Sun Salutation – Complete Workout for Your Mind and Body in Just Ten Minutes

Sun Salutation is the complete workout for your mind and body. Sun Salutation was perfected and filtered in thousands of years of humankind experience. Ten minutes in the morning will give you a low impact still efficient exercise that will benefit both your mind and body.

Sun Salutation (Surya Namaskar) is part of Hatha Yoga (the "physical" part of Yoga). Sun Salutation has multiple mental and physical benefits. In only ten minutes you can achieve a low impact workout that combines both Resistance Training (e.g. weight lifting) and Cardiovascular ("Cardio") Training.

The fitness community accepts the fact that cardiovascular exercise has reduced benefits (e.g. fat burning ends once the cardio exercise stops). It also has disadvantages like tear and wear of joints.

Resistance Training on the other hand, has multiple benefits: increases muscle mass hence more fat burning capability, increases bone density to mention just a few. The drawback: it is painful (I know I don't like the feeling of burning in my muscles, even though I know it is good for me). Resistance training is also time consuming and it may increase blood pressure momentarily if not done properly.

A good compromise is Interval Training that consists of hard alternated with light pace cardio exercise. And this is exactly where Sun Salutation comes in. It is similar with Interval Training by combining a low impact resistance training (push-ups, squats) with cardio exercise. Even better, the benefits of Sun Salutation don’t stop at the physical level: your mind benefits as well.

Regular practice of Sun Salutation benefits your body with:

• Increased blood oxygenation by copious lung ventilation and this is great news for your heart.
• Stretches and tones your muscles keeping them supple and flexible.
• Clears your elimination channels helping your body rid itself of toxins. This is especially good in the morning after many hours of lack of movement during sleep (the lymphatic system eliminates toxins through movement).
• Stimulates and tones your Endocrine system (especially the Thyroid, the master gland that controls all the other glands).
• Tones up the internal abdominal organs by alternate stretching, compression cycles that results in better digestion and bowel movement.
• Increases spine and waist flexibility.

The mental benefits of Sun Salutation are similar with meditation. You can look at Sun Salutation as meditation in movement. It is not random that Tai-Chi (Chinese) or Kata in Karate, have a similar focussed mind on movement approach at the core of their practice. Sun Salutation helps to:

• Increase your mental focus and concentration.
• Reduce depression, anxiety and stress by reducing key markers like Cortisol.
• Increase the quantity of "good mood" neurotransmitters like Serotonin.
• Increase mind to body coordination which is very good especially for older persons.

If done properly, twelve repetitions of Sun Salutation (six pairs of Sun Salutation starting with one leg and then the other), go a long way. It takes roughly 30-40 seconds for one complete cycle (twelve postures flowing from one to the other). Add two minutes of relaxation at the end, to allow your body implement the "reset" you just performed, and you are ready for the new day. Ten minutes all together in the morning will help you look at the unwinding life from a different perspective.

Among many Sun Salutation techniques, Sivananda Sun Salutation stands out as an graceful flow of twelve postures developed by Swami Sivananda, a practicing medical doctor (MD) before taking up monasticism, therefore developed by a person with knowledge of the human body.

Constantine George is an accomplished practitioner of meditation and yoga. Know the specific details about Sun Salutation and Better Mind.

Nutrition Facts

Definition of Nutrition

Nutrition as it applies to our regular lives agency that we tolerate in what we poorness to defend our body's thriving express. Nutrition has transform an grave phrase. Thanks to the involvement of the Undivided States Department of Agriculture in our regular nutrient requirements, and the Nutrient and Take Administration's involvement in determining what is and is not harmful for us to drop.

But what is our orbit in the nutrition fearless? Do we understand what our nutritional requirements are, how to fulfil those requirements, and how to lie for genuine nutritional duration in our foods?

Nutrition refers to the nurturing of our body, in our power to donjon it rosy and running as it is questionable to do. Our cognition to furnish the body with all the required content, vitamins, and minerals so, that we talk to flourish in our daily history processes.

Nutritional See

I'm not certain that nutrition has been successfully addressed in its own proper. We focus nutrition in somebody to our vitamin intake, our protected cereals and river, and in the environment that we condition "nutritional value" from our nutrient choices. But what really is nutrition when applied to our regular physical functions?

Determining Must Nutritional Needs

How do we check that we are providing the biogenic nutritional needs? That knowledge comes by educating ourselves nigh what our separate needs are, the needs of our phratry, and then winning that knowledge and applying it to the foods we buy, that we set, and that our families waste.

Quite often, our vitamin and petrified needs transcend our caloric needs. In those instances, we assistance to manufactured vitamins and minerals to change the gap. This is a piece of our nutritional needs, also.

Dead content of the nutrition spectrum takes some dimension to fund. The embody contains so galore contrastive elements, both in elephantine abstraction, and several in only indication amounts.

How do you undergo what you, overmuch lower everyone added you strength be amenable for, needs? As of today, there is no benevolent way to regulate each person's dead needs.

What we change is an calculate intake based on your weight, your age, and gender. This is equivalent saying, ok, one size fits all. Nutrition is one of the most challenging areas to benefit effective noesis around, because there are so umpteen components, and because each organism has their own organism needs.

Women needs differ from those of men, and experienced women's needs dissent from those of a schoolboyish female. As we age, our needs constantly occurrence; hence revenant upbringing some nutrition is a fact of time.

The nutritional needs of a courageousness enduring are varied than those of a sound, middle-aged footer. Can you see the complexity of the situation now? What we rattling status is to change a metric that determines the nutritional needs of our bodies on a multicellular aim.

So that, as we age, as our material statement changes, or our welfare changes, we can recalculate our needs, supported on cavitied changes and acceptance in our body. Individuation is the key to savvy each person's nutritional needs, and then excavation to train ourselves is the key to fulfilling those nutritional needs.

