The motto of every Yoga session is “live in the moment.” Many of us try to live for now, but we wait in anticipation for better weather to come, a bill to be paid off, or our soul mate to arrive. We might put tasks off and create a new method for wasting time. Let us look at taking our Yoga practice off the mat, and bring it into practical use for daily life and solve two common problems.

Anticipation: This is a wonderful human quality, based upon planning for the future. Yet, life should be enjoyed right now. It is good to have plans for the future, but never forget to enjoy this day. While looking at a long-term goal, it is easy to forget those who love us. Enjoy your friends and family each day – as if it was your last day on earth.

Even during Yoga teacher training sessions, some interns become so fixated on completion of their work, that they realize later how much happiness they have missed. It is great to be focused, but we must allow ourselves to experience inner peace when an opportunity arises. A strong work ethic is a wonderful quality, but humans are not designed to be one dimensional.

How do you balance work and play? This is an age old question, but the keyword is “balance.” We need to be moderate in every aspect of life. Work too hard and you run yourself down. Play too much and the world passes you by. The answer is: Live a moderate lifestyle and you will receive the best of both worlds.

Procrastination: This quality is often associated with laziness. We may see it in work most often. It is a method for getting rid of friends and making the world a smaller place for ourselves. Who wants to defend a co-worker, who puts off completing assignments? Who wants the added burden of extra work to make up for someone who never finishes his or her work?

On a personal note: How often do you hear someone say, “I’ll practice Yoga after I lose 50 pounds?” In other words: This person will never practice any form of Yoga, but you can clearly see that Yoga practice would help the quality of his or her life. You may maintain a relationship with this person for life, but it is hard to watch someone put everything off, including the time each of us should invest in maintaining the quality of our health.

If we want to enjoy our life, we have a choice. Some of us enjoy life to our last day, while others look back, too far forward, at the stars, or sleep through it as if life was a boring movie. If we practice any form of Yoga long enough, we begin to realize the value of each precious moment.

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, has written many books on the subject of Yoga. He is a co-owner and the Director of Yoga Teacher Training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA. He has been a certified Master Yoga Teacher since 1995. To receive Free Yoga videos, Podcasts, e-Books, reports, and articles about Yoga, please visit: http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

Types of Yoga

If you wanted to start yoga as a beginner, you have clicked the right link. Hatha yoga is one of the most popular forms of yoga in the western world. It is use of yoga postures or asana. Many people practice hatha yoga only for it physical benefit, unaware of the mental benefits it provides. However, the aim of hatha yoga is meant to be to condition the body, so that the mind can be prepared for other activities like spirituality and meditation. It is believed that when the body is in a good physical condition, the mind is free to concentrate on spiritual activities and renunciation.

All the physical asanas or postures come under Hatha Yoga and is the most widely practiced yoga types when compared to Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga etc.

For beginners, to start with you should be able to control your breathing so that you cardiac muscles can be stronger to support the other asanas you might perform at later stages. Also the breathing techniques are widely practiced all over the world to overcome problems like regular headaches, blood pressure control etc. Hence, we would start with the Anuloma-Viloma Asana and the Kapalabhati Pranayama.
Anuloma-Viloma Asana:

1. Sit in the right posture which is advised to be Padmasana. You can also choose a suitable posture depending on your convenience but sit erect.

2. Now, fold your pointing finger and the middle finger of your right hand. (Kumbhaka)

3. Sir erect, use your right hand’s thumb finger to close your right nostril and then take a prolonged inhalation through your left nostril.

4. Now hold your breath for sometime, open the right nostril, close the left nostril with your right hand’s ring finger (because the pointing finger and the middle finger are closed in Kumbhaka)

5. Again, exhale (prolonged) through the right nostril. Change your fingers and nostrils and repeat the exercise continuously.

Note:

• Kumbhaka is a unique way of holding the fingers for the asana, but for the first six months you can hold your right nostril with your thumb finger and the left nostril with your pointing finger.

• If you cannot sit in Padmasana, adopt any comfortable posture; but sit erect.
Kapalabhati Pranayama:

Rapid exhalation and inhalation is Kapalabhati, well known as the destroyer of disorders caused by phlegm.

1. Spread out your yoga mat and sit erect in padmasana. If you find padmasana difficult, sit erect in normal sitting position (folded legs)

2. Place your hands on your respective knees.

3. Exhale the air inside your lungs forcibly(Passive inhalation)

4. After each exhalation, make a passive inhalation, which is very short and then again exhale.

5. Repeat the exercise continuously.

Note:

• It is a very useful exercise for asthama and constipation.
• Your lungs and liver become strong.
• Blood circulation and respiratory activities are taken care of.
• People who have diabetes, do not practice it.
• Also, people who are suffering from ulcers in the stomach should not practice it.

