Hatha Or Ashtanga Yoga – Is One Better Than The Other

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Yoga is a very ancient form of exercise that has come into vogue these years because increasing numbers of people are realizing that it is a very powerful tool to beat stress and to sustain health. Yoga is also very effective at regularizing various processes of the body and also at delaying the onset of aging. There are various types of Yoga that you could practice and they all have very different emphasis and therefore different effects on the body. In case you have to choose between Hatha Yoga and Ashtanga Yoga, you do have to know more about each type of Yoga before you proceed.

Hatha Yoga dates back to the 15th century and it is this type of Yoga that is most familiar to people in the United States as regular Yoga. Yoga consists of lots of asanas or positions that a person has to follow in addition to doing regulated breathing exercises. The combined use of stretching and breathing control exercises is crucial to regulate blood circulation and metabolism, and this in turn helps you to control high blood pressure and diabetes.

Hatha Yoga places a lot of emphasis on spiritual development in addition to maintaining the health of the body . It is a very sedate form of Yoga that involves a lot of Yoga meditation and spirituality. It is not uncommon to hear Hindu devotional music in the Yoga classes while you practice the asanas, and there is usually some time apart for chanting in Sanskrit. I prompt search of your local suburb in Google should give you some better options – here is a site I have used to find out some more great info Yoga Sydney

IIf getting fit whilst doing the Yoga classes is very important , then Hatha Yoga is unquestionably not what you should be practicing. The kind of Yoga that Hollywood stars and other celebrities practice is Ashtanga Yoga. This is a variation of Hatha Yoga that uses pretty much the same asanas, but it is done with more pace , and there is no or very little emphasis on spirituality. Ashtanga means eight limbed, and the term is easy to understand given that this type of Yoga is to be done in a progressive sequence of asanas unlike in Hatha Yoga where you have to wait after finishing one asana before starting another one.

Ashtanga Yoga is a very acute form of exercise, and you have to synchronize your breathing with each movement in order to increase the level of physical workout. This form of exercise is very physically demanding and this is a very effective way of toning your body and losing weight .

Each different type of Yoga has its specific functions and you can’t really say one is better than the other . In case you have never tried Yoga before, it would be best to start with Hatha Yoga. Once you get the hang of it you can try out Ashtanga Yoga courses to tone your body. You could also go on Yoga retreats occasionally in order to give yourself a wellness holiday. It is considered to be best for you if you can practice various types of Yoga in order to get the maximal benefit from it.

Yoga Program

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Yoga Styles: Guide to the Most Popular Types
The image of yoga has changed during the past years. If once, the first picture that popped your mind was of a group of white wearing weirdoes standing on their heads and breathing loudly, now you are probably thinking about Madonna’s well shaped arms. Currently, yoga is one of the most popular fitness activities worldwide. One of its appeal is that it can be practiced by elders and it can improve the overall physical fitness of athletes.

If you want to start practicing yoga, here is a quick guide to the basic types of yoga. While most of them are based on the same ancient postures, each yoga style has a different focus. Some of the yoga styles focus on strengthening the body while others focus on flexibility. Other types of yoga focus mainly on breathing, relaxation, and meditation.

Most of the yoga styles that were adopted in the west, were derived from the Hatha Yoga, which is a general term that refers to the physical branches of the ancient Indian philosophy. The purpose of the traditional Hatha Yoga was to achieve balance between mind and body through moral discipline and physical exercises, which are expressed by a series of asana: postures, panorama: breathing and meditation.

Western culture adopted mainly the physical aspects of the Hatha Yoga and ignored the moral aspects, usually even the breathing and meditations aspects. All the yoga styles that were derived from the Hatha Yoga share the same basic principle that mental balance can be achieved through practice of physical exercises and postures. Each yoga style chooses to focus on different aspect.

Ashtanga Yoga:
This focuses on the flow of postures in order to improve strength, stamina and flexibility of the body. During a Asthanga Yoga class, the participants jump from one posture to another. Therefore, this type of yoga is not the ideal for beginners. People who are not well fit may find it too difficult and demanding. However, if you are interested in improving your strength, flexibility and stamina and you are fit enough to deal with an hour of jumping from one posture to another, Asthanga Yoga can suit you.

Power Yoga:
This is an American development of the Asthanga Yoga that also adopted several elements from other types of yoga styles. You can find Power Yoga classes mainly in fitness and health clubs. Power Yoga focuses on strengthening the body by performing Hatha Yoga postures for a longer time to improve both physical flexibility and mental focus. Power Yoga can be a good exercise for athletes, people who practice types of fitness activities and people who want to tone their body.

Bikram Yoga:
A Bikram Yoga class features a series of 26 Hatha Yoga postures practiced in a heated room. It is also known as Hot Yoga. The purpose of the heat is to allow the participants to get into each of the yoga poses in a deeper and safer manner. The heat also helps clean the body from toxins promoting sweating. Bikram Yoga focuses more on the workout of the entire body, including the internal organs and less on flexibility. Bikram Yoga is not recommended to pregnant women and people who suffer from high blood pressure and heart conditions, but it can improve the physical fitness of people who recover from injuries.