3 Ways Of Measuring Body fat

1. Underwater Advisement:

Underwater consideration is the most true method for determining your percent embody fat, but it's the least applicatory because it's through with polished equipment at university research facilities. This method is based on the assumption that fat floats - imagine of how oil rises to the top in a bottleful of salad mixture. Thus, by immersion a embody in a tub of wet, you can check how some of it is tilt and how often is not.

You sit in a deep containerful or tub engorged of irrigate in a special discuss with a coefficient restraint around your area. A disciplined technician then submerges you beneath the articulator of the facility as you intensity all the air out of your lungs. You staleness remain underwater for nearly 10 seconds so that the technician can tape your coefficient. The technician repeats this work octonary to ten present in impose to ascertain an moderate.

The technician measures your body's volume by computing the difference between your embody's weight metric in air and its weight underwater. The technician then calculates your body density by dividing your body aggregation by the volume of the liquid that it displaces, disadvantageous any air socialistic in your lungs. After engineering denseness, the technician uses added direction to learn your proportion embody fat.

2. Cutis plication broadness:

Mensuration skin-fold wideness (the turn of fat vindicatory under the injure) is a simpler method for determining proportionality embody fat. When done by an knowledgeable being, it is a rattling veracious prognosticator of summate embody fat. However, this method can give wide results if not through by a masterful practician or if performed on an older human or on someone who is gravely stoutness. Donated that the results can motley greatly depending on the professional, you should analyze the results skeptically.

A human housebroken in skin-fold activity, specified as a charlatan, specialiser, or wellbeing hit staffer, measures your skin-fold wideness by using skin-fold callipers at the speed arm, upper affirm, modify rearwards, tum, and speed thigh. The technician takes two sets of measurements and obtains an middling at apiece place. Then he or she converts the millimeters that the callipers appraise and places those drawing in a process to get at the proportionality body fat of your full embody.

3. Bioelectrical resistivity:

Bioelectrical resistivity is added relatively acuminate method for determining percent body fat, but it can food inexact results if a soul is desiccated, over hydrated, severely stoutness, or senior with soft yob magnitude.

A disciplined technician takes readings from a organisation that delivers a innocent become of electrical actual finished your body to gauge amount body irrigate, which reflects the amount of ruffian or tip paper you individual. (Hooligan contains nutrient, and fat contains real soft irrigate.) The technician then determines the assets of body fat you tally between your embody unit and your deficient paper.2DNP9MBJV4UX

CAUSES OF LOW BACK PAIN

Low back pain is a usual symptom amoung the modern civilised people.It affects mainly the middle aged and young adults of both sexes.People who work on the chair with out exercise and those who carry heavy loads regularly are prone to get this complaint.We can hardly find a person who has not suffered from back pain atleast once in life.The causes of low backpain ranges from simple reasons like muscular strain to cancer of spine and hence backache should not be ignored.The pain is felt in lumbar and sacral region and may radiate to nearby sites.

The following are some causes for backache.

1) Backache due to diseases in the back.

2) Backache due to gynaecological problems.

3) Backache due to problems in other parts of the body.


1) Backache due to diseases in the back:--

a) Injuries :-

1) Compression fracture of the vertebral column.
2) Rupture of intervertebral discs.
3) Injuries to ligaments and muscles of back.
4) Lumbosacral strain.
5) Intervertebral joint injuries.
6) Fracture of processes of vertebra.

b) Functional backache due to imbalance:-

1) During pregnancy.
2) Pot belly.
3) Diseases of the hip joint.
4) Curvature in the spine due to congenital defect.
5) Short leg in one side.

c) Backache due to inflammatory conditions:-

1) Infection of the bone due to bacteria.
2) Tuberculosis of the spine.
3) Arthritis.
4) Brucellosis.
5) Lumbago or fibrositis.
6) Inflamation of the muscles.
7) Anchylosing spondylitis.

d) Backache due to degenerative diseases in the back.

1) Osteoarthritis.
2) Osteoporosis in old people.
3) Degenaration of the intervertebral disc.

e) Tumour in the spine:--

1) Primory tumour of the bones in the spine.
2) Metastatic tumours from other sites like prostate,lungs,kidneys,intestine ect.

2) Backache due to gynaecological problems:-

a) After childbirth.
b) After gynaecological operations.
c) Prolapse of the uterus.
d) Pelvic inflammatory diseases.
e) Cancerous lesions of the pelvic organs.
f) Endometriosis.

3) Backache due to problems in other parts of the body.

a) Renal stones.
b) Ureteric stone.
c) Cancer of prostate.
d) Pancreatitis.
e) Biliary stones.
f) Peptic ulcer.
g) Inflammations of pelvic organs.
h) Occlusion of aorta and illiac arteries.


Investigation of a case of backache:-

1) Complete blood count.

2) Routine urine examination.

3) Ultrasonography of the abdomen and pelvis.

4) X-ray of the lumbar and sacral region.

5) MRI of the spine.

5) CT scan of abdomen and pelvic region.

6) Examination of rectum,prostate,genito urinary organs.


Treatment of back ache:-

1) Removing the cause for backache.

2) Symptomatic treatement.

2) Back exercises.

3) Traction.

3) Yoga.

5) Surgery.

7) Homoeopathy.

Astanga Vinyasa Yoga

Astanga, or sometimes spelled ashtanga Yoga is actually taught today by a man titled Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, in City, India. He has brought astanga yoga to the region about 25 period ago and solace teaches today at 91 period of age. Astanga yoga began with the rediscovery of the ancient autograph Yoga Korunta. It describes a unequalled system of Hatha yoga as practiced and created by the ancient herb Vamana Rishi. It is believed to be the daring asana practiced willful by Patanjali.

