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Archive for February, 2011

Best Yoga Warm Ups

Monday, February 28th, 2011

By Sangeetha Saran

Before engaging in a Hatha or Vinyasa session, it is important to warm up one’s body. Serious practitioners and teachers spend time warming up before a class. If one is a beginner in the world of physical Yoga, then it is especially recommended that he or she invest some time in doing proper warm up exercises before partaking in asana practice.

Doing some warm up exercises will allow a person to loosen joints and ligaments in the body. This warm up time will contribute to a better yoga session and prevent injuries. Every movement based form of Yoga incorporates warm ups. Yoga teacher training courses cover this subject for the safety of all students.

The supine breath is a popular warm up exercise. This simple warm up simply allows one to achieve better breathing before starting a yoga session. To partake in the supine breath, a person should lie on one’s back and then exhale deeply. As one breathes in, it is then important to raise the arms as high as one can. Then, a person should pause for one or two seconds before letting go of this position. As one breathes out, then one can lower the arms to his or her side. This exercise should be repeated about ten times before a yoga session.

Supine single knee hugs are another type of warm up exercise any person should do before starting a Yoga training session. Single knee hugs allow the hip joints to loosen. For this exercise, a student will need to lie on his or her back. Then, this student needs to draw his or her knees to the chest. After this, a student should gently clasp the shins or knees.

Then, the student should deeply breathe in and hold the knees directly to the chest. One should then ease up on the pressure and repeat this exercise again. After releasing this pose with the one knee, then a person should do the same thing for the other knee. This exercise should be done about ten times for each knee.

The easy forward bend is another great exercise for loosening joints and ligaments. For this warm up, a student merely needs to sit on the ground with his or her legs straight forward. Then a student should put his or her arms straight forward. After this, a person should try to touch his or her toes. One may grip the legs, ankles, or heels when doing this sort of warm up. When the back muscles and leg-biceps are thoroughly warmed up, the more one will be ready for a Hatha Yoga training session.

Overall, these are some of the best warm up exercises a person should do before any Yoga session.

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The Teacher, The Student, and Yoga

Sunday, February 27th, 2011

By Dr. Rita Khanna

For meeting the needs of students in a Yoga class, three components are central to this topic: the teacher, the student, and the Yoga, itself. All are important; but the teacher is the prime element, with the capacity to facilitate transformation in the student. Most discussions about Yoga teaching tend to focus on the student and the subject of Yoga, with the teacher as a subtext. The most important factor for a Yoga teacher is self-development. The process of teaching is incredibly rewarding because a lot of the experiences are positive; but it is critical to also focus on oneself.

Qualifications of a Yoga Teacher

One of the most important qualifications of a Yoga teacher is a steady mind and a balanced personality. If the teacher is restless, unstable, and caught within the storms of life and emotional upheavals, then, at the most, he/she can only be a tutor. All over the world, there are hundreds of thousands of Yoga teachers, professors, lecturers, tutors, and masters of Yoga. Apart from transmitting knowledge, these teachers should also give forth their personal vibrations, magnetism, and spiritual qualities. Otherwise, when you attend their classes, you may learn many things which you can discuss afterwards; but when you think about it, you feel that in your spiritual life, or in the realm of your inner personality, you have really gained nothing.

What Can a Yoga Teacher Give You?

A good Yoga teacher can give you all his or her experience and knowledge. Knowledge is confined to the intellectual domain. Experience is what enables us to imbibe what we have learned on a practical level. Experience, in Yoga, teaches us how to face the situations of life with peace, courage, and understanding. Life is not a flat plain or a simple path. It is a series of experiences, of ups and downs, which occur on the economic, emotional, and spiritual planes.

As Teachers – How do we Want to Maintain our Development?

yoga meditation course As teachers, we must maintain our development so that we are grounded, capable, able to support the group, and to convey Yoga. Following are some of the important points:

• Yoga teachers should feel that they are really looking after themselves well, and doing what they need to grow and transform. For that, we need to know ourselves, our nature and capacity; what are our likes and dislikes, our preferences, and who we are as universal beings. How good are we at accepting our weaknesses? Self-empowerment requires self-acceptance, which implies acceptance of our strengths and weaknesses.

• As a Yoga teacher, one is bound to make mistakes; but whenever we make mistakes, we must learn from them. As teachers, it is very important to have a certain core of maturity, and strength, to accept one’s fault.

• It is important to ask oneself as to what is the real purpose of our teaching. We are teaching because we have certain strengths, ambitions, and needs; and unconsciously, these are the things we really want to know. When we teach, we learn the most.

• A teacher needs a powerful Sankalpa to maintain Yoga, as a living flame in the heart, to be a model of Yoga. We may do it anyway, but consciousness of it transforms the intention into a living reality. Sankalpa is the essence of Yoga, and it is the ultimate that one needs to achieve as Yoga teacher.

• Teachers need rigorous study, or training in Yoga, and to apply what they have learned. It is also important to feel comfortable, to give ourselves permission to be creative within certain limits, and guidelines. Of course, as teachers, we use certain principles and guidelines, such as concepts of Dharma, and the guidelines of Raja, Hatha or Bhakti Yoga, etc. The more knowledge we have embedded in ourselves, and the more unconscious those competencies become through practice, the more they are expressed as a natural, spontaneous process of relationship and giving.

• Studying psychology in Yoga also helps. The more we can understand the mind of our students, the more we have a sense of comfort in dealing with the very situations with which we are most uncomfortable, such as anger, anxiety, hatred, other mental and emotional aspects, and the deeper needs.

how to become a yoga teacher • Teachers need peer support, supervision, self-review, and to maintain and enhance their skills. Supervision with a mentor can be most valuable. One can talk about one’s darkest impulses and get to know oneself better. You will gradually begin to accept certain limits and will change and modify as per the changing environment. Responses from your students will be more positive, and you would be able to help them much more. Mentors are rare people, who have that knowledge, and are willing to spend time with others.

• Teachers must know how to manage difficult people and their different needs. Firstly, we need the capacity to identify the different people in our group. Secondly, we have to develop the capacity to recognize needs in people. Knowing the sort of issues that arise, with different groups of people, will help develop greater discrimination (Viveka). Thirdly, we need to feel that we have a range of techniques available, with which to handle different needs, and strategies for different classes.

Laughter Yoga • There are different categories of people within a group. You will have people who are difficult, who may be very needy, angry, restless, or quiet (quiet can be as provocative as noisy!). You will have pregnant women, and also students who ask a lot of questions. You will have people who are releasing emotions all over the place, and you will have people who have no capacity for catharsis of any kind. You will have people who want spiritual guidance. There will be people with different mental illnesses – anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, and so on. There will be students with different physical illnesses, such as back, neck, or joint problems, digestive ailments, heart conditions, asthma, etc. Some situations will be acute and short term, and some chronic. Of course, the major issue facing most teachers is that classes include people with different ranges of skill and experience. Some have been practicing Meditation for years, while some do not know that their mind exists! Get to know your students, and tailor general principles to each individual.

• We get a lot of information about our students, through our observational powers, and we can develop that ability through Meditation. If our sensitivity is strong, it is a gift; but if we are not strong, it becomes a burden. We can develop observation and use our experience. The more experience we have, the more we can refer back into the storehouse of the mind.

• We can also ask lots of questions and use questionnaires; and based on that information, we can adjust the practices, be flexible, and gauge the flexibility of the students. We can use optional complexity – give students a range of instructions, so that each one can go as far as they want to go.

become a yoga instructor • It is often good to have two or three strands of teaching going on simultaneously. For example, one group can breathe in and out with breath retention in Nadi Shodhana, while another group will be doing something else. For someone with high blood pressure, focus on relaxation, not retention; and to someone with back pain, he or she may be made to lie down. It is like a concert, with multiple levels operating simultaneously. It is not until we can do those things simultaneously that we get our sense of enjoyment, and that’s when we lift ourselves to another level of teaching.

• Teachers have to be very clear about how to create boundaries in the room, and then allow spaciousness and creativity to develop. When the structures are formed, spaciousness can evolve in a contained way, which allows the process of teaching to grow. How do we create a safe place? What practices can we do safely? What is problematic? What exacerbates or improves a situation? How much attention can we give to one person? What does it mean to help someone? Do we have to accept everybody who comes into our class? No. Be ready to refer students on. This can be extremely useful to students. These are important issues for a balanced class. If in doubt, don’t!

• Teachers have to develop the capacity to feel and sense the tone of the whole room. This comes through our own Meditative practice, and development of our awareness of the space element. The moment we enter a room, we feel the tone, which will tell us what is going to happen, and how we need to adjust. We will feel the dark spots in the room and our own neediness, if we are intuitive and develop that receptivity. We can only know the dark spots outside, when we have looked at our own dark spots.

