Kripalu Yoga ? Joining Forces

Intertwining the mind, body, and energy is the primary goal of Kripalu yoga. Those who practice it believe that the body contains energy pulsations in a flow that are called prana, which is sometimes referred to as life force. The idea is that the smallest thought or worry can cause problems with the prana in your physical body. That is why Kripalu is important; it is a way of being aware of the prana and using breathing with thought to prevent blockage or disturbance of the life force in your body. In turn, you will feel an increased level of mental clarity and emotional control.

Boiled down to its essence, Kripalu yoga is about looking at yourself in order to free you. Kripallu yoga followers believe that by simply examining and experiencing physical, emotional, and mental processes, you begin to erase blockages in the prana. In turn, this creates a better flow of life force inside you and invokes a feeling of physical and mental well-being.

Why Kripalu?

Yoga, in all its forms, has been shown to be highly effective in honing the physical human body. This is much of the reason for yoga?s immense popularity. What Kripalu does, though, is use the physical body and yoga?s benefits to it as a vehicle for pursuing the greater good of mental and emotional stability and clarity. Hence, many believe it to be the most complete and beneficial form of yoga. The idea is that as you release your emotional and mental impurity, you increase the amount of prana in your system which in turn also helps with physical healing and performance. Of course, when all yoga practices and meditation are prefaced with techniques, such as the Maharic Seal (Azurite Press), that seal the body’s energy fields from external influences, the experience of self knowledge is both clearer and authentic. Kripalu yoga does not teach this, however.

Many use this popular form of yoga to combine physical fitness with self growth and the empowerment of the self. In Kripalu, you will learn to lead yourself through self-examination rather than through a leader or instructor. In this form of yoga, leadership is there only to help you turn yourself into your own leader. Your sensitivity to self, others, and your own body will increase from the focus you will receive when you look inside. To take it deeper, many believe that you are using your body to as a temple to attract the presence of those powers greater than yourself. Though some may be skeptical, many more feel such presences when led there through their own self-examination.

When you learn Kripalu from an instructor, you will find that it usually does not matter what your level is in yoga. The classes are generally conducted in the same way for new yoga practitioners and veterans alike. The emphasis, remember, is on looking inside yourself and seeing what is there. Though there are postures and a ?right? way to do them, you will likely be encouraged to concentrate on your mental state and on increasing the flow of your prana.

Moreover, Kripalu is truly about life change. You will learn to focus on your spiritual well being outside of the classroom as well as while you’re on the yoga mat, contributing to your overall well being and helping you on your way to being the best person you can be.

Kripalu is a unique form of yoga. With emphasis on looking at the self and ridding it of all that has gone awry, this form of yoga is about more than just fitness of the body. It is about fitness of emotions, spirit, and even a little bit of the soul.

References:
1. discoveryyoga.com/KripaluY.htm

Rebecca Prescott presents many yoga articles at Yoga To Health, including these on yoga breathing dangers, and vinyasa yoga postures.

Yoga and Your Heart

The leading cause of death for both men and women in United States according to American Heart Association is Coronary Heart Disease, which causes approximately 1.5 million heart attacks each year. Recently, research has shown that yoga and meditation have been known to reduce blood pressure, regulate heart rhythm, improve the elasticity of the arteries, lower pulse rate and increases the heart’s stroke volume. In short, practicing this ancient art of body/mind wellness is good for the heart.

The factor that contributes heavily to heart disease is stress. Situations which are highly stressful, increase the heart rate and blood pressure. The stress hormones get released during a stressful situation; extended or recurrent exposure of these hormones can injure the heart and the blood vessels. Yoga promotes a relaxed state of mind and body and is also widely known for playing a vital role in reduction of stress hormones, decreasing the heart rate and lowering blood pressure.

The way a person breathes strongly influences the heart rhythm through the inner connections in the central nervous system. Pranayama, which is the yogic name for breathing exercises, encourages taking slow, deep breaths and reciting yogic mantras verbally. Due to this method of taking slow, deep breaths the heart rate slows down and more oxygen enters the blood. This in turn induces a calm and well being throughout the mind and body. The chances of having a heart attacks and strokes gets greatly reduced because of this slow steady breath rhythm.

Heart Disease can be controlled and prevented by using specific types of Yogic Asanas (Postures). The Chest can be opened up to improve respiration and functioning of the heart by using the upper back- bending postures. The side bending yogic postures has been shown to help remove the physical and energetic blockages in the heart and chest. In order to promote the functioning of the heart, compression of the heart and lungs a good posture is required and spine lengthening yogic poses provides just that.

The preferred yogic asana for relaxation is called the Savasana (Corpse Pose). In order to perform this asana a person lies down quietly on a flat surface on his/her back with the arms by his/her side for 10 to 15 minutes. The concentration is placed on the flow of the breath. This practice promotes tranquility and rest, which is healing to the heart. This yogic posture has been known to reduce the blood pressure within a matter of weeks. Using inversions can increase the blood circulation.

Research has shown that a person performing yoga and meditation at least three times a week has been shown to reduce their blood pressure, pulse and their overall risk of heart disease. Meditation is well known for its ability to provide tranquility to the mind and decrease the level of stress. Meditation also reduces emotions like anxiety, hostility and depression, which are harmful to the heart. The practice of daily meditation has been shown in the studies to reduce the blood pressure and also the amount of fatty deposits in the arteries.

While Practicing yoga a person is automatically led to choose a healthier lifestyle, which involves reducing or avoiding alcohol, foods rich in cholesterol and fat, refined sugar and caffeine. While heart disease can be averted or controlled by above-mentioned yogic postures, if all of them are performed together a potent therapeutic synergy is created on the heart. It has been shown by the famous Dr. Dean Ornish’s heart-healthy lifestyle studies that not only can heart disease be prevented or controlled but also it can reversed through a healthier diet, meditation and yoga.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Yoga

What Is Hatha Yoga?

‘Ha’ means sun and ‘tha’ means moon so in a simple language ‘hatha’ would mean the union of opposites. It can also be stated as a very forceful yoga. It deals mostly with the poses and basically more into the physical exercises in this type of yoga.

It is the best of exercising and stretching yourselves in the entire manner and provides you the best platform for making your life very beautiful and enhanced. It is the way for your spiritual realization and the important of making it an integral part of your life.

The whole meaning of this word is harmonizing your body or soul. The principle on which hatha yoga works is feeling, thinking, willing and acting. These all when come in perfect balance which makes it a perfect eternal bliss. It is a cleansing process and which helps in removing the blockages of your body and soul. It is a source of energy to remove the repetitive and constant negative energy. It purifies your mind and soul making it very important part of your cleansing.

It describes the Mudras and mental state of mind which results in the level of concentration. It also provides freedom from all the unnecessary worldly choices which would create the right impact on your body and would indirectly be positive for your soul too. This is also a state of withdrawal and the spontaneous state of meditation. Some of the several mudras in Hatha yoga are Vajroli Mudra, Sahajoli Mudra, Khechari Mudra, Shambhavi Mudra, Virpri Karani.

Kevin Pederson, the webmaster for Yogawiz ,and learning about the usefulness of yoga in office and knowing about the different types of yoga.

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