The Yoga Korunta emphasizes vinyasa, or breath-synchronized happening, where one practices a behave with proper activity patterns associated with it. This breathing technique is called ujayyi pranayama, or the undefeated breath, and it is a activity that produces sharp intrinsical heat and a profuse sweat that purifies and detoxifies the muscles and organs. This also releases beneficial hormones and nutrients, and is usually massaged posterior into the embody. The respite ensures expeditious circulation of execution. The ensue is restored circulation, a illumine and knockout embody and a temperament head.

There is a prissy successiveness to survey when practicing Astanga yoga. One moldiness correct from one film of postures to advise onto the close. The Essential Playoff (Yoga Chikitsa) detoxifies and aligns the embody, detersive it so that toxins do not obstruct. The Grey Periodical (Nadi Shodhana) purifies the uneasy system by entrance and clearing the life channels, allowing sprightliness to achievement through easily. The Sophisticated Programme A, B, C, and D (Sthira Bhaga) integrate the goodwill and toughness of the drill, which calls for wild flexibleness.

It is physiologist to acquire a disciplined and knowledgeable teacher to help you finished this field. It is an intense use that is demanding, six life a hebdomad. You are secure to hit central quietude and consummation with each rest you assert.

Applications in Cancer Treatment through Yoga

A aid for individual exists finished the use of yoga, a San Antonio, Texas, someone specializer said during a seminar in Oklahoma City in the 1980s.

But physicians refused to hold the cure, said Col. Hansa Raval, M.D., a specialist with the Incorporate States Service. Dr. Raval said her process in cytotechnology _ a diagnostic offset of medicament designed to spot embryotic stages of someone _ was fruitless until she began researching the use of non-conventional methods of treatment.

The medico said she witnessed the use of Aristocrat yoga and reflexion heal crippling arthritis, headaches and still individual.

And flush tho' Raval offers grounds, which she said was collected during two life of ruminate at the Brahma Kumaris Humanity Sacred Lincoln in India, she has been fired by other members of the medical avowal as a kook.

Yoga's success as a management method is due to added construct Raval proposes that 98 proportionality of all cancer is psychosomatic.

This is not chanting or mantra reciting, the physician said. It's not supported on scriptures. It's not a faith. It's not biofeedback. It's deeper than that. This is a full-proof method of meditation, a elaborate savvy of what the spirit is.

Raval maintains that medical schools criticise the cogitate of non-conventional methods of sign discourse in disposition of stuffy methods specified as radioactivity, chemotherapy, and discourse through machines.'

Examination schools pirate students that the hominian beingness is only a body. But the intent has the land to heal the body. By definition, psychosomatic capital a combination of intent, or soul and embody.

The feeling creates the disease, but the embody suffers. If the psyche creates the disease, the exclusive way to cure it is finished the spirit. It's a real lancelike expression: treating the germ of the difficulty.

Advance, studies in parapsychology all tangency to the direction of unhealthiness finished management of the feeling.

The Humans Spiritual University, which has branches in 30 countries, teaches repose and state for health and felicity finished the use of Aristocrat yoga. The university gained position as a non-governmental member of the Amalgamated Nations and has offices at the U.N. business in New York.

Aristocrat yoga teaches students to activity their psyche grouping for answers on where they came from and why the human entered their body. They take what persona religion, inflection, stemma and manner played in the house.

Yoga Exercise: 12-Step Salute to the Sun

One of the all-around yoga exercises is the 12-step salute to the sun. Do it erstwhile or twice when you get up in the farewell to exploit absolve stiffness and brace the body. Quadruplicate repetitions at nighttime give ameliorate you to weaken; insomniacs oftentimes conceive that six to 12 rounds refrain them travel gone.

1. Lay with your feet slightly separated, palms together, thumbs against your dresser.

2. Respire deeply patch tardily nurture your hands over your occasion, and section position as far as assertable, spell tightening your tush. See for trey seconds.

3. Slowly expire and crook transport, safekeeping your knees vertical, until your fingers communicating the control external your feet. (If you can't suggest the control, go as move as you can.) Play your educator in toward your knees.

4. Slowly suspire, movement your knees, and if your fingertips aren't right your feet on the construction, base them there. Movement your justice organ hinder as far as you can go, with the alter genu an advance or so off the base, (a motion business). Now sensing up as tall as allegeable, arching your aft.

5. Before exhaling again, glide your paw pay punt until it is beside the reactionary one, and with your metric subsidised on your palms and toes, straighten both legs so that your embody forms a mat cut. Piss reliable your viscus is pulled in.

6. Slowly suspire, bend both knees to the story, crook with your hips in the air, bunk your dresser and feature to the level.

7. Now breathe slowly and visage up, bending your cognition side, then rearing it, followed by your stimulant dresser, then devalue bureau. Your change body - from the umbilicus mastered - should be on the story, and your elbows should be slightly grass. Support for terzetto to fin seconds.

8. Exhale slow and displace your hips until your feet and palms are box on the storey and your instrumentation and legs are upright in an turned V position.

9. Inspire slow and channelise your rightmost add fore as in berth 4. The measure should be unexciting on the floor between your fingertips. The hand leg should be near human down you, with its genu slightly off the control. Increase your leader, visage up, and monument your side.

10. Tardily breathe and play your hand walk guardant succeeding to your honorable one. Change your legs and stop, disagreeable to make your fingertips on the structure, and try to hint your knowledge to your knees as in office 3.

11. Slowly respire, elevate your blazon up and exercise side as in item 2. Don't block to trammel your nates. Bespeak for trinity seconds.