• We have to be aware of each student in the room. Every student we are not aware of is a potential problem. Trust your intuition and your senses. The concept of transference and counter transference is very important. Often feelings will come up in relationship with a student that is provocative. It doesn’t always come from us, but from chemistry between us and another person. So, the object of the game is to be aware that the feeling is simply arising in the moment. It is not a reality. It is valuable information for dealing with those people. Transference is when someone brings into the room some type of projection (usually unconscious), e.g. related to power or anxiety, or sexual, and we feel provoked, scared, aggressive, anxious, or aroused, etc. – in response. It is not overwhelming, but it is a tone within our system, and our body is responding to the other person’s projection. Our capacity, as a teacher, to be aware of that energy as it arises, makes us better equipped to relate at every level.

• As a teacher, remember that there is nothing to be scared of. Be prepared for everything, because anything can happen. In dealing with what does happen – be spontaneous, creative, and aware. These are the principles we need to apply in our Yoga practices. It is how we apply the Yoga techniques that counts. It is our capacity to come into the room, carrying this energy, not being scared, but ready, that makes everything that arises, a wonderful challenge. We can be spontaneous, creative, and aware, and try to find ways to utilize the techniques, in dealing with situations.

• It is very important and useful to ask oneself as to what my responsibilities are as a teacher. Do we feel that we become over-responsible; that we should be doing more and giving more, that if something is not going right, it must be our fault? We are taking it on ourselves. This is a big issue we have to face, as a teacher, therapist, or counselor. We need to look after ourselves and make sure that we are very self-responsible, and be very aware that the students have to be self-responsible, as well. That takes the load off us, and then the teaching begins. Until then, we are parenting, or we are caught up in some other unconscious relationship dynamic.

• The more we can encourage people to develop their own skills, the better. Then, we can support them in what is happening. The techniques are the tools that allow Yoga to grow within the person. Allowing others to be themselves, means encouraging autonomy, teaching the practice, allowing the person to feel the result, and respecting the person’s intelligence.

• Encourage people to do what they need, in order to take responsibility. Always put it back on the person: “What do you need? What will work for you?” Don’t feel obliged to give all the answers. Give some suggestions and share part of yourself. The more catharsis we see, especially in ourselves, the easier it is to deal with. Generally, when it occurs, hold your ground and tell yourself, “Okay, just another catharsis.”

• Sometimes, people do not trust, or believe, or have confidence in themselves. So, we encourage the person to see how a Yogic technique will support them in dealing with their particular need. They can take it out of the classroom, and apply it, and then they do not become addicted to classes. If they say, “I don’t know what to do,” you can say, “What would you like to do?”, or “Try this, and see how it feels, and tell me.”

• Modify, be creative, and don’t always feel that you have to live up to the expectations of the authority. When we are in relationship with a school, or a teaching, or an authority, we tend to feel that we have to live up to the expectations of that authority; and if we can, we do. However, a healthy authority respects the creativity that we bring to the moment. It comes back to being relaxed. Be relaxed and have fun: the more fun, bliss, and enjoyment – the better. Of course, there are times when we are in dark spots, we are trying to get a person out of the dark spotand into the fun, into the joy of living, to find the positive. Deal with the negative, but focus on the positive.

In Conclusion

Teachers need to know their own nature and capacity, their own Karma. What is the deck of cards we have been dealt in this life? Accept yourself, have confidence in yourself, and in your knowledge – gained through rigorous study, be aware of your preferences, and have a Sankalpa. We need to embody the Yoga practices and teachings, and the fundamental principles of Dharma and respect, for ourselves and others. Training in psychology, peer support, and faith in the teachings will help do the work. A thorough training in Yoga is important.

Aum Shanti

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Courtesy: Dr. Rita Khanna’s Yogashaastra Studio.

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Dr. Rita Khanna

Dr. Rita Khanna is a well-known name in the field of Yoga and Naturopathy. She was initiated into this discipline over 25 years ago by world famous Swami Adyatmananda of Sivananda Ashram in Rishikesh (India).

She believes firmly that Yoga is a scientific process, which helps us to lead a healthy and disease-free life. She is also actively involved in practicing alternative medicines like Naturopathy. Over the years, she has been successfully practicing these therapies and providing succour to several chronic and terminally ill patients through Yoga, Diet and Naturopathy. She is also imparting Yoga Teachers Training.

At present, Dr. Rita Khanna is running a Yoga Studio in Secunderabad (Hyderabad, India).

Tags: allow yoga to grow within, apply in our yoga practices, embody the yoga practices and teachings, essence of Yoga, how a yogic technique will support, maintain yoga, model of yoga, most important qualifications of a yoga teacher, relationship with a student that is provocative, students with different physical illnesses, studying psychology in yoga, training in yoga, yoga teachers training
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Yoga in History

Saturday, February 26th, 2011

By Irina Burlack

At times we said that history should have been left alone but in case of Yoga it is opposite; the history of Yoga must be remembered for the nature of Yoga and the beautiful past the Yoga to be fully appreciated. To fully understand the significance of Yoga we will start from the beginning when Yoga first was mentioned in the history, then relate to the five specific time periods that are significant to Yoga and the first mentioning of Pranayama. First, the meaning of Yoga can be introduced. Yoga is related to the study of the mind and the body; the Sanskrit meaning of Yoga was derived from the root word “yuj” that meant “to control,” “to unite” and “to yoke.” The direct translations of Yoga were such as “joining,” “uniting” and “conjunction”; another translations of the word Yoga were “contemplation” and absorption.” All the above mentioned translation fit in with the practice of Yoga; some of the meaning such as the contemplation is more associated with Raja Yoga, where through contemplation that the difference of prakti (nature) and purusha (pure consciousness) took place.

The known beginning of Yoga occured from prehistoric period and progressed out of the Ancient Indian asceticism, which could be explained as a form of living that took place when person denounced all of the physical possessions and devoted himself to the spiritual practice. Yoga was first set forth in the Yoga Sutras of Pantajali as the Hindu Philosophy. Pantajali was the gatherer of the historic collection of aphorisms in Yoga practice; Yoga Sutras were seen as the foundational scripture for Yoga. These Sutras were created on the Samkhya philosophy and they are seen as the actual practice, while the Samkhya is the theory. This is known to be the earliest school of Yoga and it came to be known by the retronym Raja Yoga to distinguish itself from the school that came to take place in later years.

One of the first clues for finding out more about Yoga came from the discovery of the steatite seals in Indus Valley Civilization that took place from 3300-1700 B.C. The steatite seal was actually soapstone formed from the massive variety of Talc. These steatite seals displayed figures that were in various postures of meditation-like; this meditation-like posture was seen as some sort of discipline rituals that suggested the start point of actual practice of Yoga according to the Indus archeologists. There were sixteen specific Yogi carvings that were devoted to the ritualistic discipline; the carvings suggest that the Yoga-like postures must have been practiced by the common people as well as the deities alike. Most known of the postures was named the Pashupati seal that is suspected to be the representation of “proto-Shiva” figure. Many scholars continue to support the connection between the progression of Yoga in later years and the carvings found in the Indus Valley.

The ancient practices were vaguely hinted in the Vedas; the ascetic practices are referenced in the Brahmanas that took place between 900 B.C.E. and 500 B.C.E., which were some of the early commentaries on the Vedas. An early mentioning of the meditation was made in the Upanishads, specifically in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, one of the earlier Upanishads, approximately 900 B.C.E. Some of the more specific and the main textual references to Yoga are introduced in the middle Upanishads, 400 B.C.E.; the Mahabharata including the Bhagavad Gita, 200 B.C.E.; also the previously mentioned Yoga Sutras of Pantajali, 200 BCE-300 C.E.

Specifically in the Maitrayaniya Upanishad, 200-300 B.C.E., yoga represented as the Shadanga Yoga, which is the uniting discipline of the six limbs as following: 1) breath control or Pranayama, 2) sensory inhibition or Pratyahara, 3) meditation or Dhyana, 4) concentration or Dharana, 5) examination or Tarka, and 6) ecstasy or Samadhi. In Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, the earliest Upanishad that was created approximately in 900 B.C.E., an early meditation reference is made; over all Yoga is referenced quite often in the Upanishads, many of which came about before the Pantajali’s Sutras. But the first actual term Yoga is used in middle Upanishad or Katha Upanishad, which is one of the most well-known of the Upanishads. This text was presents a dialogue between aspiring disciple and the Ruler of Death about the great and unknown “Heareafter”; this Upanishad suggests connection to Buddhist ideas.

Now we must examine the specific historic times of Yoga evolution. The five significant time periods of Yoga are Vedic Yoga, Pre-classic Yoga, Classic Yoga, Post-classic Yoga, and Modern Yoga time periods. The Vedas, which are the collection of hymns and rituals over 3000 years old, contain the oldest written history of Indian culture and yogic practice. Vedic Yoga is also called or known as the Archaic Yoga, centers around the idea of reconciling the visible and tangible material world with the invisible spiritual world through the practice of sacrificing. To perform these ritualistic practices, the people had to keep the mind on a high level concentration; such inner focus is the necessity to enhance the sensory and human ability and it is the root of Yoga practice.

