Benefits And Importance Of Ashtanga Namaskar - Part II

As we must have learnt that this is a very elaborate pose and one article would not be able to suffice the integral issues it happens to help us deal with. The 12 poses of Ashtanga Namaskar is very crucial as each and every asana has to be done in a very specific manner which helps to create its usefulness to your body

These are the six pose we will try to know about 

1. Pranamasana (prayer pose)

Normal Breathing - Om Mitraaya Namaha 

Benefits: Many of your waist and skin problems would be rectified by doing this asana as it adds passion and vigor to your pose which also helps your legs. Mind achieves control due to the standing pose. It helps in developing distinct personality due to the meditation techniques. Calmness surrounds you which will grant you that level of balance within yourself.

2. Hasta Uttanasana (Arch your back)

Inhale-Om Ravaye Namaha

Benefits: This Arch back position helps in your digestion due to the toning of the abdominal organs. In the abdominal organs it tones the lungs as well as the spinal nerves. This is very good for people who are overweight as it helps in reducing that excess baggage you happen to carry everyday. 

3. Pada Hastasana (Toe touch)

Exhale - Om Suryaaya Namaha 

Benefits: If you are suffering from any abdominal problems this is one of the best ways to escape from it. It is a very simple solution to such a problem. It also helps you to remain flexible as it helps to tone your body because it makes your spine supple helping your back get toned properly too. Any problems with your feet and fingers are also corrected. 

4. Ashwa-sanchalan-asan - (Horse pose)

Inhale -Om Bhaanve Namaha

Benefits: The process of this pose helps in stretching each and every muscle of your body which helps in the proper functioning of your body. Problems like constipation can also be resolved. As there is stretch on the neck muscles it helps with your thyroid glands. 

5. Parvatasana - (Downward facing dog pose or Mountain pose)

Exhale -Om khagaaya Namaha

Benefits: This asana helps in creating a strong set of arms and shoulders. The muscles are also strengthened which in return tones the spinal nerves for a flexible back. In the modern times you will find more and more obese people interested in learning yoga. This asana is good to reduce your bulging waist line, which tends to be the main problem for many. 

6. Ashtanga Namaskar - (Push-up pose)

Hold breath -Om Pooshney Namaha

Benefits: This pose is known as the salute to the sun with eight parts of your body. Your hands, legs, chest and feet work in synchronization to provide the actual benefit for your body. It helps in developing your chest muscles as it is also known as the push-up pose.

Benefits And Importance Of Ashtanga Namaskar - Part I

This asana is also known as Surya Namaskar Asana or Sun Salutation Asana. It is a combination of 12 postures and each posture provides its unique benefits. The essence of this asana is salutation of the Sun god, which is power source of all the energy in this world. So in process to salute the sun god it also helps our body. This asana becomes very important due to the valuable part it plays with our lives. The composition of these poses in its own different way helps in crea...

This asana is also known as Surya Namaskar Asana or Sun Salutation Asana. It is a combination of 12 postures and each posture provides its unique benefits. The essence of this asana is salutation of the Sun god, which is power source of all the energy in this world. So in process to salute the sun god it also helps our body. This asana becomes very important due to the valuable part it plays with our lives. The composition of these poses in its own different way helps in creating a fit and fine body for you.

In a gym, a cardio would include aerobics, skipping, and running, jogging and cycling. By doing Ashtanga Namaskar you will be able to derive all the benefits you try to obtain by going to the gym. When you look at the flipside gym would turn out to be more expensive in comparison to your yoga pose. 

It readily flexes your body by providing one of the greatest massages to your each and every curve in your body. In the process of internal massaging it also works out externally. Your body becomes the incubation ground for generating power source to your body. It also helps in the purification process of your body. 

