Friday, 25 October 2013
Sunday, 20 October 2013
Know Your Yoga Pose
Padangushtasana
Pada - Foot, Angushta - Big toe, Asana - Posture
It is a wonderful preparation for all the forward bends. Getting the mastery over this standing forward bend will make you practice all the forward folds easier.
Limitations:
People suffering with severe back problems must avoid this posture.
But people having Vertigo, epilepsy, heart problems and hypertension perform this asana carefully.
With an exhalation, keep your feet hips width apart. Keep your hands on the hips. Inhale, lift the torso up. Exhale, fold forward
at the hip joints, keep the back straight and chest lifted. Reach the toes, make a hook with your index
and middle finger, palms facing inwards. If you cannot reach the toes with
straight back, bend at the knees. Inhale, lift the head and chest, gaze up
between the eyebrows.
Exhale, fold forward deeply, engage the
quadriceps muscles, and lift the
kneecaps. Deepen and soften the groins
and lengthen the hip flexors. Elbows are drawn out to the sides, the shoulder
blades move up towards the hips, the crown of the head reaches to the floor.
Let the weight of the head lengthen the spine and neck. Stay in the position
for five Ujjayi breaths.
Benefits:
1. Improves flexibility of calf,
hamstrings and back muscles.
2.
Provides blood flow to the head.
3. Used as
alternative to Shirshasana (Headstand).
Common
Mistakes:
1. Bent knees (Beginners can bend the knees while it is a mistake for advanced practitioners)
2. Knees are hyperextended. – pull abdomen in and
bend the knees slightly. Try to touch the lower abdomen to thighs.
3. Arching
the back while reaching to final position.
Art of Adjustment:
How can you assist your student to enhance the quality of his/her practice?
Stand behind the student so that you can support the thigh muscles on the back of the student while you assist. As the student holds the big toes, ask your student to life the spine up and look front. Ask them to be aware of their straight spine. Keeping a palm on the loa back and another on the mid back in a way so that the finger tips are facing towards the tip of the head of the student, ask them to inhale. As they exhale, you will slightly glide them downwards. You will feel that the student is folding from the low back instead of mid/upper back.
Keep an eye on the shoulder blades of the student. If they are tight, just go closer and tap them gently.
Enjoy your practice and teaching Yoga!!!
Saturday, 12 October 2013
8 Points you consider before taking a Yoga Teacher Training Course
Not sure which Yoga school is suitable for you….?
Some students choose a training program based on their
personal holiday schedule or their preference for one style of yoga asana
practice, without ever understanding who they will be learning from.
A Yoga Teacher Training course can be a deeply
transformative and profound journey into your innermost self. Here are
few significant points you would definitely have to consider before taking a
Yoga Teacher Training Course which then will be transformative and life –time experience.
1. Spiritually focused
Integral Transformation is the very essence of
yoga. Yoga is not limited to stretch the body, get flexible and strong so
that you feel lighter and happier. Yoga as it is practiced in the west has changed
vastly from its traditional roots here in India. As such confusion can
arise in the minds of students who are unaware of the deeper dimensions of yoga
and how it is both taught and learned. A Yoga teacher training Course should offer
a complete and holistic system of self-transformation, Yoga in its traditional,
pure form that allows for each individual to discover their true Spiritual
Self.
2. Yoga Anatomy
We will have an
introduction to Yoga anatomy, in which we will discuss the anatomical aspects
of Yoga practice. It is important to know how to engage/relax the muscles,
deepening the stretches yet not injuring ourselves physically and so on. It is
also important to understand the structure of our respiration to improve the
quality of the breathing by pranayama techniques. A whole new world of Yoga
Anatomy which improves the quality of our Yoga practice will be explored during
the Yoga anatomy sessions.
3. Art of hands on
Adjustments:
Art of Adjustments is one
of the significant fields wherein Yoga teacher has to work constantly to grow
and to keep his/her class special. Hence we try to explore it with all details.
How-to-adjust; assist, how to keep ourselves grounded while adjusting, the
subtle aspects of art of adjustments are dealt in detail. This is one of the
major ingredients in a Yoga Teacher Training Course that you would think to
join.
You can’t learn to swim without getting into the water and
swim. Group class is one of the inevitable parts of the training. You must be asked
to take a class every day based on what was already given to you by your
teacher for your group which builds the confidence, tones up the teaching
skills and other required criteria to be a teacher. The learning curve, which
can be full of learning from mistakes, can be easily surmounted in a supportive
and nurturing environment in the presence of your fellow students and
teachers. This class will always be supervised by one of the main
teachers and a feedback session after every group class session to improve the
quality of the participant's teaching will be an added flavor.
5. Creating Class
Modules
You will be asked to
design a yoga class module based on what you have been practicing since a week
under the guidance of a teacher. By practicing the class modules, you will be
able to teach your class back home effectively with creativity catering the
needs of different types of people coming to your classes.
