* Go to yoga class with an empty stomach. Yoga is full bending, twisting, lengthening, stretching, and strength moves. Eating a big dinner before that kind of movement could result in you cramping up or feeling nauseous and having to leave the class or not participate as fully as you’d like.

* Communicate with your yoga instructor. If you have a bad back or a sprained ankle, let your instructor know before class. She or he will offer you adjusted versions of poses or give you a nod when you should skip a pose that could make your condition worse.

* Leave your cell phones and pagers outside. Don’t just put them on silent mode, but literally keep them in the car. This is not only a favor to your classmates and their focus, but your mind should be focused only on yoga and not concerned with whether not someone is trying to contact you about work or spilled juice on the living room carpet.

* Don’t be late and don’t leave early. This disrupts the instructor’s train of thought and the concentration of others in the class. Also, you certainly won’t get everything you can out of your hour if your hour is cut to 50 minutes before you’ve even begun.

* Be respectful of others in the class. This means keeping your voice down when you talk to others and in general, keeping conversation to a minimum. Bring your own towel or yoga mat if you need to and make sure that you are clean and not wearing any perfumes or strong scents. If props are used, make sure that you put yours away when you’re finished and by all means, leave them there for the next class.

There are many of us that are benefiting from yoga practise and by using the above tips you ensure that you and everyone else around you benefits too.

To learn more about yoga try Easy Yoga Basics, it is a fantastic resource for anyone wanting to learn more and receive the many benefits yoga has to offer.  Click here to find out more about Easy Yoga Basics.

These techniques were derived from India thousands of years ago. The techniques have progressed over many years into its present form.

Tantric Yoga seeks to help the body as a whole and not just one single part of the body. You can compare this to a tree – instead of nurturing just one branch of a tree, you would want to nurture the full tree as a whole. It is only by nurturing the tree as a whole that it can flourish and grow strong. The same goes for your body, by using techniques that will benefit your body as a whole, mentally, spiritually and physically, that your body can truly flourish and grow strong and healthy.

The main goal with Tantric Yoga is to renew your spirit and mind by giving a spiritual awakening. A session will begin with meditation which aims to purify the mind. During this meditation you will visualise love and devotion and this will be directed to a body of light that is your soul.

This method of yoga is also known to benefit sexual function and stamina It really does offer quite a large number of benefits that other methods don’t. So if you are looking for something different than a basic yoga workout and want to have a physical and spiritual workout, then Tantric Yoga may be just what you are looking for.

By practising yoga regularly you will start to enjoy its benefits quite quickly and to make yoga a part of your life you will continue to enjoy good health for years to come.

To get the most benefit from yoga it is important to get those yoga positions correct.  Many of them may seem difficult at first but the more that you practise them the easier they will get.  So by putting in the effort to get the poses right then you will soon be doing it automatically.

The main poses in all the standing poses is Tadasana and if you can get this one right then you have a huge headstart on the others.  This benefit on its own gives you many benefits including helping to improve your posture.

Here are a few tips on getting the Tadasana pose right:

1. Stand and have the base of your big toes touching and have your heels slightly apart.  Slowly lift and spread your toes and the balls of your feet and then lay them down softly.  Rock yourself back and forth and side to side then slowly reduce the rocking motion until you become still and equally balanced on both feet.

2. Next, harden your thigh muscles and lift up your knee caps.  While doing this pay attention to your tummy and try not to tighten the tummy muscles. Life your inner ankles and try to picture a line of energy running up through your body.  Imagine the energy running up your inner thighs up to your groin, then up through your torso, neck and head and then out through the crown of your head.  Turm your inner thighs inward and drop your tailbone toward the floor.

3. Push your shoulders back and down and lift the top of your sternum up toward the ceiling.  Let your arms hang down by your side with your palms facing in.

4. Your head should be centred and your chin level with the floor.  Your throat should feel soft and your tongue relaxed and your eyes soft.

You are now in the ‘Tadasana’ pose and if you generally have bad posture then this pose might not feel very comfortable for you, particularly in the upper back.  But with practise, in just a few sessions you will feel much better in the pose and you will be able to do it more naturally.

By getting this yoga position right you will be on your way to performing all the standing positions well.  Remember, with practise yoga gets easier and the many benefits that it offers makes it worth learning.

To learn more about yoga visit http://easyyogabasics.com

Bikram yoga gets its roots from Hatha yoga, which helps in healting the body and mind.  It was founded by Bikram Choudhury who practised a number of exercises in his rehabilitation from an injury suffered in a weight lifting accident.  While practising these exercises he discovered that they had some healing benefits, he then shared this discovery and since then Bikram yoga has gone on to be practised by many people for its healing abilities.

