Articles about Yoga

What Is Yoga?

Yoga is widely known as a form of exercise that stretches and strengthens the body through various poses known as ASANAS. For other people yoga is the realization of inner self satisfaction. For others it is a religion that the believers ought to follow. All of this statement makes it hard to rea ... [read more]

Yoga For People Who Don't Do Yoga!

I don’t do yoga, or I should say I didn’t do yoga but I do now. Until I went on a yoga retreat in Spain, I thought yoga was definitely not for me even though I had never tried it. I had seen the pictures in the books my partner brought home and I knew that my body wasn’t supposed to bend in the way ... [read more]

Beyond Flexibility - The Health Benefits Of Yoga

When I was 21 I suffered a slipped disc in my lower back. I couldn't sit down during the acute phase, only lie or stand, though standing itself was uncomfortable at the time. Once the acute phase had passed (with rest, although acupuncture and shiatsu are great), I had the fortune to meet some yoga ... [read more]

Benefits of Yoga

Yoga through meditation works remarkably to achieve harmony and helps the mind work in synchronization with the body. How often do we find that we are unable to perform our activities properly and in a satisfying manner because of the confusions and conflicts in our mind weigh down heavily upon us? ... [read more]

The Heart of a Yoga Practice: Dedicating Your Efforts

There are a variety of reasons people begin practicing yoga. Many wonder what all the fuss is about, some have heard that it can help with flexibility and strength, and others wonder about the stress relief benefits. More than fifteen million Americans have stepped on the mat and have explored how y ... [read more]

The Manifold Benefits Of Yoga

Yoga through meditation works amazingly to achieve harmony and helps the mind work in synchronization with the body. How often do we find that we are unable to perform our activities properly and in a satisfying manner because of the confusions and conflicts in our mind weigh down heavily upon us? ... [read more]

Tracing the History of Yoga

The history of Yoga has a lot to do with the present times. Yoga started some 5000 years ago when human civilization has only begun. Scholars have believed that Yoga was originated out of Stone Age ‘Shamanism’. This is because there were some cultural similarities between Mehrgarh which was a Neo ... [read more]

Yoga - A Cure for Modern Day Stress

As we walk the tightrope between modern life and our animal instincts, the human race strives to find balance. In our bodies, our minds, our environment, in our lives. With our brains over-stimulated and our bodies more sedentary than ever, many of us suffer from the fatigue and imbalance that comes ... [read more]

My Beginning Yoga Experience

As I walked out of the Bikram Yoga studio toward my car after my first class, I found myself declaring, "If I can actually do this yoga, it will totally change my whole life." I had only been able to attempt half the postures, with the rest of the time lying down, just dealing with the heated, humid ... [read more]

Foundations of Yoga: The Great Vow

The Great Vow After listing ahimsa, satya, asteya, brahmacharya, and aparigraha, Patanjali continues: "These, not conditioned by class, place, time or occasion, and extending to all stages, constitute the Great Vow." They are the Great Vow because they require the exercise of will and because of ... [read more]

The Journey Of Yoga Through Mind

Yoga is a transformative art, and deceptively simple. At least, although the advanced yoga postures are in fact difficult to the unpracticed, and look it, the changes that yoga can bring into one's life belie the apparent simplicity of stretching muscles. After all, we stretch muscles at the gym ... [read more]

The Benefit of Yoga - Fight or Flight?

Medical conditions can be vastly improved through the benefit of yoga. Yoga can lessen the negative effects of such conditions as lung disease, Parkinson's, insomnia, high blood pressure multiple sclerosis, and even joint pain. The benefit of yoga is being recognized today as a viable alternative no ... [read more]

Benefits of Yoga

Yoga has numerous benefits however, the benefits of yoga depends on how regularly you are practicing and also how you are practicing (example are you practicing only yogasana or also along with yogasana, you are combining it with pranayama, Scientific Relaxation and meditation. The benefit increases ... [read more]

Points To Be Followed Before Learning Yoga

Once you have decided to practice yoga for better living and spiritual health, you need to take care of the following points so as to prevent injuries to your physical self: • Physical condition of the individual: usually, it is recommended that people with normal health practice do yoga practice ... [read more]

