Category: Yoga

Yoga Program

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Yoga Styles: Guide to the Most Popular Types
The image of yoga has changed during the past years. If once, the first picture that popped your mind was of a group of white wearing weirdoes standing on their heads and breathing loudly, now you are probably thinking about Madonna’s well shaped arms. Currently, yoga is one of the most popular fitness activities worldwide. One of its appeal is that it can be practiced by elders and it can improve the overall physical fitness of athletes.

If you want to start practicing yoga, here is a quick guide to the basic types of yoga. While most of them are based on the same ancient postures, each yoga style has a different focus. Some of the yoga styles focus on strengthening the body while others focus on flexibility. Other types of yoga focus mainly on breathing, relaxation, and meditation.

Most of the yoga styles that were adopted in the west, were derived from the Hatha Yoga, which is a general term that refers to the physical branches of the ancient Indian philosophy. The purpose of the traditional Hatha Yoga was to achieve balance between mind and body through moral discipline and physical exercises, which are expressed by a series of asana: postures, panorama: breathing and meditation.

Western culture adopted mainly the physical aspects of the Hatha Yoga and ignored the moral aspects, usually even the breathing and meditations aspects. All the yoga styles that were derived from the Hatha Yoga share the same basic principle that mental balance can be achieved through practice of physical exercises and postures. Each yoga style chooses to focus on different aspect.

Ashtanga Yoga:
This focuses on the flow of postures in order to improve strength, stamina and flexibility of the body. During a Asthanga Yoga class, the participants jump from one posture to another. Therefore, this type of yoga is not the ideal for beginners. People who are not well fit may find it too difficult and demanding. However, if you are interested in improving your strength, flexibility and stamina and you are fit enough to deal with an hour of jumping from one posture to another, Asthanga Yoga can suit you.

Power Yoga:
This is an American development of the Asthanga Yoga that also adopted several elements from other types of yoga styles. You can find Power Yoga classes mainly in fitness and health clubs. Power Yoga focuses on strengthening the body by performing Hatha Yoga postures for a longer time to improve both physical flexibility and mental focus. Power Yoga can be a good exercise for athletes, people who practice types of fitness activities and people who want to tone their body.

Bikram Yoga:
A Bikram Yoga class features a series of 26 Hatha Yoga postures practiced in a heated room. It is also known as Hot Yoga. The purpose of the heat is to allow the participants to get into each of the yoga poses in a deeper and safer manner. The heat also helps clean the body from toxins promoting sweating. Bikram Yoga focuses more on the workout of the entire body, including the internal organs and less on flexibility. Bikram Yoga is not recommended to pregnant women and people who suffer from high blood pressure and heart conditions, but it can improve the physical fitness of people who recover from injuries.

Iyengar Yoga:
This focuses on the physical alignment of the body and the accurate performance of each posture. Some of the Iyengar Yoga postures are practiced with the assistance of props such as blocks and belts that are designed to help the participants achieve the most accurate posture and to protect their bodies from injuries. Since the flows between postures are not practiced, Iyengar Yoga classes are less intense and therefore more suitable for people who are less fit. Iyengar Yoga improves body strength and flexibility and can fit people of any age and every physical condition.

Yoga Benefits Of Pranayama

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Pranayam is made up of two words Prana + Ayam.

Prana is the vital force present in whole cosmos. We have been provided Prana, the supreme source of energy by the creator. Proper utilisation of this free source of energy can make remarkable changes to our physical and mental health, vitality and self confidence. Prana is more subtle than air and can be defined as the energy essence that is within everything in the universe.
Ayama means to control or to give a rhythm or a definite flow.

In this sense Pranayama may be defined as a process and technique through which vital energy can be stimulated and increased and this brings about perfect control over the flow of Prana within the body. Pranayama locks the scattering of pranic energy, consolidates it at the centre of your body-mind complex and laser-beams it to an intense awareness of the self. In simple language Pranayam can be said to be the right form of breathing technique to control our energy.

Breathing Technique: We can train ourselves to breathe more slowly and more deeply. We can reduce our breathing rate from about fifteen breaths a minute to 5-6 breaths a minute. Reduced breathing rate leads to slowing down the heart rate as more oxygen can be pumped even with less number of breaths. Time of exhalation should be longer than that of inhalation in the breath cycle.

Types of Pranayama:
1.Bhastrika Pranayama
2.Kapal Bhati Pranayama
3.Baghi Pranayama
4.Anulom Vilom Pranayama
5.Bhramari Pranayama
6.Udgeet Pranayama

Most of us are not well aware of tangible and intangible benefits of Pranayama. All benefits of pranayama cannot be written down, few of them are listed below:-

Healthy Heart: Heart is the key organ of our body which beats about 70 times per minute to pump blood non-stop all your life. The health of your heart indicates our life expectancy and quality of life in old age. More oxygen in the blood means more oxygen to muscles of the heart.

Better Blood Circulation: As a result of better breathing techniques, the freshly oxygenated blood travels from lungs to the heart. The heart pumps it via arteries and blood vessels to every part of the body, where in turn is absorbed by every tissue and cell. This improves the blood circulation and more oxygen energy reaches all parts of your body.