These different types of yoga techniques will help a beginner learn the basics and to understand how to go ahead with other breathing exercises. Find out more about yoga at http://www.yogamatreview.net.

Being in New York City we are fortunate to have the opportunity to choose from all of these great studios. What you want to get out of your teacher training and also what particular style you practice can be the determining factor for what studio you choose to be a part of.

-Chose the style that resonates with you and the style you’d like to eventually teach

-Do your due diligence: check out a variety of studios. Yoga City NYC is a great resource that lists many studios and styles that are New York-specific.

-Make sure they are Yoga Alliance Accredited studio

-Chose the style and studio that resonates with who you are as a person. If you’re not comfortable there, the training won’t be worthwhile.

-Don’t rush: There are a lot of options in New York. Take your time to explore them all before committing or you might miss what would’ve been your perfect fit.

-If your torn between two New York City studios, consider choosing the one that’s closest to where you live or work. You’ll be spending a lot of time there…an easier commute will make your entire experience more pleasurable.

-Talk to former trainees – Many New York studios have fancy websites and a lot of marketing money…only by talking to their actual trainees will you know what the experience was really like.

-In New York, teacher trainings are still not regulated by the government. You can fight to keep it that way by getting involved or donating to the Yoga for New York Advocacy Fund, otherwise many smaller, privately owned studios will be forced to shut their teacher trainings down due to the financial burden it would cause.

When I was considering where to do my yoga teacher training, I shopped around at various studios. Most of them told me I would come out of the training with a solid knowledge of alignment and sequencing. Then I happened upon the studio where I eventually trained, which gave me much more than just the knowledge of the poses and alignment and sequencing. I also learned about the subtle body and the energetic principles of yoga; yogic philosophy, meditation, pranayama, and kriya techniques. Since these aspects appealed to me, I knew I had found the right studio for me. But I had searched New York far and wide for months to have the knowledge base to know that this was the right fit.

Yoga Lover and Teacher! I did the Ishta Yoga Teacher Training in New York City, but there are training programs throughout America and abroad!

Yoga bolster is now sensibly used in diversified yoga poses such as, but is not limited to Bikram, Ananda and Kripalu Yoga. It boosts the capacity of the body to provide restorative healing. In Yoga Asana, yoga bolster may be used in its wide-ranging positions and can bring deep impact on the different systems of the body. Furthermore, firmness and flexibility may be afforded by the continued use of this multi -purpose tool.

Apart from being described by Pantajali, founder of Ashtanga Yoga, as a steady and comfortable posture, asana was proven to keep balance to the totality of mind and body complex. To keep this balance or to even boost the same, yoga bolster brings distinct upshot because it functions more as support for the body while it is on that steady position.

As pointed out in many books, innovations to the present yoga accessories are now deemed as all time high. Apart from yoga accessory descriptions in early yoga books such as Hatha Yoga Pradipika around 1200 AD, there are novel expositions which point out the innumerable benefits of today’s trendy yoga accessories of which yoga bolster is a good example.

Bolster cushion or bolster pillow, and yoga bolster provide comfort and relaxation to a yogi. Usually placed under knees, ankles, or neck, the latter type can aid in the straining of the muscles. Some of those who dare to try Pranayama Yoga, a form of breathe control, have found the use of bolster desirable because of its new support features such as having an adjustable valve that allows airflow control.

With the air valve on the accessory bag, the air inside can keep first-rate support to the yogi as he makes micro-movements. Even when a yogi further expands to connecting postures and different breathing as in Vinsaya Yoga, bolster still proves to cater correct alignment of the body and thus, proper pose and balance is created and maintained. Moreover, in the same way as other yoga accessories like, yoga mats, yoga block, yoga strap among others, yoga bolsters also possess capacity to relieve many distracting tensions.

Today, bolsters come in different shapes and sizes and are now made to provide extra strength and support. Depending on the forms of yoga poses sought for, a yoga bolster can perfectly adjust and may be utilized in different styles to suit with personal comfort of the users. Of the famous available sizes, however, round yoga bolster is now widely used because of its ability to maintain proper alignment to the body.

As I said at the beginning, yoga bolster provides restorative healing. It provides relief from tensions and let me say this with reverberation: “There certainly isn’t a medication you can buy or a gadget or a car that will make you feel good the way you do when your body is in perfect condition”. So when there’s something in your nearest store or online that you can grab now which gives perfect boost to the state of your health, waste no time!

