Which Type of Yoga is the Right Choice for You?
Which Type of Yoga is the Right Choice for You?
You finally made the decision to practice yoga, but which style of yoga is the best one for you? There are many types of yoga, and while they usually have common elements, their focus is often quite different. If you have not been physically active in a long time, then one of the more gentle, slower moving styles may be right for you. If you are an athlete or are very physically fit, you might want to check out some of the more strenuous forms.The following is a list of the more common yoga classes that you will find.Hatha Yoga
Almost every style of yoga practiced in the west is some form of Hatha Yoga. It includes asanas, breathing exercises, relaxation, and meditation. Each of the individual forms of yoga has a different emphasis, but classes usually include some combination of these elements.Ashtanga
This is a very fast paced, intense style of yoga. It follows a series of postures, which are always done in the same order and are connected with the breath. Each posture flows directly into the next one, so it is a very demanding practice. Ashtanga can be a good choice for physically fit individuals who like a challenge.Iyengar
This type of yoga, which was developed by B.K.S. Iyengar, is focused on proper body alignment. Poses are held for long periods of time and the movement from one posture to another is slower than some other styles. Props are often used to help maintain proper alignment, so Iyengar can be a good choice for those who have physical limitations. Since it focuses so much on correct body alignment, it is also a good starting point for beginners before they move into faster paced styles.Bikram
This style of yoga was created by Bikram Choudhury and is also known as 'hot yoga.' Classes are held in rooms heated up to 100 degrees in order to allow your body to stretch without injury and release toxins. Practitioners move through a series of twenty-six postures, with each one being held for a period of time. This is a strenuous style and should be avoided by people with certain health conditions unless they get clearance from their medical professional.Power Yoga
This is an intense workout that is a hybrid of Ashtanga, because the postures do not necessarily follow a particular sequence every time. Asanas move from one to another and they require a great deal of strength and stamina. Power yoga is best suited for athletic, well-conditioned individuals. It is my favorite type of yoga, and even though I am in excellent physical shape, I find it very challenging.Kundalini
This type of yoga combines postures with specific breathing. Its purpose is to release the Kundalini energy that is housed at the base of the spine and allow it to move upward. Its ultimate goal is spiritual enlightenment.Kripalu
This style of yoga is meditation in motion. Its goal is for the individual to gain a deeper inner awareness and to nurture a relationship with his or her body. Classes include gentle yoga postures with coordinated breathing and an emphasis on alignment. They also include an extended period of meditation and relaxation.Integral
Created by Sri Swami Satchidananda, this type of yoga is very gentle. Classes have a greater emphasis on the meditative rather than the physical aspects of yoga. Integral Yoga is included in Dr. Dean Ornish's program, which has been shown to reverse heart disease.Viniyoga
This style was created by T.K.V. Desikachar and is a therapeutic approach to yoga. It focuses on breathing in conjunction with movement. Viniyoga encourages modified postures to meet an individual's specific needs and abilities. It would be a valuable style for someone who is dealing with an injury or other physical restriction.Once you've chosen a specific type of yoga, it doesn't mean you have to stay with it forever. You can choose to focus on another style for a while or mix several different types depending on how your mind and body feel. Whichever type you choose, the most important thing is to continue doing it on a regular basis so you can enjoy the rewards that yoga brings.Della Menechella is a yoga and fitness enthusiast who has been involved in fitness for over thirty years. Her website http://www.beauty-fitness-yoga-source.com/ is filled with practical information about how you can make yoga and fitness a positive part of your life. Visit the site and get your free meditation e-book.
Yoga is Self Improvement
Yoga is Self Improvement
After five thousand years of written documentation, Yoga may well be the oldest self-improvement system that ever existed. We don't know what Yoga knowledge may have been lost before man started to record it. In the time period beyond 5,000 years a fair amount of knowledge would have been passed on by word of mouth, and as a result, some of it would be missing.There are many different types of Yoga, but all of them contribute to mankind's self-improvement. So, mankind has been a work in progress for thousands of years and has organized systems to constantly improve. Let's look at some Yogic principles that are often recognized as "modern" self-improvements.Activate your mind and body together through daily Yoga practice. The mind is more powerful than the sum of its thoughts and it must be controlled. The mind that is allowed to wander usually produces random and unproductive thought.In varying degrees, most styles of Yoga tie the physical postures, proper breathing, and focused concentration, together, in one single session. This constant bonding of mind and body, creates inner harmony. This in turn, results in a productive mind-set. This gives the average Yoga student an advantage in productivity, organizational skills, creativity, and self-preservation.You can enhance positive energy with daily Yoga practice. After each Yoga session, many students commonly mention how good they feel. Yoga classes, or Yoga sessions, give the practitioner a chance to discard negative feelings, worries, tension, and stress. This gives the average Yoga student a simple way to prioritize life's daily problems.As a result of this, the Yoga student is able to set and prioritize goals. Whether it is a serious goal or a whim, ideas that produce seeds of thought become reality, especially when followed by action. This formula will produce even more bursts of positive energy within the mind, resulting in a productive and positively charged mind-set.Yoga students should be taught to identify, and when possible, remove negative energy from within the mind. Negative thinking is contagious and should be purged or quarantined, just like a disease. Identify those people who have it. If possible help them, but if not, avoid or isolate them. Negative thinking produces nothing of value and contributes to self-destruction. Therefore, you should learn to identify or leave negative surroundings that will stifle your self-improvement efforts.Finally, listen to your heart and this will tell you if a decision is right or wrong. Some people call it a "gut feeling," but you can feel it, "in your heart," if a decision is morally correct, and know, if you can live with your actions.Paul Jerard is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. He is a master instructor of martial arts, with multiple Black Belts, four martial arts teaching credentials, and was recently inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness to children, adults, and seniors in the greater Providence area. Recently he wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students, who may be considering a new career as a Yoga teacher. http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html