Stress Management: Pranayama is an excellent stress relief technique. Pranayama practice provides freedom from negative thought, anger, depression, lasciviousness, greed for money, arrogance etc. With pranayama fluctuations of mind are controlled and it prepares the mind for meditation. With practice of pranayama, we can experience lightness of body, feeling of inner peace, better sleep, better memory and better concentration whereby improving the spiritual powers/ skills. Mental peace and clarity of thought occur in our mind. Cheerfulness and enthusiasm is increased in life.

Functioning of Body Organs: By practice of pranayama all body organs gets more oxygen, toxins are removed from body; therefore onset of various diseases is prevented. Better functioning of autonomic system improves the working of lungs, heart, diaphragm, abdomen, intestines, kidneys and pancreas. Digestive system improves and diseases pertaining to digestive organs are cured with good appetite. General irritability due to lethargy/ fatigue vanishes. Pranayama strengthens the immune system. Pranayama reduces wear and tear of internal organs.

Longevity and Quality of Life in Old Age: Higher the breath rate, lower the life of creature in the world. Dog and monkey have higher breathing rate and lower life in contrast with elephant and tortoise taking four to five breaths in a minute and it lives up to 200 years or more. As a person with sedentary lifestyle reaches middle age, lung tissues tend to grow less and less elastic and lung capacity decreases. Pranayama can help to reduce the effects of following old age problems.

Yoga Is The Best Natural Treatment For Osteoporosis

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Mostly found in menopausal women, Osteoporosis is the disease related to bones. In this disease density of bone is decreased and the bone becomes very fragile due to this. The main factors responsible for this disease are calcium deficiency and hormonal changes in the body. A balanced diet, consumption of diets rich in calcium and Vitamin D and practicing proper muscle strengthening exercises daily is the best way to stay away from this disease.

For improving the strength of muscles regular practicing of Yogic exercises is must. It also helps the bones to retain their density. If you want to bring back the lost bone density, which you have lost due to osteoporosis, then yoga practice is must for you. The best way to enjoy the health in such conditions is to join yoga training institutes.

Yoga is the best natural treatment for osteoporosis. The series of yoga poses helps to buildup strong muscles around the bones which are more weak and porous in such condition. Add on to that yoga also helps in maintaining a balance between organs and glands so that a steady supply of hormones is maintained which are helpful in providing density to the bones.

Yoga has been proved very beneficial in toning of skeletal system and overall bodily processes. Maximum number of yoga trainers guides their students with muscles loosening poses and basic stretches in the beginning.

Yoga is the natural and unique way to fight with many ailments of the body. There are no side effects of yoga if it is performed properly or under the supervision of the yoga trainers. It is one of the advantageous natural treatments for osteoporosis patients, but it should always be performed with great common sense and carefulness.

Divine Wellness is an interactive health portal which provides useful encyclopedia on Natural osteoporosis treatment and Liver cirrhosis treatment. Here you will get ample of information on natural health remedies.

Yoga Has A Long History In America

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It might surprise many people to learn that yoga has a long history in the United States. For a lot of Americans, their knowledge of yoga may only date back to the 1960s, when the concepts of spiritualism and meditation were embraced by the countrys counterculture.

But it may surprise some people to learn that yoga in the U.S. has a history that dates back to the late 1800s.

In 1883, Swami Vivekananda made an appearance at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago where he greeted his sisters and brothers of America, a salutation that brought a standing ovation from the large audience in attendance. His idea that all of the religions of the world are merely separate parts of a larger religion was a new concept to those hearing him speak about the mind, body and spirit.

Swami Vivekananda was followed by Yogendra Mastamani, also from India, who arrived in the U.S. and settled on Long Island, N.Y. in 1919 and established the American version of Kaivalyadhama, an Indian organization that made major strides in the scientific exploration of yoga. Mastamani introduced Hatha Yoga to the United States.

One year later, one of the most popular yogis of all time, Paramahansa Yogananda, arrived in Boston to introduce kriya yoga to the U.S. He created the Self-Realization Fellowship, which now has its headquarters in Los Angeles. Yogananda also wrote the world-famous best seller, “Autobiography of a Yogi”, a book that is still an inspirational resource for many yoga instructors and students.

In the 1930s, Jiddu Krishnamurti brought the yogi to new level of awareness in the U.S. thanks to this popular, eloquent speeches on Jnana-Yoga yoga, which is the yoga of discernment. His talks earned him the admiration of a number of celebrities of the time, such as writers Aldous Huxley and George Bernard Shaw and actors Charlie Chaplin and Greta Garbo.

In 1924, the U.S. imposed a restriction on the number of Indians it would allow to move to the U.S., meaning students who sought the teachings of yogis had to travel to India. One of these students was Theos Bernard, who traveled to India and came back in 1947 to write the book “Hatha Yoga: The Report of a Personal Experience”, an influential book which is still widely today.

