Yoga For Life

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...

Cure through Yoga Yoga in a popular position Yoga, one of the world's oldest forms of exercise, is experiencing a rebirth in our stressful modern world. You wouldn't think that a 3000-year-old exercise could increase its popularity. But yoga is now being prescribed even by some medical practitioners for a range of health ailments and illnesses, as a stress reliever and to complement other fitness programs.  Talk to anyone who practices yoga and they will quickly extol an endless list of benefits. It seems beginners quickly become converts. They believe it is the key to good health and happiness in today's world _ a common goal for most people. But probably the greatest advertisement for yoga is the fact that it seems to have graduated from the weird and alternative ranks into a position of fairly wide community acceptance.  Housewives, businessmen, sportspeople, teenagers and the aged are all practising a variety of yoga positions , meditation and associated breath...

Welcome to Your Yoga for Life Content Library! This page is your complete roadmap to all the wisdom, tips, and inspiration on the Yoga for Life blog. Whether you are a curious beginner, a seasoned practitioner, or someone just looking for ways to de-stress, you'll find categorized articles below to help guide your journey on and off the mat.  Foundations & Beginners' Corner New to yoga or looking to solidify your base? Start here! These articles cover the essentials you need to build a safe and sustainable practice. Blog Post 1  Basic Yoga Postures and their Variations Getting Started: The Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Yoga : Everything you need to know before your first class. 5 Essential Props and How to Use Them: Making your practice more accessible and effective. Decoding Yoga Lingo: Understanding terms like Asana , Pranayama , and Chakra . Safety & Alignment: Avoid the Ouch! Common Beginner Mistakes and How to Fix Them. The Foundation of Any Pose: Mastering Tadasan...