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Peaceful, serene, strong, relaxed, pure — this is how you will feel after participating in Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. This ancient method is based around the idea of “flow” and connected movements.
Like most forms of this type of therapy, it’s not just a series of “stretches” or exercises — but rather, a combination of philosophy, moral code, meditation and healthy habits. Muscle definition or flexibility may attract athletes to a yoga center, but for others it’s that spiritual meditation of this therapy that entices — resulting in a calmer mind, improved circulation and more energy.
Through active, fluid movements, six different positions and specially timed inhaling and exhaling exercises, students of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga hope to reach a state of internal cleansing, mental clarity, strength in body and connectedness with the universal soul. By following the “eight limbs” of this type of therapy, outlined by Indian sage Patanjali Maharishi, students practice the following: moral codes, self-purification and study, posture, breath control, sense control, concentration, meditation and contemplation.
In the beginning of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, the instructor will help students master “external cleansing practices.” They learn about morality and study, while practicing specific postures and breathing. Instructors help beginners find the correct positions and inspire students to live a just and moral existence.
Next, after days of mastering the proper poses and gaining strength, students will learn to control their minds. Through posture, breathing and focusing, the practice purifies the body, nervous system and mind over time.
In practice, Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga involves six specific postures (otherwise known as “asanas”) that are always completed in the same order. In the opening asana, there are ten standing “Sun Salutations” or “The Primary Series,” which is intended to align and detoxify the body.
The “Intermediate Series” works on the nervous system by opening and clearing internal energy pathways. “The Advanced Series A, B, C and D” helps students achieve maximum flexibility, strength, definition and humility. Teachers emphasize the mastering of each level before moving on, with special focus and attention given to each step of progress.
The ujjayi (meaning “victorious breath”) method of exhaling and inhaling, combined with the fluid, dynamic asanas, heats the blood and generates a detoxifying sweat, or what is known as “internal cleansing.” Advanced methods of breathing techniques (bandhas) teach students how to “lock” or “seal” energy and redirect it to one of the 72,000 energy channels within the body.
To obtain maximum benefit from the asanas, learning to lock in positive energy is crucial. Nine different focus points seek to purify and stabilize the mind, facilitating concentration.
The spiritual and physical impact has roughly 16.5 million Americans practicing their “sun salutations” and “downward dogs” at their local studio of this therapy. You needn’t go to Mysore India to learn.
The yoga website can give you a listing of classes near you. Whether you’re looking for relaxation and spirituality or muscle-definition and a rigorous workout, Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga is a great match.

First described as “shaking palsy” the disease that now bears his name, medical science has thus far been unable to unravel the cause or causes of most Parkinson’s cases or to devise a cure. Nonetheless, dramatic progress has been made in treating the disease, which is known to afflict about half a million older Americans, or one person in 100 over age 50. This figure does not include the untold thousands with symptoms of the disease that are not severe enough to prompt them to seek a diagnosis. But early diagnosis is important. Diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease is based on the patient’s symptoms and performance on certain neurological and neuropsychological tests, along with ruling out other possible causes of those symptoms. Some cases of what doctors call Parkinsonism are caused by potent drugs used in the treatment of schizophrenia and other psychiatric illnesses or they are a result of poisoning by manganese. Through medication, exercise regimens and tips on adaptive living measures, modern treatment can forestall or reduce the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, allowing patients to lead full and active lives for years after diagnosis and often for the rest of their lives because most of its victims are elderly. The late stages of the disease, however, can leave patients vulnerable to pneumonia, blood clots and bodywide infections that can be fatal. Yoga has a major role in management of Parkinson’s as it has emerged as a beneficial alternative therapy and an ideal form of exercise for Parkinson’s patients because of its slow movements. Following the steps mentioned below could effectively help people with Parkinson’s: Concentrate on controlling your breath (Pranayama) as this form of yoga helps in moments of panic – such as feet sticking to the floor when walking. In this form of yoga, the mind is always alert. Few yoga exercises like back strengthening postures, lots of shoulder movements, breathing practices and some meditation definitely helps. One of the most useful forms of yoga used for Parkinson’s is Ashtanga Yoga. It works to strengthen the body and do increases blood circulation. Daily practice of yoga is essential since Parkinson’s itself does not necessarily weaken the muscles. Weakening of muscles is generally caused by lack of movement. Daily practice should be encouraged, but not enough to cause fatigue. Parkinson’s also result in the loss of movement of the facial muscles. Pranayama and other yoga movements could help in relaxing those muscles and bring in smile on the faces of the patient.