Vedic prophets, who had gained insight on the origin of life and its existence and known as the Rishis, communicated the Vedic teaching to the religious elite as well as the common people. These prophets created hymns that centered on the knowledge and wisdom to the human beings and that had the possibility to higher the new level of understanding for the people. The creation of Vedas is the sacred scripture to Brahmanism, which is the basis for Hinduism and it marks the Vedic Yoga. Pre-classic Yoga period followed next, which spans about 200 years, until the year of 200. This time period revolved around the Upanishads, which is the collection of written records centered on meta-physical theory. Upanishads, like the Vedas, are known as enigmatic discovery; unlike the public exposure of Vedas, Upanishads were secret texts.

Approximately 200 scriptures pertained directly to Yoga practice and the complete connection between all things in the world. At this point Yoga began to evolve into a specific form that we know today. The idea of individual thought and belief began to take place, while the secret teaching from Upanishads spread from teachers to students or from gurus to yogis. About 500 B.C., the Bhagavad Gita, which is the most well-know work among all Hindu and Yogic literature, was created during this time period. This is a story of a conversation that took place between the god of Hinduism, Krishna, and prince named Arjuna. The plot of the story took place in the battlefield; this location is often perceived as metaphor for various distractions of our turbulent world, which became the main basis for Yogic practice of meditation. The text told a story of how the Prince Arjuna had to seek advice on breaking the bonds that were placed on him by the material attractions of the world; he was seeking to set himself free from these bonds. Krishna gave Arjuna the direction to follow, which was through devotion or Bhakti Yoga; keen mind or Jhana Yoga; by separating from ego or karma Yoga; only then the moksha or the freedom from the bonds could be accomplished. Bhagavad Gita is a complex text that is needed to be studied in order to be understood.

Classical Yoga period, eight-limbed Yoga, was introduced by the Patanjali’s Sutras. During this period Yoga was presented in a systematic and approachable structure; many yogis see this system as important source of Yogis understanding. Many Yoga practitioners at certain point of their study find this literature; many times this text is posted with commentaries for a better understanding. As previously mentioned, Patanjali thought that a person consists of two parts-matter and soul; the goal of Yoga practice was to free the soul from the material attachments in order to take its original, pure state. This view was many times perceived and described as philosophical dualism; this view created an interesting perspective because most of the Indian philosophy is non-dualistic.

The world was perceived as two different aspects of the same shapeless and pure but conscious existence. The many developed new schools and styles of Yoga during this period of time were known to be Post-classical Yoga that follower after the creation of Sutras. Unlike the Classical Yoga period, at this time Yoga was non-dualistic and integrated many Vedic traditions into the practice of Yoga. The past Yoginis concentrated much more on the aspect of studying the mind; they focused on the concentration and meditation and their goal was to leave their physical bodies for something high in energy, which was their shapeless form. But during the Post-classical period Yoginis turned their attention towards human body and the need to tune in to the energy of the body and they turned their presence to experiencing the body. The new generation Yoginis during the Post-classical period developed number of exercises foe the body to practice; they had also developed the connection between the exercises, breathing, and meditation, which they believed would have kept the body young and prolong the lifespan of the people, who practiced Yoga. The body was seen as the temple of the soul and there was no longer a need to leave the body to achieve the higher level of being. The Post-classical Yoga period created a path for Hatha Yoga, as it is practiced today, as well as Tantra Yoga, which is focused on divinity named Shakti.

The Modern Yoga period was seen to begun at Parliament of Religions in 1893, located in Chicago. Swami Vivekananda from India created a deep impression on the people that were present at this meeting; he introduced Yoga. Swami Vivekananda became one of the most-known people in the Parliament; he traveled throughout the US and presented speeches on Yoga practice. After his presence in US, there was a flood of many other Yoga gurus and teachers that came to US and opened schools of Yoga; the number of people in US, who loved Yoga increased continuously. Yoga gurus traveled to Europe but the connection between Yoga and the people there was not as strong as it was in US. Hatha Yoga came to blossom when a Russian Indra Devi, opened a Yoga Studio that was located in Hollywood, in the year of 1947. She sparked even greater passion for Yoga and she was famous for teaching movie starts as well as other people, who were interested in becoming certified Yoga instructors.

During 1950s, a book about Yoga being part of a sport exercises was written by Selvarajan Yesudian; this book was published in more than fourteen languages. This sparked the practice of Yoga by professional sport players, such as players on the NBA, athletes of Chicago Bulls. During the 1960s, Yoga gained even more reputation through television programs and the devotion of the Beatles star. Yoga was becoming a way of living and being, and not only a form of bodily exercise. Dalai Lama, who was awarded the Nobel Peace prize winner and was a Yogi from Tibet, has encouraged many people to take up the practice of Yoga. Today is another period for the development of Yoga and the Yoga practice continuous to gain more devotees, who attend workshops and classes to learn more about the fascinating practice of Yoga; it was said that 30 million people practice Yoga regularly. Yoga taught and continued to teach people that although we cannot always control the worldly problem but we can learn how to face them.

References:

http://yoga-central.net

http://abc-of-yoga.com

http://allaboutspirituality.com

http://yogabasics.com

http://americanyogaassociation.org

http://yogaweb.com

Irina Burlack is a certified Yoga Teacher. She teaches Yoga classes in the Gainesville, Georgia area.

Tags: beginning of yoga, certified yoga teacher, creation of vedas, discovery of the steatite seals, history of Yoga, krishna gave arjuna, opened schools of yoga, practice of yoga, schools of yoga, teaches yoga classes, yoga in history
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Considering the Benefits of a Zen and Yoga Practice

Friday, February 25th, 2011

By Wendy M. Gough

I have been practicing yoga for several years and in an effort to deepen my understanding of my own of my practice, I have begun exploring Zen and how it relates to the mind and the interconnectedness of all existence. Over the last few months, I believe I have begun to come to some understanding of the fundamental concepts of Zen and I have been looking into combining yoga and Zen practice through studying texts such as Zen Yoga, by Aaron Hoopes. Despite these efforts, it was not until a recent trip home to San Francisco, when I had the opportunity to attend a Satsang yoga practice and lecture by well known Bay Area Zen-yogi Adya Shanti that I really began thinking about the connections between yoga and Zen. At the Satsang, the combination of a light meditative yoga session and talk about silence and our perceptions of the Self and nature helped me realize that like yoga, Zen is not a religion as we consider it to be in the Western sense.

Rather, while both have some “religious” aspects, they are more closely associated with adjusting our world view, perceptions, and lifestyle rather than a formal pattern of worship. As a result, I was inspired to consider the relationship between Zen and yoga more deeply. Upon my return to Japan, I began to investigate Zen more thoroughly through talks with practitioners and readings on the fundamentals of Zen. These studies have helped me become more aware of the similarities and differences that exist between the two practices. Understanding the connections between Zen and yoga more thoroughly has helped me think about their complimentary nature and that incorporating a practice of both zazen and yoga into our daily life can create more balance in our yoga or meditation practice as well as achieving more harmony in our life in general.

In my studies I found that while “Buddhism is a yogic tradition; yoga is not a form of Buddhism” (Austin, P. 45) and though Zen Buddhism and yoga diverge, especially in terms of practice, both have similar roots, philosophies and goals. Both stem from Indian traditions of meditation, observation, philosophical inquiry, and both aim to follow a way to end suffering and to find the ultimate truth. With the goal of finding the Atman, or self beyond the ego, we can find an end to our suffering and eventually reach a state of Samadhi, which is intuitive enlightenment. In other words, through practice in either Buddhism or yoga we free ourselves from our misperceptions of the world around us and become transformed by overcoming ignorance about ourselves and the world. We do this by learning to understand and accept the differences between the Self, which is the eternal core or soul and the self, which is our transient being that perceives the world around us through the senses and, therefore, is changeable depending on our circumstances (Austin, P. 46). By understanding the two selves, we come to a pure form of consciousness, which is known as Atman in yoga and Kensho in Zen.

While both Buddhism and yoga provide a setting in which we can practice observation and transcend the notions of self, they follow different paths to attain this goal. In Zen Buddhism seated meditation, or zazen, is used to attain Samadhi because the idea is that “stillness of body engenders stillness of mind” (Sekida, P. 5). The idea is that when we sit, we are in a position in which our body can be still while our mind remains wakeful. In Zen, through the practice of seated meditation and abdominal breathing we are taught that stillness helps us train our powers of concentration, become aware of our energy, let go of our attachments, and let go of our thoughts. The ability to be still allows us to focus on clearing the mind through breathing and observation techniques that help us learn the art of nonattachment.

