Friday, August 8, 2008
Learning To Love The Yoga We All Hate
...Listen in to conversations after any yoga session, and were almost guaranteed to hear someone discussing this or that yoga pose that they hate and wish they never need to do again ever.
But why is it that there are certain yoga poses that we just dread? We can feel them coming, and start to hope the instructor isnt going to do it this time. Then we inwardly cringe when the instructor even mentions that postures name. Simply recognising our reaction and can tell us a great deal not only about our physical abilities but also a great deal about our character and our approach to difficulties, adversity and failure. We should all observe our approach to the poses we hate. Is our approach to put in little effort and avoid doing the pose properly or try to think more about why we dislike it, to figure out if were doing it wrong, or if we need to put in a little more effort to get past this challenge.
Whatever our approach to the poses we dislike, simply identifying which specific poses these are can tell us a lot about how to improve our practice.
It hurts too much I dont want to do it.
For most of us at least, the resistance to the pose doesnt really have anything to do with the technicalities of the pose its just about ourselves. The biggest resistance to trying a pose is because we know its going to hurt and challenge us. Some of the most dreaded poses are those that require back muscle strength, since these are some of our leas...more
yoga Dance Based Butt Exercise For The Ideal Female Body Shape
... The exercise and body gadget market place is brimming with possibilities to help your body image goals. Consider a body contouring "hybrid" workout option like yoga booty ballet which will have you moving between:
* yoga postures that increase your muscle tone and flexibility
* Meditation to quiet your mind and to regain focus on yourself
* Ballet to produce stretching and balance and strength
* Dance to push your pulse, burn more calories, especially from body fat reserves
* Strength moves that challenge your muscles and create stronger bones
Traditional yoga For Balancing Movement And Mind While You Lose Body Fat. For novices, yoga movements re-orient your mind-body balance. Elemental yoga positions such as Downward Facing Dog, Sun Salutation, plank position, Child Pose,...more
Teaching Hatha yoga: Religion and Western Culture
...When you teach Hatha yoga, you are asked many questions. Although public awareness of yoga, and its teachings, has increased, many people are just discovering some of the benefits within the many styles of yoga. Therefore, you have to be prepared for the unexpected questions that arise about the mysteries of yoga.
Once in a while, the question of religion does come up. Many times, yoga teachers are asked if they are a Hindu, Sikh, or Buddhist. To the publics amazement, many Yoga teachers come from all of the major religions in the world. There is no single religion that all Yoga teachers participate in.
How can this be? Some Gurus preach that Yoga should be founded within a particular religion. Some Yoga teachers read the Rig Veda, Bhagavad Gita, and speak Sanskrit words, so they must be covertly teaching Hinduis...more
Realistic Expectations for Chair Yoga Students
... right away and your spine will thank you for it.
Proper breathing helps us deal with stress and oxygenates the blood faster than the more common shallow breath. In many cases deeper breathing will improve high blood pressure. This is not a guarantee, but deeper breathing has a calming effect on the mind and body.
Lastly, the many benefits of learning to relax or meditate are so plentiful that books have been written on the subject. A calm mind leads to a calm body and Yoga will allow you to make friends with your body again.
So, if you have a multitude of good expectations about taking a Chair Yoga class, you wont be disappointed.<...more