It becomes very beneficial to the heart and as it tones it immensely to help the cardiac muscles and arteries. Every step of this asana turns out to be one beautiful gift for your body. The synchronized way of breathing helps you to push out those toxins which are harmful for your body. The 12 poses have to be done in a specific manner. It includes a process of inhaling and exhaling which has to be followed strictly. Along with the poses you can chant some of the Mantras which may help to create synergy in your body.

The meditating mind creates awareness about the existence of the world. Your mind overflows with confidence which you be lacking for a very long time. The mind and body works together to help your soul to lighten up, which is very easily shown on your radiating face. 

This exercise is not only about being physically fit but about creating an understanding about the inner chakras. It is the concentration level which helps this pose to attain its success. The particular mantra which is chanted along with the pose helps in creating that sense of concentration. 

This is an elaborate asana and doing this would need lot of practice. So people who have good stamina, with no health problems like blood pressure, heart disease, hernia, intestinal tuberculosis and many other problems can do this pose. So anyone attempting the asana should consult your doctor and your yoga instructor.

Benefits And Importance Of Adho Mukha Vrksasana

Vrksasana is a tree pose which means you are standing with your hand raised towards the sky. Adho Mukha Vrksasana can be termed as a tilted tree pose where in your hands are supporting the entire body weight. This asana when done by beginners has to be done very carefully as balancing yourself on your hand cannot be that easy.

To make it easier it would be better for you to take support of a wall, helping you to overcome your fear of falling while doing this asana. There a...

Vrksasana is a tree pose which means you are standing with your hand raised towards the sky. Adho Mukha Vrksasana can be termed as a tilted tree pose where in your hands are supporting the entire body weight. This asana when done by beginners has to be done very carefully as balancing yourself on your hand cannot be that easy.

To make it easier it would be better for you to take support of a wall, helping you to overcome your fear of falling while doing this asana. There are many benefits for doing this asana as this helps in strengthening every part of your body helping you to create a more stable and calm body. Your shoulders and arms get stretched and in that process all the bones in your body also gets a good massage. Practicing this asana along with some teacher or friend would help you to do this asana without much hassle.

Even though this asana is very difficult but once you master it, the benefits you reap from this asana would be of great help. It can help each and every part of your body making them fit and fine for a better and healthier life. While doing this asana in the beginning you can use a padding which would support your handstand. Your hands won't feel the direct coldness from the floor and would help in doing the asana properly. This stabilizes your pose and avoids the strain.

You can also change your hand position to improve your handstand. You can keep your hands either outward which will also be a key ingredient to help you. Use of props and by modifying this asana you can get full benefits without creating too much strain on yourself. 

There is fresh supply of blood due to this tilted pose. It stretched your arms, muscles, shoulder and wrists making it more flexible and agile. This asana tests your strength and also at the same time helps in increasing your stamina. This balancing act helps you remain calm and cool due to the stability it provides. A sense of balance is achieved in your mind as well as your soul. There is a calming effect overall in your mind which helps the brain to relax.

You should take extra care of your back and shoulders while doing this asana. There are chances of neck injury and other problems if it is not done properly. Your spine, lungs and pituitary glands are also benefited in this process. With the straight back your spine also gets straightened which helps immensely in the long run.

Five Fantastic Ways To Get Rid Of Stress

Feeling overburdened and tired are sure signs of stress. Stress can also show when your body begins to drag by with a lot of pains and aches. This is attributed to the fact that you may be overworked. It is very dangerous to have stress and do nothing about it. With time, stress can translate into something bigger like depression. It can even result into high blood pressure. This is why you should deal with it immediately you fall victim to it.

How to handle stressful situations

Do not allow yourself to be victimized by stressful situations. After a while, the buildups will cause you to explode and it will not be a pretty sight. When stress builds up, it leaves someone feeling grumpy and easily irritable. To prevent this, you have to be able to stop the stress when it first resents itself. If you are wondering how you can drive away stress, here are a couple of simple ideas that you can use;

1. Disengage

When you are immediately faced with a stressful situation, detach yourself from it. You could walk away or ask to leave. If you were in a meeting, come up with an important excuse and leave even if just for a few minutes so you can cool down.

