healthy living
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Styles of Yoga
HATHA YOGA
This is a term, which actually means the practice of the physical postures, also called asanas - which could essentially mean all styles of physical yoga. Generally though, a class called “hatha” will be an eclectic blend of a few different styles often with a more gentle approach.
IYENGAR YOGA
If you are looking for detail, therapeutic yoga or a very thoughtful and precise class this is the style for you. B.K.S. Iyengar the founder of this style has been prolific and unwavering in his contribution to the world of yoga, and stands as one of the world’s most influential yogis.
All teachers of this style go through a rigorous certification process and are often very dedicated and devoted to this style. A class typically utilizes props in the form of blocks, straps, bolsters and blankets to assist students toward exploring the poses more fully with regard to their limitations or injuries. Classes are slow moving and poses are often held for much longer than in other styles of yoga.
Saturday, December 27, 2003
Winter Nutrition Tips
It is pretty much a given in our culture that at this time of year we tend to overindulge in types of foods and liquids that may add a few unwanted pounds. To augment that tendency, many of us are more inactive due to the season, the colder temperatures, and the overall attitude that goes along with the winter seasonal quality of a more inward, introspective time. If we were more in touch with the aspect of introspection and truly took it to heart, it may actually help us to align and stay on a course that honors our own best interests. All too often though, with the hype of Christmas and all of its social activities we tend to add more distraction, which in the end pulls us even farther off center and our natural inclination to be still for a time.
It is important I feel, to allow for a little quiet time, especially during a season which we need to conserve our reserves. If you observe nature she is always letting herself rest and renew at this time, often to the extent of complete dormancy or hibernation. Nature can teach us everything really, and at a time when we live lives quite detached from Nature, especially our own nature, we could perhaps take some advice.
Yoga builds strength.
So often I am asked if I “work out” or do a weight training circuit, due to the way my 46-year-old physical body looks. It is a great compliment to be sure, however I am careful to appropriately assign the credit to yoga. Yes it is true: yoga has been my single most consistent and effective tool for all-over body fitness. I can honestly say that at my age, I am fitter and stronger now than I have ever been in my entire life. This month I would like to address some of the reasons why that is so and some of the ways you can make that so in your own practice. I would also like to address in the “Yoga Page” the phenomenon of men and yoga and how men can benefit from this truly amazing practice and some of the tools they can use to overcome the natural and imagined barriers from getting to a yoga class, because the benefits for them are perhaps even more profound than for the opposite sex.
Thursday, December 25, 2003
Energy Programs
Last insert we discussed the concept of how energy is used and stored in the body in thought form by introducing you to the �垍akras�. After establishing a few precepts for how things work ¿� both from a scientific (quantum physics), and a philosophical (Chakra) system we were able to determine that:
1. Everything is energy
2. Thought is a form of energy
3. Energy cannot be created nor destroyed
4. Therefore blocked energy or destructive energy needs to be transformed or re-directed.
5. Chakras the wheels or disks in your body are like disk we use in the computer world. They store programmed information. They exist as dynamic energies, and can help us understand the way energy is processed by a human being, within the vast and complex interplay of our multi-leveled existence.
6. We can further think of charkas as floppy disks that contain vital programs. They contain details such as how much money we need, what we are willing to do for that money, what constitutes a threat to our survival, and what makes us feel secure or insecure. Likewise, we have programs for sexuality, power, love and communication. In this analogy the body is the hardware, our programming is our software, and the Self is the user. Although we did not write all of these programs, consider we had a propensity to attract the people and experiences that contributed to the script. Some of these programs have become completely unconscious and habitual, their language unintelligible, until they begin to cause problems.
Sunday, November 16, 2003
Is Yoga For You?
It is hard to escape the trend in North America nowadays of the popularity of yoga. One encounters images and references to yoga in subways, popular magazines and at the gym, to name just a few instances. The popularity of yoga is unquestionable; the question may be why and how do I make my way through all of the many unfamiliar terms, styles and forms that are being offered. To an unfamiliar eye, the mystical and somewhat curious world of yoga certainly may appear daunting and in some cases, confusing.
In my experience, once we have an understanding of something, take out the perceived threat and explore it with an open mind and contextual reference, we stand to gain from the potential that lies therein. Consider it analogous to traveling to a foreign country, initially not knowing the language or the customs, and then eventually relishing in the discovery of a new world.
