Pranayama are breathing exercises developed by the ancient yogis for purification. Prana translates into "life force energy" and Yama translates into "control or mastery of". Thus, Pranyama is used to control, cultivate, and modify the Prana in the body. Prana is taken in through the air we breathe, and since the Pranayama exercises increase the amount of air we take in, they also increase our intake of Prana.
For all Pranayama (except Kapalabhati), the breath is slow and steady, breathed in and out of the nose and down into the belly. Always sit with a straight spine and a relaxed body. While you are practicing Pranayama, let go of any thoughts by focusing on the breathing involved with the Pranayama.
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Midterms,
finals, SATs: Most of us undergo examinations at some point in our
lives, along with the requisite increases in stress. Stress has the
unfortunate side effect of weakening the immune system, as many
sniffling students can attest. A recent study found a 12-week yoga
intervention to protect against the impairment of cellular immunity
and autonomic nervous
system changes
caused by examination stress.
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If you buy into some of the marketing
out there, it may seem that the purpose of yoga is to get thin and
flexible enough that you can contort your body in odd ways while
wearing little clothing and still look good. Certain brands even like
to claim that yoga is a cardio exercise and will help you lose
weight, essentially promising that you too can be that thin and look
good in spandex, if only you try. If you actually practice yoga,
hopefully you realize that is far from the point. As fun as it may be
to think that yoga can fix just about anything, do we really need it
to?
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The stage has been set for the perfect storm: the charismatic leader, the devoted followers, the extensive trainings that require significant monetary investments to earn the right to claim your affiliation. The yoga community is once again abuzz with rumors, accusations, and worry over the integrity of a beloved guru.
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No good scandal comes without important
lessons for those affected by it. In this case, the matter of
integrity takes center stage—the integrity of a leader, his senior
teachers, and the broader yoga community of which we are all a part.
The recent, very public outing of the questionable behavior and
business practices of Anusara Yoga’s charismatic leader, John
Friend is a gold mine of juicy lessons, timely reminders, and issues
that the yoga community should be discussing. With
the implosion
of one of the most profitable yoga empires ever, we are left with
the question, at what point are we required to admit our mistakes and
take responsibility?
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New York Times journalist William
Broad’s contentious claim that the origins of tantric hatha yoga
reside in “medieval sex cults” was crucial to set the frame for
his subsequent and inaccurate equation
of yoga with sex. This was explicitly rendered in
his assertion that yoga practice is responsible for the recent sexual
misconduct of Anusara founder John Friend and other philandering yoga
gurus. In a further misstep intended to provide credibility to his
questionable thesis, Broad provides little more than old and obscure research that allegedly shows yoga to increase sexual desire.
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In an inspiring
illustration of the power that one selfless act has to change the
world, one woman’s African vacation started a chain of events that
is changing the lives of schoolchildren, incarcerated
women, orphans, women
entrepreneurs, and others living in poverty in Kenya. In 2006, former
NYC yoga teacher, Paige Elenson, was on safari with her family when
she saw a group of kids doing handstands from her vehicle. She hopped
out of the car and joined in with her yoga practice. This simple act
of being playful and present in the moment eventually led to the
creation of the Africa
Yoga Project, whose
mission is “to
use the transformative benefits of yoga to empower vulnerable
communities in Kenya.”
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Heart disease is the leading cause of
death in the United States and in many parts of the globe. In a
landmark move that may positively impact US citizens with heart
disease, Medicare
approved the Ornish Program for Heart Disease as a form of intensive
cardiac rehab in 2010. The Ornish program teaches participants
the importance of a meatless, plant-based diet, regular exercise,
yoga, meditation, and social support.
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Ashtanga Yoga, founded by the late and
esteemed Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois, affectionately called Guruji by his students, is famed for its intensity and
rigidity. A
simmering conflict between an affluent sponsor of Jois’s acclaimed
legacy, his successor and grandson Sharath, and longstanding Ashtanga teachers has
the community tied in some knots.
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Caregivers for Alzheimer’s patients
typically experience greater levels of loneliness, exhaustion,
stress, and depression. A new
study from the University of California, Los Angeles, finds that
just 12 minutes of daily yoga practice (Kirtan Kriya meditation) over
eight weeks appears to improve mental health and telomerase activity,
a marker of cellular aging, among family dementia caregivers.
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The smallest victories are often the
most profound—like learning to walk or blowing out your first
birthday candle all on your own. Accomplishments like these can
change a person’s entire outlook on life, yet many of us let
moments like these slip by without even noticing. We would notice if
they didn’t happen, as their absence would change the direction of
our lives. For children with special needs it may take years of
concerted effort to achieve these goals, so you can bet the moment
doesn’t go unnoticed. Thanks to a growing number of yoga teachers
dedicated to working with people who have special needs, more
and more of these moments being celebrated.
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While there are many excellent male
yogis in the US, a large portion of our society still views asana
as an activity mostly practiced by women. Thankfully, the imposition
of this gender-bias on yoga is breaking
down in many sectors of our culture, perhaps
most notably in the highly male-dominated armed forces. As the
therapeutic use of yoga has slowly gained acceptance from the
military over the past several years, it has repeatedly been shown
to help both active soldiers and veterans deal with the affects and
stresses of their profession.
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New York yoga studios breathed a
collective
sigh of relief in 2010 when the “Yoga Bill” was passed,
which exempts yoga (including teacher training programs) and martial
arts studios from state educational certification requirements. But
they’re gearing
up for another battle, as the state has recently
audited them under the premise that they should be subject to same
kind of tax (4.5%) as fitness studios.
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If there were a metaphor for the
driven, hectic pace of urban life in the twentieth-century it well
may be heat, produced by the friction of ever-increasing intensity,
mounting to-do lists, and competition that can characterize and
accompany “success” in these environs. Little wonder, then, that
hot exercise, including yoga, has taken urban regions NYC and LA by a
storm. A
recent NY Times piece cites a number of increasingly
hot upscale fitness classes formed to satisfy obsessive devotees who
prefer to exercise in sweltering temperatures. Why, pray tell?
Beliefs about the alleged detoxification of heavy sweating, increased
challenge and accompanied caloric expenditure of heat-based exercise,
and the appeal of heat melting muscular tension are all popular
draws.
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A recent Hindu endorsement of Colorado
elementary schools’ inclusion
of yoga into elementary schools has raised questions
about yoga’s alleged status as a secular practice. Rajan Zed,
President of the Universal Society of Hinduism, urges “all
elementary-middle-high schools of the nation to incorporate yoga in
the lives of the students.” Colorado's inclusion of yoga into elementary schools vis a vis
“yoga themed recesses” and “brain breaks” is being
spearheaded by The Wellness Initiative, which offers yoga
classes for students and has partnered with 34 schools and
institutions in Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, and
Jefferson counties. While Colorado may be the first state to
systematically offer yoga classes in multiple elementary school
settings, other states and programs have quietly been making
in-roads.
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