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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Yoga scholars Mark Singleton and James Mallinson have taken
their dream—publishing a single comprehensive resource of yogic literature—to
the next level by bringing it to Kickstarter,
the web-based company that facilitates funding for independent creative
projects. They’ve asked for $50,000 to fund The
Roots of Yoga, and with the clock ticking down toward their August 10th
deadline, they’ve raised nearly half that amount. A growing list of yoga
luminaries is rallying behind them: Georg Feuerstein, Richard Rosen, Judith
Lasater, Elena Brower, Kino McGregor, Danny Paradise, and Frank Jude Boccio.
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Anyone watching the London Olympics can’t help being
inspired by the athletes’ dedication to perfection. We all know that they have
gotten where they are through hard work and practice, practice, practice. As
yogis, we are familiar with the importance of practice. In his Yoga Sutras
(I:12), Patanjali stated that practice, or abhyasa, was one of two ways to
still the waves of the mind. This echoes Krishna’s instruction to Arjuna in the
Bhagavad Gita (VI:35).
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At one point in my life I was stuck in a dark
depression for close to a year. Though I was the only person who could free
myself from it, I was too numb and empty to even try. Anyone who has ever
suffered from depression, knows exactly what I’m talking about and may have
found themselves in the same place at times. Adhering to my own narrow misconception
about depression, I thought I was the only one suffering. However, my entire
family and close friends had to suffer from my
depression as well. I know that when I’m in a happy and healthy place I’m
generous with my love, fun to be around, forgiving, and my actions and behaviors
are positive. On my ‘dark days’ I’m completely useless to the people that are
close to me, and it becomes very obvious to them that I am not myself. On the yogic path I am
beginning to explore, my meditation practice is a beautiful but constant
struggle. However, I can honestly say that in the little time I’ve been
practicing, I feel more grounded and content than I have in a very long time.
And this has broader, sweeping effects on my relationships and everyone close
to me.
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Several blogs
recently cued the yoga blogosphere’s perennial debate: yoga for weight loss.
Yet while a vocal minority of yoga practitioners do lose weight, does this
represent everyone’s experience? Is weight loss even desirable for some
overweight individuals (here, we use overweight to also refer to obesity)? And
is yoga actually effective in fostering weight management? In this two-part
series we clarify some routinely-cited myths.
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A recent
blog by yoga celeb Sadie Nardini offers a good starting point for
clarifying some popular misconceptions about yoga’s impact on body weight,
caloric expenditure, and cardiac impact. While Nardini offers a perfunctory nod
to those who recognize yoga is “not about being physically perfect,” and that
“skinnier isn’t always better,” she continues on to cite a number of popular
(and often false) claims regarding yoga’s impact on weight loss.
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Ayurveda,
the healing system native to India, has been practiced for millennia. Along
with yoga, it is based on the Vedas, Sanskrit
texts that date as far back as 1,500 BCE. Often translated as “the science of
life,” ayurveda centers around the importance of individual balance and the
balance between the individual and the laws of nature.
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Why do yoga instructors sometimes make seemingly paradoxical
statements? As a student of yoga, it’s hard not to observe when your instructor
says one thing, followed by a statement with the opposite meaning later in
class. While these comments may initially cause confusion, they also represent
an opportunity to deepen your inner practice.
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It's easy to take a healthy immune system for granted in
the warm days of summer, but it’s never too early to start preparing for the
cold and flu season. All of rituals and remedies we start practicing when we
feel that first tickle in the nose or throat may not stack up to preventative
doses of exercise and meditation. A
recent study conducted by Dr. Bruce Barrett at the University of Wisconsin is
the first to positively link an intervention to a reduction in incidence of
acute respiratory infections (ARIs). Both interventions—meditation and
exercise—practiced before cold and flu season set in, showed a statistically
significant improvement in winter health.
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Considering that yoga has gotten its share of bad press earlier this
year, a study
confirming yoga’s beneficial effects on asthma was encouraging news. However,
weeks later, the NIH released a
video stating that while yoga
has been proven to help with low back pain and arthritis, “research
suggests” it is not helpful for asthma sufferers.
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Globalization: A term so widely used as to be virtually
meaningless, it nonetheless captures the process by which modern yoga has
spread, from east to west and back again. Today yoga caters to a cadre of
practitioners spanning continents and counting tens of millions of adherents.
In this two-part series, we will discuss the globalization of hatha yoga with
particular relevance to Asia and implications of yoga practice for
musculoskeletal health in different cultures/ethnicities.
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This week the yoga community is mourning the loss of one of
its foremost scholars, Georg Feuerstein, who died at his home on August 25. He
was 65. Born in Germany in 1947, Feuerstein completed his postgraduate studies
in England before moving to the U.S. He later became a resident of Canada.
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Yoga as panacea: We’ve all
heard it, espoused by passionately devoted practitioners. Practiced as a whole
system in context—including meditation, pranayama, and the
ethical/philosophical principles—yoga is likely to be very effective in
fostering improved health and well-being. But let’s be honest. Most “modern
yoga” dispenses with the spiritual fluff, going straight for what Americans
(and an increasingly global population of practitioners) crave most: vigor, sweat,
and “yoga butt.”
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What do you do when you need help rehabilitating a knee injury? When
you’re depressed? When you have back pain? According to the National Institutes
of Health (NIH), about one
in four people in the U.S. have tried non-conventional therapy, including
acupuncture, chiropractics, and yoga, to help heal themselves.
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Uttered
by a well-intentioned classmate upon hearing of my involvement in yoga
research, these words generated a cascade of internal dialogue. In this time
and place, what does it mean to be a “yogi,” anyway? Why did I feel instantly piqued
by this statement? And which says more—unquestioningly assuming this identity,
or the aversion I experienced upon potentially being assigned this label?
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According
to a 2007 survey, about one in four Americans use Complementary and
Alternative Medicine (CAM), which includes yoga, meditation, acupuncture, and
integrative medicine. Practices enjoying increases were deep breathing,
meditation, massage therapy, and yoga. A Consumer
Reports survey suggests people employ CAM for numerous maladies: headaches,
general pain, insomnia, anxiety, colds, flu, and digestive problems. But aside
from their prevalence, do CAM therapies actually work?
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