Glenn Mark Dizon works for Wade Werner, an acclaimed educationalist and green living enthusiast, who now introduces his first and trusted source of yoga fitness equipment, yoga, Pilates equipment and other exercise accessories, to name a few. He is the person behind some of the coolest stores on the Internet. To get instant access to one of his promising sites, click here: http://www.1sourcenow.com.

So I went to my second yoga class on Sunday…

For years I had avoided yoga in the same way most guys avoid ballet, synchronized swimming and expressive dance. As a guy who lives and breathes strength training, I had put yoga classes right up there with belly dancing and salsacise on the “girly exercise scale”.

After a recurrent weakness in my middle back was starting to interfere with my training I was told by a physio that yoga would very quickly solve the problem. Faced with the prospect of chronic back pain, I booked into my first yoga class…

And discovered it is an amazing workout!! Every guy should try it and here’s 5 reasons why…

1) Yoga will strengthen, tone and stretch your shoulders

My preconceptions about yoga were busted before I even started the class. I walked in, took one look at the yoga instructor and knew there had to be something in this. She had the kind of tone and definition in her shoulders that you only see on top athletes. Then I looked around and spotted the same phenomenon in at least 4 others in the class. Is yoga some kind of freakish shoulder workout?

About 10 minutes into the class I had the answer whilst performing my first “Downward Facing Dog”. Body trembling. Sweat pouring. Shoulders really, really working! By the end of the class my shoulders and rotator cuff had been worked and stretched in a way that years of gym training could not compete with. Without a doubt, yoga is a serious shoulder workout.

2) Yoga will strengthen your middle back muscles

Like most guys into strength training, I spent far too much time doing chest presses, pec flys and bicep curls, neglecting my middle back. The end result? I was left with weak rhomboids, rounded shoulders and a slouching posture (a phenomenon known as “upper crossed syndrome”). Although I have corrected this, I still haven’t found an effective way to target my middle back.

Until I tried Yoga! The yoga poses repeatedly and relentlessly work the middle back, making up for all those years of neglect. With each pose the instructor reminds you to “pull the shoulders back” / ” lift the chest”, fatiguing the rhomboids. For at least 3 days after my first yoga class they ached – proof that even though I train them in the gym, yoga hit them far harder and far better.

3) Yoga will improve your lower back flexibility

Of all the elements of fitness – strength, endurance, cardio and flexibility – nothing is more neglected by men than flexibility. Being able to do the splits just doesn’t gain the respect of your peers like being able to lift weights. But if you think flexibility is for girls, think again. Flexibility training is an essential part of all athletes training, from rugby players and footballers, to mixed martial artists.

Yoga is in a league of its own for increasing flexibility, particularly in the sagittal plane (bending forward) and transverse plane (twisting). You may be able to get away with poor flexibility in your 20s and 30s, but as men reach their 40s and beyond it will cause of lower back pain and injury. Want to avoid walking sticks and medical bills? Take up yoga.

4) Yoga will improve your core strength and stability

Core strength and stability has gained so much attention over the last 5 years. In a nutshell, core strength is the ability of the torso to support the movements of the limbs. A weak core will leave you with poor function, poor balance and a high risk of injury. With all those seated resistance machines and benches for us to rest on, it is easy to neglect our core strength.

Yoga is the ultimate core workout. All of the standing yoga poses require the core to be fully engaged… or quite simply you will end up on your backside. Then as you transition through various planks and side planks your core has to work even harder. Ultimately, as you advance to poses involving head stands, shoulder stands and even hand stands, you will develop a core of steel.

5) Yoga will teach you how to relax and breathe

Chronic stress is proven to lead to decreased immune function, increased risk of infection and decreased ability to repair tissue. Men are especially bad at recognising the signs of stress, often leaving it until the inevitable breakdown, heart attack or diagnosis of high blood pressure before doing anything about it. If you train hard, work hard and play hard, something’s got to give…

Being able to relax is a vital part of fitness, but something that most men find hard to do. If you find it hard to completely switch off, then Yoga offers men the perfect opportunity to de-stress and still feel like you’re getting a good workout. Yoga also teaches you how to control your breathing and focus your mind – a must for any guy who doesn’t manage stress well.

All in all…

Yoga offers men the chance to improve on all the areas of fitness we like to neglect -(1) shoulder strength and stability, (2) middle back strength, (3) lower back flexibility, (4) core strength and (5) being able to relax! By helping you to improve these you will be able to train harder, for longer and with less risk of illness or injury.

Liam Taylor, everythingZing.com
fitness hitchin