Yoga: The Complete Science of Life

Yoga is a complete science of life that originated in India many thousands of years ago. It is the oldest system of personal development in the world encompassing the entire body, mind and spirit. It is the union between a person's own consciousness and the universal consciousness. The Ancient Yo ... [read more]

What Is Yoga? Asana In the Context of the Six Yogas System

Yoga is freedom. It is love. It is pure, radiant, unobstructed joy. It is pure awareness, wide-awake and clear. ~ Richard Freeman, director of The Yoga Workshop, in Boulder, CO Here in the United States, on the cusp of 2006, just about everyone has heard the word “yoga.” For many if not most, ... [read more]

Trinity: The Three Levels of a Yoga or Qigong Practice

Yoga and Qigong practice is traditionally spoken of as occurring on three levels: the outer, the inner & the secret. These three levels of practice have similarities to what in Taoist practice are known as the Three Treasures (Jing, Qi & Shen); and also to what in Buddhist practice are known as the ... [read more]

An Objective View of Yoga

When you think of Yoga, what is the picture you see within your “mind’s eye?” Many people still think of Hatha Yoga, and its many sub-styles, as the only Yoga around. This is due to the fact that outside India, Hatha Yoga (Union by Physical Mastery), is most commonly seen. Therefore, this is unde ... [read more]

Magic, Science & Poetry: The Alchemy Of Yoga

I spent the better part of the last two days listening for, conceiving & composing this essay, for the first time. Then went, this morning, to open the file, which was saved (regrettably) on one of those Neandrethal floppy-discs (sigh) … only to find the disc, like some solid-rock cliff-face, refusi ... [read more]

The Most Common Types of Yoga

As there are so many different types of yoga available today, it can present a major problem for beginners. It is of best advice to choose a form of yoga that is appropriate for each individual’s level of fitness, physical and spiritual goals and health condition. Some of the most common types of ... [read more]

Dahn Yoga - Yoga for the Soul

Nowadays, yoga is widespread and is new forms are continuously being developed today. Millions of people around the world enjoy yoga every day or week, depending on circumstances into this activity. Of the so many forms of Yoga, Hatha yoga is by far the most common form, which involves both breat ... [read more]

Karmic Yoga and Charity - Being the Compassionate Warrior

A long time ago I did a lot of social justice work. We used to call it transformational work, because it helped to transform the society. Other work that often fell under the category of social justice work was charity. Charity was providing help to those in need. It was dealing with the immediate p ... [read more]

Yoga in Practice: Bhakti Yoga

If Yoga were like fine wine, Hatha Yoga would surely be the wine for export. It could be said that Raja Yoga and Kundalini Yoga got a fairly strong foothold outside India, as well. All of these forms of Yoga have many aspects, but the physical aspect is what lures most Yoga students - outside of Ind ... [read more]

Karmic Yoga and the Inner Work

It was said that the Dalai Lama meditates four hours a day. When one of his close associates were asked how he spend so much time meditating with his busy schedule he said that the Dalai Lama “meditated for other people, rather then himself.” He also said that the meditation “allowed him to do the w ... [read more]

What Makes Ashtanga Yoga Different?

Ashtanga Yoga is the type of yoga which was created and established by a master named K. Pattabhi Jois. Due to its theory containing eight different limbs, or components, it is also known as "Eight-Limb Yoga". It doesn't imply that the practitioner has a double set of limbs, but master Pattabhi Jois ... [read more]

Karmic Yoga is Joy in the Service of What

I’ve read about “service as a spiritual practice” in many places lately for some reason, so I have decided to write about it. The fruit of most mature spirituality is usually some kind of service. When one forces oneself to do it out of guilt, it can often be a very painful experience. Service from ... [read more]

Ashtanga Yoga - Is It Right for You?