2. Music

Listening to music can help you get rid of all the tension building up in your head. Music normally acts like a distraction and will shift your thought process. You will also find the beats of the song and particular words very applicable to your life.

3. Let it out

Find someone close to you and talk your stress out. Make sure that this is someone who has you best interest at heart and is close to you. Not only will your confidant be able to help you release your tension, they can also give you advice.

4. Take a break

Stop doing what you normally do and take a break. You can go for spa treatment or go do some yoga. Once you allow yourself to be in the hands of a qualified instructor who has gone through the best yoga teacher training, you can rest assured that you will feel relaxed in no time.

5. Sleep

Even after taking some time off to visit a yoga paradise, you need to get your entire body may be a little tense. This is why you need some shuteye. Your body must be allowed to rest so that it can release stress. Sleeping is the best way to relax your body and mind.

Benefit of Yoga Part I

Yoga has many benefits for natural health that can have a profound effect on your mind, body and spirit.  You may be surprised by  the multitude of ailments that can be remedied by including Yoga into your daily life.

The practice of Yoga brings with it many physical and emotional benefits that the majority of people are unaware of. This article is quite long, so we have broken it up into two parts.  The first part is an introduction to Yoga and a overview of the major physical and psychological benefits of Yoga, while the second part shows how practicing yoga daily can have a profound effect on your ability to create a healthy lifestyle for yourself. 

Yoga is a science; and indeed, in many places in the world (such as India), it is referred to as a science. This is not merely playing with words; it truly is approached as a science, which means that it is understood in terms of scientific methods. 

Yogic science seeks to verify cause and effect, and build principles based upon objective observations. Indeed, in many places in the world, to be a yogic master of any credibility, one must be highly educated in the sciences, including physics and the biological sciences. 

This discussion on yoga as science is important for us to include because it allows us to sensibly ask the question: what are the benefits of yoga? After all, if yoga is a faith or a belief, then asking this question isn't fair; because it's one that yoga cannot answer in terms that we can objectively understand. 

Yoga is a science; as empirical and pragmatic as kinesiology, or exercise science, which seeks to understand how the body acts and reacts to changes in the internal physical environment. And even more simply than any of this: each of us has a right to ask the basic question, "why should I bother practicing yoga and what experience or benefits can I expect?"

Indeed, while the experience of yoga cannot be reduced to words – just as reading a book on preparing for a marathon isn't going to actually physically prepare you to run a marathon – the goals and principles of yoga can easily be discussed. 

Here's the Mayo Clinic's take on the benefits of meditation: 

"Meditation is used by people who are perfectly healthy as a means of stress reduction. But if you have a medical condition that's worsened by stress, you might find the practice valuable in reducing the stress-related effects of allergies, asthma, chronic pain and arthritis, among others."

Yoga involves a series of postures, during which you pay special attention to your breathing — exhaling during certain movements and inhaling with others. You can approach yoga as a way to promote physical flexibility, strength and endurance or as a way to enhance your spirituality. 

The Mind-Body Connection 

Yoga is centered on the mind-body connection. This mind-body harmony is achieved through three things: 

- postures (asanas)

- proper breathing (pranayama)

- meditation

Mind and body draw inspiration and guidance from the combined practices of asanas, breathing, and meditation. As people age (to yogis, ageing is an artificial condition), our bodies become susceptible to toxins and poisons (caused by environmental and poor dietary factors). 

Yoga helps us through a cleaning process, turning our bodies into a well synchronized and well-oiled piece of machinery.

Physical Benefits 

By harmonizing these three principles, the benefits of yoga are attained. And just what are these benefits? 

- equilibrium in the body’s central nervous system

- decrease in pulse

- respiratory and blood pressure rates

- cardiovascular efficiency

- gastrointestinal system stabilization

- increased breath-holding time

- improved dexterity skills.

