Yoga Pilates and The Busy Woman Yoga

Hatha yoga is the most commonly practiced branch of yoga in the United States, and it is a highly developed system of nearly 200 physical postures, movements, and breathing techniques.

The yoga philosophy maintains that the breath is the most important facet of health, as the breath is the largest source of "prana," or life force, and hatha yoga uses "pranayama," which literally means the science or control of breathing.

A typical hatha yoga routine consists of a sequence of physical poses, called asanas, and the sequence is designed to work all parts of the body, with particular emphasis on making the spine supple and increasing circulation.

Each asana is named for a common thing it resembles, like the sun salutation, cobra, locust, plough, bow, eagle, tree, and the head to knee pose, to name a few.

Each pose has steps for entering and exiting it, and each posture requires proper form and alignment. A pose is held for some time, depending on its level of difficulty and one's strength and stamina.

Breathing properly is a fundamental aspect of yoga postures. Breathing should be deep and through the nose.

Mental concentration in each position is also very important, which improves awareness, poise, and posture. During a yoga routine there is often a position in which to perform meditation, called dyana, if deep relaxation is one of the goals of the sequence.

Hatha style yoga is slow-paced and gentle providing a good introduction to the basic yoga poses.

For most beginners, Hatha or Vinyasa yoga will be most appropriate.

Like Hatha, Vinyasa is a general term that is used to describe many different types of yoga sessions.

Vinyasa, which means breath-synchronized movement, tends to be a more vigorous style based on the performance of a series of poses called Sun Salutations, in which movement is matched to the breath.

A Vinyasa session will typically start with a number of Sun Salutations to warm up the body for more intense stretching that's done at the end of class.

Ashtanga yoga is extremely popular. It is a vigorous, athletic style of practice. It appeals to those who like a sense of order and who like to do things independently.

Ashtanga is also an ideal foundation for home practitioners, once they know the sequence of poses.

Ashtanga, which means "eight limbs" in Sanskrit, is a fast-paced, intense style of yoga. A set series of poses is performed, always in the same order.

Ashtanga practice is very physically demanding because of the constant movement from one pose to the next.

In yoga terminology, this movement is called flow.

Ashtanga is also the inspiration for what is often called Power Yoga. If a class is described as Power Yoga, it will be based on the flowing style of Ashtanga, but not necessarily keep strictly to the set Ashtanga series of poses.

Power yoga is a general term used in the West to describe a vigorous, fitness-based approach to vinyasa-style yoga.

Most power yoga is closely modeled on the Ashtanga style of practice. The term "power yoga" came into common usage in the mid 1990s, when several yoga teachers were looking for a way to make Ashtanga yoga more accessible to western students.

Unlike Ashtanga, power yoga does not follow a set series of poses. Therefore, any power yoga class can vary widely from the next. What they have in common is an emphasis on strength and flexibility.

The advent of power yoga heralded yoga's current popularity, as people began to see yoga as a way to work out. Power yoga brought yoga into the gyms of America.

Power yoga will most likely appeal to people who are already quite fit, enjoy exercising, and want a minimal amount of chanting and meditation with their yoga.

A basic session usually follows this order:

Warm-up Exercises - conditions your body for safe transition into asana practice.

For beginners, you may just use the warm-up poses as your entire practice. Warm-up exercises open the shoulder muscles, the spine, the hips, the lower back, and the groin.

Standing Poses - for alignment of the feet and the body. Opens the hips, stretches the legs, add strength to your back and increases your range of movement. Standing poses facilitates digestion, blood circulation and is good for those who want to lose weight.

Sitting Poses - sitting poses allows you to infuse with the breath and prana, and to revitalize from a pose by giving you a calm and quiet feeling. These poses greatly contribute in shaping your buttocks and legs, and in adding vitality and suppleness to the spine.

Twists - twist exercises releases the tension in your spines, relieves backaches and makes your shoulders more flexible. It also facilitates in the circulation of blood and nutrients in the body making it necessary for the health of the inter-vertebral discs.

Supine and Prone Poses - these poses release
tension in your abdomen and increase the mobility of your spine. It restores strength in your back, arms and legs, and releases your hips and groin.

Inverted and Balance Poses - inverted and balance poses defies gravity and develops coordination, increase stamina and strength, and improves grace, agility and poise. It also improves your concentration and focus since being quiet is necessary to be able to do these poses.

Backbends - backbends are the poses that benefit the adrenal glands and the kidney. It also releases tension in the front body and in your shoulders and pelvic girdle, and improves the flexibility of your spine.

Finishing Poses - these are the cooling-down exercises for Yoga.

Yoga Practices and Cautions

When performing the asanas, try to concentrate on each movement - the process of moving is just as important as attaining a given position. Remember that you should not strain or continue holding any Yoga posture if it causes pain.

Yoga isn't a competitive sport, and the extent of the stretch is less important than the technique.

Each asana may be repeated up to three times, but it is better to perform a posture once correctly than repeating it three times quickly and sloppily.

Try to perform the poses in the prescribed order,
since the routine is meant to help balance the different muscle groups.

Yoga and Meditation

Meditation is the one of the most important aspect of yoga. It helps in connecting the body, mind and spirit. Daily yoga meditation helps in mental purification and offers clarity of thought. It increases concentration and focus.

Meditation should be done in a clean, peaceful room at a fixed time. Sit cross-legged and keep your spine straight. Sit on the floor, a chair or on the yoga meditation cushion.

Nude Yoga,( I told you I wasn't kidding) also referred to as Nude Aerobics Yoga is not for the faint-hearted. This new form of yoga follows the main principles of all yoga: a peaceful meditation period, the allotted time spent in yoga postures, and a comfortable, natural environment in which yoga is practiced, which many feel is too literally applied to the idea of this bare-skinned experience.

The yogi who practice Nude Yoga feel that clothes hinder their ability to perform natural movements All living things are born naked, and our nude body is our most natural form of being. Nude Yogi believe that yoga is a natural enlightening experience for the body and mind, and the outer self must reflect this idea.

Nude Yoga is also thought to be a more sanitary form of exercise because clothing can prevent fresh air from circulating inside and around the body. Fungi and bacteria are more prone to grow in moist, warm clothing attached to a sweating person's body. When a Nude Yogi sweats, the moisture is naturally evaporated rather than soaked up by a garment. When sweat is confined to clothing and a hot body, a foul smell can be more distracting than an odorless nude person.