Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Type Of Yoga Normalize Body Weight

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Many people are first drawn to Yoga as a way to keep their bodies fit and supple. Others come seeking relief or help for a specific ailment like tension or Backache.

Whatever your reason is, Yoga can be a tool in giving you both what you came for, and more.

Though the practice of Yoga is closely associated to ancient texts, beliefs, and values, it also yields benefits useful for people's practical daily lives. Here are some reasons why more and more people are practicing Yoga:

1. Yoga relaxes the body and the mind. Even in the midst of stressful environments, Yoga helps control breathing and clears the mind of cluttered thoughts, leaving only deep physical and mental refreshment.

2. Yoga can help normalize body weight. For people who are either overweight or underweight, Yoga Exercises can help achieve the desired weight. The principles of balance and moderation in physical activity and diet under Yoga can also lead to a healthier lifestyle.

3. Yoga improves your resistance to disease. The postures and movements in Yoga massage the internal organs, enhancing blood circulation and functionality, thus, lessening the risk of illness.

4. Yoga increases your energy level and productivity. For as quick as 20 minutes, Yoga can replenish the mind and body with precious energy needed to respond to daily tasks and challenges.

5. Yoga leads to genuine inner contentment and self-actualization. Meditation -one of the aspects of Yoga- focuses the mind, taking it away from the distractions of the highly-materialistic world and leading it to genuine happiness.

Yoga is a method of learning that aims to attain the unity of mind, body, and spirit through these three main Yoga structures: Exercise, Breathing, and Meditation. The exercises of Yoga are designed to put pressure on the Glandular Systems of the body, thereby increasing its efficiency and total health.

The body is looked upon as the primary instrument that enables us to work and evolve in the world, a Yoga student; therefore, treats it with great care and respect. The Breathing Techniques are based on the concept that breath is the source of life in the body.

Yoga students gently increase their breath control to improve the health and the function of both body and mind. These two systems prepare the body and mind for Meditation, making it easier for students to achieve a quiet mind and be free from everyday stress.

Regular daily practice of all three parts of this structure of Yoga produce a clear, bright mind and a strong, capable body.
Read Another Article : Yama and Niyama

Yama And Niyama Guide

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"Knowledge (Jnana) does not come about from practice of yoga methods alone. Perfection in knowledge is in fact only for those who begin by practice of virtue (dharma).

Yet, without yoga as a means, knowledge does not come about The practice of yogic methods is not the means by itself, yet it is only out of that practice of yoga that the perfection in knowledge comes about.

And so it is said by the teachers: 'Yoga is for the purpose of knowledge of truth'" Thus wrote Shankara.

All things rest upon something else-that is, all things are supported by another. This is because a foundation is needed for anything to exist. Being Himself the Ultimate Support of all things, God alone is free from this necessity. Yoga, then, also requires support.

As Trevor Leggett says in his introduction to Shankara's commentary on the Yoga Sutras: "This is yoga presented for the man of the world, who must first clear, and then steady, his mind against the fury of illusory passions, and free his life from entanglements."

Patanjali very carefully and fully outlines the elements of the support needed by the aspirant, giving invaluable information on how to guarantee success in yoga.

The first Yoga Sutra says: "The exposition of yoga," implying that there must be something leading up to yoga in the form of necessary developments of consciousness and personality.

These prerequisites may be thought of as the Pillars of Yoga, and are known as Yama and Niyama.

Yama and Niyama are often called "the Ten Commandments of Yoga." Each one of these Five Don'ts (Yama) and Five Do's (Niyama) is a supporting, liberating Pillar of Yoga. Yama means self-restraint in the sense of self-mastery, or abstention, and consists of five elements.

Niyama means observances, of which there are also five. Here is the complete list of these ten Pillars as given in Yoga Sutras 2:30,32:

1) Ahimsa: non-violence, non-injury, harmlessness

2) Satya: truthfulness, honesty

3) Asteya: non-stealing, honesty, non-misappropriativeness

4) Brahmacharya: sexual continence in thought, word and deed as well as control of all the senses

5) Aparigraha: non-possessiveness, non-greed, non-selfishness, non-acquisitiveness

6) Shaucha: purity, cleanliness

7) Santosha: contentment, peacefulness

8) Tapas: austerity, practical (i.e., result-producing) spiritual discipline

9) Swadhyaya: introspective self-study, spiritual study

10) Ishwarapranidhana: offering of one's life to God

All of these deal with the innate powers of the human being-or rather with the abstinence and observance that will develop and release those powers to be used toward our spiritual perfection, to our self-realization and liberation.

