Yoga is a spiritual practice or discipline that helps to unify the body, mind and heart. It is a direct experience of the vast and plentiful interrelatedness of all life and of all things. Yoga is truly a living, breathing, changing tradition, and although there are various different styles of yoga that you can choose from to practice, Namaste yoga is one of the most beneficial and as well one of the easiest to learn, so it is perfect for yoga beginners.

About Namaste Yoga

Namaste yoga is based on that Hatha Vinyasa style of yoga, and with this type of yoga, the breath is the guide and the body then follows in time. It is a form of yoga that really works in unison with the heart and focuses largely on breathing exercises, postures and poses.

The Advantages of Namaste Yoga

There are a number of different advantages that can be gained from the practicing of Namaste yoga, let alone yoga in general. In fact, the healing benefits of yoga are so great that you will feel better and better at the end of every yoga session. Yoga is an exercise which is able to greatly enhance your understanding of life, and it truly changes an individual’s entire perspective about life.

The positive effects of yoga begin to show almost immediately, as the sense of feeling good starts to envelope around the individual. Yoga helps to clarify the deepest cravings in a person’s life, as well as their motivations and aspirations, thereby working to restore confidence, self-assurity, self-awareness, and self-esteem.

In all actuality, the driving force behind yoga is aimed at the more monumental and life-changing discovery that helps you discover who you really are and what it is that you are looking to get out of life in general. Therefore yoga can help you with issues that you never even knew were there to begin with – it can help you to find out who you are and live the life that you always dreamed.

Whether you practice Namaste or another form of yoga, you will reap these such benefits, and there is no other type of exercise that comes even remotely close to this when it comes to advantages for your mind, body and soul. So, if you have not gotten around to trying yoga out for yourself before, it will truly be life changing when you finally do, and it is definitely something that you will never regret.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Some of you may not know it, but the most common practice of yoga in the Western countries is called the hatha yoga. Unlike the original version of yoga, hatha yoga focuses more on the physical regimen that aims to give mental, emotional, and physical well-being.

The History

The history of hatha yoga dates back in the fifteenth century India when Yogi Swatmarama, a sage during those times, introduced it as a form of “a stairway to the heights” of Raja Yoga which is the preparatory stage of physical purification that makes the body fit for the practice of higher form of meditation. Hatha yoga is also known to be called as “hatha vidya” and the word “hatha” is a combination of the words, “ha” which means sun “tha” that means moon and they are said to refer to the prinicipal “nadis” or the energy channels of the body and must be fully operational to attain the state of “dhyana” or a certain aspect of meditation.

Some people may associate that the origins of hatha yoga dates back in the tenth or eleventh century with Goraknath, a yogin during those times but the oldest surviving text about hatha yoga is the Hatha Yoga Pradipika by yogin, Yogi Swatmarama. The text is said to be derived from old Sanskrit writings and personal yogin experiences of the yogin himself. The text tackles about shatkarma, asana, pranayama, chakras, kundalini, bandhas, kriyas, shakti, nadis, and mudras among others.

The Concept

The whole concept of the traditional hatha yoga is a holistic yogic path that includes moral discipilines, physical exercises, breath control, and meditation. The hatha yoga that is mostly practiced and popular in the western countries mainly composed of the “asanas” or posture and other exercises.

Hatha yoga is only one of the two concepts of yoga that focuses on the physical culture and the other yoga is the Raja yoga but both of these are referred to as Ashtanga yoga. The main difference is that the Raja yoga focuses more on the “asanas” or postures to get the body ready for a prolonged meditation that concentrates mainly on the meditative “asana” poses. The hatha yoga on the other hand focuses on balancing the mind and body through physical exercises, controlled breathing, and calming the mind through meditation and sheer relaxation.

