Posts Tagged ‘Yoga Positions’

Yoga Exercises for Beginners

There are many kinds of yoga exercises, all which seem to have derived from the original eight stages of reaching a state of bliss. Hatha yoga is the most popular type of yoga which encourages good health through the practice of varfious poses and breathing techniques.

Yoga does not require expensive or fancy equipment to perform the exercises. All you need is to bring yourself with a positive attitude. Clothing does not have to be special either. Simply wear some loose fitting, non-restrictive clothing.

You do not have to join a yoga class as any quiet spot in your house is perfectly fine to practice yoga. Ensure that there are no distractions, it is quiet, clean and has plenty of air flow.  A soft mat may be handy together with a blanket and a pillow which will help give you some form of support and added comfort for the laying or sitting down positions. Yoga is normally practiced barefoot, so you don’t need any expensive shoes though you may wish to wear some socks or soft shoes.

Try not to eat a heavy meal for at least two or three hours before doing any yoga exercises. Eating too much can leave you feeling too full which is not comfortable as you move through the exercises. You can eat some fruit or an energy bar and drink a glass of juice an hour or so before doing yoga. You should drink plenty of water as you perform your yoga exercises to stave off any dehydration.

Many people like to practice yoga first thing in the morning as it helps to revitalise the mind and body using the postures and breathing techniques. Others prefer to exercise at night to help unwind from a busy and stressful day. It is perfectly fine to do both. You simply have to find the best time that suits you for your yoga exercises.

Basic yoga poses always start with easy poses, building up to the more difficult poses. Too much strain is not the goal as you should pause if you feel any pain or fatigue. It is beneficial to relax between difficult exercises.

Yoga is best done daily. You can do as little as 15 minutes of fitness exercise and 15 minutes of breathing and meditation each day and you will start to reap the benefits.

How to Reap Maximum Benefits Of Yoga

Yoga positions, as we all know, is meant to unite the body, mind, and spirit through yoga exercises such as meditation. Yoga practitioners believe that uniting the mind, body and spirit creates inner harmony and that “we are not this body” so people ought to take care of it. Therefore, the benefits of yoga are believed by many yogists to be very therapeutic.

Yoga position is also regarded to make a person aware of his or her body’s alignment and movement patterns. Delving into a yoga exercise makes the body more fluid and facilitates in relaxing the mind and tired muscles even in the middle of a stressful environment. This is one of the primary reasons why people want to begin practicing yoga.

Yoga also contains is ancient principles, theories, and observations about the mind and body connection which is now being verified by modern medicine. Extensive research has been done to look at the many health benefits associated with yoga from the yoga positions (asanas) to yoga breathing and meditation. Focus and perspicacity are the usual benefits when it comes to yoga.

The series of yoga position known as asanas work by carefully stretching the muscles. This maximizes the range of movement and boost lubrication in the joints. The result is a sense of relief throughout the body. Yoga stretches not only the muscles but all of the body’s such as tendons, ligaments, and the fascia sheath that enfolds the muscles. It doesn’t matter what level of yoga a person practices, one can likely gain the healthy benefits in a short period of time.

Many of the poses, such as downward dog and tree pose, mold upper-body strength. As people get older, this becomes crucial. The standing poses indeed build strength in the abdominal muscles and hamstrings. With enhanced flexibility and strength comes improved posture. Most standing and sitting poses develop and maintain posture, letting you remain confidently erect in standing tall. Another benefit of yoga is boosted body awareness. People are more finely tuned in telling if they slouch so they can adjust their postures. Other physiological benefits of yoga include an increase in immunity, balance, and energy levels. It also improves sleep, reaction time, eye-hand coordination, and dexterity and normalizes weight, endocrine and gastrointestinal functions.

Most forms of yoga position also accentuate the deepening of your inhalation. This stimulates the relaxation reaction. Because of the deep, aware breathing that yoga entails, the respiratory system often improves. This in turn can perk up endurance and athletic performance. Some yoga styles use particular meditation techniques to hush the voices in your head that often triggers stress. Other yoga techniques rely on deep breathing techniques to focus your mind on the breathing. Suddenly your mind becomes calm and relaxed when this occurs.

Yoga has been connected with decreased glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride, and sodium levels as well as heightened functions of the immune system. Hemoglobin, total serum protein, and lymphocyte counts are increased.

Yoga has been said to raise spiritual awareness. It can also help improve marriages and relationships, strengthen memory and learning efficiency, depth perception, somatic and kinesthetic awareness, and enhance social skills as well.

Types of Yoga for Common Man

Many people actually practice yoga and adhere to its philosophies. There are many different types of yoga. The goal is to ultimately connect you with your inner self as you unite body and spirit through meditation and breathing.

Yoga is a Sanskrit word that has various meanings depending on the context of Hindu philosophy. In places outside India, it is normally associated with Hatha Yoga and its asanas or positions as sort of exercise. Someone who observes yoga practices or follows the philosophy is called a Yogi or yogist in the modern times.

As people begin to practice and maybe go to a gym for a exercise class, they will discover that the old tradition of Yoga positions was strictly practiced by ancient gurus and sages. Somehow, Yoga is more about spiritual awareness. In Hinduism, it is also associated with one of the orthodox Ästika schools of Hindu philosophy, and to the purpose toward which that school conducts its practices. Several Hindu sacred writings and tantras such as the Bhagavad Gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, Hatha Yoga Pradipika, and the Shiva Samhita discuss the significant aspects of yoga. The main stems of yoga in Hindu philosophy include the Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, and Bhakti Yoga. Raja Yoga is actually anthologized in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and is a part of the Samkhya tradition.