Are you tired of weight loss pills, surgery and dieting to reduce your weight? Then why can not you shift towards yoga which is a natural and safe manner to lose your weight. We all knew that busy schedule of life has made a gap between people to communicate and it is really very hard to find time for exercise that is so people are shifting towards diet-pills to lose their weight which is seen to have many side effects.Experts recommended yoga as a best solution for this problem because yoga tones your body in uniform manner. It can be practiced in any age to keep your body fit and fine.Yoga is an effective way from ages to maintain healthy body as it rid extra flab from body. Some of the yoga asana stimulating lethargic thyroid glands to increase hormonal secretions to reduce weight.* Bikram Yoga: It is a kind of yoga that most celebrities and athletes prefer as it helps to burn the calories to lose weight. Bikram yoga is beneficial for aerobic, cardiovascular and fat –burning.Bikram yoga is tough exercise as it takes your time to speed up. But slowly and steadily you feel relax of this kind of exercise.  This exercise reduces your weight as well as your stress level. It helps to build self control, concentration and patience. * Yoga asana like Halasana, Paschimottanasana, Dhanurasana and Veerasana etc are specially meant for weight reduction. It helps you to reduce flab from your body.* Regular yoga asana of sun salutation (Surya Namaskar) helps to lose your weight. It is beneficial for lungs and also relaxes your mind.* Vaman Dhauti and Shanka Prakshalanaare some kriya’s which helps in weight reduction. Vamun Dhauti is known as the practice of vomiting water. It is believed that washing up of the entire track starting from the mouth to the digestive system whereas Shankar Prakshalanaare means conch cleaning out .In both techniques salt water is used to cleanse whole body system.* If you are a thyroid patient, you will abnormally gained weight then do Saryangasana and Matasyasana for checking hormonal secretion of thyroid gland. Sarvangasana means a pose for all parts of the body like lungs, heart and thyroid. Matasyasana relieves the stiffness of neck, spine, arch and your back.* Ashtanga Yoga: In this type of asana it focuses on synchronizing the breath with a series of different, complicated postures. Do this asana regularly and within a week you feel your body and mind to be healthy and strong.What you should not do: • Do not eat on regular timings at regular interval.• Do not eat carbonated drinks and junk food.• Do not break your routine of yoga.• Try not to consume anything between two major meals. Try to maintain a time difference of at least of 4 hours between two major meals.So for what you are waiting?  Adopt yoga in your life style which is better solution for you to remain positive, active and stress free rather then doing dieting, taking weight loss pills, etc

More and more athletes are turning to yoga as a supplementary exercise routine to fix the imbalance in their body and to improve their performance in their chosen field of sport. Whether you are a golfer, basketball, tennis, or football player, the mind body connection in yoga is an important element in producing peak performance.

Although proper breathing technique is the foundation of many sports, it is often ignored by many athletes. Yoga will help fix this lack of breathing skill and develop the correct breathing technique that is very much required in any game of sport. The integration of mind and body through correct breathing patterns helps to build stamina and endurance in an athlete. Proper breathing techniques also bring more focus and attention to the mind and sharpens one’s intuition. This gives the athlete an advantage over his rivals.

The various poses in yoga helps to build a strong mid-section and the different types of contractions of these poses and movements act as a form of resistance training to the typical gym-based workouts. But unlike in a gym, you can practice yoga outdoors without having to bring heavy equipment. Imagine doing yoga exercises by a windy beach with the sound of waves in the background, on a hill top with a great view and fresh air, or in a zen garden.

Frequent yoga practice increases flexibility and range of motion and the slow movements is perfect for athletes. Many athletes are already using yoga movements as a warm up and warm down routines in their sport. Athletes in sports field such as tennis and golf will notice improvements in their swing as a result of this flexibility of the muscles and joints. In any given sport, the addition of yoga as a supplementary routine training has been known to improve the performance of the athletes.

Most athletes are involved in some form of weight training and other resistance training that uses repetitive motions that only develop certain muscle groups, while ignoring others. That creates imbalance in the body. Yoga is able to fix this imbalance and help to develop the muscles that have been ignored through the contraction of these muscles in the various poses.