Ashtanga Yoga is the type of yoga which was developed and founded by K. Pattabhi Jois. This type of yoga is known as the Eight Limb Yoga which has revolved in Pattanjali's enormous idea. It presented that the path of purification is made up of the eight spiritual practices. The first four limbs t ... [read more]

Ayurveda and Yoga

Yoga is an extraordinary science of self realization and development and teaches us to develop our innate special qualities. It consists of physical postures, breathing exercises, meditation and relaxation. Ayurveda is the traditional medicine from India which believes in holistic approach towards l ... [read more]

Yama and Niyama in Yoga

Yoga defines yama and niyama as the positive and negative aspects of behaviour respectively. Traditional texts mention ten yamas and ten niyamas but Patanjali’s Yogasutra, which is considered the original treatise on yoga, defines five yamas and five niyamas. It has been mentioned that in Manusmirti ... [read more]

A Fresh Look at Mantra Yoga

The whole universe is Consciousness vibrating at different frequencies. All the varying techniques of yoga(union) and meditation are based on the underlying principles of resonance and sympathetic vibration. Through atunement with a particular state of consciousness we become it. Atunement means ... [read more]

The Blissful Body of the Yogi(ni): Yidam Practice & Yoga Asana

Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, a Tibetan yogi often compared to the great Milarepa, when addressing the issue of Yidam practice within the Vajrayana vehicle of Tibetan Buddhism, has said: It is the blissful body of the yogi or yogini that is the true Deity. So what might this mean? And how, if at ... [read more]

Through The Looking-Glass: Alice In Yoga-Land

There’s a specific training, within Buddhist Yoga, which asks us to look upon the things of our world as being very similar to the reflections of objects as seen in a mirror: arising as the result of specific causes and conditions, yet possessing ~ in and of themselves ~ no “inherent” existence. So ... [read more]

Indian Gurus and Unsafe Yoga Practice

Yoga - the oldest system of personal development needs no introduction nowadays. Its popularity can be estimated by the fact that more than 15 million people practice yoga in USA alone. Almost every health club in a country like UK has yoga classes. In India where the yoga system was originated it w ... [read more]

Yoga - Breathing Correctly A Simple Exercise To Help You Feel Better Instantly!

Breathing is one of our basic non-voluntary bodily functions, and is our connection to life itself and we also have control over it, so if we learn to breathe correctly we can actually maximize our health and energy levels. The correct breathing exercise can be done by anyone you don’t need to kn ... [read more]

Staying Fit with Yoga Exercises

Yoga exercises are the best way to free your mind and to concentrate deeply. After you have experienced a stressful situation, your mind, body and spirit is worn out and fatigued. The cause of these might have been from the interaction with other people or something that have caused a frustration ... [read more]

Intuition Through Yoga

The Penguin Dictionary of Psychology defines Intuition as under: Intuition: A mode of understanding or knowing characterized as direct and immediate and occurring without conscious thought or judgment. There are two distinct connotations which often accompany this term: a) that the process is unmedi ... [read more]

Find the Right Yoga Teacher and Yoga Class for You

Though there are most likely at least half a dozen yoga studios and gyms that offer yoga classes in your neighborhood, finding the one class and the right teacher to suit your needs is not always easy. Start at the beginning with these steps and when you have completed all of them you are sure to ha ... [read more]

Power Yoga: Your Choice for a Healthy Body and Mind

Power yoga is basically known as the "yoga with brawn". This is the American version of ashtanga yoga, a kind of discipline that combines stretching, strength training, and meditative breathing. A lot of poses look like basic callisthenics (push–ups, handstands, toe touches, and side bends). But ... [read more]

Yoga in Practice: Teaching Yoga

When most people consider the idea of teaching Yoga, they usually perceive the superficial physical requirements of a Hatha Yoga instructor. There are many styles of Yoga, and Hatha Yoga is just one of them. In fact, within the sub-styles of Hatha Yoga, there are a number of “gentle” styles. So, bei ... [read more]

Find And Maintain Your Perfect Weight: The Yoga of Mindful Eating

A common experience, among those who have practiced some form of yoga (or qigong or meditation) for a sustained period of time, is the experience of having ones weight stabilize, and maintain itself ~ almost magically ~ at the “perfect” level. This has certainly been my experience … Regardless of wh ... [read more]

Yoga Techniques on the Loose

If you are doing yoga, there are some yoga techniques you need to understand and apply. No one can run away and be free from major illnesses so the best way to get away with it is to exercise in order to maintain good health. Yoga is considered to be the most effective way to stay fit and healthy ... [read more]

On The Strangeness Of Writing About Yoga

For a little over a month now, I’ve been spending a fair amount of time in front of a computer screen, composing short essays on yoga-related topics. And in a way, this feels like a fairly natural, easy and mostly-enjoyable thing to be doing: I love to write, and have been exploring Yoga (in its Tao ... [read more]