Improvement Time

Beginners often wonder how long it will take before postures get easier. While there's no simple answer to that question, you will notice that if you practice consistently (on a daily or weekly schedule) rather than intermittently postures gradually become less difficult. If you find you hurt after practice, try doing shorter, more frequent sessions to improve your flexibility.

Eight Limbs

Traditional yoga has eight steps, or limbs, for guidance in living a meaningful and purposeful life. They are: Yama, moral disciplines; Niyama, self disciplines; Asana, postures; Pranayama, breath control; Pratyahara, sensory withdrawal; Dharana, concentration; Dhyana, meditation; Samadhi, transcendence.

Yoga Basics: Breathing

Breath is considered the source of life in the body. Therefore, breathing techniques in yoga -- learning to control one's breath -- are designed to improve the health and the function of both body and mind. These specially developed techniques -- or pranayamas -- when practiced regularly, improve brain function and increase the elimination of toxins from the system.

Benefits

Yoga increases flexibility, strength and endurance while calming the mind and improving concentration.

Yoga Basics: Exercise

One of the three main facets of practicing yoga is exercise. Since the body is seen as the main instrument that allows us to advance in life -- both physically and spiritually -- practitioners of yoga treat their bodies with much respect. The physical exercises of yoga (referred to as postures or asanas) work to improve the glandular systems of the body. This leads to improved efficacy and better general health.

Avoiding Injury

There are two important aspects of any yoga practice that will help you avoid injury. First, remember to stretch gently before and during postures. Do NOT stretch too quickly or overextend yourself. Second, remember that, whenever possible, you should do pose/counterpose (for example, a backward bend followed by a forward bend). This will help stretch and balance muscles.

Breathing

Yoga emphasizes full, complete exhalation. This is important to eliminate all stale air and to increase capacity for inhalation of more fresh air.

You should also inhale slowly filling the belly and then the chest, then pause briefly before exhaling completely.

Yoga vs. Pilates

What are the differences between yoga and Pilates? Much has to do with the actual practice of each exercise. What is interesting is the similarities, however, and how the two work together. Yoga gives Pilates flexibility and stillness, while Pilates offers stability and stillness while in motion. Pilates is more about elongating the body and strengthening it, while Yoga helps to increase the flexibility capacity. Both work together to offer an integrated practice for mind and body.

Yoga Basics: Meditation

In order to integrate the physical with the spiritual during yoga practice, meditation is employed. Usually this involves sitting or lying quietly, clearing one's mind of all thought. By doing this, stress of daily life dissolves, allowing a channel to open between our bodies, souls, and the constant connection they/we all have to everything around us in the universe. In addition, guided meditations or visualizations can be used when specific areas of the body are being healed, such as injuries or removal of addictions.

Who can do Yoga

Anyone – young or old, at any level of fitness – will benefit from yoga. Unlike other sports and fitness activities, yoga is non-competitive and does not cause stress to muscles or joints.

Eastern & Western Yoga

Yoga is a universal practice, shared in both in the east, where it originated, and the west, where it has since been adopted and developed further. Yoga begins with the mind, where health begins, as our mental choices of food, exercise, emotions, and more all affect the body. Traditional yoga in India includes a set of ethical and moral precepts, including diet, exercise, and meditative aspects. In the west, Yoga focuses primarily on postures, breathing exercises, and meditation. Now more than ever, yoga is frequently used in western medicine to treat chronic disease and eliminate stress.

Meditation: One of the Eight Limbs of Yoga

Meditation is considered one of the "Eight Limbs of Yoga." The practice is a step toward "Samadhi" or enlightenment. More and more evidence has shown, too, that yoga meditation has practical benefits by improving our physical and psychological well-being. It can reduce blood pressure, relieve stress, and lessen pain. Meditating also brings our mind to a level of consciousness that promotes healing or what is known as the alpha state. In this state, emotional difficulties such as anxiety, depression and general discord can be reduced or eliminated.

The Vedas & Yoga

The Indus-Sarasvati civilization created the oldest scriptures in the world: the Vedas. The these collections of prayers and songs that speak to a higher power contain the oldest recorded yogic teachings. This is why the teachings in the Vedas are also referred to as Vedic or Pre-classical Yoga.

Pre-classical Yoga

Between 1800 and 1500 B.C., approximately 200 Gnostic texts called the Upanishads came to being. They explained the concept of the transcendental self and its relation to the ultimate reality. The Karma doctrine is believed to have originated with the Upanishads as well. From this point, other related belief systems branched including Jainism and Buddhism. All practice the idea of transcendence and interconnectedness of all beings.

The Philosophy of Yoga

Ancient Yogis used the image of a vehicle to describe man's place in a harmonious life. The mind is the driver of this vehicle. The soul is man's true nature. Three energies that make that mid-body "vehicle" move are action, emotion, and intelligence. For complete centeredness, these three energies must be in balance. Yoga, therefore, combines techniques in movement for physical health as well as breathing and meditation skills that bring mental health.

Classical Yoga/The Eightfold Path

In the second century C.E., Patanjali composed a seminal text, Yoga-Sutra and defined Classical Yoga. The 195 aphorisms or sutras that comprise the Yoga Sutra, expound upon Raja-Yoga, which is the eightfold Yoga path. The Eight Limbs of Classical Yoga are: 1) Yama/Restraint, 2) Niyama/observance of purity, tolerance and study, 3) Asana/Physical Exercises, 4) Pranayama/Breath Control, 5) Pratyahara/Preparation for Meditation 6) Dharana/Concentration, 7) Dhyana/Meditation and 8) Samadhi/Enlightenment.

Six Branches

Hatha Yoga is the branch of yoga most commonly practiced in the West. It's basically the physical form of yoga with a focus on postures, breathing and meditation.

However, there are five other branches: Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga and Tantra Yoga, each ascribes to a slightly different philosophy. For example, Raja Yoga is also known as classical yoga and its focal point is meditation.

Yoga Overview

Yoga originated thousands of years ago in India. This ancient practice strives to unite the body, mind, and spirit. In basic terms, yoga practice trains practitioners to reunite personal consciousness with universal consciousness. We were never really separated, yogis believe, but in this life we often forget our interconnectedness with all living beings. Practicing yoga helps us to remember that both consciously and physically. In fact, the word "yoga" means "to bring or yoke together."