Most modern yoga practices, on the other hand, use asanas which Austin notes can be translated to “seated” or “postures” (P. 47) as well as breathing techniques to still the soul, develop awareness and attain the state of nonattachment. By concentrating on our breathing and the flow of energy within our bodies we learn meditative techniques and become more intuitive about what is occurring in the here and now. Whether we practice Zen or yoga, it is clear that both lead us to realize that once we attain Samadhi and begin to understand the differences between perception and sensation we can become more aware of the transient nature of the world and eventually achieve Mushin, the state of no mind or no ego, as we have learned to let go of our thoughts, desires and attachments. Since both Zen and yoga put a strong emphasis on posture, whether seated as in zazen or through asanas as in yoga, we build awareness of our bodies while allowing us a comfortable position in which to focus on our breathing and meditation practices.

It seems that though Zen practice is quite rigid and separate from other forms of meditation in Japan, more and more Western practioners find Zen and yoga practice complimentary to one another. The reasons for believing in their complimentary nature stem from both the physical aspects of yoga and Zen as well as from concepts related to mindfulness and concentration. On a physical level, many people who practice zazen find it difficult to sit in the prescribed lotus position for extended periods of time due to a lack of flexibility and body shape or size. As a result, they often experience knee, hip, or back pain which then affects their concentrative abilities in meditation practice. These people find the stretching aspects of yoga beneficial and complementary to zazen.

By doing a light yoga practice before and/or after meditation, people find their bodies suppler and more physically well aligned. A flexible body will free the mind of wandering to the physically painful areas in the body, thus allowing the mind to become empty during the long seated meditation sessions because a person will be able to sit more comfortably. On the other hand, many people who become engrossed in yoga become more interested in the meditative side of the practice after realizing that asanas and breathing keep our bodies in good physical shape in addition to helping us relax. As they begin to look deeper into yoga, they may focus more on the contemplative aspects and developing awareness as they begin to experience the world differently. Learning a proper seated meditation posture, such as that practiced in zazen, will enable yogins sit comfortably while focusing on breathing techniques that clear the mind or aid in developing an awareness of the energy state within the body.

On a concentrative or meditative level, zazen and yoga complement each other through the ways in which they teach us to develop mindfulness. Boccio notes that “Much of the “work” of meditation involves how we experience the body, particularly our reactivity to experience” (P. 144). Through practicing mindfulness in yoga, we focus on feeling or experience while using asanas as a vehicle in which we channel the experience. Bocci notes four types of mindfulness that can be incorporated into yoga practice: the “body within the body” in which we allow awareness to permeate the body beginning with the breath and moving on to become aware of the body’s movements, postures, and parts; “feelings within feelings,” meaning that we come to an awareness of how our moods feel; understanding the role of the mind in the world we create for ourselves and becoming aware of how our actions and attachments affect our experiences; and lastly mindfulness of the dharma in which we find an awareness of our experiences as they relate to important aspects of the Buddha’s teachings (Pp. 152-161).

Developing mindfulness in yoga practices can help with Zen meditation because the body and brain are trained to easily go into a meditative state while maintaining that state without wandering into other thoughts. This is because mindfulness yoga teaches us to develop a deep focus on what is happening in the here and now while moving from one asana to another. Likewise, zazen can help one develop mindfulness in yoga practice as it also relates to developing the four types of mindfulness or awareness. Sitting for meditation automatically puts the body into a steady state, ready for meditation, and breathing practices because one does not have to focus on posture. The concentrative nature of Zen which teaches the mind to become empty of outside thoughts is helpful for yogins because it develops concentration and insight into the ways emptiness can allow one to delve more deeply into mindfulness and the non-duality of existence.

When beginning to incorporate yoga into a Zen practice, it is important to consider the types of asanas and yoga that would be appropriate in a mindfulness yoga routine. If one is not used to doing yoga asanas, beginning with less strenuous poses that are held for longer times and using props to assist in correct posturing would work well. These types of asanas help us ground our energy and allow us to focus on how our bodies and muscle structures feel while doing the poses rather than concentrating on trying to achieve difficult postures, which could injure the body if it is not ready for such a level of practice. In fact, many people who develop a Zen and yoga system in their lives learn techniques of Iyengar-style yoga, which includes a strong focus on perfect posturing, the use of props to achieve perfect posture, and a gradual build up from easier postures toward more difficult ones as a person becomes stronger and more flexible. Someone more advanced in their yoga training might consider Anusara yoga, which was founded by John Friend, who is also an Iyengar master, and follows similar principles as Iyengar but eliminates the use of props for assistance in the asanas.

Iyengar and Anusara styles yoga also have a suitable relationship to Zen as they claim a more religious aspect than other types of yoga, namely that they “explore the yogic goal to integrate the different parts of the self (body, emotions, mind, and soul), the role that the yoga postures and breathing techniques play in our search for wholeness, the external and internal obstacles that keep us from progressing along the path, and how yoga can transform our lives and help us to live in harmony with the world around us” (The Official Website: B.K.S. Iyengar Yoga).

While Iyengar-style yoga does place a strong emphasis on perfect postures, it also believes that Raja, or meditative yoga is an integral part of practicing asanas. Iyengar-style yoga, with its focus on breathing as well as holding asanas for longer periods, creates a meditative state as we become aware of the effects of the poses, and teaches us concentration and awareness. Even though one might consider the lack of flow as an aspect suited to those who are less flexible and need to build strength, it also relates closely to the Zen concept that through stillness and perfect posture, a calm, meditative state is more readily achieved. If one used a more active vinasana flow type of yoga practice, he or she might focus more on the movements than on the physical state, thus having a more difficult time developing and achieving awareness.

In developing a Zen Yoga practice, it would be good to first develop a routine. In yoga, we often first practice pranayama breathing, move on to asana practice, then finish with some type of meditation. Whether these are done together or separately, one can make a combination of the three into a meditative or mindful yoga practice that would be useful either for a person practicing zazen or one focusing more on the yoga side. If one does not have time to do a complete practice all at one time, it can be divided into a routine of pranayama in the morning, asanas later in the day, and meditation to finish the day. Dividing the practice helps us prepare for the day, keep mindfulness throughout the day, and end the day with emptying the mind. It is important to consider the time of year and how our practice might change depending on the season.

Here in Japan it is more difficult to get going in the morning during winter months; therefore, one might want to do a light morning asana practice that warms and wakes the body up. In summer on the other hand it is terrifically hot, so it would be better to perform quiet meditation in the morning and asanas in the evening when it may become a bit cooler. In some places, it remains hot throughout the evening as well. In this situation, one might consider seated asanas that are less stressful and focus more on stretching movements. Incorporating the aspects of yoga and meditation into our daily routine and becoming mindful of what our bodies need depending on the time of year can help develop a practice of continual mindfulness over time, which then leads to the awareness of the here and now and to a more complete awareness of the differences between the two selves. It is important though to keep in mind that whether one decides to primarily focus on Zen or yoga, while they complement each other, yoga is yoga and Zen is Zen. In other words, one should remain aware of the differences in the two practices and practice zazen separately from yoga. Keeping practice separate will allow the mind to be aware the dichotomy between the two and help ease confusion which causes agitation and hinders the development and attainment of the empty mind and Self.

References

Anonymous. (2010). The Official Website: B.K.S. Iyengar Yoga. Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute. Retrieved October 30, 2010, from http://www.bksiyengar.com/modules/Referen/Books/book.htm

Austin, V. (2010). Zen or Yoga? A Teacher Responds. In M. Stone (Ed.), Freeing The Body Freeing The Mind (pp. 44-63). USA: Shambhala Publications, Inc.

Boccio, F. (2010). Mindfulness Yoga. In M. Stone (Ed.), Freeing The Body Freeing The Mind (pp. 144-164). USA: Shambhala Publications, Inc.

Sekida, K. (2003). A Guide to Zen: Lessons from a Modern Master. (M. Allen, Ed.). California: New World Library.

Wendy M. Gough is a certified Yoga teacher. She teaches Yoga classes in Nagoya, Japan.

Tags: buddhism or yoga, certified yoga teacher, combining yoga and zen practice, modern yoga, modern yoga practice, yoga teacher, zen and yoga, zen or yoga
Posted in Yoga for Health, Yoga Lifestyle and the Yogic path | 2 Comments »

Yoga: The Answer to Obesity

Thursday, February 24th, 2011

By Darlene C. Donegan

Obesity is a complex disease for which no single cause or cure exists. You gain weight when you take in more calories than you burn off. But obesity is influenced by many other factors including your family history, the type of work you do, your race, and your environment. People are less active than ever. Some people hate to exercise and others may not have the time, and many of the conveniences we use, such as elevators, cars, and the remote control for the television, cut activity out of our lives. Other things can affect our weight, such as family history or genetics. For example, if one of your parents is obese, you are 3 times as likely to be obese than someone with parents of healthy weight.

Other things influence your weight and whether you are physically active including, Low self-esteem being overweight or obese may lower your self-esteem and lead to eating as a way to comfort yourself; Emotional concerns emotional stress, anxiety, or illnesses such as depression or chronic pain can lead to overeating; and Trauma distressing events, such as childhood, sexual, physical, or emotional abuse, loss of a parent during childhood, and marital or family problems can contribute to overeating. Obesity has become a major health concern in the U.S. The technological advances in today’s society have led to less active citizens. This lifestyle carries many consequences.

