astanga yoga

astanga yoga is a style of yoga originally taught in the united states by Pattabhi Jois at the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute.  It comes from a far more ancient form of yoga that was recorded by the sage Vamana Rishi although the exact age of this text is difficult to pinpoint. 

More properly spelled Ashtanga Yoga is literally translated as "eight limbed yoga" and describes a path of purification for the revelation of the universal self through eight practices:

Yama - moral codes

Niyama - self- purification and study

Asana - posture

Pranayama - breath control

Pratyahara - sense control

Dharana - concentration

dhyana - meditation

Samadhi - absorption into the universal

While the first four of these are external practices this second four are internal. Mr. Jois taught that imperfections in the first grouping were both tolerable and correctable, while defects in the latter group were not. His belief was that only by removing the defection could bring a true and complete universal cleansing.

It's easy to see why there is a bit of a disconnect in Western thought with the overall practice of yoga regardless of style or form. Especially as Americans, we tend to be more doers than sit still and breathers. So the idea that pops in your head first when you think of yoga is standing on your head with your feet wrapped around your bellybutton somehow. But in reality, the poses practiced in yoga represent only one part of the eight, the asana.  The rest is all related to a much more spiritual and mystic pursuit.

To correctly perform the asanas in ashtanga yoga requires the proper implementation of two other elements; the vinyasa and tristhana.  Vinyasa is proper breathing and vinyasa is a system of moving between the poses themselves.  Each movement has one breath, so an entire asana is performed according to a certain number of breaths at very precise times both in the poses as well as moving between them.

You can learn much more about the history and practice of Ashtanga yoga by following this link to the terrific historical and practical research done by Betty Lai at http://www.ashtanga.com/html/background.html.

yoga for children

In a lot of ways, children can learn the most, and gain the greatest skill at certain things while they are still very young. It might take an adult years to learn a new language, while children seem to take it up quite quickly. It is the same way with a number of physical activities. Children love to be moving and mimicking other people around them. Yoga is a great place to start an exercise regimen that will have lasting benefits down the road.

Yoga is a great place to start with children because they are naturally quite limber. Therefore some positions that you might find create an incredibly intense stretch, they will simply be able to fall right into place. Sometimes it seems as though they're made out of rubber bands, which really isn't very far from the truth. If you are very advanced at practicing yoga, you will not be able to teach all positions to children because they do not yet have the physical strength and agility for some of the poses. But if they are capable of getting into the pose with out any discomfort, it's not going to hurt them either.

It really seems a little strange to me at how we treat our children these days as though they were made out of paper machete. I remember growing up throwing rocks, jumping off of buildings, riding bicycles over huge ramps, and yet somehow I managed to survive with little more than a few bruises and scrapes. Comparing yoga to the types of reckless behavior I displayed as a child seems incredibly tiny by comparison.  Therefore there is no real need to be incredibly careful about which positions you allow the child to attempt. If they can, and will, do the pose, it is just as safe and beneficial for them as it is for you. In many ways it's probably safer for them because there is less risk of injury.

There is an awful lot of hogwash circulating around out there that if children exercise too strenuously using weights or other things that it can be damaging to their bodies. Poppycock is all I have to say about that. No, you do not want your child learning to do free full stunt jumps from 10 story buildings, or trying to bench press 200 pounds. The simple fact is - they can't do those things anyway.  They don't have the strength or agility. But swinging from the branches of a tree is not going to kill them (within certain normal limits of course). Children's bones are softer and their muscles far more flexible than adults. A fall or tumble that would seriously injure you will seem to have almost zero effect on a child. So it's perfectly fine for them to take those energies that might otherwise be used for swinging from trees and devote them to something that can give them some real benefit such as yoga.

So if you're looking for something to involve your child in some coordinated structured exercise, yoga is a fabulous choice. Many of the positions are also named after animals which makes it perfect for tying in a little storytelling while you exercise. Of course, it's going to help if you know how to do yoga as well and will give you a way to spend some quality time doing something constructive with your child that may very well become something that they carry with them all the way through their adult life.

yoga ball exercises

It's a bit of a strange combination actually, yoga and exercise ball, since the advent of these large and virtually indestructible rubber balls is a fairly recent development while yoga is centuries old. I guess what we're trying to say is that there really is no such thing as a yoga ball. There is yoga, and then there are exercise balls, doing them together is going to require just as much mental agility as it will physical agility. But there certainly are cases where an exercise ball can help with certain yoga positions.

