnana yoga) and the path of meditation (Raja Yoga).
Raja yoga takes us to this goal faster than other methods. This involves stilling the mind and the senses so that we cease to identity ourselves with the body mind complex and experience our true nature. We communicate with the external world through the five senses. The mind interprets the impulses from these senses. Mind is a bundle of thoughts and desires. It is an abstract entity. We cannot catch hold of the mind. How then do we still the mind?
The ancient yogis of India discovered the relation between the mind and breathing. When a person is agitated his breathing becomes faster and when he is very calm it is slower. The yogis revealed that by controlling the breath we could control the mind. Anyone can experience this by breat...more
