If you attend the same yoga class each week at a studio or gym with the same teacher in the same space you might begin to feel that you are falling into a bit of a rut. Maybe when you first began with yoga it was a challenge for you as you learned the new poses and you had to work on your balance. Now you are feeling confident in your practice and you can a marked improvement in your balance and you are seeking new challenges. Here are some tips for breathing new life into your practice and take it to the next level.
Go deeper in your practice
When you are on the mat you must focus your mind on merging your breath with each movement of your body. Clear your mind of all of the swirling thoughts of your to-do list, and the various worries that follow you around. Introduce pranyama breathing exercises into your practice and take the opportunity to really go deep focusing your mind only on your breath and emptying your mind. Adding a meditation practice can also take you practice to a deeper place. Start off slowly for ten minutes at a time and then build up to 30 minutes or an hour. You will see the results in your life as you become more relaxed and calm.
Visit a new studio
Branch out and visit a new yoga studio and maybe try another style of yoga. Mixing up your routine is a sure way to dissolve those feelings of boredom that sometimes come up. Working with a new teacher, learning new asana and practicing in a new space adds variety to your practice.
Practice outdoors
Take your mat to the park and practice outdoors. Gather some friends and do yoga in the sunshine. Practicing outdoors is fun and exposes others to yoga.
Practice at home with a new DVD
If you usually go to a class at a gym or a studio, try practicing at home with a new yoga DVD. Buy a DVD featuring one of your favorite yoga teachers or borrow one from the library.
Try a yoga retreat
Do some research to find a yoga retreat that appeals to you. You will find retreats as far away as India, and as close as your own city. Getting away and joining with others to focus on yoga is a great way to practice self care and deepen your yoga practice.
If you have fallen into a rut in your yoga practice, don’t give up on it. Challenge yourself to focus your breath and mindfully push your limits. Try new asana, new classes or a new place to practice. Mix it up and enjoy the process of getting stronger, healthier and happier with yoga.
Tags: yoga
Meditation whether silent or guided allows you to go within and tap into your calm, peaceful center and establish a deeper connection with your divine source. Based on the premise that it takes about 40 days to create lasting change replacing thought patterns that do not serve you to more peaceful, contented thoughts, practicalyoga.tv is launching a 40 day ‘Change Your Life Challenge,’ With all of the uncertainty in the air during these turbulent times there are times when we are tempted to give in to the fears that are swirling around. The challenge consists of taking just five minutes of silent meditation each day for 40 days. You can download a free audio recording of the meditation and play it everyday on your ipod or any other .mp3 player, you can burn it to a CD, or just listen on your PC.
The goal of the challenge is to empower you to overcome the fear that threatens your peace and to encourage you to strengthen your deep faith and connection to your Divine source. Practicing Meditation For a Calm Heart can help you to create profound and lasting change in your life, and you will be creating a new habit of meditation that will serve you for the rest of your life.
Meditating is an absolutely free, highly effective way to manage your stress. The only thing you need is a quiet place to sit. But even if you can’t find a quiet place you can learn to block out the noises in the environment and focus inward. becoming aware of your breathing and focusing your attention n taking full, deep, cleansing breaths clears and soothes your mind. Clench and then release each muscle from your toes up your legs to your thighs, your midsection, your shoulders, arms neck and head. Soften your jaw and relax the muscles in your face. Sink into the experience, and when the chaotic thoughts of the ‘monkey mind’ threaten to disturb the stillness, gently bring your attention back to your breath. As you see, meditation is very simple, but not easy at first. The good news is that the more you practice it the easier it does get.
So, now when the chaos, stress and pressures of daily life threaten your peace take just five minutes and go within to access a place of contentment and emerge relaxed and centered and better able to take on the challenges of your life.
Tags: meditation
Insomnia can have so many different causes, which are different for each person. If your insomnia is related to too much stress in your life, then practicing yoga can help to improve your ability to fall asleep and stay asleep. In this article we will look at five poses that can help you to relax and prepare for a good night’s sleep.
Yoga has many benefits for the body, mind and spirit. The gentle stretches and deep breathing help to rid your body of toxins, increase your supply of oxygen, and blood flow to your brain. Here are some yoga poses to try when you are having trouble sleeping.
Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog)
Get on your mat on your hands and knees. Keep your knees aligned under your hips and your hands ahead of your shoulders.
With palms spread flat and toes towards your face, exhale and raise your pelvis away from the floor. Lift your sitting bones upward while pressing down through your heels.