Iyengar Yoga:
This focuses on the physical alignment of the body and the accurate performance of each posture. Some of the Iyengar Yoga postures are practiced with the assistance of props such as blocks and belts that are designed to help the participants achieve the most accurate posture and to protect their bodies from injuries. Since the flows between postures are not practiced, Iyengar Yoga classes are less intense and therefore more suitable for people who are less fit. Iyengar Yoga improves body strength and flexibility and can fit people of any age and every physical condition.

Yoga Has A Long History In America

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It might surprise many people to learn that yoga has a long history in the United States. For a lot of Americans, their knowledge of yoga may only date back to the 1960s, when the concepts of spiritualism and meditation were embraced by the countrys counterculture.

But it may surprise some people to learn that yoga in the U.S. has a history that dates back to the late 1800s.

In 1883, Swami Vivekananda made an appearance at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago where he greeted his sisters and brothers of America, a salutation that brought a standing ovation from the large audience in attendance. His idea that all of the religions of the world are merely separate parts of a larger religion was a new concept to those hearing him speak about the mind, body and spirit.

Swami Vivekananda was followed by Yogendra Mastamani, also from India, who arrived in the U.S. and settled on Long Island, N.Y. in 1919 and established the American version of Kaivalyadhama, an Indian organization that made major strides in the scientific exploration of yoga. Mastamani introduced Hatha Yoga to the United States.

One year later, one of the most popular yogis of all time, Paramahansa Yogananda, arrived in Boston to introduce kriya yoga to the U.S. He created the Self-Realization Fellowship, which now has its headquarters in Los Angeles. Yogananda also wrote the world-famous best seller, “Autobiography of a Yogi”, a book that is still an inspirational resource for many yoga instructors and students.

In the 1930s, Jiddu Krishnamurti brought the yogi to new level of awareness in the U.S. thanks to this popular, eloquent speeches on Jnana-Yoga yoga, which is the yoga of discernment. His talks earned him the admiration of a number of celebrities of the time, such as writers Aldous Huxley and George Bernard Shaw and actors Charlie Chaplin and Greta Garbo.

In 1924, the U.S. imposed a restriction on the number of Indians it would allow to move to the U.S., meaning students who sought the teachings of yogis had to travel to India. One of these students was Theos Bernard, who traveled to India and came back in 1947 to write the book “Hatha Yoga: The Report of a Personal Experience”, an influential book which is still widely today.

The same year that Bernard penned his examination of Hatha Yoga, Russian-born yogi Indra Devi opened one of the first Hatha Yoga studios in Hollywood and earned the title First Lady of Yoga. Devi was admired by housewives across the U.S., as well as Hollywood stars such as Gloria Swanson, Jennifer Jones and Robert Ryan. Devi died in her home in Buenos Ares in 2002.

But the man who is generally credited with introducing yoga to middle America is not even a native of India. Richard Hittleman, who studied in India for a number of years and returned to the States in 1950 to become a yoga instructor in New York, introduced a non-spiritual-based yoga to the United States and forever changed the way yoga was thought of and taught in America. It was Hittleman who placed emphasis on the physical side of yoga, letting a Western audience focus on the bodily aspects of yoga and not just the mind. Hittleman’s goal was to teach American students to gradually embrace the spiritual side of yoga, which many people have.

As Hittleman worked to expand yoga on the East, Walt and Magana Baptiste were working to increase yoga’s scope on the West Coast when they open a studio in San Francisco in the 1950s. Both of the Baptistes were students of Yogananda and Walt brought the influence of Vivekananda to the practice, creating an entirely new approach to yoga. Their yoga influence is being continued by their daughter and son, Sherri and Baron.

Elsewhere in San Francisco, Swami Vishu-devananda immigrated from India in 1958 and created “The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga” with famed artist and designer Peter Max. The book has become a go-to manual for yoga instructors and students. Vishu-devananga would later go on to create the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta yoga centers, which has become one of most prominent yoga school franchises in the entire world.

When the counterculture began to take hold in the 1960s, the idea of yoga and its emotional effects caught the interest of many people, and one of the most famous groups to explore the meditative possibilities of yoga were The Beatles, whose relationship with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was famous around the world. He created the Transcendental Meditation school of yoga that today employs more than 40,000 instructors and approximately 4 million followers worldwide.

In the late ’60s, Professor Richard Albert of Harvard took a journey into India and came back with the name Ram Dass and gave talks to college students around the nation in support of his blockbuster book “Be Here Now”, which set thousands of young people on a journey of discovery through yoga. The book continues to be source of inspiration for many people in their quest for spirituality through yoga.