These ten restraints (yama) and observances (niyama) are not optional for the aspiring yogi-or for the most advanced yogi, either. Shankara states quite forcefully that "following yama and niyama is the basic qualification to practice yoga."

Mere desire and aspiration for the goal of yoga is not enough, so he continues: "The qualification is not simply that one wants to practice yoga, for the sacred text says:

'But he who has not first turned away from his wickedness, who is not tranquil and subdued, or whose mind is not at rest, he can never obtain the Self by knowledge.'

(Katha Upanishad 1.2.24) And in the Atharva text: 'It is in those who have tapas [strong discipline] and brahmacharya [chastity] that truth is established.' (Prashna Upanishad 1:15)And in the Gita: 'Firm in their vow of brahmacharya.' (Bhagavad Gita 6:14) So yama and niyama are methods of yoga" in themselves and are not mere adjuncts or aids that can be optional.

But at the same time, the practice of yoga helps the aspiring yogi to follow the necessary ways of yama and niyama, so he should not be discouraged from taking up yoga right now, thinking that he should wait till he is "ready" or has "cleaned up his act" to practice yoga. No.

He should determinedly embark on yama, niyama, and yoga simultaneously. Success will be his.
Read Another Article : Ahimsa (Harmlessness)

Ahimsa (Harmlessness) - What Is It?

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In his commentary on the Yoga Sutras, Vyasa [Vyasa was one of the greatest sages of India, author of the Mahabharata (which includes the Bhagavad Gita), the Brahma Sutras, and the codifier of the Vedas.

Begins his exposition of ahimsa: "Ahimsa means in no way and at no time to do injury to any living being." Shankara expands on this, saying that ahimsa is "in no capacity and in no fashion to give injury to any being."

This would include injury by word or thought as well as the obvious injury perpetrated by deed, for Shankara further says: "Ahimsa is to be practiced in every capacity-body, speech, and mind."

We find this principle being set forth by Jesus in his claim that anger directed toward someone is a form of murder (Matthew 5:21,22), and by the Beloved Disciple's statement that hatred is also murder.(I John 3:15)

Even a simple understanding of the law of karma, the law of sowing and reaping (Galatians 6:7), enables us to realize the terrible consequences of murder for the murderer.

As Vyasa explains: "The killer deprives the victim of spirit, hurts him with a blow of a weapon, and then tears him away from life. Because he has deprived another of spirit, the supports of his own life, animate or inanimate, become weakened.

Because he has caused pain, he experiences pain himself.... Because he has torn another from life, he goes to live in a life in which every moment he wishes to die, because the retribution as pain has to work itself right out, while he is panting for death."

Ahimsa is interpreted in many ways-which is to be expected since Sanskrit is a language that abounds in many possible meanings for a single word. But fundamentally ahimsa is not causing any harm whatsoever to any being whatsoever, including subhuman species.

(Ahimsa is not usually considered in relation to plant and mineral life, but certainly wanton destruction of such life would be an infringement of ahimsa, partly because it would eventually have a detrimental effect on animal life as well.)

To accomplish this ideal it is self-evident that violence, injury, or killing are unthinkable for the yogi.

And as Vyasa immediately points out, all the other abstinences and observances-yama and niyama-are really rooted in ahimsa, for they involve preventing harm both to ourselves and to others through either negative action or the neglect of positive action.


The other niyamas and yamas are rooted in this, and they are practiced only to bring this to its culmination, only for perfecting this [i.e., ahimsa].

They are taught only as means to bring this out in its purity. For so it is said: 'Whatever many vows the man of Brahman [God] would undertake, only in so far as he thereby refrains from doing harm impelled by delusion, does he bring out ahimsa in its purity.'" And Shankara explains that Vyasa is referring to delusion that is "rooted in violence and causing violence."

Ahimsa includes strict abstinence from any form of injury in act, speech, or thought. Violence, too, verbal and physical, must be eschewed. And this includes any kind of angry or malicious damage or misuse of physical objects.

