Yoga is widely known as a form of exercise that stretches and strengthens the
body through various poses known as ASANAS. For other people yoga is the
realization of inner self satisfaction. For others it is a religion that the believers
ought to follow.
All of this statement makes it hard to really make a full realization of what yoga
really is.
So what exactly is yoga?
Yoga goes far beyond just mere exercises full of awkward routines. Yoga is the
union of mind, spirit and body. Yoga comes from the Hindu philosophy used to
attain spiritual insight and harmony.
Yoga generally refers to the common use of a system of exercises that is practiced as part of this discipline.
The word is derived from the Sanskrit ?yeung?, which means to join. A yoke as used
on oxen is closely related, but also the same root gives us “join”, “junction”, “junta”,
“adjust”, “joust”, and “juxapose” to name a few.
There are many institutions of yoga all of which have their own unique practices and
beliefs. But in this article we have listed down the five most common yoga practices.
However, schools and paths have been established with many different variations
that aren’t listed here.
1. HATHA
This is the most popular variety of yoga and one that has been commonly
taught for years. So what is yoga for them? For them it is perfecting the mind by way
of perfecting the body.
With this technique many asanas or postures, breathing techniques and meditations
are used.
2. ASHTANGA
This yoga is another popular type they are much faster than the other
schools. What is yoga for ashtangas??
For them yoga can be considered as a type of aerobic yoga for they instill quick and
smooth transitions between poses.
3. KUNDALINI
This school is focused on awakening and focusing what is known as
kundalini energy. Kundalini energy is most easily compared to life energy that lies
dormant in our bodies. It is commonly represented by a coiled snake.
4. MANTRA
This type of yoga is focused on calming the mind and body through the
usage of words and sounds. The well known ‘om’ chant is commonly heard in this
school.
5. TANTRA
This type of school is well known by way of its focus on sexual spirituality.
They also focus on kundalini energy, although their intent for awakening it is much
different from the Kundalini practice.
Yoga is a very diverse practice, so no matter which school you choose. People young
and old can gain many benefits from regular yoga practices, and asanas can be
adjusted to fit physical limitations and other complications.
If you want a break from treadmills, weight rooms, or the pool, take a look at yoga.
Not only are you striving towards physical well being, you are striving towards
spiritual well being as well.
Traditionally, yoga consists of eight fundamental paths: Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga,
Jnana Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Purna Yoga, Tantra Yoga, Maha Yoga and Ashtanga or Raja
Yoga. In the western world, the term yoga often refers to Hatha yoga and its
postures, movements, and breathing techniques.
The ultimate goal of yoga is the attainment of liberation from worldly suffering and
the cycle of birth and death. Yoga entails mastery over the body, mind, and
emotional self, and transcendence of desire. It is said to lead gradually to
knowledge of the true nature of reality.
? Copyright Melvin Chua, All Rights Reserved.
Melvin has dozens more related articles and tips on doing yoga at his site: doing yoga, check them
out today!
Showing posts with label Life Energy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Life Energy. Show all posts
February 23, 2009
Yoga - Breathing Correctly A Simple Exercise To Help You Feel Better Instantly!
Breathing is one of our basic non-voluntary bodily functions, and is our connection to life itself and we also have control over it, so if we learn to breathe correctly we can actually maximize our health and energy levels.
The correct breathing exercise can be done by anyone you don?t need to know anything about yoga and it is a quick an easy way to look and feel better instantly.
Lets look at correct breathing and its benefits.
As we have control over it, in yoga philosophy it is believed that if we can breathe correctly we can energize our bodies and our lives. This fundamental believe in correct breathing is seen as the basic cornerstone of yoga and other forms of exercise such as Ti Chi ? They all base their exercise regime upon correct breathing.
Below we will look at how to use the basic Yoga principle of Pranayama?Control of the Breath to reenergize your whole body.
Breathing correctly why it?s so important
In many languages to breath has the same basic root as the word soul, spirit, and essence. The ancient Yoga Masters believed that if you can control your breathing, i.e. breath correctly you can enhance your life.
In Yoga the Yogis call the life energy Prana, and the Buddhists, Chi, but whatever you wish to call it, it is the energy that surrounds all life, all of creation and in the yoga philosophy we need it to derive the maximum from our lives
In Yoga it is believed that the breath holds more than just air, but also the energy of life. Therefore, by breathing correctly we not only take in a necessary dose of oxygen, but we also receive life energy at the same time, that acts as an energy boost to the whole body.
Breathing correctly to energize your body
The 20th century Yoga Master, Paramhamsa Yogananda taught through his organization, the Self-Realization Fellowship, a series of re-energizing exercises that focused on correct breathing that if performed each day, were believed to keep you fit, active, alert and energetic.