Keep your head between your arms, but hold it without letting it dangle freely. Keep this pose for a minute or two taking deep breaths through the nose.
Bala Asana (Child’s Pose)
Sitting on your knees and holding your feet together with your bottom on your heels, open the knees about as wide as your hips.
Take a deep inhale and then exhale as you lower your chest to your knees and then swing your arms forward.
If you can, rest your forehead on the floor and then bring your arms around to your sides resting the palms facing upward beside your feet.
Breathe deeply and slowly as you hold this pose for a minute or two.
Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward Bend)
Seated on the mat with legs extended, Pressing through your heels reach forward keeping the arms straight pressing the thighs down to the ground and pulling your hips away from your heels.
Gently reach with your finger tips towards your toes as you lengthen the spine away from the hips. (A strap can be helpful here if you can’t reach your toes)
With each inhalation raise and lengthen your torso, and with each exhalation go deeper into the bend. Remain here for one to three minutes.
Viparita Karani (Legs-up-the-Wall Pose)
Lay on your back with your bottom against the wall. Extend legs up the wall and rest arms on the floor above your hear with palms facing upward.
Close your eyes and gently lengthen the heels towards the ceiling. Keep your breath long and steady.
Shava asana (Corpse Pose)
This pose traditionally ends most hatha yoga classes. The goal of this posture is to attain stillness in the body and the mind.
Laying flat on your back on a yoga mat with legs extended together but without touching. Keep your arms close to your sides with your palms to the sky.
Keeping your eyes closed mentally travel from the top of the head to the sole of the feet and relax each part as your attention comes to it.
Maintain this pose for at least five minutes, but as long as you like remaining absolutely still.
A good yoga posture index, such as the one at santosha.com will have photos of each pose. Incorporating a few yoga poses into your evening routine on a consistent basis will help you to clear your mind, relax your body and enter a peaceful state of blissful sleep. They will also help you to wake up more alert and refreshed the next morning.
Tags: can't sleep, insomnia, yoga
Yoga enthusiasts are well aware of the fabulous benefits of a strong yoga practice; improved flexibility, strength, toned lean muscles and a calm centered disposition. All of these benefits can have nothing but a positive impact on one’s sex life. Our relationships operate on a physical, mental and spiritual as does yoga we will examine how a consistent yoga practice can enliven and transform your sex life with your beloved.
It is not necessary for both partners to practice yoga for you to see improvement in your experience, however, the benefits of you both practicing will be exponentially increased if you both practice. If you can arrange to practice together it can be a wonderful way to ground and strengthen your relationship outside of the bedroom. And it’s really a lot of fun.
Many of the aspects that make Yoga so wonderful can also serve to improve your experience in the bedroom. In yoga we seek to unify the movements of the body with the breath. Simply being mindful of the breath and coordinating movements helps to relax and free your mind. When you are with your beloved, applying this simple concept of slowing things down and being mindful of the breath, matching breath with movement–all in concert with your partner can dramatically change the nature of your encounters.
Women who have been practicing yoga might notice how their improved flexibility, strength and control over their body helps them enjoy their sexual experiences even more. Yoga helps you to become acutely aware of your body and as you become more knowledgeable about your own body you will begin to feel more in touch with what pleases you. As you communicate on a deeper level with your partner, you will learn more about what pleases them.
Another of the benefits of practicing yoga is increased confidence, which is very attractive and sexy. You may feel more empowered to explore many new sexual positions, which can be compared to Yoga asanas (poses). Inspired by the Kama Sutra, which is an ancient volume in Sanskrit full of instruction about the art of making love, couples can explore new ways to pose and move their bodies in order to find even more pleasure and fulfillment.
Yoga increases flexibility and blood flow while also strengthening the muscles of the pelvic floor area along with the sex organs thereby making for better, more powerful orgasms, and it can also play a role in curing men with premature ejaculation.
So, if you seek a way to transform your sex life and get closer to your beloved, Yoga could be the answer.
Yoga is said to offer a whole host of benefits to practitioners including the development of long, lean muscles, increased strength and vitality, better circulation and lowered stress levels. But yoga can also have some curative benefits as well including the potential to help you to quit smoking.