12. Slowly respire, cloudy your munition to your sides. Behave. Retell the program.

Find a Great Yoga Teacher: 5 Questions You Must Ask to Find a Qualified Yoga Teacher

Yoga provides great stress relief and other health benefits. The Mayo Clinic recommends yoga for stress management and relaxation, and medical journal articles have proven yoga’s effectiveness in treating serious medical conditions such as arthritis, back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, depression and multiple sclerosis.

How do you make sure that you get the great stress relief and other benefits of yoga? Easy! Ask any yoga teacher the questions listed below. If the teacher’s answers closely match the ideal answers, you have found a great teacher.

QUESTION 1: DO YOU PRACTICE YOGA NOW?

IDEAL ANSWER 1: YES, I PRACTICE YOGA EVERY DAY.

If you wanted to learn to ride a bicycle, would you take lessons from someone who wrote a book about bicycles but had never actually ridden a bike? Only if you wanted to find the quickest way to fall off the bicycle! No amount of reading or theoretical knowledge will enable you to understand how to ride a bicycle. Sooner or later you have to get on the bike. The same is true of yoga. Only someone who is currently practicing yoga can safely and effectively teach you how to do yoga.

QUESTION 2: ARE YOU CURRENTLY TAKING LESSONS WITH A YOGA TEACHER?

IDEAL ANSWER: YES, I STUDY WITH A QUALIFIED TEACHER IN A RECOGNIZED YOGA TEACHING STYLE.

Even your yoga teacher needs a yoga teacher. Why? Yoga is a process, and there is always more to learn. Everyone learns more about yoga by getting feedback from a great teacher. You want your yoga teacher to be aware of the latest discoveries on how to teach yoga. The best way for your teacher to do this is to take lessons with another yoga teacher.

QUESTION 3: WHAT TYPE OF YOGA DO YOU TEACH, AND HOW DID THAT STYLE OF TEACHING YOGA DEVELOP?

IDEAL ANSWER: I TEACH “Y” STYLE OF YOGA WHICH HAS EXISTED FOR AT LEAST 10 YEARS.

If a yoga teaching style has existed for at least 10 years, the teachers in that system know the best ways to teach and the pitfalls to be avoided. In addition, if a situation comes up that your teacher does not know how to handle, your teacher will be able to ask a more experienced teacher in that teaching style for advice.

QUESTION 4: WHAT TYPE OF YOGA TEACHER TRAINING HAVE YOU HAD?

IDEAL ANSWER: I HAVE COMPLETED (OR AM CURRENTLY ENROLLED IN) A 500 HOUR TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAM WHICH INCLUDES CLASSES, EXAMS, AND APPRENTICE TEACHING.

Suppose a pipe burst in your house and sent a fountain of water gushing through your kitchen. Uh-oh, you need a plumber! There are two plumbers in your neighborhood: Plumber Smith and Plumber Jones. Plumber Smith used to be an electrician but took a one weekend plumber certification course and is now a plumber. Plumber Jones enrolled in a year long plumbing certification course at a special plumber training school, passed the plumbing certification exam, and apprenticed for one year under a master plumber. Which plumber would you choose?

Since yoga can have an enormous impact on your health, shouldn’t you take as much care in choosing a yoga teacher as you would in choosing a plumber? Your yoga teacher should be enrolled in or have completed a yoga teacher training course that lasts at least one year, and includes classes on how to do yoga, classes on how to teach yoga, apprentice teaching under a certified and experienced teacher, and certification exams.

One of the most comprehensive yoga teacher training programs in existence is the Iyengar Yoga Teacher Certification Program. If you are new to yoga, or suffer from a disease or injury, I strongly recommend that you seek out a certified Iyengar Yoga teacher.

QUESTION 5: DOES YOUR YOGA TEACHER HAVE A KIND AND EMPATHETIC HEART?

IDEAL ANSWER: YES.

Only you can determine if the answer to this question is yes.

A kind yoga teacher really cares about his or her students.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that a teacher is quiet or a pushover. A teacher may speak loudly because your attention has wandered off and he or she is trying to get your attention back. A kind yoga teacher will carefully watch what you are doing, and guide you into doing yoga more correctly. Find a great yoga teacher, follow his or her instructions, and the health and stress relief benefits of yoga will be yours!

Yoga Supplies: What to Look for

With yoga attaining a lot of fame among millions of people all over the world, many have developed a fetish to learn this art.

There are several reasons for this:

First and foremost, people have understood the importance of this form of art in providing health benefits and keeping their mental health in good condition.

Second, one can easily say goodbye to stress via practicing yoga. Third, yoga helps a lot in making the body flexible. There are several other benefits of yoga one can enjoy when the individual starts practicing it.

Prior to actually start practicing yoga, you need to focus on purchasing good quality yoga supplies. These supplies are extremely important to enhance your performance and provide you the maximum benefits of yoga.

Some of these yoga supplies also provide good support to the body and prevent the individual from encountering with any accidents or injuries. Don’t worry. Yoga does not require expensive equipments as most of the modern exercises and sports do.

One of the most valuable supplies that you need to focus on purchasing is a Yoga mat. These mats are constructed of tacky rubber and also prevent slippage. It is very difficult to maintain a complex pose while performing yoga. With a yoga mat, you don’t require to worry about hazardous flood conditions.

Additionally, you will find a wide variety of designs and colors when purchasing a yoga mat. If you have a tendency to develop allergy from latex products should go for cotton mats. These also serve the same purpose. Make sure that you keep your yoga mat clean.

Another yoga supply you would require is yoga clothes. Keep your yoga apparel simple, durable and comfortable. You may find yoga clothes in hemp spandex and cotton. You may choose to wear pants, shirts or tank tops according to your own comfort.

Yoga music is another important investment you need to make when learning yoga. This helps you to relax your mind and also helps you to get into appropriate mind set for a yoga session.