6. Lead the whole
group
After building the
confidence, skills and other required criteria, you must have an opportunity to
take a class for the whole group in the last week. This prepares you to get
ready to teach once you go back.
It has been a tradition to begin the journey in search
of the teacher who lives what he teaches and learn from him so that the
disciple too would live what he practices. This is how the
bridge between the
teaching and practicing could have vanished during the golden era of Yogis.
Ok! You may not find this everywhere
as most of the
schools will not be able to offer you. But if you get explore your training in
nature, it will be something really special experience. Yoga is best practiced
in a natural environment
where the earth is clean, the water is abundant, the
temperature is mild, the air is pure and the space is clear. Yoga
studios, small rooms, rented halls in cities are probably not the best
choice.
Friday, 23 August 2013
Friday, 15 February 2013
Yoga of Gheranda... Extracts from Gheranda Samihta
Gheranda Samhita is a magnum-opus treatise explaning the details of the Hatha
Yoga technique, written by sage Gheranda. The text portrays the techniques of
hatha yoga in the form of conversation between the sage Gheranda Samhita and
an enquirer or his disciple called Chandakapali. It is divided into seven chapters
with almost three hundred fifty verses. It seems to have been inspired by most
famous text of Hatha Yoga i.e. HathaYogaPradeepika. It may also be presumed
that both have drwan inspiration from a common source.
The text consists of seven chapters devoted to each topic. The first gives
direction for the purification of the body. The second relates to postures, third
to Mudras, the fourth to Pratyahara, the fifth to Pranayama, the sixth to Dhyana
and the seventh to Samdhi. They are taught successively.
The seven practices
The seven practices which train the body-mind system in attaining higher state
of consciousness are as follow; Purification, Strenghthening, Steadying, Calming
and those leading to lightness, perception and isolation.
The seven practices and the means
The purification is acquired by the regular performance of six practices.
Practice of Asanas (postures) will yield strength. Performing Mudras help us in
achieving steadiness. Pratyahara inculcates calmness while Pranayama gives
lightness. Dhyana gives the perception of the self and the final stage, Samadhi
provides isolation which is verily the freedom or enlightenment.
The list of Asanas
The thirty-two Asanas that give perfection in this mortal world are the
following;
1. Siddha (Perfect Posture)
2. Padma (Lotus Posture)
3. Bhadra (Gentle Posture)
4. Mukta (Free Posture)
5. Vajra (Diamond Posture)
6. Swastika (Prosperous Posture) w
7. Simha (Lion Posture)
8. Gomukha (Cow face Posture)
9. Vira (Hero Posture)
10.Dhanu (Bow Posture)
11.Mrita (Corpse Posture)
12.Gupta (Secret Posture)
13.Matsya (Fish Posture)
14.Matsyendra (a Posture devoted
to Yogi Matsyendra)
15.Goraksha (a posture devoted
to Yogi Goraksha)
16.Paschimottana (Intense
Forward stretch)
17.Utkata
18.Sankata (Dangerous Posture)
19.Mayura (Peacock Posture)
20.Kukkuta (Cock Posture)
21.Kurma (Tortoise Posture)
22.Uttana Manduka (lifted Frog
Posture)
23.Uttana Kurma (Lifted Tortoise
Posture)
24.Vriksha (Tree Posture)
25.Manduka (Frog Posture)
26.Garuda (Eagle Posture)
27.Vrisha (Bull Posture)
28.Shalabha (Locust Posture)
29.Makara (Dolphin Posture)
30.Ushtra (Camel Posture)
31.Bhujanga (Snake Posture)
32.Yoga Posture
Pratyahara
Let one bring the mind under his control by withdrawing it, whenever it wanders
away drawn by the various objects of sight.
One should be, in order to achieve success in the path of Yoga unaffected by the
pair of opposites. He should withdraw his mind from the praise and censure,
sweet and sour, happiness and misery, love and hatredness etc.
Time to start Yoga Practice
The practice of Yoga should be commenced by a beginner in Spring; and
Autumn. By doing so, he attains success in his path of practice, and verily he
does not become liable to diseases.
Moderation in Diet
Pure, sweet and cooling food should be eaten to fill half of the stomach; eating
thus sweet juices with pleasure, and leaving the other half of the stomach
empty is called moderation in diet.
Half of the stomach should be filled with food, one quarter with water; and one
quarter should be kept for movement of air.
Samadhi Yoga
Gheranda elaborates the types of Samadhi in six sub categories. They are
Dhyana Samadhi, Nada Samadhi, Rasananda Samadhi, Laya Samadhi, Bhakti
Yoga Samadhi and Raja Yoga samadhi.
The types of Samadhi Dhyana Samadhi, Nada Samadhi, Rasananada and Laya
Samadhi are attained by Shambhavi Mudra, Khechari Mudra, Bhramari Mudra
and Yoni Mudra respectively. Bhakti Yoga is the fifth type of Samadhi whereas
Raja Yoga Samadhi the last form is attained through Mano Murcha Kumbhaka.
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Tuesday, 12 February 2013
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