There have been many people who have claimed that their ailments have reduced significantly when they have practised Bikram Yoga for a few weeks.  This yoga does need devotion and needs to be practised regularly to receive its full benefits.  Not only will Bikram yoga help to heal ailments, but when one continues to practise the poses they can maintain good health and prevent those ailments from returning.

Bikram Yoga works by replenishing the bodies cells and flushing toxins through the body.  At the same time it also oxygenates blood throughout the body helping to keep it healthy and clean.  The Bikram poses focus on stretching muscles, nerves, organs, glands, tendons and ligaments and helps to achieve optimum health.

 You can start practising Bikram yoga at any age and can enjoy the amazing benefits that it has to offer.  You are never too old to practise yoga and there are definately many health benefits for everyone to receive. 

If you are new to yoga then you may find Easy Yoga Basics very helpful in learning to understand yoga and its benefits and the beginner poses that can help improve your health.

Here are some of the yoga poses that are commonly used:

Standing Poses

First up lets take a look at standing poses.  These are actually very important poses as they help to align your body and your spine, helping to improve your balance and your posture.  By practising standing poses regularly you can help to maintain your balance and posture which will help to improve your overall health.   You would be amazed at the number of people with bad posture and they don’t even realise it, and bad posture can cause quite a number of health related problems.  Yoga will help to gently stretch and strengthen your spine and your legs and improve that posture.  

Seated poses

Seated yoga poses will help to increase the flexibility in your lower back and hips, which helps to strengthen your back and can be very beneficial for people with back problems.  As with any exercise however, if you do have a current medical condition it is best to check with your doctor before beginning any new type of exercise.  Seated poses will also help you to develop good breathing practises, enabling you to breath deeply which will give you a sense of peace and calmness.  

Forward Bends

Forward bends help to stretch your lower back and your hamstrings helping to strengthen them and increase flexibility.  The increased flexibility in your spine helps to relieve tension in your neck, shoulders and back.  Forward bends are great for releasing tension and relieving stress.

Back Bends

Back bends will open up your rib cage, chest and hips and relieve tension in the front of your body.  Back bends also increase spinal ability and strenghten arms and shoulders.  These poses are important to help care for and benefit the spine to improve and maintain health.

Balance Poses

When first starting balance poses you may find them challenging and be amazed at how hard they are.  Balance really is important to maintain good posture and a healthy spine so it is definately worth practising these poses regularly.  The more that you practise the balance poses, you will find them easier and actually quite fun.  Many older people have a lot of trouble with balance and often receive injuries as a result from falling over, this is very common as you get older and practising yoga balance poses will help to keep good balance and prevent this happening as you get older.

Conclusion

It is important to practise a range of yoga poses to receive all the benefits.  Each individual pose under each category will also have it’s own benefits.  It really is amazing the number of health benefits that yoga will give you.

To learn more about yoga visit http://easyyogabasics.com

Teaching your children yoga can help them to deal with lifes pressures, both now and also gives them some great techniques to deal with the challenges that they will face in life as they get older.  Yoga can help boost a childs self esteem while also teaching them methods of relaxation.  These skills can benfit them in life and help them to develop cooperation and compassion.

The physical benefits of children practising yoga are also very great as it improves strength and coordination and also flexibility.  This in turn can also improve their concentration levels and their sense of calmness and relaxation.

Children are generally much more flexible than adults because as we get older we stop using many muscles and they lose their flexibility.  If children can learn yoga at a young age it will help them to keep their flexibility which will aid their health as they mature.

Not only will children experiene the many benefits that yoga offers but they will find it fun to do.  Instructors will often teach children yoga by playing and imitating animals and plants to reach certain yoga poses.  This helps to nourish a child’s natural creative talents and makes yoga classes fun and effective.

Kids love to talk and love to be on the move, many kids find it hard to stay still for too long a period of time.  So making yoga fun and exciting will keep their attention and although yoga is often practised for relaxation, there are many poses where kids can play the role of various animals and can include animal sounds in their role play.  Allowing children to let go and roar like a lion or bark like a dog will help to improve their self esteem as well as keep them interested and excited in their yoga classes.

By teaching children yoga in this interactive and fun way they will enjoy the benefits of flexibility, balance, focus, peace, health and well-being and they will have the foundations for a life long healthy practise of yoga.