The Fountain of Youth & Your Hormones
The Fountain of Youth & Your Hormones
Everyone has heard of the mythical "Fountain of Youth", but very few realize that it actually does exist. And even fewer realize that it exists inside every one of us. Yes, it's there right
within you, just waiting to be activated !!Juan Ponce de Leon, the Spanish explorer sailed around the Florida coast in search of the legendary "Fountain of Youth" .....the secret to being young again forever. That was five hundred years ago, more or less. Since then modern day 'explorers', in the form of researchers, have been continuing the quest for the secrets to attain eternal youthThese researchers have discovered that at the core of the fountain of youth is the body's hormonal or neuro endocrine system, the collective name assigned to the glands and organs that manufacture hormones within our bodies.Aging is a process that happens to all of us. Usually around thirty to thirty-five years of age, we begin to notice the first telltale signs of aging, the strands of gray hair, the deepening of expression lines (the pre-cursor to wrinkles), the slight sagging of facial features, the gradual loss of skin elasticity as collagen formation declines. As the years roll by, this aging process continues inexorably - stiffer joints, dimmer vision, loss of taste buds, gray hair, less libido!As we see the same thing happening to our friends and family we accept it as natural and inevitable. We start to accept our declining faculties as being nature's way, and start thinking of
oourselves as old.The change in mental perspective further accelerates the process. And, as we look in the mirror, year after year, we gradually begin to look, feel and act progressively older, our mindset reflecting our mirror image.Today, technology and medical advances have made it possible to live much longer, leading to an aging of the population - there are many more 'seniors' in our society than ever before. In fact, average longevity has gone up all over the world since the beginning of the 20th century. In the U.S longevity has increased by as much as 25 years.However, regrettably, the factor that has not changed is the number of years one has to live with age-related disability. It is still an average of ten years for most of us. Can we minimize, or eliminate completely this period of decrepitude from our lives? There is no question that each one of us, man and woman, would like to live our sixties, seventies and eighties with looks, health and vitality intact. Nor do we like the idea of losing any of our faculties or senses.The fountain of youth was seen to be the answer, making it a life or death (literally) quest since time immemorial.....Juan Ponce de Leon et al....and it remains as important today. People stop at nothing in their attempts to combat aging, and to drink from the fountain of youth. So much so, that it has become somewhat of a chimera. There are diets designed to combat and reverse aging, cardio-vascular exercises do the same, the brain is kept young by 'challenging' it, viagra promises peak sexual performance, HRT promises relief from pre and post menopausal
problems, cosmetic companies produce moisturizers and creams to build collagen,....one can go on and on!!!In varying degrees, they all work! But think about HOW they work!Diets and cardio-vascular exercises work by regulating the body's consumption of energy. Known as metabolism, it is a complex interaction of chemical conversions that take place
continually in order to generate energy and keep the body at optimum level. Control of the entire process lies in the hormonal (neuroendocrine) system.The challenge element perks up secretions of the hormone adrenaline...the body's age-old response to any form of stress or threat is production of higher doses. The skin is kept hydrated by secretions of oil and sweat-producing hormones, and the entire process of sexuality and reproduction is hormone-induced, and starts from the hormonal (neuroendocrine) system.And so, through course of diets, exercises, creams and supplements you manage to keep your body and mind in peak condition. What happens when you get a bout of the 'flu'? Without the help of the thymus and your immune system your body may just pack it in !!The hormonal system has a finger in every pie! Does the concept seem rather esoteric? Do you think I am overplaying the role of the endocrine glands?Consider the facts. Sift through reports on the most current research going on in this field.Much of the anti-aging experimentation being conducted in various laboratories around the world, is connected with ingestion of hormonal supplements. HGH (human growth hormone)
and DHEA, both popular experimental therapies being used at present, are nothing but hormones. And without a doubt they produce benefits, even though it is probably too early to
determine if they produce any their attendant side effects.Then again there is much research connected to the use of release factors or 'releasers', whereby, instead of ingesting supplements, one would ingest releasers, which would activate the glands into releasing hormones. Such experiments are still at an early stage, and not much is known about the attendant side effects, if any.In fact, this very principle of hormonal flow seems to have been known to the Himalayan people in ancient times, and forms the basis of the Tibetan yoga rejuvenation and anti aging technique.They seem to have way ahead of us in their knowledge. They knew, 4000 years ago, how to push the button that would cause the body to produce its own natural releasers, rather than rely on artificial synthetic ones. This, then, is the knowledge made public by the Tibetan rejuvenation yoga technique.Jay Chatterjee, a Chartered Accountant and ex-Corporate Banker,
lives in Canada.