How obesity affects your health depends on many things, including your age, gender, where you carry your body fat, and how physically active you are. If you are obese, you are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and triglycerides, coronary artery disease, stroke, and sleep apnea, among other conditions. If you lose weight, your risk for these conditions is reduced. Where you carry body fat is important. If fat builds up mostly around your stomach (sometimes called apple-shaped), you are at greater risk for type 2 diabetes; high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and coronary artery disease than people who are lean or people with fat around the hips (sometimes called pear-shaped).

Research shows the following health benefits for weight loss: Weight loss may improve survival in those who have an obesity-related disease, especially type 2 diabetes, modest weight loss of 4.4lbs to 9.7lbs resulted in a significant lowering of blood pressure; people with asthma who lost an average of 31.3lb over 1 year showed improved lung function and overall health, and with weight loss, the number of severe asthma episodes were reduced, people with type 2 diabetes who lost weight had lower blood sugar levels and were able to use less medicine to lower their blood sugar levels; sustained weight loss prevented new cases of type 2 diabetes in people who were obese; and people with obstructive sleep apnea who lost as little as 10% of their weight improved their sleep patterns and had less daytime sleepiness.

What helps one person lose weight may not work for someone else. The key is to find the right balance of eating and physical activity that you can keep doing or a program that works with your lifestyle. Being overweight in today’s society is seen as a failure. Advertisers bombard Americans with images of thin females models, actresses and chiseled male models and actors. These images are not only impossible to obtain but it glorifies a unhealthy body image. However, what if people could see being overweight as a message that we are living out of balance?

The important thing to remember is that being overweight is a symptom of a much bigger frustration. A large portion of the population is suffering from the symptoms of being overweight. Our lives are truly out of balance. If we could trip into our true, authentic selves, our unnecessary fat would disappear. Our unwanted fat is the symptom of a deeper disease, that of being disconnected from our true selves. Therefore, the ideal fitness program would work to actively bring all the various parts of ourselves into balance. It is widely accepted that yoga can help to lose weight, improve your figure, strengthen and recondition your entire body, stay relaxed under pressure, remove mental strain & tension, improve circulation & breathing, eliminate many causes of depression, regain agility, develop self empowerment and achieve integration of body, mind and spirit.

What can yoga do physically? This simple but incredibly effective method can: vastly improve flexibility, increase strength and muscle tone, instill superior balance and body control, improves breathing and oxygen intake, improve athletic performance, prevent injuries, speeds up recovery, alleviate back pain, raise energy level, recharge sex life, and improve overall sleep. Best of all, yoga can be done at any age almost anywhere. There is no special clothing or equipment required.

Fear of being fat and getting fatter holds us back from being slim. Yoga will help to make you stronger, in body, mind and spirit, so that fear will not be such a challenge. Fear-based systems such as crash dieting, extreme exercise routines, and endless self sacrifice will produce tension, and even if you painstakingly reach your slimming goals, the tension will catapult you back to being overweight. A yoga program eliminates this tension and promotes an effortless way of losing fat and staying slim.

Our body should be seen as an investment. That means putting into your body only food and drink that enhances your performance, gives you vitality and richness of life and supports your need and desire to succeed. This can be done by going back to the traditional wisdom of yoga. You are what you eat. If you eat highly processed foods, your digestion will be less efficient, and this will result in your being lethargic, dull, and fat. Yogis divide food into 3 main groups: Tamastic food these foods should be avoided. Foods that fall into this group are meat, battered fish, eggs, alcohol, overcooked foods, reheated leftovers, fried or barbecued foods, baked goods with white flour, ice cream, candy, white bread, refined, processed and prepackaged foods, canned foods, stale or tasteless food, anything containing preservatives or additives. Tamastic foods produce a feeling of heaviness, dullness, and lack of energy. For optimum health and well being, students of yoga are encouraged to avoid these foods. Rajastic food these foods should be limited in ones diet.

Foods that fall into this category are coffee, tea, heavily spiced and salted products, flavored potato chips & peanuts, chocolate and carbonated drinks. Rajastic foods make a person feel hyper and jumpy, so that you become stressed and more prone to circulatory and nervous disorders. Sattvic foods these foods are to always be eaten to ensure superior overall health benefits. Foods that fall into this category are organic and non-genetically modified foods, fresh and dried fruits, freshly squeezed juices, raw or lightly cooked vegetables, salads, fresh fish, whole grains, nuts, seeds, sprouted seeds, whole wheat breads, honey, fresh herbs, herbal teas and organic dairy products. These foods will calm the mind and body, make you vital and happy, and help to promote a long, healthy life. If you want to feel clear headed, full of energy, and slim, choose foods from the sattvic group.

Furthermore, yoga is an all around fitness program that gradually (and safely) tones and shapes the body. Though it won’t take off inches as fast as more vigorous exercises, yoga asana will improve posture, increase willpower, and help you feel better about yourself as you follow a weight loss program. Yoga exercise and meditation releases muscle tension in the autonomic nervous system. Deep abdominal breathing (as practiced in yoga) can relieve insomnia by relaxing the body and reducing the activity of the mind.

Yoga not only relaxes the mind but also builds strength. Yoga strength is a tensile strength, born of holding sustained poses and using your own body weight as a dynamic, living resistance.

When remaining in a challenging yoga pose for 10 breaths (or 30 seconds), you are stressing those muscles for a longer time than it takes to curl a dumbbell or perform some other kind of repetition. Weight lifting is a ballistic motion. Yoga is about sustained strength training. While weight lifting builds bulk, it also shortens and tightens the muscles. Yoga lengthens them and generates strength through the entire range of motion.

Yoga and pumping iron actually work really well together. Rather than isolating muscles (as in weight training), yoga moves various muscles groups from all over the body. Everyone needs functional strength, which is what yoga gives you.

Yoga teaches people how to use their strength more effectively. In a yoga training program you’re maintaining your balance, noticing and correcting tiny movements, compensating, making adjustments, and regulating your breathing. This makes yoga strength training much more complex and more demanding.

Yoga and weight training are two very different exercises that complement each other very well. The drawback to lifting weights alone is that there is a risk of injury and getting stiff but yoga’s benefits counter those exact problems. Weight lifting tends to develop the big exterior muscles (pecs, biceps, etc), but yoga hits all the secondary muscles (including stabilizers in the core). By doing both workouts, you’re covering the entire body. Weight training actually tears muscles, creating scar tissue. Yoga can’t repair all the damage but putting flexibility back into the muscle creates better blood flow and circulation, bringing in oxygen that helps those muscles heal. After lifting weights, the stress creates a caustic by-product, lactic acid. Yoga’s deep stretches wring the lactic acid and other inflammatory chemicals out of the muscle. Yoga can be done in conjunction with many other forms of exercise, including cardio vascular exercise, internal training, walking, running, dancing and sports.

The physical aspects of yoga are many, but the yoga breath work has tremendous benefits for the body. Yogic breathing increases oxygen intake, improves oxygen exchange, deepens your body awareness through focusing on the breath, and trains & improve your focus and power of concentration. The body needs oxygen in every cell; the muscles and the brain work better with more oxygen. When you breathe better, you think clear. The body works better and so do the muscles, digestive system and the brain. Yogic breathing focus on deeper breathing is definitely a factor in reducing tension.

Yoga helps regulate the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. The sympathetic nervous system stirs up the body to confront danger or outside stresses by raising the heart rate and releasing energy and adrenaline (classic fight-or-flight response). The parasympathetic nervous system does the opposite. It sends neurotransmitters to slow your heart rate, calming the body down. This network is believed to promote healing, sleep, and maintain a healthy reproductive system and digestion. Stress hormones secreted by the sympathetic system have a long term corrosive or degenerative effect. Therefore, regular yoga practice decreases the negative affect of the sympathetic nervous system.

Women as a group suffer from digestive problems which contribute to excessive weight. One reason is hormonal changes that occur in premenopausal and menopausal women. In premenopausal women, the gastrointestinal tract slows down because the body produces less estrogen (a natural gastrointestinal stimulant). The liver (the building block for breaking down food) is too busy recycling unused hormones. Once a woman is premenopausal, the pituitary gland sends large quantities of follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone into the system to try to jump start ovarian production of estrogen. In menopausal women, digestive problems continue for other reasons.

During the reproductive years, women are blessed with a built in cleansing system, the monthly menstrual cycle. With the monthly period the body has an opportunity to rid itself of stored up undigested food particles, toxins, and other impurities along with the endometrial lining. Women no longer have this luxury when they reach menopause. What can be done about it? Poor digestion is an inevitable part of aging. If you enter this stage of life with healthy eating and sleep habits and a consistent, preventative yoga practice, you stand a better chance of staying healthy and slim. Exercise is a key component. Yoga not only helps stimulate gastrointestinal function but also helps balance your thyroid gland, calm your nervous system, and soften & bring healing breath to your abdominal region.