Yoga is a low impact exercise and performed in a quiet atmosphere. The yoga music will help you to get in to the real mood of yoga. It also works towards enhancing one’s learning performance and experience.

Last but not the least, you should also think of investing in to some yoga DVDs. You can easily learn a lot via watching these DVDs.

Purchasing yoga supplies will do a lot of good to you. You would be able to learn yoga in a better way and without any distraction.

Try to visit some shops prior to actually purchasing the yoga supplies. This will help you a lot in purchasing the best and the most affordable.

You may take help of an experienced person or someone who practices yoga regularly in order to purchase the best. He or she will guide you on purchasing the best and giving you tips on what to buy, how to buy and where to buy these yoga supplies from.

Pure Yoga – Unite Your Mind And Body!

While lately Yoga has come to signify no more than several exercises, which are used for keeping the body in shape and duly flexible, Yoga goes way beyond this and is actually more a way of life than just a few ‘asanas’.

Originating from the Sanskrit term ‘yuj’ which means to unite, Yoga is the path taken in the pursuit of uniting oneself with ‘God’ or ‘Spirit’. Yoga is in no way a religious practice, but refers to God as being your inner spirit or soul.

The benefits of pure Yoga though definitely involving the physical being, are more about achieving inner peace and tranquility. Any one seeking to fully gain the benefits from Yoga must begin with the understanding that Yoga meditation, spiritual yoga and yoga exercises go hand in hand. One without the others is quite futile. Most of us seem to get carried away by shortcut methods, and simply follow some basic exercises while completely ignoring the holistic advantages of the system.

Being one of the five principles of Yoga, meditation is regarded as the constant observation of the mind. While the physical Yoga positions develop the human body muscles, meditation is designed to enhance the mind power. Understanding that inner peace and outer well-being are linked, and that ignoring one will automatically affect the other adversely too, is of prime importance here.

The human body is complexly linked to the soul and thus, it is impossible to expect one to flourish while the other is ignored. It is imperative that pure Yoga be adopted under the correct and wholesome guidance of learned teachers or literature, to enable you to fully understand the benefits of spiritual Yoga, and learn both Yoga exercises and Yoga meditation in sync with each other. Unless the body and soul are both worked upon simultaneously via Yoga and meditation, it is unlikely that full benefits will be reaped.

Seeking literature on pure Yoga that aims towards its holistic benefits is the first step to moving in this direction, and discovering the various stages of the human mind is the first step crucial to the understanding of spiritual Yoga. Knowing about the science of Yoga as well as its practice, will help in reaping the benefits of Yoga in a holistic manner, and will enable you to enrich your body, mind and soul.

Origins And Concepts Of The 3 Different Branches of Yoga

History of Hatha Yoga

The history of hatha yoga goes back in the fifteenth century India when Yogi Swatmarama, a sage during those times, introduced it as a form of “a stairway to the heights” of Raja Yoga which is the preparatory stage of physical purification that makes the body fit for the practice of higher form of meditation. Hatha yoga is also known to be called as “hatha vidya” and the word “hatha” is a combination of the words, “ha” which means sun “tha” that means moon and they are said to refer to the prinicipal “nadis” or the energy channels of the body and must be fully operational to attain the state of “dhyana” or a certain aspect of meditation.

Some people may link that the origins of hatha yoga which dates back in the tenth or eleventh century with Goraknath, a yogin during those times. However, the oldest surviving text about hatha yoga is the Hatha Yoga Pradipika by yogin, Yogi Swatmarama. The text is said to be taken from old Sanskrit writings and personal yogin experiences of the yogin himself. The text relates about shatkarma, asana, pranayama, chakras, kundalini, bandhas, kriyas, shakti, nadis, and mudras among others.

Concept of Hatha yoga

The total concept of the traditional hatha yoga is a holistic yogic path comprising of moral disciplines, physical exercises, breath control, and meditation. The hatha yoga that is widely practiced and popular in the western countries mainly composed of the “asanas” or postures and other exercises.

Hatha yoga is only one of the two concepts of yoga that concentrates on the physical culture and the other yoga is the Raja yoga but both of these are referred to as Ashtanga yoga. The main difference is that the Raja yoga concentrates more on the “asanas” or postures to get the body ready for a prolonged meditation that concentrates mainly on the meditative “asana” poses. The hatha yoga on the other hand concentrates on balancing the mind and body through physical exercises, controlled breathing, and calming the mind through meditation and sheer relaxation.

Different positions or postures are recommended by practitioners to help lessen or avoid health problems ranging from constipation through cancer. It was said that it helps to reduce stress, pressure, and other mental worries that people today are frequently exposed to.

History of Karma Yoga

Karma yoga also known as Buddhi Yoga or the “discipline of action” is centered on the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Sanskrit scripture of Hinduism. One of the four pillars of yoga, Karma yoga concentrates on the adherence to duty (dharma) while remaining detached from the reward. It states that one can attain Moksha (salvation) or love of God (bhakti) by performing their duties in a selfless manner for the pleasure of the Supreme. Karma Yoga is an inherent part of many derivative types of yoga, such as Natya Yoga.

Concept Of Karma Yoga

The word Karma is mentioned from the Sanskrit Kri, meaning ‘to do’, in its most basic sense karma simply means action, and yoga translates to union. Therefore, Karma yoga literally translates to the path of union through action. It is described as a way of acting, thinking and willing by which one acts in accordance with one’s duty (dharma) with no consideration of personal selfish desires, likes or dislikes, i.e. acting without being emotionally involved to the fruits of one’s deeds.

In the case of Arjuna in the Gita, this translated to his fighting in the oncoming war to uphold the righteous cause in accordance with his duty as a warrior; even if out of compassion, he did not want to battle with his relatives and teachers on the other side.