In that case what you can do is consider an exercise ball as a kind of yoga prop that you can use if you already have one available. But just because you are stretching while on a ball doesn't make it yoga at all really. Yoga is a lot more than stretching. As a matter of fact, it is about training your body to hold certain positions, or even get into certain positions for beginners, without any sort of help whatsoever. Therefore, using a fitness ball during a yoga practice session is something less than actual yoga.

But when you are first starting out there are definitely props that can make practicing yoga far easier. As a matter of fact, there are many people who are so stiff that they simply must use props in order to begin practicing yoga. Towels, straps, pillows and blocks are all used as yoga props for beginners.  If you find yourself in this type of scenario, an exercise ball might very well be one of the props that you can use.

Now, it may sound like we are against the idea of yoga ball exercise. That is not entirely the case. Because a yoga ball is not rigid, it will still force you to do the one thing necessary during yoga practice, and that is tense your muscles to hold a position. You may not be using proper yoga form, or even doing a traditional yoga pose, but you can still be accomplishing very much the same thing. And that is, holding your body weight in a position.

You will probably not use an exercise ball for very long in your yoga practice. At a certain point you will want to cast aside all types of yoga props as you progress to more advanced positions. But when you are first starting out, an exercise ball can certainly help you with certain yoga poses while you are learning the more advanced positions.

men's yoga

For most guys, and this probably means you, the only time that yoga ever crosses your mind is when you walk past the studio in your gym where all of the thin, attractive women are twisting themselves into lithe positions. You may have gone one step further and consider joining the class just for the view, but probably were never quite able to turn away from the more manly pursuits over in the free weight section. But it's probably high time that you completely reconsidered the way that you think about yoga.

First things first. There really is no such thing as men's yoga. There is just yoga. Whether you are a man or a woman doesn't matter at all to yoga. Quite frankly, most of the world's grand master yogis are men. But for most men, yoga seems far too calm an event to be considered a beneficial part of their workout routine. So let's set the record straight about why you really need to seriously consider adding yoga to your regimen.

You are probably far more concerned with how much muscle you have then anything else. But unless you were born with a natural propensity for a high degree of muscularity, you are more than likely already wearing just about as much muscle as you are going to be able to achieve without a little outside pharmaceutical intervention. With that being said, just consider that there are really only four things you can do with your muscle. There are: strength, flexibility, endurance and performance - those are the only four things you can train your muscle to improve upon.

If you are like most men, you have spent the vast majority of your time working on strength. You probably also think you understand something about endurance, but we won't go into how almost everyone fails at doing an effective endurance workout. You probably thought that you were going for some sort of athletic performance, but if your workouts are not balanced between the other three, your performance has probably not improved very much either.

All of that is to say that you have probably ignored working on your flexibility for far too long. The more flexible you are, the more of your strength you will be able to use in practical everyday activities, as well as in performance related ways. Two guys with exactly the same amount of muscle; put that image in your mind. One guy can barely reach his ankles, the other can quite comfortably put his hands flat on the floor. Guess which one can jump higher? More flexibility gives the available muscle more ability to flex their range of motion. The fellow who can touch his palms to the floor comfortably will always outperform the other guy even if they both have exactly the same amount of muscular strength during a leg press.

So, if you really want to be the top dog, you are going to have to get a whole lot more flexible. Yoga is perhaps the most available methodology you can use in order to do that. So, it's not really about setting your macho aside just to do yoga, it turns out that doing yoga can make you quite a bit more beastly after all.

about yoga

When you're first starting to learn about yoga, the sheer volume of information can be a little overwhelming. So let's try to break things down to their very basic parts to give you a better idea about yoga and exactly what the practice of yoga may entail. In essence, yoga is really very simple, and as you learn it through practice the levels of complexity and intensity will flow quite naturally. In other words, you don't need to know everything about yoga just to begin practicing yoga.

