Adho Mukha Vrksasana

Vrksasana is a tree pose which implies you are standing with your hand raised towards the sky. Adho Mukha Vrksasana can be explained as a tilted tree pose where your hands are supporting the entire body weight. This pose when done by yoga beginners has to be done very carefully as equilibrating yourself on your hand cannot be that easy. Read more

Adho Mukha Svanasana benefits

When we take up every word of this asana and look for the meaning it surfaces to be a very plain word. Adho Mukh means facing downwards and Svana implies a dog. This would mean facing downwards dog position. This pose equates to a dog that stretches himself with its front and back legs. Therefore this name has been correlated to this position. Read more

Conception of Yoga in the Maitrayana Upanishad

The conception of Yoga as we meet it in the Maitrayana Upanishad consisted of six angas or accessories, namely pranayama, pratyahara, dhyana, dharana, tarka and samadhi (1). Read more

The Yoga Meditation

When the mind has become pure the chances of its being ruffled by external disturbances are greatly reduced. At such a stage the yogin takes a firm posture (asana) and fixes his mind on any object he chooses. It is, however, preferable that he should fix it on Ishvara, for in that case Ishvara being pleased removes many of the obstacles in his path, and it becomes easier for him to attain success. Read more

Bikrams beginning yoga class

Bikram’s beginning yoga class is a book that Bikram Choudhury published in 2000 with the intention of making more affordable his version of hatha yoga in the west. Birkam yoga is practiced at 105 degrees temperature with more than 50% humidity. Birkam yoga involves controlling blood flow in the body through a variety of postures, which in turn have an effect on the muscles, organs, and immune system. Many years after its initial publication, Bikram’s beginning yoga class still provides a comprehensible introduction to the basics of yoga poses and yoga breathing. Read more

Abhiseka

ABHISEKA is of eight kinds, and the forms of abhiseka which follow the first at later stages, mark greater and greater degrees of initiation. (1) The first saktabhiseka is given on entrance into the path of sadhana. It is so called because the guru then reveals to the sisya the preliminary mysteries of sakti-tattva. Read more

Puja

This word is the common term for worship of which there are numerous synonyms in the Sanskrit language.(1) Puja is done daily of the Ista-devata or the particular Deity worshipped by the sadhaka – the Devi in the case of a Sakta, Visnu in the case of a Vaisnava, and so forth. Read more

Japa

Japa is defined as “vidhanena mantroccaranam”, or the repeated utterance or recitation of mantra according to certain rules.(1) It is according to the Tantrasara of three kinds: Vacika or verbal japa, in which the mantra is audibly recited, the fifty matrkas being sounded nasally with bindu; Upamsu-japa, which is superior to the last kind, and in which the tongue and lips are moved, but no sound, or only a slight whisper, is heard; and, lastly, the highest form which is called manasa-japa, or mental utterance. In this there is neither sound nor movement of the external organs, but a repetition in the mind which is fixed on the meaning of the mantra. Read more

Purascarana

This form of sadhana consists in the repetition (after certain preparations and under certain conditions) of a mantra a large number of times. The ritual (1) deals with the time and place of performance, the measurements and decorations of the mandapa, or pandal, and of the altar and similar matters. There are certain rules as to food both prior to, and during, its performance. Read more

Drdhata – Asana

Drdhata, or strength or firmness, the acquisition of which is the second of the above-mentioned processes, is attained by asana. Asanas are postures of the body. Read more

Objectives of Asana

The âsanas are situated at the beginning of the learning process of yoga: they constitute the first part of hatha-yoga and the third part of the astânga-yoga of Patañjali. Read more

Yoga Asanas and Gym Exercises

A lot of people consider the âsanas to be true gymnastic exercises and they perform them as such. Leaving aside the therapeutic aspect, the âsanas can be practiced to maintain the normal state of physical and mental health or to progress in yoga, but nevertheless they differ in various aspects from the common physical exercises. Read more

Definition of Yoga Asana

The term âsana is sometimes translated with “pose”, but this is not a proper word to explain what âsana is. A “pose” is not a natural position of the body: it can be an artificial position that is assumed for expressing an emotion or a thought.

The asanas on the contrary have nothing “to express”: on the face there is not some “expression” during the practice of the âsana. A “pose”, assumed for some seconds, can conduct to a physical and mental effort. The âsana doesn’t produce tiredness on any level: contrarily, a feeling of comfort is experienced after the session is finished. Read more