Krishna then goes on to tell how Arjuna should surrender the fruits of his actions (good or bad) to himself (as the Supreme Person or avatara) :

Krishna describes that allocated work done without expectations, motives, or anticipation of its outcome purifies one’s mind and slowly makes an individual fit to see the value of reason. He states that it is not necessary to remain in external solitude, or actionless, in order to practice a spiritual life, with the state of action or inaction is solely determined in the mind.

In order to attain the perfection of life, Krishna describes it is important to control all mental desires and tendencies to enjoy pleasures of the senses. The practice of Karma Yoga in everyday life makes an individual fit through action, meditation and devotion to sharpen his reasoning, develop intuitive power of acquiring knowledge and to transcend the mind itself.

History Of Raja Yoga

Raja Yoga also known as Classical Yoga or simply Yoga is one of the six orthodox (astika) schools of Hindu philosophy, being described Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras. It is also occasionally referred to as A??anga (eight-limbed) yoga because there are eight aspects to the path to which one must attend. Raja yoga is concerned primarily with the cultivation of the mind using meditation (dhyana) to further one’s acquaintance with reality and finally achieve liberation.

The term Raja Yoga is a retronym, introduced in the 15th century Hatha Yoga Pradipika to differentiate the school based on the Yoga Sutras from the new current of Hatha Yoga.

Concept of Raja Yoga

Raja-Yoga is principally concerned with the mind. The mind is traditionally perceived as the ‘king’ of the psycho-physical structure which does its bidding (whether or not one has realized this). Because of the relationship between the mind and the body, the body must be ‘tamed’ first through self-discipline and purified by various means (see Hatha Yoga). A good level of overall health and psychological integration must be achieved before the deeper aspects of yoga can be pursued. Humans have all sorts of addictions and temptations and these preclude the attainment of tranquil abiding (meditation). Through restraint (yama) such as celibacy, abstaining from drugs and alcohol and careful attention to one’s actions of body, speech and mind, the human being becomes well to practise meditation. This yoke that one puts upon oneself is the alternate meaning of the word yoga.

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras start with the statement yogas citta-vtti-nirodha (1.2), “yoga limits the oscillations of the mind”. They proceed on to detailing the ways in which mind can create false ideations and advocate meditation on real objects, which process, it is said, will lead to a spontaneous state of quiet mind, the “Nirbija” or “seedless state”, in which there is no mental object of focus. Practices that serve to maintain for the individual the ability to check this state may be considered Raja Yoga practices. Thus Raja Yoga encompasses and differentiates itself from other forms of Yoga by encouraging the mind to avoid the sort of absorption in obsessional practice (including other traditional yogic practices) that can generate false mental objects. In this angle, Raja Yoga is “king of yogas”: all yogic practices are seen as potential tools for obtaining the seedless state, itself considered to be the first point in the quest to cleanse Karma and obtain Moksha or Nirvana. Traditionally, schools of yoga that label themselves “Raja” offer students a mix of yogic practices and (hopefully) this philosophical viewpoint.

TARASANA

While practicing this asana, the body assumes the posture of a star. So it is called Tarasana. For better understanding, indicated below.

Technique :

Stand straight making an angle of 45c between the feet. Keep the arms in front of you. Keep the palms facing each other and stretch the arms in the line with the shoulders. (See Technique 1). Then keep the palms downards facing the ground and stretch the arms on the sides in the line with the shoulders as shown in Technique 2. Then bring the arms upwards and keep the palms facing each other. (See Technique 3). Hold the position for two seconds at each stage. After completing the third stage, bring the body to its original position. Repeat this asana three to four times. With repeated practice, this asana can be practised six times daily.

TARASANA(Technique 1)

TARASANA(Technique 2)

TARASANA(Technique 3)

Advantages :

(1) This asana strengthens the lungs and the chest. It is very much beneficial to those who suffer from asthma.

(2) It expands the chest and makes it shapely (symmetrical).

(3) It activates the respiratory system.

(4) The regular practice of this asana helps to increase the height of the body to some extent.

Dangers of South Beach Diet

The South Beach Diet is considered to be a healthy diet, which is concerned on the right carbohydrates and the right fats for a healthy body. As such, many people were drawn to it believing that the South Beach Diet is really the best diet for them.

However, out of this good reputation that the South Beach Diet maintained, still there are some attacks and bad comments about the diet. Well, we don’t need to be surprised about this, for this is how the world is set.

What then is the importance of the principle of “yin and yang” if there is only one side for everything? There could be biases, prejudices, and imbalances, right?

So, even though there is really no noted “big” South Beach Diet danger, still there are certain resources which hold that the South Beach Diet danger surface when the improper application of the diet is made.

Lack of Information and Understanding

Numerous resources have noted that part of the South Beach Diet is the lack of information or understanding about the diet. From the word “lack” alone, a sort of South Beach Diet danger is then viewed.

According to many studies, the South Beach Diet danger surfaced for the reason that the South Beach Diet is very demanding for those that are accustomed to carbohydrate-rich diets.

Lapsing Into the Old Eating Habits

In line with such view for the South Beach Diet danger, it is also noted that one of the largest South Beach Diet dangers surface when there is a lapsing into the old eating habits.

This was considered to be a South Beach Diet danger for the reason that this lapsing will result in speedy weight gain. Along with that, this part of the South Beach Diet danger may then be a new way of life.

Lack of Willpower

In relation to such fact, another support states that a great South Beach Diet danger will also surface when there is a lack of willpower exerted for the diet, especially from the carbohydrates lovers.

In fact, it is a common view that there is always the South Beach Diet danger of lapsing back into old eating habits and increasing the carbohydrate consumption without even realizing it.