- Improved balance

- Improved depth perception

- Improved memory

Psychological Benefits 

As noted above, Yoga also delivers an array of psychological benefits; and in fact, this is a very common reason why people begin practicing it in the first place. Perhaps the most frequently mentioned psychological benefit of yoga is an improved ability to manage stress. Yoga diminishes an individual’s levels of anxiety, depression, and lethargy; thus enabling him/her to focus on what’s spiritual and important: achieving balance and happiness. 

In part II of the Benefit of Yoga we'll reveal how yoga can help deal with stress, unhealthy habits and pain management.  The benefits of Yoga go far beyond meditation and stretching, it is a way to release those toxic emotions that tend to stand in the way of living a healthy life.

Benefit of Yoga - The Christian Viewpoint

The Christian viewpoint is thus - if one opens the mind to clearer thinking and inner vision, they open the spirit to demonic possession.  It is felt that Yoga practice borders on occultism, and that opening one's mind and spirit to the benefit of yoga is both dangerous and against everything Christianity preaches.

The benefit of yoga is twofold - increased health and unification of the spirit with the body.  It is accomplished through the use of many different aspects, but mainly through the combination of Asanas, or postures, and breathing/meditation practices.

This raises many question in the Christian community.  In my research for this article, I was very surprised at the viewpoint of the Christian apologists, and their take on yoga and its practice.  I have hesitated on writing this article  because of that viewpoint.  However, I feel that this question and the stance of the Christian community warrants reflection on the subject.

Yoga has a history dating back over five thousand years, to the beginning of the civilization of man.  Little is really known about Yoga.  it is believed to have originated in Mehrgarh, a neolithic settlement in what is now Afghanistan.  Scholars believe it has grown out of Stone Age Shamanism. In this early period of civilization's beginnings, Yoga was a community resource, because of its attempts to determine cosmic order through inner vision, and apply it to daily living.  In later years, yoga evolved into an inner dialogue through which the Yogis sought to develop their own salvation and enlightenment.

Archaeological evidence of the existence of Yoga first appeared in stone seals excavated from the Indus valley.  It depicted figures in many Yogic Asanas, or postures, and officially put Yoga in the time period of approximately 3000 B.C.  Of greater import, it also linked yoga to the great Indus-Sarasvati Civilization, a period in time that was considered modern and efficient.

From the Indus-Sarasvati civilization came the ancient texts known as the Vedas, the oldest scriptures in the world. The Vedas are a collection of hymns that praise a higher power and contains the oldest recorded history of Yoga teachings.  The Vedas required the practitioner to transcend human limitations, and reach a higher spiritual plane.  In later years, texts known as the Brahmanas were written to explain the rituals and the hymns of the Vedas. Following this came the Aranyakas texts, which outlined the practice of Yogis living in the seclusion of the forest.  This led to the beginning of India's medical tradition, known as Ayurveda.  All in all, Yoga transformed into a practice of health, harmony of the spirit, and a way of life.

The Christian viewpoint is thus - if one opens the mind to clearer thinking and inner vision, they open the spirit to demonic possession.  It is felt that Yoga practice borders on occultism, and that opening one's mind and spirit to the benefit of yoga is both dangerous and against everything Christianity preaches. Christians believe that studying yoga is akin to practicing Hinduism, and one cannot separate the philosophy of Hinduism from their Christian beliefs, regardless of the health benefit of yoga.

As a practicing Buddhist, I take issue with this viewpoint.  To me, this smacks of tunnel vision and narrowmindedness.  A Christian is expected to open their heart and minds to Jesus, and to give in to the spirit of the Lord.  They are expected to rely on blind faith, and to accept the word of God as the only truth in the world. A thinking person would find this hypocritical, for on the one hand Christians preach that Yoga must be avoided because opening the mind to clearer vision encourages the possibility of demonic possession, yet on the other hand preaches that one must open the mind and heart to accept Jesus into their lives. Opening one's heart and mind is exactly that - whether it is to look into one's self, or to accept Jesus into their lives.  If, as Christians preach, we are open to demonic possession if we look inside ourselves and open the mind to all the possibilities, how then can we safely open our hearts to the concept of Christianity?  Is there a gatekeeper who makes this decision when we do so that determines what path we are to follow?  I think not...