A smoking habit is a powerful addiction. Most smokers are very much aware of the dangers of smoking, and have tried to quit many times before. People who want to quit but are afraid to because they don’t want to gain weight will be glad to know that using yoga as a way to let go of cigarettes will ensure that you avoid this troublesome side effect of quitting. The weight gain associated with quitting smoking is caused by replacing the habit of smoking with the habit of putting too much food in your mouth. With yoga, we will be replacing the habit of breathing in cigarette smoke with deep cleansing breaths of healing oxygen that will fill your lungs with clean air, clear your mind and rejuvenate your body.
Yoga works in several ways to help you to quit smoking:
• Helps you to cultivate enough willpower and discipline to quit smoking
• Gives you the tools to manage your body’s cravings for nicotine
• Puts you deeply in touch with your body and breath; you will no longer want to pollute your newly healthy body with the deadly toxins from smoking.
Specific Yogic Techniques to quit smoking:
• Pranayma (deep, controlled breathing)
The deep breathing pranayma techniques actually heal your body as the nicotine is leaving the body and lungs. Deep breathing exercises also help at those when strong nicotine cravings occur. Practicing these exercises in addition to regular yoga asana practice eventually replaces the smoking habit and the craving begins to diminish until they have vanished completely.
• Jala Neti
Jalaneti is the practice of using a small vessel called a neti pot filled with warm salted water to gently flush the nasal passages. Jala neti works to clean the nasal passages, but it also serves to stimulate the pituitary gland in the brain, which awakens the Ajna Chakra located behind the forehead. Jalaneti, when performed before meditation helps to create a space for clear and unobstructed breathing.
• Meditation and visualization
The practice of meditation brings you to a place of relaxed awareness where you can access your inner strength and wisdom. While in meditation you can visualize all of the stress, worry, tension and negative emotions are flowing away from your body. You can also visualize yourself as you intend to be–a healthy, happy, non-smoker.
Yoga helps you to cultivate a new healthier lifestyle. It increases lung capacity and through practicing the asana, meditation, visualization, jala neti and deep, pranayma breathing the urge to smoke and pollute the body eventually simply fades away.
Tags: jala neti, meditation, quit smoking, stop smoking, visualization, yoga
Yoga has many of the same benefits for children as it has for adults. Childhood, for some people, used to be all about getting outside and playing in the sunshine with friends, having fun, exciting adventures and exploring the world around us. Unfortunately, the daily stresses of our modern world can even begin to have an impact on our children. Kids can learn to use their yoga practice to manage stress and access their own internal resources thus empowering them to better handle their tumultuous emotions.
The practice of yoga can give kids some new tools to deal with the challenges they face in life. It can help them to become more self-aware and improve their self confidence as they begin to learn and master the different asana and practice quiet meditation. It helps kids to develop patience and self discipline, how to direct and control their minds and attention and it can help them to be more focused and calm. These benefits will have an impact on all areas of their lives including the classroom, and their lives at home.
Kid’s yoga is non-competitive. Each child proceeds at their own pace under the watchful guidance of the teacher. Kids learn about their bodies, and become increasingly self-aware while they grow stronger, more coordinated and flexible.
Kids have a much shorter attention span than adults do, so the approach to teaching kids is different. Kid’s yoga classes are designed to engage the child’s attention and keep things moving so that they don’t get bored.
Because kids learn through their play, making yoga fun is the best way to make is accessible for them. Getting down on the mat with them and making animal sounds when performing poses with animal names such as cat and cow, and even changing the names of some of the asana to mix things up and make them more interesting.
There are lots of ways for kids to get involved in yoga. Most yoga studios have classes for kids, but there are also yoga camps where kids can go and become immersed in learning about yoga. A search on the Internet will yield lots of resources for introducing yoga to children. You will find pictures of kids performing various asana, routines designed for kids, as well as many DVDs of kid’s yoga and free online yoga videos.
You might want to introduce a few yoga poses to your kids at home before they take their first class so that they will know what to expect.
Exposing young children to yoga can have an impact on their entire lives. Some of the most popular yoga teachers of the day such as B.K.S. Iyengar, and Bikram Choudhry were introduced to yoga as children. As yoga changed their lives, they took what they learned and use yoga to change the world.
Tags: fitness, health, kids yoga, yoga, yoga for kids
‘Power Yoga’ is just a generalized description of a more athletic approach to yoga that focuses on developing flexibility and strength. Commonly offered in gyms and fitness centers, it’s a much sought after form of yoga that popular with students who are looking for a more fitness based approach for their workouts without the chanting and the meditation that goes along with other hatha yoga approaches.