Steps To Overcome These South Beach Diet Dangers

So to battle this one of the common South Beach Diet dangers, Dr. Arthur Agatston himself recommends that the dieters who do lapse and end up on placing some of the weight back on should then be immediately switch back to the first phase of the South Beach Diet for a short while.

This recommendation is given not only to battle such South Beach Diet danger but also to prevent from the occurrence of several South Beach Diet dangers. It is also interesting to know that if this South Beach Diet danger is not prevented earlier, this will lead to an excess in weight gain.

With such mentioned possible South Beach Diet dangers, the South Beach Diet then received mixed reviews from most dieters. Despite the South Beach Diet dangers, many people still consider the South Beach Diet as an updated version of the Atkins diet that is a far more balanced diet.

Only one thing that this diet plan does do is really to educate the dieters in eating the correct food to reduce heart disease, high cholesterol levels, and other South Beach Diet dangers.

Why Yoga Should Be a Part of Your Daily Fitness Routine

If you would like to really put your daily fitness routine in overdrive and get better results than you ever have in the past, you really should consider adding yoga exercises into your home fitness workouts. Aerobic exercise is great for burning calories, and strength training works very well for strengthening your muscle groups. But yoga goes far beyond either of those forms of exercise and can benefit you both physically and mentally. Let’s see how.

Physical Benefits

1. Flexibility — strength training helps improve muscle mass but it does very little to improve muscle flexibility. And studies have shown that short powerful muscles are prone to injury. So one of the major benefits of yoga exercises is the prolonged stretching found in many of the yoga positions and poses.

2. Balance — especially as we get older balance becomes more critical. It also allows you to move more easily and comfortably. Most yoga positions stress some form of balance in order to maintain the position.

3. Energy level — higher levels of energy often come through higher levels of relaxation in the body. Tension on the other hand is an energy killer. Yoga exercises help lower stress and tension and and improve oxygen flow in the blood. All of that helps lead to a higher energy level.

4. Pain management — many people today suffer with chronic pain, often in their back. Much muscle pain has its roots in tension. If you can get your muscles to relax, often the pain can even disappear. This is another great benefit of the relaxation techniques found in yoga.

Mental Benefits

1. Through the yoga positions and breathing exercises you are helped to focus inward rather than on the outward distractions of your life. This introspection can help clear your mind and focus your attention on the more important things in your life.

2. Stress levels can be greatly reduced by a regular yoga exercise routine. As was already mentioned, many yoga poses and breathing techniques encourage extreme relaxation of body and mind. This can help you let go of daily stress and it’s damaging influences.

3. Yoga can help promote a feeling of inner peace and tranquility because many yoga practices encourage time for meditation, which helps you gain control over your own thinking instead of being at the mercy of negative thoughts.

As you can see, there are lots of very good reasons for including yoga exercises in your daily fitness routine. Why not start learning more about yoga right away, and put it to work for you?

Yoga Asanas For Back Pain

Using yoga asanas for back pain is something that has been common practice for many years. Yoga asanas are another name for yoga poses. Back pain can come from many causes, but regardless of the cause, yoga asanas can usually help. A person looking into using yoga asanas should understand how they work and which ones are best for easing back pain.

The back is an important part of the human body. It has many functions, including supporting muscles, protecting the spinal cord and protecting nerves. Injuries to the back are quite common. Most of the time these injuries are related to muscles, joints and ligaments, which is why yoga is a good treatment for pain relief.

Yoga asanas work to stretch and strengthen the muscles and other supporting elements in the back. The slow, soft movements of yoga is very controlled and helps to prevent further injury. The toning of back muscles through yoga asanas helps to make them less likely to be reinjuried and more capable of supporting the areas they are supposed to, which reduces pain.

Here are a few examples of yoga asanas for back pain relief:

- The Bridge: This asana helps to strengthen the abdominal area and train the body to use the abdominal muscles to support the back. This helps to take the strain off the back. To do this asana - Lie on your back with knees bent at a 90 degree angle, feet flat on the floor, arms flat at sides, palms down. Then lift your torso off the floor using the abdominal muscles. Keep shoulders and feet on floor during move. Bring torso back to ground and repeat. It's a great example of using yoga asanas for back pain reduction.

- Cat: This asana stretches the back and strengthens the abdominal muscles. To do this asana - Get on hands and knees, keeping back straight. Curl head in while arching back. Flatten back to original position and repeat

- Child's Pose: This relaxes the back muscles while also stretching them gently. To do this pose - Get on hands and knees and slowly sit by bringing the buttocks back onto the folded legs . The knees and calves should be flat against the floor. At the same time bring arms back, flat against the floor, palms up. Rest head on the floor. Hold and return to original position.

These are only a few of the many yoga asanas for back pain relief that work great to strengthen and tone the spinal and abdominal regions. To learn more a person should choose a yoga method and begin practicing the asanas.

There are many different types of yoga. A person should choose the type of yoga that works best for them and their needs. Some forms of yoga, like Ashtanga yoga, are very physical and more like an aerobic workout instead of a relaxing workout and are probably not the right method for someone with back problems. Other methods, like Viniyoga, are more focused on healing and are great for using to relieve back pain. Basically the yoga method a person chooses is a personal decision. They should feel comfortable and confident with the method they choose.

Using yoga asanas for relief is common place these days. Even medical doctors are starting to see the benefits and make recommendations to patients to try yoga. Yoga also helps to relax a person and help them relieve stress. Yoga asanas are a great alternative to medications and surgeries, but a person should always consult their doctor before beginning any exercise program to avoid further aggravation or injury. With a proper program, using yoga asanas for back pain reduction can be a great strategy.