Ahimsa is a state of mind from which non-injury will naturally proceed. "Ahimsa really denotes an attitude and mode of behavior towards all living creatures based on the recognition of the underlying unity of life," the modern commentator Taimni declares.

Shankara remarks that when ahimsa and the others are observed "the cause of one's doing harm becomes inoperative." The ego itself becomes "harmless" by being put into a state of non-function.

And meditation dissolves it utterly. However, until that interior state is established, we must work backwards from outward to inner, and abstain from all acts of injury.

In actuality, we cannot live a moment in this world without injuring innumerable beings. Our simple act of breathing kills many tiny organisms, and so does every step we take. To maintain its health the body perpetually wars against harmful germs, bacteria, and viruses.

So in the ultimate sense the state of ahimsa can only be perfectly observed mentally. Still, we are obligated to do as little injury as possible in our external life. In his autobiography Paramhansa Yogananda relates that his guru, Swami Yukteswar Giri, said that ahimsa is absence of the desire to injure.

Although it has many ramifications, the aspiring yogi must realize that the observance of ahimsa must include strict abstinence from the eating of animal flesh in any form or degree.

Though the subject is oddly missing from every commentary on the Yoga Sutras I have read, the practice of non-injury in relation to the yogi himself is vital. That is, the yogi must do nothing in thought, word, or deed that harms his body, mind, or spirit.

This necessitates a great many abstensions, particularly abstaining from meat (which includes fish and eggs), alcohol, nicotine, and any mind- or mood-altering substances, including caffeine.

On the other side, it necessitates the taking up of whatever benefits the body, mind, and spirit, for their omission is also a form of self-injury, as is the non-observance of any of the yama or niyamas. It is no simple thing to be a yogi.
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Foundations Of Yoga Tips & Guide

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"Satya is said to be speech and thought in conformity with what has been seen or inferred or heard on authority.

The speech spoken to convey one's own experience to others should be not deceitful, nor inaccurate, nor uninformative. It is that uttered for helping all beings.

But that uttered to the harm of beings, even if it is what is called truth, when the ultimate aim is merely to injure beings, would not be truth [satya]. It would be a wrong." So says Vyasa.

Shankara says that truthfulness means saying what we have truly come to know is the truth-mostly through our own experience or through contact with sources whose reliability we have experienced for ourselves. Who but the most intuitive could be sure that they do not speak any inaccurate thing?

Yet such is demanded of the yogi, and for that he must strive.

"Untruthfulness in any form puts us out of harmony with the fundamental law of Truth and creates a kind of mental and emotional strain which prevents us from harmonizing and tranquillizing our mind. Truthfulness has to be practiced by the sadhaka because it is absolutely necessary for the unfoldment of intuition.

There is nothing which clouds the intuition and practically stops its functioning as much as untruthfulness in all its forms," says Taimni regarding the most personal and practical aspect of satya.

Bending the truth, either in leaving out part of the truth or in "stacking the deck" to create a false impression, cannot be engaged in by the yogi.

The Bible speaks of turning truth into a lie. (Romans 1:25)  This is done by either not telling all the truth or by presenting it in such a way that the hearer will come to a wrong conclusion-or adopt a wrong conclusion-about what we are presenting.

Regarding numbers it is said that "figures do not lie-but liars figure." The same is true here. Equally heinous is the intentional mixing of lies and truth. Some liars tell a lot of truth-but not all the truth. This is particularly true in the manipulative endeavors of advertising, politics, and religion.

There are many non-verbal forms of lying as well, and some people's entire life is a lie. Therefore we must make sure that our actions reflect the truth. How many people claim to believe in God and spiritual principles, but do not live accordingly?

How many people continually swear and express loyalty and yet are betrayers? ["This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me." (Matthew 15:8)

"And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46)]  Therefore Saint John wrote: "My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth."(I John 3:18) We must not only speak the truth, we must it.

Honesty in all our speaking and dealings with others is an essential part of truthfulness. This includes paying our debts, including taxes. It is inexpressibly crucial that the yogi make his livelihood only by honest and truthful means.

Selling useless or silly things, convincing people that they need them (or even selling them without convincing them), is a serious breach of truthfulness.