Correct breathing is one of the basic building blocks upon which all yoga exercises are based upon.
In yoga it is stressed that when you were feeling tired, or need some energy and general body re-charging, a correct breathing exercise can instantly give you a boost of energy.
Breathing correctly
Stand upright, with your arms straight out to your sides at shoulder level.
Exhale with the double breath, with your knees bent slightly and then bring your arms (still extended) to the front until your palms touch.
Then with a double inhalation this time, bring your arms back out, straightening your legs as you do so - and then tense the entire body upwards in a wave fashion.
Now, relax the body downwards in a wave in reverse order with another double exhalation. Repeat this exercise 5 times. To help you understand this, and to do it correctly, double breathing must be a short and long inhalation through the nose and a short and long exhalation through the nose and mouth.
The double breath will allow you to inhale and exhale more deeply and to provide oxygen to the blood, and at the same time take in a dose of life energy.
To practice the double breath, you should begin by inhaling strongly through the nose immediately with a short, defined inhalation followed directly by a long, profound inhalation - completely filling the lungs.
When doing so visualize the energy going into every cell of your body and filling you with energy.
Without pausing, exhale twice through the nose and mouth with a short, then a prolonged exhalation - making the sound: “Huf, Huffffffff.”
Try to visualize as you are breathing correctly, the life energy flowing into your body with every breath reenergizing your soul.
The positive benefits of correct breathing
If you practice only this exercise daily, you will gain positive benefits that will help you look and feel better.
Not only will you feel fresh and alert, you will also have exhaled by breathing correctly, many toxins and negative particles produced through our respiration process.
You will as a consequence look and feel healthier, you will be alert, and gradually you will come to sense the life energy that breathing correctly can give you.
This is a simple exercise that can be done by anyone even if you don?t want to practice yoga itself, correct breathing will give you health benefits with very little effort.
For more health tips articles and free magazines
For more information on yoga, breathing correctly and other simple methods to make you look and feel better visit
http://www.net-planet.org/health
The correct breathing exercise can be done by anyone you don?t need to know anything about yoga and it is a quick an easy way to look and feel better instantly.
Lets look at correct breathing and its benefits.
As we have control over it, in yoga philosophy it is believed that if we can breathe correctly we can energize our bodies and our lives. This fundamental believe in correct breathing is seen as the basic cornerstone of yoga and other forms of exercise such as Ti Chi ? They all base their exercise regime upon correct breathing.
Below we will look at how to use the basic Yoga principle of Pranayama?Control of the Breath to reenergize your whole body.
Breathing correctly why it?s so important
In many languages to breath has the same basic root as the word soul, spirit, and essence. The ancient Yoga Masters believed that if you can control your breathing, i.e. breath correctly you can enhance your life.
In Yoga the Yogis call the life energy Prana, and the Buddhists, Chi, but whatever you wish to call it, it is the energy that surrounds all life, all of creation and in the yoga philosophy we need it to derive the maximum from our lives
In Yoga it is believed that the breath holds more than just air, but also the energy of life. Therefore, by breathing correctly we not only take in a necessary dose of oxygen, but we also receive life energy at the same time, that acts as an energy boost to the whole body.
Breathing correctly to energize your body
The 20th century Yoga Master, Paramhamsa Yogananda taught through his organization, the Self-Realization Fellowship, a series of re-energizing exercises that focused on correct breathing that if performed each day, were believed to keep you fit, active, alert and energetic.
Correct breathing is one of the basic building blocks upon which all yoga exercises are based upon.
In yoga it is stressed that when you were feeling tired, or need some energy and general body re-charging, a correct breathing exercise can instantly give you a boost of energy.
Breathing correctly
Stand upright, with your arms straight out to your sides at shoulder level.
Exhale with the double breath, with your knees bent slightly and then bring your arms (still extended) to the front until your palms touch.
Then with a double inhalation this time, bring your arms back out, straightening your legs as you do so - and then tense the entire body upwards in a wave fashion.
Now, relax the body downwards in a wave in reverse order with another double exhalation. Repeat this exercise 5 times. To help you understand this, and to do it correctly, double breathing must be a short and long inhalation through the nose and a short and long exhalation through the nose and mouth.
The double breath will allow you to inhale and exhale more deeply and to provide oxygen to the blood, and at the same time take in a dose of life energy.
To practice the double breath, you should begin by inhaling strongly through the nose immediately with a short, defined inhalation followed directly by a long, profound inhalation - completely filling the lungs.
When doing so visualize the energy going into every cell of your body and filling you with energy.
Without pausing, exhale twice through the nose and mouth with a short, then a prolonged exhalation - making the sound: “Huf, Huffffffff.”
Try to visualize as you are breathing correctly, the life energy flowing into your body with every breath reenergizing your soul.