Yoga poses that help digestive disorders are many. Backbends lift the diaphragm to take pressure off your stomach and get fresh blood circulating in the abdomen. Forward bends help if you are constipated, bloated, or gassy. Besides the calming affect on the nervous system, the gentle pressure forward bends exerted on the abdomen helps release trapped gas.

Both standing and sitting forward bends pacify the adrenals and kidneys while getting the digestive juices flowing. Standing poses can improve digestion and elimination. These poses can cool the digestive system and increase circulation in the abdominal organs. Inversion, by reversing gravity, gives the abdominal organs a break. This relieves congestion and increases blood flow to the abdomen. This is a great way to improve eliminations and soothe a gassy stomach. They balance the endocrine system, particularly the hypothalamus (controls digestive function), thyroid and parathyroid which govern metabolism, and the central nervous system.

Yoga is the key to successfully gaining the ideal body and doing away with excess weight. As few as three yoga exercises a day, done regularly and correctly, along with daily meditation can help bring all the body’s systems into balance. What happens is that all the abilities and insights you’ve gained in private yoga practice go with you as you move your body and mind outward to perform in the public world. The abilities and insights are still there in you, but you no longer need to focus your conscious attention on them; you just know that the body’s skills and the mind’s judgment can prevail no matter what the demand.

Yoga strengthens the will. People who lack decisiveness will benefit from practicing yoga on a regular basis. While you are putting your body into all these new postures, you have to concentrate and be very conscious of exactly what your body parts are doing at each given moment. All these things give you greater body awareness. Greater awareness allows a person to make better choices regarding what foods to eat and activities to engage in daily. Yoga brings an entire lifestyle change, if the participant is willing to fully embrace it.

In review, it has been clearly demonstrated how the practice of yoga can lead to permanent weight loss. The physical body is strengthened through consistent practice of yoga. Asanas were invented to keep practitioners completely healthy in a very small space. Whether you’re a novice or a lifetime practitioner, yoga moves can be modified, adjusted and increased in intensity to meet every person’s needs. The nervous and digestive systems are stimulated so that they operate smoothly and effectively. Through deep breathing, the lungs are expanded allowing more oxygen into the blood stream, muscles, and brain. Meditation, a key component to yoga practice, stills the mind. This allows each individual to get in touch with a higher source, allows the mind to be clear and the body relaxed. The ultimate experience in yoga is the union of all parts of you to become a powerful, intensely strong person. Yoga practice needs to be approached as a friendly interplay between body and mind that helps one become healthy and strong, rather than as a harsh, forceful discipline. The choice is yours to practice yoga to once and for all win the battle of the bulge!

Bibliography

Capouya, John. Real Men Do Yoga: 21 Star Athletes Reveal Their Secrets for Strength, Flexibility, and Peak Performance. Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications, 2003. Print.

Christensen, Alice. The American Yoga Association’s New Yoga Challenge: Powerful Workouts for Flexibility, Strength, Energy, and Inner Discovery. Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary, 1997. Print.

Christensen, Alice. 20-minute Yoga Workouts. New York: Ballantine, 1995. Print.

Hawe, Celia, and Francesca Yorke. Yoga for Weight Loss. Singapore: Page One, 2007. Print.

“Obesity-Cause.” WebMD – Better Information. Better Health. Healthwise, Inc, 16 Apr. 2009. Web. 02 Aug. 2010. <http://www.webmd.com/diet/tc/obesity-cause>.

Sparrowe, Linda, and Patricia Walden. The Woman’s Book of Yoga and Health: a Lifelong Guide to Wellness. Boston: Shambhala, 2002. Print.

Darlene C. Donegan is a certified Yoga teacher. She teaches Yoga classes in St. Louis, Missouri.

Tags: certified yoga teacher, meditation releases muscle tension, physical aspects of yoga, preventative yoga practice, regular yoga practice, symptoms of being overweight, traditional wisdom of yoga, yoga brings an entire lifestyle change, yoga poses that help digestive disorders, yoga training program
Posted in Yoga for obesity, yoga for weight loss core abdominal work | 13 Comments »

Yoga: The Optimal Health System

Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011

By Justin Benson

In our Western society we are constantly being bombarded with being healthy, whether that is to be strong, thin, flexible, agile, faster, smarter or in any way better. However, though all these messages are constantly being thrown at us, we as a society are never really given a way to achieve this goal. Yes, we are offered different things from power drinks to keep us awake, drinks to make us lose weight, drinks to make us smarter, and more pills to fix any other growing problem. It is really at this point that it should be argued that these healthy things that our society wants from us are in no way impossible to achieve, but are rather simpler to fix than could have ever been imagined and that is why I am going to present the argument for “Yoga as the optimal health system for all”. I can hear some of the critics now, I am too young, old, inflexible or manly, too busy etc., but Yoga can deal with all these worries and anxieties and more. Yoga is no longer just an Eastern science, but a science that is now available to everyone from the young to the old; it offers meditation techniques to combat stress and high blood pressure, ways to stay physically fit and healthy, ways to stay mentally fit and able to face everyday challenges, and even rounds it off with the ultimate exercise which is a spiritual one. From everything mentioned above it is just as the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali says, “From contentment one gains supreme happiness” (Patanjali 2: 42) which is what Yoga can offer us all.

The young are one area that the world should take time to slow down and truly examine. Our family units usually have both caregivers working which does not allow for as much time for moral and ethical instruction, and because of this the young are turning to television, movies and video games for answers, and unfortunately, they are oftentimes coming to the horrible conclusion that the world is not a beautiful place but one to fear which in turn breeds aggression and hatred. These fears have become so great that we are now seeing children on drugs rarely given to the young some 20 years ago ranging from anti-depressants to more severe mood altering drugs. However, this does not have to be the case, and that is why Yoga is a great thing to teach to the young. In Patanjali’s Yoga sutra he writes, “By abiding in nonviolence, one’s presence creates an atmosphere in which hostility ceases” (Patanjali 2:35). With this statement alone the doubters of Yoga should really stop and reflect on his words. The youth of this world would no longer fear because of the peacefulness which surrounds them and which is generated by them, and what’s more is that when people view these young students, especially those their own age they are going to stop and wonder what it is that is going on, and by doing so they will further advance the science which is Yoga; which will in turn continue to create a world with fewer fears, anxieties and hatreds that lead to the overmedicating problems of today.

Perhaps there are some that would argue that it is solely the young that suffer these anxieties and fears. But if that were true we wouldn’t have the news we have or the wars that are still ongoing, and not to mention on a smaller scale the fear of losing our job, being overworked, overtired, filled with worries and anxieties that range from the simple to the extreme whatever they may be. Yoga again can help with all of this as well, and the first thing it can help with is poor alignment. So many people today spend a lot of time in front of a computer, television or some other form of entertainment that causes the body to slouch, and by doing so the body develops poor balance, poor health, all of which can lead to weight problems. Yoga can help with these problems as well by correcting poor body alignment and stiffness while at the same time giving the practitioner the added bonus of expelling old air from the lungs and filling you with new air or prana (life energy).

As for the fears, anxieties and worries Yoga will help with these as well. No, it will not dispel them, but it will allow one to step back, breathe evenly and accept the problem while not becoming overwhelmed by it which causes the muscles to tighten and chronic ailments to set in because of stress.

Imagine at this point that you have been practicing Yoga since you were young (and I hope this trend takes off) and now find yourself in old age. Unlike what you expected to happen you now find yourself with a “proper curvature… to increase its flexibility by stretching the anterior and posterior longitudinal ligaments” (Swami Vishnu-devananda 55) because of Yoga. Yes, you are no longer the stereotypical old person who is hunched over; you, because of your long commitment to Yoga stand tall in old age- imagine it. What is even better than this is that Yoga has taught you how to breathe properly which in turn has led you to have fewer or no problems with illness which at one time would have been thought to be commonplace. Finally, if this were not enough, Yoga offers one of its greatest gems and that is the release from the fear of death, no Yoga cannot save you from death as great as Yoga may be, but it can offer something far greater, and that is through a stunning eye opener that allows the practitioner to understand the true meaning of the self which is the same as the universe which has no beginning or end.

Perhaps that last statement above was a lot to take in, so lets draw back down to a more worldly level which has to do with physical ailments. Our world, which as stated earlier, is moving at a speed that would make most of us get quite dizzy, and this dizziness as it were brings many ailments with it. Our society now faces an increase in high blood pressure both in the young and old, an increase in insomnia caused by excessive worries, nervous tensions that are being dealt with through drugs rather than eliminating the problem, an ever continuing of people smoking though most if not all people are aware of all the chemicals, diseases, and death that smoking causes, and of course links directly to the last ailment that is rising drastically which is asthma. This list of problems is just some of the things that Yoga can deal with and that is because of a thing Yogins call “prana” or life energy if you will. If people who suffered from any of the ailments above were to take up Yoga they would soon find a “renewal of the body cells, and that disease is unlikely to gain hold on a body whose every body cell is permeated with pranic energy” (James Hewitt 123). Due to the fact that Yoga teaches body alignment and proper breathing through pranayama, those who practice find themselves free from the fetters of worries and troubles and because of this not susceptible to the many if not all of the ailments listed above.