While many people think that yoga is just a peculiar type of stretching exercise is really more than that. Stretching is certainly a part of yoga, but it also aids in the development of other physical benefits.  Everything from breathing and stamina, as well as some strength and definitely flexibility can be achieved through the regular practice of yoga.

Yoga is really all about balance. It helps to loosen what is too tight, strengthen those areas that are weakest, and bring the body back into a proper alignment. Whether or not you buy into this spiritual and meditation aspects of yoga may be beside the point. While many of its practitioners claim that it aligns both body and spirit, it most certainly can do you nothing but good as far as your body alone is concerned.

The term practice is used by yoga teachers to describe your personal sessions and experience of yoga. You will be again by practicing certain degrees of different poses, as well as how to move between each pose you move through the process of developing the physical ability to place your body in certain prescribed positions.  These sessions of moving from one position to another within a certain style of yoga are much like katas in karate. Each series of poses is meant to be done in a certain order, and as you practice these sets of poses, often called asanas, your body will become more acclimated and capable on either including new poses within each set, or moving on to a more advanced asana.

You don't need specialized props, mats or even clothing to begin practicing yoga. You can probably find everything you need just lying around your house. But the one thing that many be necessary when you begin to learn about yoga is instruction from someone who has been practicing yoga for years. There aren't many good books, videos and even online resources that can give you the beginning instruction you need when you start learning about yoga.

exc? n ��x � to draw from. But you may very well find everything you need to know to do some basic yoga practice during your pregnancy online. But yoga is considered by many to be one of the few excellent options to keep and even improve your health and conditioning during pregnancy. n't ev B m g ��x `y now. And you don't need any specialized equipment to start learning how to do that. imes U o ��x � p>

If you are new to pregnant yoga, make sure that you start in a class with a certified instructor who can supervise your progress.  It is important that you learn the poses and learn them correctly under the care of a qualified professional.  If you are practicing at home, limit yourself to poses you've learned during classes with supervision.  It is not a good idea to attempt new, difficult poses for the first time on your own.

Experienced yoga students will have no problem finding plenty of instructional materials about which poses are appropriate during pregnancy.  A certified yoga instructor can help you out with which style of yoga is right for you.  Ask your instructor if you should be focusing on styles that benefit the nervous, glandular, or muscular-skeletal systems. 

As with any exercise system during pregnancy, it's a good idea to consult your physician before beginning a pregnant yoga program.  Also, ease into it especially if you are a beginner.  Remember that your body's top priority is to nurture and develop your unborn baby.  So use common sense and above all else, keep the child's welfare your number one priority.  If you feel uncomfortable or pain in any of the postures, regardless of your experience level, stop immediately. 

Pregnant yoga uses a lot of the poses practiced in regular yoga but there are some differences.  Remember, common sense!  It is not reasonable to expect that you're going to be able to stand on your head and do the splits when you are eight months pregnant.  You don't want to be putting any unnecessary pressure on the abdomen area.  Don't put any strain on this area even if you have been doing yoga for years as it could cause health problems or endanger your pregnancy.  Remember that during pregnancy, you do not want to over-stretch during any particular exercise since your ligaments are naturally looser around the joints during this time.

maternity yoga

For centuries, women and men of all ages and walks of life have practiced yoga. While the typical yoga master is very thin and unbelievably flexible, it doesn't mean you have to be in that sort of shape to be able to benefit from yoga.  As a matter of fact, practicing yoga is one of the ways that you can work on getting into that sort of shape yourself. It doesn't matter if you are tall or short, thin or thick, or even very out of shape, yoga can help you find new strength and flexibility you might not have ever known you could possess.

That means you don't have to be in great shape to practice yoga. Because it has little impact and should always be done in such a way that it does not cause your body pain, it is typically safe for just about anyone, even those with health issues. Because of this, it may be one of the best things that you can do from an exercise standpoint during maternity.

During your pregnancy is important that you keep your muscles in good shape for delivery, as well as your lung capacity. It certainly doesn't hurt to be as stress free as possible as well. If you are having atypical and healthy pregnancy, yoga is probably a very good option for you to achieve all of these things. Keep in mind, however, if you are having complications with your pregnancy, you might consider consulting your physician before beginning or continuing to practice yoga.