The Bhagavad Gita, meaning “Song of the Lord”, uses the word yoga broadly in a lot of ways. Bhagavad Gita’s chapter six is entirely devoted to the traditional yoga exercises and practice including meditation and features three major types of yoga such as Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, and Jnana Yoga. Karma Yoga is the yoga of action, Bhakti yoga is the yoga of devotion, and Jnana yoga is the yoga of knowledge.

For the bhakti schools of Vaishnavism, bhakti or service to the Svayam Bhagavan itself may be the topmost goal of the yoga position practice, where the goal is to take pleasure in an eternal relationship with the Supreme Being.

Yoga works on so many levels and incorporates intense concentration on the physical and mental part of the practice. This practice of yoga position indeed, has mental, physical, emotional and spiritual benefits all just waiting to be unleashed. It’s an ancient discipline intended at training the consciousness for a state of ideal spiritual insight and harmony that is actualized through the three yoga paths of actions, knowledge and devotion.

History of Yoga and Its Archaeological Evidence

The history of yoga is based during the epoch of the Indus Valley civilization. The yoga exercises and philosophies are practiced by the Indus to instigate spiritual growth and awareness. The yogis promote inner unification with the finite jiva or transitory self and with the infinite Brahman or eternal self. Yoga views man’s problem and suffering in terms of ignorance. Human beings simply bound themselves to materialistic things and forgetting to serve God, the source of all things. That’s why humans need enlightenment or an experience of union with God.

Earliest archaeological evidence indicated Yoga’s existence and can be found in engraved stone seals which illustrate figures of yoga positions. The stone seals depict yoga’s existence dating around 3000 B.C. However, archaeologists and scholars, have reasons to suppose that yoga existed long before that and traced its origins in Stone Age Shamanism. Both shamanism and yoga have comparable characteristics predominantly in their efforts to polish the human condition at that time. Both methods aspire to treat community members and the practitioners act as chief religious mediators or gurus.

A number of steatite seals were unearthed at Indus Valley Civilization sites describing figures in a certain yoga position. These meditation-like postures are forms of ritual discipline, signifying an originator of yoga. There are particular figures that were discovered in the core of Mature Harappan relics that indicate Harappan devotion to ritual discipline and focus and that the yoga poses may have been used by both humans and their deities. Some type of link between the Indus Valley seals and later yoga and meditation practices is backed by many other researchers.

These archeological discoveries allow people to cogitate with some good reason that an ample range of yoga activities was already accepted by the pre-Aryan India people. A seal recently revealed in the Cholistan desert evidently depicts a “yogi”. The puzzling Indus Valley seal images display figures in a position known in hatha yoga as Mulabhandasana. The genesis of the 200-scriptured Upanishads describes the inner vision of reality ensuing from Brahman devotion. Yoga also shares some attributes not only with Hinduism but also with Buddhism as well. Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, studied yoga and obtained enlightenment at the age of 35.

The Yoga Sutra, composed of 195 aphorisms or sutras, was written by Patanjali around the second century attempting to classify and even out yoga at that time. During the 1960′s, Hindu gurus gave further details about the system of yoga positions and its philosophies.

The Different Yoga Positions

Yoga is mostly viewed as a beneficial way to stay healthy while achieving spiritual actualization. Although practicing a traditional yoga positions can be complex and requires great focus, a person doesn’t necessarily have to sweat it all out. There are many poses of yoga that are easy to learn and provide significant health benefits.

The things you need

One needs comfortable clothing, yoga mats, and enough floor space to spread the arms and legs and perform handstands. Delving into yoga can be fun and one doesn’t need to worry about slipping, falling down or making odd sounds.

The different positions of yoga

Some of the yoga positions include Sukhasana or comfortable seat, downward dog, Uttanasana or standing forward and bend positions, tree pose, cat position, child’s pose, and Savasana or corpse pose.

Sitting comfortably in a cross-legged position on the yoga mat is a Sukhasana pose. It entails grounding down your bottom, making solid contact to the floor. Lift your head straight, rest palms on your thighs, close eyes, and deeply draw in your breath. Place one hand firmly on your belly. Feel your abdomen enlarge as you inhale and compress as you exhale. Give a couple of seconds to become accustomed to the meditation and then open your eyes.

For the downward dog yoga position, line up your hands parallel to the mat and push into the tips of your fingers to take the load off the wrists. Tuck your toes and slowly curve your knees, lifting your hips upward. As you flatten your legs and draw your heels toward the floor, ease your shoulder blades down your back, baring your soul to the floor. Continue pressing your fingers as you breathe.

From the downward dog pose, saunter your feet to the front of the mat to begin the Uttanasana yoga position. Keep your upper body bowed over your legs, and grasp onto your opposite elbows. This allows your weight to spread from your hips. Then release your hands and move up to stand, letting your head come up last.

For the tree poses of yoga, begin by shifting your weight onto the left heel. Lift your toes and set that foot into the ground. Draw your right knee upward your chest and lay the sole of your right foot on the left inner thigh. Draw your tailbone down to keep the middle of your abdomen occupied. Then, clasp your hands into Anjali Mudra, or prayer position at your heart, and concentrate the eyes on one point.

Curve your spine in a continuous motion as you exhale, envisioning a gap between your vertebrae as you drop your head. Then tuck your tailbone and heave your navel in toward your spine to perform the cat position. This position also warms up the spine so try to inhale then heave your eyes upward.

Meanwhile, the child’s pose involves sitting on your knees with your legs tucked underneath. Spread your knees wide and have your toes touching. Ease your arms down your back and set your hands by your heels. Bend forward to rest your forehead on the floor.

In doing a Savasana yoga positions, just place a blanket below your knees. Then slowly lie down and open your hands and raise them up. Allow your legs to just slump down at the sides. Remain lying down for five minutes and roll over to your side to return in a seated position. Bow down to the floor to cap off the yoga exercise.