Yoga is also a good workout to relieve boredom in athletes who perform the same types of exercises year in year out by adding variety. It is also an important element in recovering the body from hard aerobic and strength workouts. The numerous poses in yoga can be done in a low or high intensity workout according to the athlete’s needs. Overall, yoga is not only important in bringing in more strength, balance and flexibility to an athlete, but also brings more alertness, attention and focus that is so much needed by athletes in their very competitive world.

The use of yoga as a supplementary exercise routine can improve the performance of any sport. Yoga is the catalyst that gives a sports player or an athlete that extra edge against the competition. The benefits of yoga in sports have been documented and attested by successful athletes and sportsmen.

In yoga, the different postures coordinate the breath with the movements and by holding the postures, the various muscles of the body are stretched and strengthened. These postures are an ideal complement to other forms of exercise, such as jogging, running, and cycling as they systematically work all the major muscle groups at the neck, back, shoulders, hips, hands, feet and even ankles.

Yoga postures affect the major and minor muscle groups as they increase flexibility and import strength. Sustained stretching and contraction of the muscle groups in the postures and the deep breathing involved help to send oxygen to the cells in the body.

Muscular strength and stamina is what most sport activity builds and often in specific areas of the body. This imbalance in muscular development can be solved with yoga as it enables the mind and body to coordinate with each other and function more efficiently. Yoga will enhance the flexibility of the muscles and joints and as a result, the athlete or sports person will be less prone to injuries. Yoga improves and complements the ability of the athlete in any sport that he chooses.

An example of a sport that is prone to uneven muscle development is golf, where the golfer only swings in one direction using the same muscle groups all the time. Yoga postures stretch the muscles and ease muscular tension on the affected muscle groups while it regulates the other muscle groups that are seldom utilized in golf. The standing yoga poses also improves the golfer’s balance and flexibility.

For cyclists, the yoga back postures can relieve stiffness of the back that is bent over the handle bars when cycling for long periods of time. Stretching poses also help to ease the stiffness in the legs and shoulders of the cyclist. Doing light yoga is perfect before and after a cycling event as a warm-up and warm-down routine.

Strenuous sports such as tennis and racquet ball can benefit with yoga as well as it enables the players to be more focused and alert as the sport requires fast reactions to the ball. The flexibility and mobility of the hips and shoulders are crucial in the success of the game and yoga certainly can improve in these departments.

The benefits of yoga in sports cannot be ignored. Its mind and body connection brings more focus, attention, flexibility, mobility, energy and strength which is very much needed to stay ahead of the competition.

Copyright (c) 2009 Azmi Adnan

Yoga is fast becoming the most popular fitness activity in this recession period. People affected by the current economy, are looking to yoga classes for fast relief of their stressful conditions. It is no wonder then that yoga studios are doing a brisk business in accepting more and more yoga beginners into their programs.

Before you embark on a ‘yoga for beginners’ program, be aware of your fitness level, health condition and physical limitations. Let the yoga instructor know of your condition because he or she is able to offer corrections and make modifications if you are not doing the yoga poses correctly. The instructor is also able to help you in getting a deeper experience from a yoga pose so that you will gain more results.

The great thing about yoga is that unlike any other sport or fitness program, you are not competing with any other participants but yourself. You are only concentrating on your own body and listening to it as it responds to the challenges you are putting it through. Your body will communicate with you through feelings of pain or pleasure, and you respond to this feedback from your body by doing the yoga postures correctly.

Breathing is an important element in yoga as it corresponds with each pose or posture. As a beginner you need to practice the art of breathing correctly as it helps you to get relaxed and move you deeper into each pose for a positive experience. You can actually direct your breathing to any spot on your body where there is tension and feel the effects as the feelings of tension is being released.

It is important too that you do not eat a heavy meal before the commencement of each yoga session. However, water is essential to keep yourself from being dehydrated.

If you are excited about learning yoga but are not able to find a class in your area, you may want to get your hands on an instructional yoga DVD which is widely available on the internet. The great thing about these yoga DVDs is that they come with online support so you will have assistance should you have questions later.

I have known of a group of women who pooled their resources together to purchase a set of yoga DVDs and conduct a yoga session for themselves every weekend in their homes. Doing with a group is fun as you can look out for each other if one participant is not doing it correctly. This not only makes for a good social activity but a healthy one too.