In the 1970s, yoga continued to grow as studios began popping up all over the nation. The Mount Madonna yoga school, founded by Baba Hari Dass, gave residential yoga to the inhabitants of Santa Cruz, California. Shrila Prabhubada began the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, which led to the international spiritual study of Bhakti Yoga. Ashtanga-vinyasa Yoga was brought to the U.S. by Pattabhi Jois in the mid ’70s and made yoga popular with new groups of people. Swami Satchitananda was probably the most famous non-musician to appear at Woodstock. Swami Sivananda Radha is the female yogi credited with first investigating the link between the spirituality and psychology of yoga. And the teachings of Swamii Chidananda, who himself was a student of yoga master Swami Sivananda, were delivered to the world by one of his former students, instructor Liliias Folan through her landmark PBS television series “Lilias, Yoga and You” which aired on the network from 1970 to 1979 and made yoga available in every home in the U.S.

Yoga has continued its influence across America with classes and studios in cities all over, from the smallest town to the major metro areas. In addition, the advent of digital media, including CDs, DVDs and streaming Internet video, yoga can go anywhere, further giving it a foothold in the United States.

Yoga An Effective Tool To Develop Psychic Abilities

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In order to develop your psychic ability, you need to have a greater level of consciousness which could be attained mainly by practicing Yoga. It is an Indian traditional form of breathing meditation by which one can awaken the seven chakras in the body. A person continuously practicing yoga will definitely know how to develop psychic abilities in him. Certain people are born with these psychic powers but some people need to recognize and develop them in due course through various practices. Once you start to practice these methods regularly, you will be able to understand a persons thoughts without verbal communication or sig languages.

Constant practice of yoga assists an individual to keenly concentrate on the spiritual part of his mind. Yoga awakens the Kundalini power and taps the potentiality of spiritualism. It is a form of exercise that assists a person in the transformation of his conscious mind. Thus, the individual would be able to get the difference between his physical body and his soul or spirit. In order to nourish the psychic abilities of a person, there are five major branches of yoga which are the Raja Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Sankya Yoga and the Karma Yoga. These types of yogas help a person to strengthen his psychic abilities.

Meditation along with yoga helps a person to sharpen his inner true power of psychic ability. With regular practice and much patience and guidance, one can easily achieve these powers. Yoga not only is an exercise but also helps in healing our mind from negative thoughts and feelings. By practicing yoga, you completely focus and take control of your mind and can also speak with your sub conscious mind. The breathing pattern practiced in yoga increases the energy level of your body and also changes the waves in the brain.

The foremost thing you need to do is trust yourself and your talents which is very essential for developing your psychic abilities. When practicing yoga or meditation, try to calm your mind and focus on the breathing. Pay more concentration to your sub conscious mind and try to develop your intuitive feeling by listening or imagining. Think of positive things and trash out the negative feelings or beliefs that have been worrying your mind so far. Apart from clearing your mind, you should also take care of your body with proper diet and exercise.

When you start to practice yoga for at least twice a day, you will be able to easily communicate with your sub conscious mind to make it open to the psychic energy. This would speed up the development of the psychic abilities in a person if you are genuinely committed. Once you get into the psychic living, then a healthy lifestyle is assured. It would result in good link between the sub conscious and the conscious min and also intensifies your faith and confidence towards life. Thus, by practicing yoga, one can achieve the super natural powers of psychic energy.

Where Did Yoga Come From

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Today’s society is much faster paced that ever before. People have more stress problems which lead to more health problems, mental and physical. There are more concerns with toxicity in the food we eat and the air we breathe. Millions of Americans today live a sedentary lifestyle, which is associated with obesity. The body, the cavities of our soul, was not meant to deteriorate in such a way that leads to disease. Yoga was developed over 5,000 years ago in India and it included spiritual beliefs, physical techniques, and scholarly philosophy.

There is a growing trend to practicing Yoga for many different reasons, which include attaining the yoga body or physique, relaxation and peace of mind, or to prevent injury and ailments. Americans mainly practice Hatha Yoga, which focuses on postures and stretching the body.

Yoga, which is derived from the sacred Sanskrit language of India, meaning *union* or *to yoke or harness*. Yoga is a way or path to transcendence and liberation from the self and the ego by purifying the mind and body. Practicing yoga leads to a union with the mind and body or the individual and universal consciousness. In other words, yoga is the union with the Individual Self and the Universal Self. Yoga predates all other religions and has influenced and inspired many other traditions and philosophies. Yoga is better understood as a union of the physical, physiological, mental, emotional, and intellectual bodies, which leads to a purposeful and balanced life.

There is simply no other discipline quite like yoga because it utilized the body, mind and spirit, all in one practice. Yoga is indeed a spiritual path that is based on ancient sacred philosophy, but one does not need to make an ethical decision when practicing yoga, rather finding your own path is wholly accepted. The holistic benefits of yoga are suitable for the young or old, sick or well, with any religious background. The secrets of yoga are inwardness, concentration, and purification of mind and body with cleansing thoughts and food. Indian philosophy states that within man is the spirit that is the center of everything. *Internal equilibrium is the basis and the ground for the higher illumination,* The cultural Heritage of India (Vol. I) – published by The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Kolkata, India