...The word "Yoga" has been derived from the Sanskrit language and originated in ancient India. Yoga is the union of the body, mind and spirit. The moral and mental union leads to good health and longevity of life. The power of Yoga if practiced seriously leads to positive and perennial happiness and peace.

The benefits of yoga are many. It is extremely effective in increasing flexibility. Yoga positions or asanas, work the various joints of the body including those that are never really used or exercised. It also increases lubrication of the joints, ligaments and tendons. Many of the unrelated non-strenuous yoga positions act upon certain parts of the body in an interrelated manner. When the asanas are practiced together, they work in harmony to create a situation where flexibility is attained relatively easily.

Yoga is the only form of activity which massag...more

Yoga's Influence on Stress

... in the process. Yoga also stretches the body, providing a masseuse for internal organs, and creating a sense of peace from the inside out.

In addition, Yoga can sharpen concentration, increase body awareness, and relieve muscle strain, all of which can be factors of stress. It teaches people how to focus on relaxing, instead of focusing on the stress and worry usually at the center of the human attention span.

These factors all work together to temporarily remove people from obsessing about the "to-do" list of life; yoga practice gives people a reprieve and a sense of control. Through breathing techniques, people learn to stay calm, building up a stronger, natural response to stress and a more relaxed sense of being.

Another way Yoga fights stress is through the exercise of Mindfulness. Mindfulness is the practice where a person focuses on his or her thoughts in the present moment, objectively concentrating on every movement of the body and every idea and notion of the mind. In sum, Mindfulness is a specific method of paying attention, teaching people to peer deeply inside th...more

Ashtanga Yoga

...

Ashtanga Yoga means "eight limbed yoga" which is designed to cleanse the body and the mind. There are eight spiritual practices of ashtanga Yoga and they are Yama, niyama, asana, prananyama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and Samadhi. All of these mean something spiritual. Yama means moral codes, niyama means self purification, pranayama means to have breath control, pratyahara means sense of control, dharana means concentration, dhyana means meditation and Samadhi means c...more

Karmic Yoga and the Necessary Mindset

..., and justify it with the fact that they are poor. They need that color television of that camcorder. Their poverty can become an excuse for despicable behavior like spousal abuse, child abuse, sexual abuse, and more and more despicable things. You can often even find them abusing each other. What do you do when your confronted with this?

When you meet a person who has done things so terrible, and continues to do things so terrible that they deserve to be put to death, what do you do? Where does the touchy feely idea of Karmic Yoga and charity go then, out the window? Do you pack up your bags and give up on social justice work and service, realizing that what all your rich friends or middle class friends said are right? What do you do? The truth is that Karmic Yoga, like any type of Yoga or spirituality, is not easy. At times it gets downright ugly.

During the worse of times when you meet that horrible person that is unlovable, or when that thief steals your camcorder, or when you find out that people have been coming to your food pantry, getting food and t...more

Beginner Yoga Dvd Set