Trying to compromise the truth, even a little, making the excuse that "everybody does it" is not legitimate. For "everybody" is bound to the wheel of birth and death because they do it-and that is not what we wish for ourselves. We can lie to ourselves, to others, and even to God; but we cannot lie to the cosmos.

The law of cause and effect, or karma, will react upon us to our own pain.

It is interesting that Vyasa considers that truthful speech is informative. By that he means that truthful speech is worthwhile, relevant, and practical. To babble mindlessly and grind out verbal trivia is also a form of untruth, even if true in the sense of not being objectively false.

Nor is foolish speech to anyone's gain. Sometimes also people lie by "snowing" us with a barrage of words intended to deflect us from our inquiries.

And nearly all of us who went to college remember the old game of padding out whatever we wrote, giving lots of form but little content in hope of fooling our teachers into thinking that we knew the subject and were saying something worthwhile.

This is one of today's most lucrative businesses, especially in the advertising world.

Speaking truth to the hurt of others is not really truth, since satya is an extension of ahimsa. For example, a person may be ugly, but to say: "You are ugly" is not a virtue.

"What is based on injuring others, even though free from the three defects of speech (i.e., not deceitful, nor inaccurate, nor uninformative), does not amount to truth" (Shankara).

Our intention must never be to hurt in any way, but we must be aware that there are some people who hate the truth in any form and will accuse us of hurting them by our honesty.

Such persons especially like to label any truth (or person) they dislike as "harsh," "rigid," "divisive," "negative" "hateful," and so on and on and on. We would have to become dishonest or liars to placate them. So "hurting" or offending them is a consequence of truthfulness that we will have to live with.

The bottom line is that truth "is that uttered for helping all beings." For non-injury is not a passive quality, but the positive character of restoration and healing.

Silence can also be a form of untruth, particularly in dealing with the aforementioned truth-haters. For truth is only harmful when "the ultimate aim is merely to injure beings." But if some people put themselves in the way of truth, then they must take responsibility for their reactions to it.

Will Cuppy defined diplomacy as "the fine art of lying." Sadly, it often is. So we must be sure that we do not deceive under the guise of diplomacy or tactfulness.

Self-deception, a favorite with nearly all of us to some degree, must be ruthlessly eliminated if we would be genuinely truthful.
Read Another Article : Going Gaga Over Yoga

Going Gaga Over Yoga What Is It

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Pop icon Madonna is probably one of the most popular bi-products of commercialized yoga.

Since she started to come out with that toned and buffed figure, women all over the world wanted to know what kind of diet she has been doing.

When she revealed that she has been on her journey of self-discovery and has found a new source of spirituality, she also revealed her secret in maintaining her almost eternal youth look—practicing yoga that is.

But, aside from staying fit through practicing of yoga there is so much more about the discipline that people should know.

THE TRUTH ABOUT YOGA

Before becoming gaga over yoga, you should familiarize yourself first about what yoga really is, its origin, the many underlying premises behind the discipline and how can you benefit from it.

Let’s start first by defining the foreign word that is yoga. Basically, the word “yoga” is rooted from a language of ancient India where it is originated—the Sanskrit. “Yoga,” in Sanskrit, means “union or joining.”

It can either be a union that occurs between the mind and the spirit, between the body and the spirit or a joining of the mind, body and spirit as a whole.

But, the term “yoga” can be accurately defined by another Sanskrit word “asana” – the practice of physical poses or postures.

Although “asana” is only one of the eight known types of yoga, both terms are now being taken as one because since both of them are concerned with mental and spiritual well being than in purely physical activity.

Since yoga has been packaged for the Western culture, it is now best described as a general term that includes various disciplines. And now, yoga is more popularly known to people as a form of discipline that varies from one concept to another.

The term yoga is now also viewed as a discipline that deals with purely physical abstraction to purely spiritual conquest and to just about everything in between. If you are thinking of practicing yoga to improve your life, you must know hoe to convert its underlying possibilities to your own satisfaction.

THE ULTIMATE YOGA BASICS

If you are really interested with yoga, you should be willing to learn almost everything about it. First of all, you should define why you need it.

Some of the many different styles of yoga that being taught and practiced today include “hatha ,” the slow-paced and gentle style; “vinyasa,” the breath-synchronized movement style; “ashtanga,”

The fast-paced and intense style of yoga practice; “iyengar,” bodily alignment style, “kundalini,” the breath in conjunction with physical movement style; and “bikram” or “hot yoga” which is practiced in a 95-100 degree room allowing the loosening of tight muscles and profuse sweating.