Linked to the physical ailments of course would be its opposite, physical well being to which Yoga is greatly concerned. First and foremost, as mentioned earlier Yoga teaches the practitioner to breathe properly, and maybe up to this point you thought you did, but the true way to breathe which most of us have forgotten is with a ratio of 1:2. This ratio for Yoga breathing Swami Vishnu-devananda explains is that by making the exhalation longer than the inhalation one “is to get maximum control over the lungs so that old foul air in the air sacs can be squeezed out” (Swami Vishnu-devananda 238).Furthermore James Hewitt argues that the Complete Yoga breath “vitalizes; removes phlegm; tones the nervous system; purifies and enriches the blood; improves appetite; aids digestion; broadens and strengthens the thorax; massages the abdominal organs; and makes consciousness lucid and alert” (91). With this type of breathing and exercise in place ones body is fit and able to withstand the ailments and pressures of society which of course leads us to our next examination which is one’s mental well being.

With the use of proper breathing as taught by Yoga, one now has the capabilities to withstand the tensions which are placed on the mind by constant or unnecessary worries and anxieties which only lead to physical tension as mentioned earlier. Once a person has been trained in Yoga which will lead one to breathe better, a practitioner will soon find themselves able to slowly become calm by controlling the breath in stressful situations which will it turn make one be, “able to feel a kind of floating sensation, as if one were as light as a feather (which allows for one to feel) peace and joy” (Swami Vishnu-devananda 203).

Since we are now physically well and mentally well, that only leaves us now to become spiritually well as it were. As mentioned earlier death happens to us all, and even the notion of it scares most people so much that we find our culture saying things like “if I die” and “I don’t want to die” in both statements there is a certain error as it were; first of all it is not a question of “if” and secondly you do not have a choice. Perhaps this sounds a bit harsh but in fact what must be pointed out is a very interesting argument from a Yoga standpoint and that is that “man has become prey to all evil emotions of the mind by identifying himself with the body and mind, and the only sure way to free himself from its clutches is by asserting his real nature, that is, ‘I am pure consciousness or self’. This identification with the self completes the process of relaxation” (Swami Vishnu-devanada 203). How could a person at this point not find perfect peace as stated by Vishnu-devananda, for if you can accept his argument then you come to realize that you are immortal, that death is nothing to be feared but the wearing away of the body, and that whatever higher power you acknowledge, you are it.

Yoga, as argued is the best and optimal health system for all and is exactly as Patanjali put forward so long ago, “ Yoga pose is mastered by relaxation of effort, lessening the tendency for restless breathing, and promoting an identification of oneself as living within the infinite breath of life” (2:47).

Namaste

Justin Benson is a certified Yoga teacher. He teaches Yoga classes in the Lewisporte, Newfoundland area.

Tags: certified yoga teacher, take up yoga, teaches yoga, teaches yoga classes
Posted in Yoga for Health | 1 Comment »

The Mental Aspect of a Yoga Diet

Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

By Sangeetha Saran

Yoga teacher training courses cover many subjects. Among these subjects is the Yoga diet and lifestyle. The most important aspect of a Yoga inspired diet is mental power. A positive outlook is crucial for healthy weight loss and maintenance. Negative emotions can interfere with the weight loss process. Negativity often leads to overeating, depression, anxiety, fear, guilt and anger. The right attitude is needed to establish and follow a program that will lead to healthy weight loss. Positive thinking, insight, and affirmations are an important factor in the success of losing weight and maintaining a healthy Yogic lifestyle that keeps excess weight off.

Many Yoga practitioners meditate and enjoy the many wonderful benefits of meditation. A state of meditation is the natural outcome of a complete yoga practice. It can also be said that the spiritual benefit of meditation is bliss and inner peace. The advantages also occur at the body’s level. Meditation has been proven scientifically to combat stress and stress related disorders like high blood pressure, insomnia and heart diseases. Many benefits are related to the decrease in stress that occurs through meditation. As a classic example: Lower levels of anxiety will reduce the likelihood of heart disease within a Yoga meditation practitioner.

Meditation aids in focus on the moment and what is being done. It helps to become mindful of actions or its consequences, including eating. It can be noticed with monitoring the body’s reactions to food which foods cause sleepiness, irritation or fuzzy thinking. If this occurs after eating a heavy high fat meal, then these foods can be avoided in the future. With practice, meditation will enable the mind to release thoughts of food in any stressful situation. This comes with concentrated breathing and dismissing any distracting thoughts.

One major step is to regularly schedule time out of your day for meditation on a daily schedule. This can be any time of day where there are minimal distractions. During meditation, a mental picture of the body at a lesser weight (or clothes size) can help bring this goal into reality. Continuing self-praise and encouragement plays a big part in maintenance of a healthy plan.

See videos, demonstrations, and lectures related to affordable hatha yoga instructor certification programs and specialized continuing education courses.

Tags: yoga diet, yoga inspired, yoga teacher, Yoga Teacher Training, yoga training
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Valid Yoga Teacher Certification

Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 speaks with you about the importance of keeping your yoga teacher certification up to date and how other credentials are not a substitute for a valid yoga teacher diploma.

Tags: certified yoga teacher, teaching yoga, yoga certification, yoga teacher certification, Yoga Teacher Training
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Secrets to Becoming a Successful Hatha Yoga Teacher

Monday, February 21st, 2011

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

To each Yoga teacher, the word “success” means something different. Some teachers would like to train elite athletic students. Others want to train students, who contribute higher qualities, to the rest of humanity, such as: compassion, understanding, and loving kindness. Success is all a matter of perspective.

With that said, what is failure defined as, when we consider teaching Hatha classes? The easiest way to define failure of anything is when we reach a state of mind that causes us to give up. When some interns spend years of study, and thousands of dollars, how is it possible to give up?

Below is one case among many, where a graduate met every requirement in the Yoga teacher training intensive course, but managed to fail at finding a teaching position. When a graduate quits teaching Yoga, due to being ill informed, it is a loss to the lineage, as well as a missed opportunity for the graduate.

Ben trained in many deep rooted sub-styles of Hatha Yoga, for over ten years, before deciding to become a Yoga teacher. He chose carefully and decided upon a course, which taught him many aspects of Hatha. Upon graduation, he began to approach Yoga schools within 30 miles of his local area.

Most of the studios informed him that they promoted teachers from within their own studios. A few put him on a list to be a substitute teacher, after he taught a free class, as part of an audition process. Once in a blue moon, the phone would ring with a last second substitution for a teacher who had car problems.

He was prepared to teach classes on short notice, and had a bag prepacked for last second opportunities, just like this one. Ben would rush down, and teach a class at the last second – hoping the management would recognize that he put his heart and soul into his classes, and he was hungry to teach full time.

Eventually, the phone stopped ringing. Later, he found out, through the grapevine, that the teacher with car problems had been replaced by a graduate who came from within that studio. It seemed that the window of opportunity was closing. Maybe, there were no opportunities to teach in his area; and he gave up for nearly a year, until he found online Yoga teacher education to show him marketing techniques and business tips.

What was Ben doing wrong before? He was doing what he was taught. The problem here is Ben did not know or see all of the potential opportunities there are for teaching Yoga. He was not prepared to look for teaching positions in the corporate world, at hospitals, at fitness centers, or any other places in his area.

He was completely oblivious, as to the dozens of opportunities, within a fifteen minute drive of his home. He had not thought of the local hotels, with small fitness centers, who were seeking to network with a local Yoga teacher like him. Success can be measured in many ways, but to see opportunity as a tiny sliver of a small pie is a recipe for failure. He now knows the opportunities are infinite.

See videos, demonstrations, and lectures related to affordable yoga instructor certification programs and specialized continuing education courses.

Tags: affordable yoga instructor certification programs, Becoming a Yoga Teacher, Teaching Hatha Yoga Classes, teaching yoga classes, yoga teacher training intensive course
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De-Stress Yourself With The Right Way Of Eating

Sunday, February 20th, 2011

Dr. Rita Khanna

According to Yoga, stress is an imbalance at the mental, physical, or emotional level. It is not the cause of our ills, but the cause is one’s inability to cope with a changing condition. Yoga balances, harmonizes, and brings integration between physical and mental health. Yogic methods of stress management include: maintaining the physical body through the practice of Asana, awakening the vital energy through Pranayama, relaxation through Yoga-nidra, and through food – the source of Prana. Prana is harmonized, replenished, and enhanced in various ways; one of the most powerful being that of maintaining a pure and nourishing diet.