For the record, I was raised in a Christian household.  My father was the deacon of a small Baptist church in the farming community where we lived.  My mother, who taught us children to question everything, moved from the Baptist community to the Assembly of God churches, and was ostracized by my father.  I think that to her dying day, she resented my father for this narrowmindedness.  Life is a matter of choice, and my mother believed that we are not required to operate under the illusion of blind faith, but to do what is right to us as an individual.  And it is why I walk the Noble 8 Folded Path.  It is simply a matter of choice, and questioning everything in this universe.

I believe that the practice of yoga is a good thing.  It provides us with great health benefits, clearer vision, and harmony in our souls.  And in this day and age, what else is there? Whether we be Christians, Muslims, or Buddhists, we must not disrespect the feelings and thoughts of others, their rights to practice as they wish, or try to push our views down other people's throats.  To live in harmony is exactly that...

To find out more about the benefit of yoga, visit my website at http://yogaforthepeoples.blogspot.com/

Baddha Konasana – A Great Asana For Hip And Groin

Baddha Konasana (Bound Angle Pose) is also known as the Cobbler's Pose because of the similarity to a cobblers sitting position. It is an excellent asana which helps your groin and hip position. It is a forward bending asana which starts off from Staff Pose or Dandasana. You have to bend your knees by bringing the soles of the feet together. This forward bending asana is very different to the other forward bending asanas. The focus area in this asana is to open the hip and he...

Baddha Konasana (Bound Angle Pose) is also known as the Cobbler's Pose because of the similarity to a cobblers sitting position. It is an excellent asana which helps your groin and hip position. It is a forward bending asana which starts off from Staff Pose or Dandasana. You have to bend your knees by bringing the soles of the feet together. This forward bending asana is very different to the other forward bending asanas. The focus area in this asana is to open the hip and help the pelvic area. This help to the pelvic area stimulates the reproductive organs which are of great help to women as well as men. The performance of this asana also helps in alleviating the menstrual pain problems. It is very useful to have a comfortable child birth, if practiced regularly during the period of pregnancy. Also clears menopause related problems.

Baddha Konasana stimulates the abdominal organs as well as the ovaries, prostate gland, bladder and kidneys. It energizes your heart which improves the blood circulation and provides the all needed help to your body. This asana stretches the inner thigh, groin and knees which gives your body an agile and toned look. If you have problems like depression or anxiety this asana can help you overcome that problem. People with sciatica problem can also be treated by performing this asana regularly. It is a great asana because of its tremendous benefits for our aching and paining body. Known to be a therapeutic treatment for flat feet and similar other problems to be dealt by this asana. The practice of Baddha Konasana prevents the attack of many other diseases.

The forward bending asana helps in opening the back of the Anahata chakra. It can be greatly used for back pain problems. This asana should either be done in the beginning to open up the hips or at the end to relax your body. You should avoid doing this asana if you have a groin or knee injury. It is very important to perform this asana while sitting on a blanket as it gives support to your thighs. This asana is very important if it is done properly and enough time is given on every step. This is a very hard pose to manage on your own; maybe you should take help from your yoga teacher or a partner. You can make this pose much deeper by adding variations to it. The can be done by stretching their arms out in the front with the palms on the floor and forehead placed on the ground by extending the spine.

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Warning: The reader of this article should exercise all precautions before following any of the asanas from this article and the site. To avoid any problems while doing the asanas, it is advised that you consult a doctor and a yoga instructor. The responsibility lies solely with the reader and not with the site or the writer.