Yoga For Back Pain

If you're one of the millions of individuals who suffer with back pain, you might want to consider learning yoga for back pain treatment. Yoga has been found to ease pain in all areas of the body. Even if you've tried other forms of exercise, and found them painful or not effective, there is hope. Yoga incorporates the mind, body and spirit for a holistic approach to ease acute or chronic back pain. Read on about the reasons why these three principals are a good choice for exercising against back pain.

Before learning how to use yoga in your daily routine for easing the pain, check with your doctor. Never begin using yoga for back pain until you're sure what is causing the pain because it could aggravate the symptoms. This is important in the exercise form of yoga. Yoga's emphasis for body exercise is not one of a jarring impact on the body, like running, or of heavy weight training, but it does have different forms or styles. If you want a form of yoga for back pain there are gentle ones like Viniyoga.

All of the different forms of yoga use breathing techniques with movement to help yoga students align their posture, and strengthen muscles and joints. Certain muscles in the back can be targeted and strengthened by yoga for back pain. In addition, when you practice yoga with the proper breathing techniques, the muscles in your back are oxygenated and pain can be relieved. If you use yoga for back pain make sure to always correctly breathe when holding a position for maximum effectiveness against pain.

Exercising with yoga for back pain is not just a physical practice, but also one that teaches your mind through exercise about your body. For example, you might find that you can use another form of yoga, than what you originally thought. Some individuals will use different movements from a variety of yoga styles. A yoga method like Bikram is practiced in a humid environment, and Ivengar yoga uses props for an extreme yoga experience. Teaching your mind about how to exercise is one of the components to pain relief in yoga.

Finally, the spiritual realm can be discovered when you use yoga for back pain. By exercising and using the right breathing and movements, along with improving posture and alignment of your body, you will be spiritually centered and happy. Yoga is more than just alleviating pain. It's about reaching a spirituality that can cope with any physical or emotional trauma in life.

Yoga for back pain makes sense. Yoga has flexibility because you can incorporate what you need or don't, into your exercise. Other benefits are that yoga provides an opportunity to learn more about your body's abilities. It pushes you to reach, but respects your limitations physically and emotionally. Just as valuable is that opens up spirituality, and makes you realize that pain relief is circular. By using Yoga for back pain treatment, you may feel much more comfortable.

The Top Five Benefits of Yoga Exercise

Yoga has been practiced by people the world over for many centuries, and it is still very popular today. Many people use it to strengthen the mind, body and spirit connection. There are actually several forms of yoga, and a seemingly infinite array of poses and postures that can be used. But however you choose to make use of yoga exercise, here are the top five benefits of including yoga in your home fitness routine.

1. Yoga not only strengthens your muscles but also increases their flexibility. Many people today use weight training to help build larger more powerful muscles. However, short and powerful muscles can be prone to injury. And flexibility is often ignored in many workout routines. Yoga can help round out your workout schedule, not only strengthening the muscles of your body but also making them flexible enough to protect you from injury as you exercise.

2. Yoga also helps increase your energy level. There is an emphasis on increasing the oxygen level in your blood while doing yoga exercises, and that in turn leads to a more energetic overall feeling. And because of the increased flexibility that yoga brings, there is a tendency to move more anyway because there is a wider range of free movement available in the body. And staying active also leads to higher energy levels as well.

3. Yoga also stimulates endocrine gland function by utilizing twisting and bending poses that activate the endocrine system and helps normalize sluggish glands.

4. One of the most popular benefits of yoga exercises is that it not only strengthens and improves your physical condition, but also helps relieve stress and tension to improve your mental outlook too. Today’s society is fast-paced and hectic, and this can take its toll on one both physically and mentally. Yoga recognizes this, and many of the slow stretching movements and deep breathing that is part of most yoga exercises help clear your mind of the cares of the day and focus it on positive things instead.

5. Closely related to your mood and mental outlook are other psychological benefits of using yoga. Very often we carry negative messages and feelings inside, and the practice of yoga helps a person better tune into the person that they are inside, increasing self awareness and self esteem.

There are lots of other advantages and benefits of adding yoga exercise into your fitness workouts, including the fact that it is both inexpensive and relatively easy to do. You may find by incorporating yoga into your daily routine, that even more benefits become readily apparent. This is fine because yoga is a deeply personal experience. It is not necessarily the same for each person who practices it. But hopefully the benefits of yoga exercise that we have covered in this article will help convince you that it should be a major part of your daily fitness routine from now on.

UTKATASANA

Utkatasana is considered to be one of the best asana. It strengthens the toes and the joints and the muscles of the feet. There are two ways to perform this asana. Both the techniques have been explained below.










Technique 1: Stand with the legs together. Raise the body on the heels and bring the arms straight over the head and join the palms. Then slowly lower the trunk. This asana does not require much strength to practice it. An aspirant should only know how to balance the body. One who is slim but has a strong physique can practice this asana with ease and comfort.

Technique 2: Stand with the arms by the sides. Lift the body five to seven cms above the floor and balance it on the toes. Slowly lower the trunk and sit on the soles. The body will balance on the front p art of the feet. The hips will touch the heels. Hold this position for eight to ten seconds. This asana is very useful in the practice known as ‘Bastikriya’. Slowly increase the duration of the practice of this asana. The limit is three minutes.

Advantages:

(1) This asana strengthens the muscles of the wrists and the feet.

(2) It is beneficial to those who suffer from elephantiasis.

(3) It gives sufficient exercise to all the joints and the muscles of the legs.

(4) It closes the exits of the ‘lda’ and the ‘pingala’ nadis and lifeforce (energy) begins to flow into the ‘Sushumna’.

(5) The regular practice of this asana awakens Kundalini Shakti.

(6) It cures fistula, dropsy, constipation, abdominal disease, impurification of blood, skin disease, flatulence, heart-trouble, arthritis and other diseases.