The same year that Bernard penned his examination of Hatha Yoga, Russian-born yogi Indra Devi opened one of the first Hatha Yoga studios in Hollywood and earned the title First Lady of Yoga. Devi was admired by housewives across the U.S., as well as Hollywood stars such as Gloria Swanson, Jennifer Jones and Robert Ryan. Devi died in her home in Buenos Ares in 2002.

But the man who is generally credited with introducing yoga to middle America is not even a native of India. Richard Hittleman, who studied in India for a number of years and returned to the States in 1950 to become a yoga instructor in New York, introduced a non-spiritual-based yoga to the United States and forever changed the way yoga was thought of and taught in America. It was Hittleman who placed emphasis on the physical side of yoga, letting a Western audience focus on the bodily aspects of yoga and not just the mind. Hittleman’s goal was to teach American students to gradually embrace the spiritual side of yoga, which many people have.

As Hittleman worked to expand yoga on the East, Walt and Magana Baptiste were working to increase yoga’s scope on the West Coast when they open a studio in San Francisco in the 1950s. Both of the Baptistes were students of Yogananda and Walt brought the influence of Vivekananda to the practice, creating an entirely new approach to yoga. Their yoga influence is being continued by their daughter and son, Sherri and Baron.

Elsewhere in San Francisco, Swami Vishu-devananda immigrated from India in 1958 and created “The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga” with famed artist and designer Peter Max. The book has become a go-to manual for yoga instructors and students. Vishu-devananga would later go on to create the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta yoga centers, which has become one of most prominent yoga school franchises in the entire world.

When the counterculture began to take hold in the 1960s, the idea of yoga and its emotional effects caught the interest of many people, and one of the most famous groups to explore the meditative possibilities of yoga were The Beatles, whose relationship with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was famous around the world. He created the Transcendental Meditation school of yoga that today employs more than 40,000 instructors and approximately 4 million followers worldwide.

In the late ’60s, Professor Richard Albert of Harvard took a journey into India and came back with the name Ram Dass and gave talks to college students around the nation in support of his blockbuster book “Be Here Now”, which set thousands of young people on a journey of discovery through yoga. The book continues to be source of inspiration for many people in their quest for spirituality through yoga.

In the 1970s, yoga continued to grow as studios began popping up all over the nation. The Mount Madonna yoga school, founded by Baba Hari Dass, gave residential yoga to the inhabitants of Santa Cruz, California. Shrila Prabhubada began the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, which led to the international spiritual study of Bhakti Yoga. Ashtanga-vinyasa Yoga was brought to the U.S. by Pattabhi Jois in the mid ’70s and made yoga popular with new groups of people. Swami Satchitananda was probably the most famous non-musician to appear at Woodstock. Swami Sivananda Radha is the female yogi credited with first investigating the link between the spirituality and psychology of yoga. And the teachings of Swamii Chidananda, who himself was a student of yoga master Swami Sivananda, were delivered to the world by one of his former students, instructor Liliias Folan through her landmark PBS television series “Lilias, Yoga and You” which aired on the network from 1970 to 1979 and made yoga available in every home in the U.S.

Yoga has continued its influence across America with classes and studios in cities all over, from the smallest town to the major metro areas. In addition, the advent of digital media, including CDs, DVDs and streaming Internet video, yoga can go anywhere, further giving it a foothold in the United States.

Yoga In Marrakech

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Yoga is pleasurable anywhere but especially when it is practiced in spacious locations of scenic beauty breathing the clean air of nature. There are several beautiful yoga locations one can opt for. Marrakech known as the “Ochre City” is a former imperial city of Morocco. It stands near the foothills of Atlas Mountains and is quickly growing into being a yoga paradise.

Yoga in Marrakech is enchanting for yoga lovers. One can choose contemporary high profile stylish accommodation as well as eco-resorts and more economic solution to spend a yoga holiday in order to express their yoga passion. No matter how it is put together a yoga retreat improves the mental as well as physical attributes of the individuals participating in a yoga retreat.

Through yoga retreats in Marrakech people may avail services through teams of massage therapists, chefs, nutritionists and guides. All these ascertain maximum benefits for the visitors. Visitors are benefitted through weight-loss, stress relief, enhanced fitness as well as a higher sense of well-being.

Healthy meals as well as regular yoga practices through a course de yoga Marrakech significantly benefits the individuals. All these together work to kick start the health and fitness plans of the individuals. Various activities devised by those holding the retreat will work to rejuvenate the participants. Apart from practicing Yoga they will experience the joy of natural beauty and will relish a peace filled atmosphere. One can also go for regular deep massages to relax as well as restore. There are many opportunities to explore various fascinating sights in Marrakech while taking pleasure of picturesque views.

Evenings can be brightened up through fire-lit drawing rooms. Those looking for more than a Cours de yoga Marrakech and seeking adventure can opt for stunning hikes in High Atlas, camel rides, buggy excursion or simply walk the Medina.

A yoga retreat in Marrakech can prove to be a rewarding experience for individuals who need to rejuvenate from the daily grind. Yoga in marrakech is a favorite activity for many who wish to improve their health while enjoying the refreshing bounties of nature.