Different positions or postures are recommended by practitioners to help alleviate or avoid health problems ranging from constipation through cancer. It was said that it helps to reduce stress, pressure, and other mental worries that people today are mostly exposed to.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Tantric yoga is basically a reprogramming of the mind, and it is the holistic approach to the study of the universal from the point of view of the individual themselves. It draws on all the various different sciences, including astronomy, astrology, numerology, physics, chemistry, alchemy, psychology, and mathematics. The basic purpose of Tantric yoga is to provide a practical means of realizing the highest ideals of philosophy in daily life.

How Tantra Yoga Works

The general aim of Tantra yoga is to work by expanding awareness in all states of consciousness. It is a type of yoga which provides the methodology and the tools that are needed for this sort of work and it teaches us how to be able to properly identify the various factors that influence our thoughts and feelings and as well to transcend the obstacles to our evolution that arise from ignorance.

Through Tantra yoga we learn that our desires are natural and that basically as long as we are embodied, we will have them. It uses means of physical and ritual cleaning, breathing exercises, contemplation, visualization and repetition of a mantra in order to help us be able to unfold our divine nature.

The Tantras

The Tantras are not books involving any kind of sorcery, witchcraft, magic spells, or mysterious formulae, but rather they are wonderful scriptures which are helpful in the gaining of spiritual strength, wisdom and eternal bliss. The Tantra is truly, in some aspects, a secret doctrine, and you cannot learn it from any study of books. The Tantric student must learn the knowledge and practice from the practical Tantrikas and the Gurus who hold the key to it, and they must be endowed with purity, faith and devotion, as absence of any of these qualities in the practitioner means a gross abuse of Saktism.

Tantric yoga is also considered as being able to help with cosmic and sexual energy, and it stresses the idea that a great vein runs from the lowest part of the spine, where the serpent power, Kundalini, rests, to the highest and most psychic center, the mind, which is symbolized by the lotus.

Overall it is easy to see just how widely positive Tantric yoga is, and as well how popular it is, not only in North America but worldwide. It is by far one of the most popular types of yoga, and because it has so many spiritual and physical advantages, it is often used as a combination with other types of yoga as well.

Popularity: 6% [?]

There are many systems of yoga, the ancient Indian discipline of finding your place in the universe through teaching your body a series of positions. Yoga is like the horse you ride to get from one place in your life to another. But there are many different kinds of horses.

There is a big difference from riding a crossbred pony gelding to riding an Arabian stallion. And in yoga, you choose your school or yoga as you would pick the horse best for you to ride – what mount suits your level of experience, which one is big enough (or small enough) for you, and can the horse get you to where you want to go?

The King Of Yoga

Raja yoga is also called the King of Yoga, as raja means king. Raja yoga is also called “Classical yoga” or “Astanga yoga”, but raja yoga is easier for Westerners to remember. Why is raja yoga the Yoga King? Because it concerns the stimulation and harmonization of your mind through yoga positions. If you want to get just the physical benefits of yoga, then hatha yoga might suit you best. Raja yoga is best for those who wish to help control their emotions just as they can control their bodies into raja yoga positions. In the Indian culture, the mind is considered the ruler of the body, hence the name “raja yoga”.

Eight Limbed Yoga

“Astanga” means eight-limbed. This name was given to raja yoga because there are eight steps or goals in order to become a raja yoga master:

Yama: the practice of being a moral person. Niyama: the practice of being true to your own spirituality. In India, this is usually thought of as the observance of religious customs and festivals Asana: the practice of putting your body through poses in order to make it more relaxed and supple Pranayama: the practice of right breathing, including not dwelling on past hurts that can make you breath shallow. “Prana” means “life force” in Hindu. Pratayahara: the practice of developing your own will power and not being distracted from what you have to do. Dharana: the practice of meditation. Dhyana: the practice of non-attachment. This is perhaps the hardest part of raja yoga to explain. Ideally, you should not need anything in order to be in harmony with God and your place in the Universe, even food, sleep or oxygen. As your body gets flexible, so do your wants and expectations. Samadhi: this is becoming one with God-consciousness, called Nirvana.

Popularity: 6% [?]