You will definitely want to do a little research into the yoga poses that are most appropriate during maternity, as there are special circumstances that arise depending on which month of your pregnancy you happen to be in. Certain poses should be avoided at certain times during your pregnancy, while others will certainly help to strengthen and relax the muscles that you are going to rely on during birth.

Yoga will also help you to increase your lung capacity which is very beneficial considering how much less lung capacity you have as your diaphragm expands outward. There are also poses that you and your spouse can do together when you are less able to do more intimate things.

Although there are not a lot of books available about maternity yoga practice, the few that are out there are excellent resources to draw from. But you may very well find everything you need to know to do some basic yoga practice during your pregnancy online. But yoga is considered by many to be one of the few excellent options to keep and even improve your health and conditioning during pregnancy.

beginning yoga

The health benefits, as well as the relaxation that can be achieved by practicing yoga are well-known. What you might not know is that yoga can be very simple to learn as well. You don't have to worry about twisting yourself into a pretzel shape right away. You can, and should, begin with the most basic poses while gaining more strength and flexibility for the advanced things you can learn later on. But before you even begin yoga here are a few tips and things to think about to get you started.

Even though there are thousands of yoga related items available for you to purchase, you really don't need anything at all to practice yoga. Certain props and clothing can definitely make it easier, but all you really have to have is a few square feet of space on a carpeted floor or even a bit of grass in your yard during nice weather. A little peace and quiet can also help you to concentrate and relax.

If you do find that you are in need of a few props, you can probably find everything you will need to begin just sitting around your house. Hand towels, pillows to and even a stack of books can take the place of straps, padded mats and blocks. You can spend some time working with these basic items as you learn yoga, and move into props that you can buy once you know exactly what you need as you learn more about your event and the different poses in the form you are working with.

As far as clothing is concerned, you can spend everything from a few dollars to a big pile of cash for your the clothing. While vanity is not something that necessarily goes hand in hand with the peace and serenity you are trying to achieve with yoga, you might still want to look good if you are taking yoga classes in a public place. But specialized clothing isn't absolutely necessary. All you need is light, stretchable garments that do not get in your way as you are practicing your poses. Many people prefer to wear very little, or even nothing at all when they are practicing yoga in their home.

When you are beginning to learn the poses in a particular asana, work just as hard on moving fluidly between the poses as you do on the poses themselves. It is just as important to learn to move slowly and freely between each of those as it is to achieve proper positioning on the poses themselves.

In other words, start slowly and with the basics. You're not competing with anyone when you practice yoga, not even yourself. The whole point of yoga is to gradually train yourself to let go of your stress and tension until your body is capable of doing things you can't even imagine right now. And you don't need any specialized equipment to start learning how to do that. imes U o ��x � p>

If you are new to pregnant yoga, make sure that you start in a class with a certified instructor who can supervise your progress.  It is important that you learn the poses and learn them correctly under the care of a qualified professional.  If you are practicing at home, limit yourself to poses you've learned during classes with supervision.  It is not a good idea to attempt new, difficult poses for the first time on your own.

Experienced yoga students will have no problem finding plenty of instructional materials about which poses are appropriate during pregnancy.  A certified yoga instructor can help you out with which style of yoga is right for you.  Ask your instructor if you should be focusing on styles that benefit the nervous, glandular, or muscular-skeletal systems. 

As with any exercise system during pregnancy, it's a good idea to consult your physician before beginning a pregnant yoga program.  Also, ease into it especially if you are a beginner.  Remember that your body's top priority is to nurture and develop your unborn baby.  So use common sense and above all else, keep the child's welfare your number one priority.  If you feel uncomfortable or pain in any of the postures, regardless of your experience level, stop immediately. 

Pregnant yoga uses a lot of the poses practiced in regular yoga but there are some differences.  Remember, common sense!  It is not reasonable to expect that you're going to be able to stand on your head and do the splits when you are eight months pregnant.  You don't want to be putting any unnecessary pressure on the abdomen area.  Don't put any strain on this area even if you have been doing yoga for years as it could cause health problems or endanger your pregnancy.  Remember that during pregnancy, you do not want to over-stretch during any particular exercise since your ligaments are naturally looser around the joints during this time.