Aside from being an effective stress and anxiety reducer, practicing of yoga is also proven to increase strength, create energy, build and tone muscles, improve focus, concentration, and posture, reduce blood pressure, improve memory, and relieve pain.

Another basic thing you should know about yoga is that it requires an exertion or force through different poses. Done through the performance of poses, most people might think that yoga is just about stretching, utmost concentration and weird poses.

True, you see people practicing yoga doing some sort of “acrobatic” stunts, but those stretching are not just simple flexing of muscles: these are creative processes that balance the body to develop agility, flexibility and strength.

Since each pose has a specific physical benefit, the poses in yoga can be done in succession to create heat in the body through movement that will build-up an increase in stamina.
Read Another Article : Perform Yogic Exercises

Most Noticeable Perform Yogic Exercises

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When you have decided to start with your yoga practice, it is imperative for you to learn how to perform a pose properly. Thus it is advisable for you to find a right teacher who will guide you in the correct manner of performing these poses.

Since yogic exercises involve the static and isometric contraction of the muscles, where the muscles are held in a state of tension without causing the corresponding body part to move; it is important to note that the stretching or contraction of the muscles should not be done abruptly or suddenly.

You should endeavour to reach the final pose as slowly as you can, so that there is a steady rise in the tension of the muscles. Always reach the final posture slowly through the intermediate postures. Master all these postures slowly one by one.

The movement of each body part should be done under complete control of the muscles exercised. This is achieved only after practicing for a certain period of time. There should be no jerks or violent movements.

Each step should be executed easily, smoothly and gracefully. Initially, when you start learning the yoga, there is a tendency to use muscles not concerned with the specified movement. But over a period of time with due practice, you can eliminate the unproductive muscular activity.

As you progress, you'll learn to use only the specified muscles for contraction or stretching while the other muscles are kept relaxed.

Avoid rushing into the final position of any posture, unless you have thoroughly mastered the intermediate stages. Always proceed as far as you comfortably can and hold this pose for some time. This will train the required muscles in a few days and thus you can get smoothness and grace.

Take caution not to overwork any muscles. Do not control or restrict your breathing. If you are sick or absent from your practice for a long time, start slowly and reach the previous level only after some time. At the end of the session, you should feel fresh and relaxed.

You must experience the lightness and exhilaration at the end of every session.

You can adjust the duration of various techniques according to your capacity and there should be no exhaustion or tension.

Following all these practices will ensure you get a correct yoga session.
Read Another Article : Guide To Benefiting From Your Yoga

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

The Basic Facts Of Kriya Yoga

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Kriya Yoga is a process of mental purification that teaches meditation through techniques.

The fundamental belief of Kriya Yoga is that all of us are miniature version of the whole cosmos, a microcosm or an evolution of a new world within the microcosmic world.

The followers of Kriya yoga also believes that the most holy supreme creator is a part of us hiding beneath our body, and activating every action through the breath.

The name Kriya is meant as any work “kri” is being done by the power of the indwelling soul “ya”.

The different cosmic forces controlling, air, fire, water and earth also controls the different activities that we do, namely, religious activities, relationship with everyone and everything, food, pregnancy, and everything performed by the human body.

Yoga on the other hand is the conjoining of these correspondences between microcosms and macrocosms. It is the full acceptance and belief behind the union and interaction of the individual self and the supreme self.

The study and science of Kriya yoga has a divine origin and was not created by human means and intellect.

The modernization for this ancient yoga meditation method has begun in the 1860’s with Babaji and has been handed down to the present Kriya yoga lineage of masters directly through the Master to disciple method of teaching.

The disciplined path of Kriya Yoga consists of many different kinds of teaching with different angles to it. One looks at it as a process of beginning with self introspection through breathing controls.

It is also believed in Kriya yoga that that by enlightening the three qualities of light, vibration and sound simultaneously with proper concentration, posture and breathing through application of a series of techniques, a Kriya yoga disciple is able to penetrate the deepest levels of the unconscious mind.

Through this they can communicate with their inner gods and obtain a fulfilling calmness within them.
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