Yoga For Life

 Work Life Balance and Yoga After a surge of interest during the consciousness-conscious '60s, yoga began to fall out of favor. Exercisers apparently lost patience with the activity, which offers slow but steady results, and turned to the fast pace and quick shape-up of aerobics . Now yoga is back-less mystical than in the past, less reminiscent of gurus in pretzel positions, and more attractive than ever to people who are interested in working out rather than working toward some spiritual goal.  Once you step out of the metaphysical atmosphere , yoga is a great stretch and flexibility program. Yoga is increasingly being used by those who are having a trouble in balancing their work and personal life. A stressful working environment and a hectic schedule has a telling impact on the personal lives of the modern day executives and so they are turning to yoga to bring about a peace of their mind and to adopt a perfect work-life balance .  Also, many disgruntled runners, wei...

 Yoga’s Eight Fold Path to Enlightenment While many consider Yoga to be a form a physical exercise, it is also known to be an exercise in spiritual development . Most would agree that the true goal of Yoga is to provide the individual with the means to achieve inner peace and balance . To achieve these lofty goals, students are encouraged to become familiar Yoga’s eight fold path . The eight fold path consists of eight disciplines; Yama , Niyama , Asana, Pranayama , Pratyahara , Dharana , Dhyana , and Samhadi . The first fold, Yama, advises students to engage with the world from a moral standpoint, and is actually broken down into five distinct elements. The first element, Ahimsa , teaches the student to respect the world around him. The second, Satya , teaches that one should be honest with themselves and with others. The third, Asteya , teaches not to steal from another. The fourth, Bramacharya , advises against overindulgence of any form. The fifth, Aparigraha , teaches the stu...

  Yoga for Stress Management The raves about yoga is more than just a current trend or a flash in the pan fad. The physical and psychological benefits of yoga for stress management has been taking America by storm no matter if it takes one to stand on his head, or twist her foot behind the neck like a human pretzel. The regular practice of yoga can help decrease stress and tension, increase strength, balance and flexibility, lower blood pressure and reduced cortisol levels . It also yields strong emotional benefits due to the emphasis on breathing and the interconnection of mind, body and spirit. Frequent practice of yoga for stress management induces better sleep, helps individuals not to focus on things beyond their control and how to live in the present. It makes a stressful event a lot easier to handle, whether it’s family or work. Whatever misconceptions you have about yoga and stress management should take a back seat. While most people have the notion that you have to be f...

Basic Yoga Postures and their Variations 1. THE COBRA Do this in easy stages. Lie down, face prone , legs tightly together and stretched back, forehead on the floor. Put your hands, palm down, just under your shoulders. Inhale and raise your head, pressing your neck back, now use your hands to push your trunk up until you are bending in a beautiful arc from your lower spine to the back of your neck. You need go no further than this. However, if you are supple enough, you can now straighten your arms completely, bend the legs at the knees and drop your head back to touch your feet. Even if your head goes nowhere near your feet, drop it back as far as possible and hold the posture with deep breathing. Come out of the posture very slowly, returning to the face prone posture. Relax with your head to one side. Repeat. 2. THE BOW This is also an extreme version of the simple bow. It is surprising how many children can do it immediately. Take it, once again, in easy stages. Lie face p...

Breathing and Relaxing You don't need to fall into the stress mode of life. You can use breath to relax, rather than stress, your mind and body. Yoga helps you to relearn that natural state that your body and mind want to be in: relaxation. Deep breathing is both calming and energizing. The energy you feel from a few minutes of careful breathe is not nervous or hyper, but that calm, steady energy we all need. Slow, steady, and quiet breathing gives a message to your nervous system : Be calm. Whole books have been written on yoga breathing. Here is one 5-minute Breath Break. (Read through the instructions severaBreathing and Relaxing times before you try the practice. 1. Sit with your spine as straight as possible. Use a chair if necessary but don't slump into it. Feet flat on the floor with knees directly over the center of your feet. Use a book or cushion under your feet if they do not rest comfortably on the floor. Hands are on the tops of your legs.  2. Close y...

Basic Sitting Postures with Benefits JANU SIRSASANA : Correct foot placement Sit up straight with legs evenly extended in front. Bend the right leg at the knee and place the foot so that the heel is in the right groin and the front of the foot touches the left thigh. Turn the foot so that the bottom of the foot is facing upward and press the knee back to form an obtuse angle with the body. This position will be difficult at first; don't force it. Put a folded blanket under the knee and also under the hips. Gradually the knee will move farther back. Just keep the foot correctly positioned. JANU SIRSASANA: Correct, perfect posture Having positioned the foot and knee correctly, stretch the left leg out, keeping the leg firmly on the mat. Settle the heel firmly and stretch the toes up. (The heel should pull gently away from the ankle.) Now inhale and bend forward over the straight leg, catching the foot with both hands if possible. Beginners should bend only as far as they c...