1. A Yoga Mat

A yoga mat is THE MOST IMPORTANT piece of equipment for practising yoga and they will come in various sizes and prices.  Once of the most popular yoga mats is they ’sticky mat’ which is very popular because it grips the floor and prevents you from sliding out of your poses, which enables you to gain proper balance and have good safety.  A yoga mat is a MUST for practising yoga.

2. A Yoga Bag

The problem with a yoga mat is transporting it.  Yoga mats are rolled up when not in use, but as you can imagine they will often become unrolled.  So when you are getting in and out the car and walking into the yoga class venue, you don’t want to be fumbling around with an unravelling mat. There are quite a few different bags on the market specifically designed to hold your yoga mat and keep it all in place.  Many bags will often have other pouches for carrying your phone, purse or water bottle.

3. Yoga Blocks

Yoga blocks or foam wedges are used in certain poses during yoga.  They are often used to increase your reach and improve your form.  Although yoga blocks are not 100% essential for practising yoga, they are a great addition to your yoga supplies and will benefit you when you are practising yoga.

Remember when searching for yoga accessories, that style is important, but comfort, safety and practical are more important so that you will have good quality acessories that will last you a long time.

The most widely practised form of yoga is Asana yoga, which helps the mind and body to relax and to become balanced.  Asana yoga helps gain physical strength, flexibilty and stamina.

Then there is Hatha yoga which is an energy type of yoga, opening the channels of the body to enable energy to flow freely.  Hatha yoga also helps to align bones, muscles and skin.

Becaues yoga focuses both on physical exercise as well as calming the mind, practising it on a regular basis helps a persons mental and psychological well-being as well as their physical well-being.

Practising yoga on a regular basis helps to calm the mind giving a sense of inner peace and balance.  Yoga is a fantastic way to get in and at the same time strengthen your mind and body.  It is also a great way to unwind after a long and stressful day.

Click Here to start your 3 week online Yoga course

Yoga has become increasingly popular over recent years and is in fact one of the safest and most beneficial exercises that you can do.  Here are five facts about Yoga that you may not know:

• Yoga started in the Eastern country as a type of meditative discipline.  However, these days Yoga is often practised in the Western countries as a more physical type of exercise.  Western society mainly practises Hatha Yoga which focuses more on physical movements.
• You don’t have to be practising Yoga every single day in order to gain the benefits from it.  Even if you can fit in three or four sessions a week you will enjoy the benfits of Yoga.  Obviously, the more Yoga that you do the more you will benefit, but even a couple of sessions a week will offer benefits to your health.
• Many think that Yoga is mainly for women as much of the advertising for Yoga is of women performing the exercises.  Yoga is just as beneficial for men as it is for women. Men, women and children will benefit from regular practise of Yoga.
• Yoga is very beneficial for women that are pregnant.  It is recommended for a woman during pregnancy to practise Yoga under the guidance of a trained Yoga teacher.  As long as Yoga is adapted to pregnancy then it is actually one of the safest exercises for a pregnant woman.
• Yoga goes back over 5000 years and is one of the oldest forms of physical and mental exercise.  People have practised yoga for many years to help balance their body and mind.

To increase your health and keep your body and mind in balance, start practising yoga today.  You will soon begin to enjoy the many benefits that yoga has to offer.

Click Here to start your 3 week online Yoga course ]]> http://easyyogabasics.com/five-amazing-yoga-facts/feed/ 0 http://easyyogabasics.com/what-is-yoga/ http://easyyogabasics.com/what-is-yoga/#comments Thu, 20 Nov 2008 01:11:42 +0000 Admin http://yojo-yoga.com/?p=7 If you have never tried yoga but seen others do it, then you may be a bit hesitant to do it.  People who have practised yoga for a long time do become quite flexible and the thought that you would not be flexible enough to do those positions may turn you off giving it a go.

Don’t let looks deceive you though, as yoga is really quite basic and in some countries it is quite ‘ordinary’.  You don’t need to be performing the poses perfectly, you just need to start off slowly and soon your body will become healthier and more flexible and those poses will become easier to do.

The word ‘yoga’ means ‘to yoke, bind, join, or direct one’s attention’.  Yoga can also imply some concepts such as fusion, union and discipline.  Yoga leads to inner and outer union, harmony and joy and basically it taps into one’s inner potential for peace and happiness.

The Essence Of Yoga

According to yogic science and philosophy, a human being is a fragment of an enourmous universe.  When this human being learns to live in harmony with this vastness, then that person attains union with something bigger than themself.

This union with something bigger than one’s self allows one to walk the true path of happiness.

The practise of yoga helps your body, mind and soul to grow and work together.  Yoga teaches you to be awake and mindful of your actions.