Modeled somewhat after the Ashtanga style of yoga, power yoga is not so stringently limited to a defined series of poses.
The goal of power yoga is to help participants work their entire body, develop core strength, build muscle and lose excess fat. Other benefits of a good power yoga workout include improved circulation, increased energy levels and vitality, and weight loss.
As you might imagine, power yoga classes can be incredibly intense. Core classes focus on developing your body’s core strength and on building long, supple muscles and increasing flexibility. Progressive classes provide a more challenging practice with more explosive moves and asana sequences that flow quickly from one pose to the next at a steady pace that gets your heart pumping and the sweat flowing.
Thos who want to become power yoga teachers must complete the typical 200 hour certification program which lasts for nine weeks. Some students choose a particular teacher whose approach they ascribe to and study under that teacher before striking out on their own.
In most major cities that have yoga studios you can find power yoga classes. Often, when a teacher is popular, there will be long lines to get into his or her classes. For those who do not have access to a studio that offers power yoga, there are many DVD programs that provide a graduated approach to power yoga beginning with the basics all the way up to a high-powered advanced class.
The Internet also has many web sites where you can gain access to free yoga videos, and asana sequences that you can follow at your individual pace.
On the forefront of the power yoga phenomenon is Baron Baptiste, a yoga teacher who has developed a power yoga along with a personal development philosophy. Baptiste power yoga seeks to guide students to access their inner potential and learn to develop and use their personal power.
Another popular power yoga guru is Bryan Kest, who has been teaching Yoga for 21 years. Kest studied Yoga in India with the famous K. Pattabhi Jois, the yogi who developed the Ashtanga style of Yoga. Bryan Kest’s power yoga helps students to create a high level of energy within themselves, and to foster healing and personal growth.
While power yoga’s goal is to produce fast results by offering a high-energy, fast-paced, rigorously intensive workout, it’s up to each participant to be in tune with their body and their particular limitations. Students need to be mindful and deliberate even as they plunge into this exciting and exhilarating workout.
Tags: Add new tag, fitness, health, power yoga, yoga
Kundalini yoga is one of several major approaches to yoga that dates back to the Upanishads in ancient India. The practice evolved from within the monasteries in Tibet and India over the course of centuries through systematically studying precise movements and breathing techniques to bring about certain results.
By placing the focus on the Chakras, or energy centers of the body, participants learn to generate spiritual power or Kundalini energy. This energy is often described as being held in dormancy in the spine—not unlike a sleeping snake coiled up at the base of the spine. (Sakti) When you engage in the practice of Kundalini yoga, you awaken and release that once latent spiritual force.
Kundalini Yoga has been defined by the Divine Life Society of India, as the “. . . coiled up, dormant, cosmic power that underlies all organic and inorganic matter within us. . .”
Participants learn special techniques in order to focus on the life force energy and rouse the dormant Kundalini energy bringing it up throughout all of the seven chakras. The first chakra lives at the base of the spine, the second at the lower abdomen between belly button and pubic bone, the third can be found at the solar plexus (between the belly button and the base of the rib cage). The heart chakra is the fourth chakra found in the center of the chest, the fifth is the throat chakra, the sixth between the eyebrows, and the seventh Chakra—the crown Chakra lives on the top of your head. Students learn to raise this sacred force all the way up the body through the use of asana and pranayama techniques.
There are many books and DVDs available to help students learn Kundalini yoga at home. Some of these DVDs contain both lectures and asana practice sequences, which students can follow along with and practice whenever they want to.
You will find several web sites on the Internet that offer free Kundalini yoga asana sequences. Many of these asanas are focused on building and maintaining a flexible spine and core body strength. Sequences begin with specific pranayama (controlled breathing) exercises, which allow the student to relax, get centered and let go of the stress and cares of the day. This is then followed by some chanting before the asana practice begins. A closing chant and a period of meditation typically ends the routine.
The ultimate goal of practicing Kundalini yoga is to achieve an awakening experience, or sahaja enlightenment experience. This phenomena occurs quite spontaneously and is not in the participant’s control. Sometimes there can be a shaking of the body, spinal rocking, or other ecstatic experiences that can be pleasurable.
The Kundalini approach takes the study and practice of yoga to a deeper, more profound level. Students learn to embrace the powerful spiritual forces within themselves to bring about great changes, healing and profound personal transformations.