The positive benefits of correct breathing
If you practice only this exercise daily, you will gain positive benefits that will help you look and feel better.
Not only will you feel fresh and alert, you will also have exhaled by breathing correctly, many toxins and negative particles produced through our respiration process.
You will as a consequence look and feel healthier, you will be alert, and gradually you will come to sense the life energy that breathing correctly can give you.
This is a simple exercise that can be done by anyone even if you don?t want to practice yoga itself, correct breathing will give you health benefits with very little effort.
For more health tips articles and free magazines
For more information on yoga, breathing correctly and other simple methods to make you look and feel better visit
http://www.net-planet.org/health
An Alternative to Aging
Springtime and summer in all its abundance! A time of rebirth and blossoming all around us. Life energy flowing, first slowly, building imperceptibly, as we impatiently wait for the buds to blossom. We know the life force is rising and we want to see it in all its glory: the green, the flowers, the Earth rejoicing! How reassuring that nature is abundantly alive after such a long dormant winter, year after reassuring year. We too, are that. How long have parts of us remained dormant, just waiting to burst forth and blossom?
Yoga itself is a process of unfoldment. For centuries, one of the symbols of yoga has been the thousand petaled lotus, unfolding unfolding, unfolding; reaching deeper and deeper within. As we begin a yoga practice, the first challenge is to overcome the mental and emotional resistance to our inertia, getting our own life force flowing. We challenge the physical limitations of lack of strength and flexibility we feel after perhaps a long period of dormancy. The process of moving comfortably into and out of the poses, maintaining a consistent breathing rhythm and focusing the mind is our process of tuning into the flow of our own life energy. Patience is required, but that flow of life is as surely there within us as it is in nature’s springtime. Its our own personal springtime waiting for us to encourage our life force energy to rise and bloom into summer flower.
Just as different types of plants thrive in different conditions, so do each of us relate differently to different styles of yoga. There are as many different teaching styles as there are yoga teachers. Even those trained in the same traditions bring their own special approach to their classes. Shop around for a yoga teacher that feels nurturing to you and encourages you to unfold at your own pace, in your own way. As we master the physical challenges of yoga, we are also diving deeper into ourselves. The physical yoga is really only the beginning of opening the many layers of petals of our own personal lotus.
We, ourselves, are full of surprises. Our blossoming takes many forms, and a consistent yoga practice can be the springtime nurturing that brings hidden areas of our unfoldment into the summer sunshine. Focused and grounded in our physical form, we can integrate and balance the other areas of our lives into a blossoming of our true potential, an expression of our own powerful, peaceful, precious life paths.
Susan Winter Ward, internationally recognized yoga instructor, author, and video producer, is the creator of Yoga for the Young at Heart?, a multimedia publisher which publishes an informative and inspiring collection of CDRoms, videos, audio tapes, books and television programs, as well as exciting vacation retreats. Her product line is available at: Yoga for the Young at Heart
Yoga itself is a process of unfoldment. For centuries, one of the symbols of yoga has been the thousand petaled lotus, unfolding unfolding, unfolding; reaching deeper and deeper within. As we begin a yoga practice, the first challenge is to overcome the mental and emotional resistance to our inertia, getting our own life force flowing. We challenge the physical limitations of lack of strength and flexibility we feel after perhaps a long period of dormancy. The process of moving comfortably into and out of the poses, maintaining a consistent breathing rhythm and focusing the mind is our process of tuning into the flow of our own life energy. Patience is required, but that flow of life is as surely there within us as it is in nature’s springtime. Its our own personal springtime waiting for us to encourage our life force energy to rise and bloom into summer flower.
Just as different types of plants thrive in different conditions, so do each of us relate differently to different styles of yoga. There are as many different teaching styles as there are yoga teachers. Even those trained in the same traditions bring their own special approach to their classes. Shop around for a yoga teacher that feels nurturing to you and encourages you to unfold at your own pace, in your own way. As we master the physical challenges of yoga, we are also diving deeper into ourselves. The physical yoga is really only the beginning of opening the many layers of petals of our own personal lotus.
We, ourselves, are full of surprises. Our blossoming takes many forms, and a consistent yoga practice can be the springtime nurturing that brings hidden areas of our unfoldment into the summer sunshine. Focused and grounded in our physical form, we can integrate and balance the other areas of our lives into a blossoming of our true potential, an expression of our own powerful, peaceful, precious life paths.
Susan Winter Ward, internationally recognized yoga instructor, author, and video producer, is the creator of Yoga for the Young at Heart?, a multimedia publisher which publishes an informative and inspiring collection of CDRoms, videos, audio tapes, books and television programs, as well as exciting vacation retreats. Her product line is available at: Yoga for the Young at Heart
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