Yoga For Beginners -Practical No-Nonsense Advice

A Word of Caution As someone who has learned the advanced stage of Yoga and been practicing it for several years now (as of writing this article in April 2010), I can very strongly advise you to NEVER EVER attempt practicing yoga through the Do-It-Yourself guides widely available these days, simply because Yoga does not work that way.

· Take it from me or leave it, but I have done this mistake once and it required hard work and a trained guru to reverse the damage by 98%.

· Yoga is a treasure house of health, peace of mind and confidence.

· Yoga must be learned from a Guru teaching it for decades to thousands of students.

The Best Yoga Pants Are What Are the Most Comfortable

The Pre-Yoga mindset

· Have a firm mindset to learn Yoga up to the advanced levels including Kriyas (more on this in just a bit) only from a trained guru.

· Have a firmer mindset to practice the asanas every single day. If you are not serious about this step, you may please go ahead and close this page!

· It may be a good idea to cleanse your body of all toxins (explained in the Kriya section) so that your body is flexible.

· Cut down on your junk and non-vegetarian food as much as possible. Is Yoga right for me?

· Age limit: 10 - 100 Years!!! (But do not start when you are 99 years old. The upper limit is applicable only if you start at age 30, max)

· Yogasanas do not need warm up! Sure, this is big turn on for anybody.

· If you do Yogasanas properly, you will never sweat. Boy, this is true!

· Do not strain (or aim for perfection initially) while doing Yogasanas; do them very slowly. Trust me, you are gonna have fun!

· Yoga is thoroughly scientific and so, follow your trainer's instructions ad verbatim.

· Try not to practice more than 30-45 minutes each day, preferably early morning. Oops, sorry if you are a night bird!

Moon Salutation and Its Benefits in Yoga

Postures and Practical Benefits

These asanas may be sufficient to begin with (under expert supervision).

1. Mathsyasana: A superb technique to relax and strengthen your neck, shoulder and upper back muscles.

2. Vipareetha Karani: An outstanding technique that relaxes and strengthens your internal organs in the lower part of your body.

3. Sarvaangasana: This is considered one of the gems of Yoga and has several benefits including putting all internal organs in harmony with each other.

4. Shavasana: Literally, the "Corpse" posture. It targets each and every muscle and perhaps tissues and cells as well and relaxes each one of them.

5. Virkshasana: Literally, the "Tree" posture; it helps to balance all the "Chakras" or glands of your body.

6. Nadi Shudhdhi Pranayama: This teaches the precise way of breathing to flush out toxins.

7. Kapalabhathi Pranayama: This is said to do the job of a Ventilator! But it is extremely easy to do.

How to Theme a Yoga Class

Kriyas: The Secret Health Chest

All these must be done strictly under expert advice/guidance

1. Body Cleansing: The enema procedure, this is ideally done before starting Yoga practice, up to twice a year.

2. Vamana Dhouthi: Meaning self-induced vomiting, this makes your body lighter and practically flushes out toxins. Frequency: once a week.

3. Jala Neti: Now called "Nasal Irrigation" this very simple technique cleanses the respiratory canal. Do it to believe it!

4. Suthra Neti: "Suthra" means thread. This technique achieves the same purpose achieved by Jala Neti Kriya.

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Yoga

Yoga is more than a physical discipline of keeping fit. It's an ancient concept, and has a lot to do with the philosophical and the spiritual. Various types of yoga are being taught and practiced in today’s world and it is very important to choose the correct type of yoga. Each type has its own philosophies and practices.

Some styles of yoga are meditative and focused on spiritual centeredness. Other styles of yoga are more physical and based on poses or exercises. Yogas that are more physical are called Asanas.Hatha yoga is a popular type; it focuses on breathing control. Mantra yoga focuses on chanting and can be a very spiritual practice.

Power yoga is great for building stamina and strength. At any rate they all seem to provide similar benefits for your mind and body. The varieties of poses flow one into another, always breathing through the nose. Kundalini yoga aims to awaken the potential energies at the base of the spine (Symbolised as a coiled snake) and direct this energy upwards through the spine and the Chakras thus bringing about increasing degrees of enlightenment.

Bikram Yoga is the method of yoga that is a comprehensive workout that includes all the components of fitness: muscular strength, muscular endurance, cardiovascular flexibility and weight loss. Ashtanga, or power yoga, is designed to build strength and endurance. It is an aggressive workout where you move quickly from one pose to another.

Ashtanga is for you if you're looking for a tough, physically challenging workout. Mantra Yoga involves the practice of chanting words or phrases repeatedly either aloud or internally thus influencing the consciousness. Jnana yoga is another popular type of yoga.This type of yoga generally emphasizes on mind in order to discern the mind.

The main goal of Jnana yoga is to make an effort eternally to know, to understand and to explore more and more knowledge. Kriya Yoga is a very systemised form of yoga from the Tantras. Kriya yoga increases concentration and leads to meditation and ultimately to enlightenment but this is done more through awareness than pure concentration.

Iyengar yoga is best type of yoga for beginners and for those who have not exercised at all. One can even use pillows and chairs to balance in case of lack of flexibility and if one is suffering from joint or back problems.

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