Tags: Chakras, Kundalini, meditation, visualization, yoga
If Yoga is being compared to the image of a tree rooted in ancient tradition, then the eight limbs of the Yoga Sutra support the six branches of yogic practices which include the, Bhakti, Hatha, Jnana, Karma, Raja and Tantra aspects of yoga.
All of the branches of yoga incorporate the general principles of yoga including the use of asana, pranayama and meditation. Some focus more strictly on a moral code of behavior, while others have a more intellectual orientation.
In ancient days, yoga was passed down in the oral tradition with an unbroken line of yogis and gurus who took on disciples and taught them the sacred practices and teachings so that they could pass them on to their followers and so on.
With the ulitmate goal of attaining freedom (Kaivalya), or enlightenment for the soul, participants dutifully follow the yogic path ultimately becoming free.
Here is a brief description of the six branches of yoga:
Hatha yoga
This branch of yoga consists of asana practice (poses), pranayama (controlled breath) and meditation. Ha means sun and tha refers to the moon in the ancient Sanskrit. These references to the sun and moon speak to the energy channels in the body which are opened up through disciplined asana practice.
Raja yoga is a more classical approach to yoga, which involves strict compliance with the eight limbs in the Yoga Sutras. Students learn to control their body, mind, thoughts, and senses through meditation and pranayama.
Bhakti yoga is a devotional path of meditation and visualization, which celebrates love and acceptance for all living things.
Jnana yoga is the path of the mind and involves careful study of yogic texts, scriptures and ancient traditions. It focuses on developing deeper knowledge by accessing the intuitive wisdom found within the soul of the practitioner.
Karma yoga is the yoga of service. It is based on the premise that the circumstances of your life flow from the ramifications of your past actions, and it calls for selfless acts of service to the world.
Tantra yoga focuses on the experience of the Divine in all aspects of daily living. It uses rituals to help students increase their awareness of all aspects of life.
If you think of life as a journey, then you understand that there are many different paths that can lead you to your destination. No path is superior to the other as long as it serves to get you where you want to go. The branches of yoga are each a different path, but they need not be separate. Appealing aspects of the various paths can be incorporated into the student’s practice at various times as they see fit. These spiritual practices can only serve to help the student feel more fulfilled and at peace with themselves and their world.
There are several different styles or schools of yoga each based on the use of asana, pranayma and meditation but each also emphasizing different characteristics of the practice such as flow, pacing, strict alignment, philosophy.
What all of these styles or approaches to yoga share in common is the goal of unifying body, mind and breath. The difference is the path each takes to get you there. Some approaches are quite regimented paying strict attention to form, strict alignment of poses and the flow of the poses. Other approaches focus on the use of props, while others like to heat the room to 105 degrees so that participants become bathed in sweat as they go deep in their practice. If you are drawn to the philosophical aspect of yoga and you yearn for a more devotional approach with chanting, meditation and visualization, you can find that as well.
Read through these brief descriptions to find a style that appeals to you. Then dig a little deeper. Do some research. Read some books on that approach. Visit a few different yoga studios and try out different classes. Most yoga studios offer a free or reduced price for your first visit. You will know it when you have found the right yoga style and teacher for you.
Ananda yoga is focused on using affirmations, and using asana as a preparation for meditation.
Anusara is a new approach to yoga that was developed by John Friend in 1997. It is focused on the heart, and on working within each student’s level of ability.
Ashtanga is an athletic approach comprised of 240 poses performed in six vinyasa series linking breath and movement to detoxify the body while building strength, stamina and increasing flexibility.
Bikram yoga, also often referred to as ‘hot yoga’ because it is performed in a room heated to 105 degrees, was developed by Bikram Choudhry. Bikram is an intense workout comprised of 26 poses and pranayma performed in strict order in a heated room.
Integral yoga has a focus on meditation and combines all aspects of yoga in a more regimented approach.
Iynegar yoga is a school of yoga developed by B.K.S. Iyengar, which focuses on careful attention to refining alignment and the use of props.
Kripalu yoga is a moving meditation approach where poses are held for extended periods of time.
Kundalini yoga uses the breath, asana, meditation, chanting to move energy through the chakras.
Sivananda is a gentle yoga focusing on an overall healthy lifestyle including meditation, visualization, chanting and a vegetarian diet.
These are only a few of the many different yoga styles available. Explore and take the time to find the one that is right for you. Yoga can improve you life in countless ways. Following the approach that works best for you is the first step on this healthful path.
Tags: yoga, yoga styles
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