The Guide to Yoga

Yoga, the art of achieving internal peace through stretching and posturing, is included in many fitness programs today. At first, it seems like a mere organization of postures, but when you start doing the figures yourself, you will realize the difficulty in maintaining those postures. The truth is, yoga involves a great deal of concentration and balance before you master the various stances of the discipline.

The Basic Types of Yoga

Yoga is a part of the six major philosophies of Hinduism. The five basic types target different areas of the body, mind and the human spirit. Naturally, each form contains a distinct set of poses for meditation. Here are the five basic types of yoga:

• Raja Yoga
• Karma Yoga
• Bhakti Yoga
• Jnana Yoga
• Hatha Yoga

The aim of a yoga practitioner is to reach the state of Moksha, the Hindu Nirvana. To achieve that, you have to master at least one of the five basic types. Choose at least one form of yoga that connects well with your personality and your concept of spirituality.

Hatha Yoga – The Primal Choice

Outside India, hatha yoga is the most predominant type of the historic Indian practice. Gyms and fitness classes use hatha yoga because it is the most comprehensive among the bunch. It touches ten different aspects of the human character and has five separate disciplines, not counting its variations like Bikram yoga and Tantric yoga.

Ideally, hatha yoga is the first choice for beginners. You will touch parts of the other yoga types due to the number of subjects that it covers. Obviously, it has the the biggest number of postures since each aspect that it tackles has a corresponding set of asanas. You can master hatha yoga first before entering the other yoga types.

Why Practice Yoga?

People have different reasons for practicing yoga. Some are after the exercise value, while others embrace the spiritual effect of the practice. As an average person, you wouldn’t want to join anything without knowing its benefits. So, here are the benefits of yoga:

• Reduces Stress – Yoga requires a huge deal of concentration when doing the asanas. Your mind must be centered on your form, or else you won’t maintain it for a long period. In the process, you will forget stress and your anxieties. You’ll eventually feel good about yourself and be more productive in your other endeavors. You may even become more spiritual since your heart and mind gets cleansed, in a realistic sense, through every session.
• Builds Strength – Carrying your own weight for several hours is not an easy feat. Just so you know, that feat is a regular activity in yoga. You will keep your body upright as you maintain a rather unconventional pose for a long period. After a week of doing yoga, you will notice that your strength and stamina has increased. You may even lose several inches off of your waistline if you practice the asanas diligently.
• Adds Flexibility and Stability – Holding a complex set of postures consecutively is the challenge that yoga presents. In addition, you’ll have to keep yourself upright through one-legged poses and contorted stances. Your body will gradually be more stable and flexible through each yoga session, if you show dedication in all of the stances.

Yoga is also used as a form of alternative medicine. Old practitioners claim that the art can help treat diseases like asthma, hypertension, heart ailments and back problems. It is even believed to prevent breast cancer. Those claims clearly sound improbable, but who knows?

Survive Your First Yoga Session

Yoga, in a general sense, taps your physical, mental and spiritual capabilities through asanas or postures. The postures vary in difficulty, depending on how far you are in the program. As you go further into a branch of yoga, the meditation sequence becomes more and more strenuous. You might struggle through the sequences initially, unless you’re prepared. Here are some things that you will need before you enter any yoga school:

• Flexibility – Yoga is mainly composed of stretches and poses. The basic characteristic needed for such is flexibility. You can get through most of the postures with relative ease if you are pretty limber. To improve your flexibility, you must stretch, bend and exercise daily. You should also maintain a balanced diet, since a slim torso is easier to work with.
• Cardiovascular Strength – At first glance, yoga may seem like child’s play, since yoga practitioners look peaceful when doing the postures. Notice the duration of each pose and the calm expressions on their faces. You might be surprised how these people can maintain and switch forms without any obvious effort. They clearly have a strong cardiovascular system to achieve such a feat. In your case, you can jog or hit the treadmill for at least an hour daily, if you want to keep up with the average yogi.
• Yoga DVD – The best way to start a yoga program is to have prior knowledge on the subject. Research online, so you’d know the videos highly recommended by yoga masters. Purchase the DVD then follow the postures and procedures shown on the video. When you have mastered some of the forms, you will certainly have a good start if you enroll in an actual yoga class.
• Aerobics – For fitness enthusiasts, you can practice yoga after doing aerobics. The high impact maneuvers of aerobics will pump adrenaline to your body, which practically enhances your physical capabilities. Just make sure that you are not too exhausted when you start doing yoga poses.
• A Balanced Emotional State – Mental and emotional strength is needed when practicing yoga. If you are pretty anxious, you might have trouble with your meditation, which is an important factor for maintaining figures. You should hold all your fears, anxieties and personal issues until the yoga session is finished.
• Dedication – Yoga clearly holds its own complexities. As a newcomer, your only recourse is to show dedication to every asana. You may not be able to sustain some postures, but you will eventually pull them off, if you don’t give up. Soon, you’ll be begging for far more complex stances when you have mastered all of them.

Struggling during the first yoga session is normal. Not everyone is accustomed to continuous posturing anyway. Once you finish the first few days, some of the difficult stances will be pretty manageable.

An Art for Inner Peace

Yoga is just like a martial art. The first few parts won’t be easy but at the end of each session, you’ll learn several new moves. The moment you leave the venue, you will feel good about yourself. As far as the violence of martial arts is concerned, yogis develop enough mental strength, through the asanas, to relegate violence as a last resort.