The Right Way of Eating

• A person, under stress, is normally rushed for time or tends to eat fast. His eating habits and timings become haphazard. As the stressful situation builds up tension within, his eating schedule gradually gets into disarray, until it is completely thrown out of gear. Killing hunger with coffee, tea, cigarettes, or other substitutes may actually contribute to the problem, because a lackadaisical attitude to eating may starve the body of essential nutrition. Then, one may develop a habit to overeat in the night to make up for the lack of proper food during the day – putting a heavy strain on the digestive system.

• Much digestive stress is caused by irregular and wrong timings. Regularity in food timings is very important. The optimum time for the main meal of the day is between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. After that, the digestive power wanes. In the evening, the digestive power is low, as the system is tired and ready for a rest.

• It is also important to eat the same quantity of food regularly, because the stomach gets used to secreting a certain amount of enzymes at a particular time. If the right items, in the right quantity, are provided at the right time, the digestive process goes on well, as nature intended it to be. It does not become stressed, overworked, or broken down.

• According to Yoga, food can be Sattwic, Rajasic, or Tamasic The effect of these foods, on our body and mind, is similar to the manifestation of the particular Guna in our nature. It is well known that each of these three Gunas is present in us, but in different proportions, and that the nature of our personality is determined by the predominant Guna. In the same way, we can plan our diet, which can be predominantly Sattwic (with a lesser proportion of Rajasic and Tamasic food components), or predominantly Rajasic (with a lesser proportion of Sattwic and Rajasic food components), or predominantly Tamasic.

• Most vegetarian food can be Sattvic, but the vegetarian food that people eat nowadays is made non-Sattwic, by deep frying and preparing it with a combination of rich spices. To retain the Sattwic quality of vegetarian food, it needs to be prepared in simple ways: boiling, steaming, baking, or eating raw (some vegetables can be eaten raw). A simple vegetarian menu, with smaller portions of Rajasic and Tamasic food (such as: meat, fish, etc.) should bring in the benefits of a Sattwic diet, which is easy to digest and completely assimilated through proper metabolic conversion.

• Most of the eating habits that we were told to develop as children, contribute to good health. Eating slowly, masticating the food well, and obeying the stomach, rather than the eye or the taste buds, are as valid when we are grown up, as when we were young. Moderation in diet makes sense in the Yogic way, which says: Fill the stomach half full with food, one quarter full with water, and leave a quarter of the stomach empty for all the gases that are produced during digestion.

• There are different ideas about drinking water with food. Some advise to drink water after finishing eating, not in between. Others are of the opinion that it is best not to drink water for one hour, before or one hour after, meals; the reason being that drinking water with, or immediately after, food dilutes the digestive juices. Therefore, a given quantity of food that is mixed with water would need a larger amount of digestive juices for digestion, than if it were unmixed or undiluted with water. Once you make a habit of drinking water one hour before or after eating, you will find that the heavy-in-the-stomach feeling after eating totally disappears. The after-food lethargy also disappears.

• Food should be looked upon as medicine. So, whether there is enough to eat or less, whether it is tasty or not, food is eaten with the same Bhavana (feeling) as a medicine.

• We should develop a healthy respect for food if, once in a while, we pause and think: “The rice I’m eating – how has it reached my plate? How many different paths did it have to travel, how many hands did it have to pass, before reaching me to satisfy my hunger? That dal (pulses), or vegetable, or those shiny red apple – how many man-hours were required to grow them and make them available to me?” Such introspection, or line of thought, helps to develop a healthy, balanced attitude towards food.

• While eating, try to follow the processes the food undergoes, until it reaches the stomach. When you are chewing, visualize how the taste buds convey the different tastes, via the taste ducts, to the brain. How, even before the food is served, your nose has already conveyed the aroma of the food, and how your mouth begins to salivate at the mere hint of the aroma. Visualize the chewing process, the mixing of the chewed food with your saliva, the smooth movement down the throat after your tongue expertly pushes parts of the mouthful inside. With a little knowledge of physiology, you can make a wonderful odyssey down the stomach. It is only when we take such diverse perspectives in life, that we are able to be aware of the richness of life around us. We become aware that eating is not mere polishing off of the plate, or that cooking is mere adding salt and spices. We also realize that stress is partly due to our own inability to look at the world through a broader perspective.

Asanas

The definition of Asana, in traditional texts, is ‘Sthiram Sukham Asanam’. The word Sthiram means homeostasis, balance; Sukham means pleasure; and Asanam means physical posture. It is the posture that produces homeostasis in the system – restores endocrinal balance, balances the inhibitors and stimulator circuits, regulates secretions, and optimizes the functions of the entire system of the body. ‘Sukham’ also relates to the state of mind, which is relaxed. Muscles contain stretch receptors; the stretching movements of Asanas send relaxing impulses to the brain, which induce a relaxed state of mind.

When we stand, or sit in a chair for prolonged periods, our muscles accumulate stress and consequently lactic acid, which causes a feeling of stiffness when we wake up in the morning. To remove this stiffness, the practice of simple Aasanas, such as: Tadasana, Tiryaka Tadasana, Kati-chakrasana, and hands and legs flexibility exercises are very useful. These postures stretch the muscles and massage the joints. As a result, circulation improves and toxins are drained away. Thus, Asanas activate, tone, and revitalize the organs, massage the joints, stretch and relax the muscles, optimize endocrine gland secretions, develop stamina, and promote internal awareness. Concentration, awareness, and relaxation are integral parts of performing Asanas.

Pranayama

Pranayama is generally defined as breath control. Although this interpretation may seem correct, in view of the practices involved, it does not convey the full meaning of the term. The word Pranayama is comprised of two roots: ‘Prana’ + ‘Ayama’. Prana means ‘vital force’ or ‘life force’ and Ayama is defined as ‘extension’ or ‘expansion’. Thus, the word Pranayama means ‘extension or expansion of the dimension of Prana’. The techniques of Pranayama provide the method, whereby flow of Prana in the Nadis is regulated, activated and purified – inducing physical and mental stability.

How

Physical activities, such as exercise, work, sleep, intake of food, and sexual relations all affect the distribution and flow of Prana in the body. Faculties of mind, such as emotion, thought and imagination, affect the Pranic body even more. Irregularities in lifestyle, dietary indiscretions, and stress, deplete and obstruct, the Pranic flow. This results in what people experience as being drained of energy. Depletion of energy, in a particular Prana, leads to the de-vitalization of the organs and limbs, which Prana governs, and ultimately, to disease or metabolic dysfunction. The techniques of Pranayama reverse this process, energizing and balancing the different Pranas, within the Pranamaya Kosha.

Yoga-Nidra

One of the prime needs of today is to learn how to relax. Sleep is not relaxation. According to Yoga, sleep is willfully and consciously becoming aware of how the mind and consciousness are interacting with the body, senses, and objects and experiences. Yoga aims to achieve and maintain clarity of mind and awareness (sajagata). When we attain this awareness, then, naturally existing turbulence and distraction will settle down. In Yoga, the experience of relaxation means moving from outside to inside, becoming aware of this introversion, and maintaining balance and stability. Psychology indicates that activity and stimulation is the nature of the mind. Relaxing the disturbed, agitated mind can be achieved through the relaxation practice of Yoga- nidra.

Conclusion

Do not fight stress, and in the effort, fall prey to alcohol, cigarettes, or anxiolytic/antidepressant drugs. Rather, you should develop and enhance your potential and capacity to cope with stress. Learn to alter your attitude and lifestyle. Anxiolytic/antidepressant drugs do not bring lasting relief; they only help manage some of the somatic and organic phase symptoms of stress, while Yoga is most useful in controlling and treating stress in the early psychic and psychosomatic phases.

Aum Shanti

If you feel inspired by this article, feel free to publish it in your Newsletter or on your Website. Our humble request is to please include the Resource as follows: -

Courtesy: Dr. Rita Khanna’s Yogashaastra Studio.

A popular studio that helps you find natural solutions for complete health.

Also conducts online Yoga Courses & Naturopathy Guidance.

Mobile: + 919849772485

Ph:-91-40-65173344

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Website: www.yogashaastra.in

Dr. Rita Khanna

At present, Dr. Rita Khanna is running a Yoga Studio in Secunderabad (Hyderabad, India).

Tags: according to yoga, de-stress yourself, practice of asana, right way of eating, yoga teachers training, yogic methods
Posted in Yogic Diet | 2 Comments »

Archive for February, 2011

Best Yoga Warm Ups

The Teacher, The Student, and Yoga

Yoga in History

Considering the Benefits of a Zen and Yoga Practice

Yoga: The Answer to Obesity

Yoga: The Optimal Health System

The Mental Aspect of a Yoga Diet

Valid Yoga Teacher Certification

Secrets to Becoming a Successful Hatha Yoga Teacher

De-Stress Yourself With The Right Way Of Eating

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