...One of the philosophies of Yoga is called Patanjali and comes from the Sanskrit for its definition of Ashtanga Yoga. Ashta means 8 and Anga means limbs and these 8 limbs are intended to help the Ashtange Yoga devotee to live a healthy life. The practice of this form of Yoga is intended to help us minimize stress in our lives, which if course is a good thing, or at least minimize its effect. It also strengthens our endurance.

Ashtanga Yoga was made popular by the Yoga guru Shri K Pattabhi Jois. There is a different term in western Yoga to describe what is in effect a form of Ashtanga Yoga. This term is Power Yoga. Power Yoga is modeled on Ashtanga yoga.

The 8 limbs of Ashtanga Yoga are as follows:

Asana is the discipline of performing Yoga exercises for the betterment of your body and spirit.

Niyama is for taking control of your life. Control comes from personal restraint. Niyama is the combination of joy (santosh), patience (tapa), self study (swadhyaya), purity (shoucha) and love of god (esgwar pranidhan).

Yama is to enable us to dwell...more

Protecting Your Yoga Teaching Business

...When or if, you want to become a Yoga teacher - would you be thinking of litigation and Yoga? The old saying, the truth hurts, applies to legality, ethics, and teaching Yoga. You can always bury your head in the sand and hope that you are never involved in a legal battle. After all, what kind of a student would sue his or her Yoga teacher? Doctors must ask each other this question every day. Sorry, but denial will not help you in a court of law.

Instead of denying the obvious, you can take action, by learning how the law applies to your Yoga business. You can also start creating policies that protect your students, and insure that you are giving quality Yoga instruction for the rest of your life.

It has been said that Knowledge is Power, a...more

Building Stronger Arms Through Yoga

...rt sleeves, I will say you will see an increase in arm strength and endurance that may not occur in perhaps other forms of exercise.

Moreover, some basic Calisthenics like Push-ups, the Plank and the Dive-bombers do borrow heavily from Yoga.

In my opinion, if one is looking to increase strength in the arms through Yoga, the best exercises to focus on will be the one and only Sun Salutations first.

From experience, when I was having difficulty holding endurance building poses such as the Wheel, Bow, Peacock and Crow Poses-with their variations-for a good enough length of time (say an average of 90 seconds and beyond), I discovered by sheer chance that in increasing the number of rounds of the Sun-Salutations (Exercises) mentioned earlier to at least 24 straight rounds, I could hold any of the poses above for a quite a while.

It w...more

The Different Types of Yoga

...and age. Hatha yoga is the style of yoga most practiced today. It is what you will think of when you think of yoga in general. Power yoga is a more aerobic-style yoga, with an emphasis on cardio. Bikram yoga is a style of yoga performed in a heated room to accelerate detoxification. These are the types of yoga you will most likely encounter.

In addition to power yoga, there are two other styles of yoga designed for the more aerobic and fitness conscious person. These are ...more

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