... to detach from your mind and rest.

The breath is the wave upon which yoga postures flow one into the other and is one of the most important aspects of yoga. When we take a moment to notice and improve the quality of our breath we have more oxygen moving to the brain, the muscles around the rib cage and upper back relax more, our stress levels reduce and we are able to achieve greater perspective in our day. With full and proper breathing we find our bodies and minds are more open and clear; thus yoga practice deepens in both posture and observance.

Namaste

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Concentration and meditation

...ion of the thought process) there is no movement and no distraction.

Of course meditation itself has many stages depending on at what level the mind is operating. The practitioner goes through successively higher stages and at the highest level he goes into trance. meditation is beneficial no matter at what stage a person is; it is now a well-known fact that it leads to healthy body and mind. Not everyone can become an enlightened yogi; it takes a long time, even many lives to get to that stage. But getting started and having benefits even at the physical level is reward enough.

Although concentration is not meditation it is an essential step in the practice of yoga. It is essential for success in any effort in life. At the initial stages of meditation the books often advise to concentrate on a light or even on breath. Even if the person does not pursue the spiritual goal, the power of concentration is a great gift for physical and material goals.<...more

True Essence of Yoga

...iddle age Indians twisted this word Karma phala tyaga as sacrifice of the fruit of the work like praying God instead of sacrifice of money.

The reason was that these Indians were unable to sacrifice money to God due to their strong love on their children. Foreigners ask their children to earn after certain age. Indians store money even for ten generations and still continue to store only. Since prayers, meditation and knowledge are very much diverted to God, India was blessed by God with good language, good mind and good knowledge.

Since foreigners are good in sacrifice, God blessed them with good wealth. Even Indian spiritual centres were strongly funded by foreigners only. Swami Vivekananda cried, Why my India suffers with poverty in spite of so much spiritual knowledge? Sacrifice of money (Karma phala tyaga) and sacrifice of work (karma Sanyasa) put together constitute the Gods service, which is the real Yoga (real proof of love) called Karma yoga in Gita. Foreigners are the best in this karma yoga and so they easily succeed in yoga. Throughout Gita, this karma yoga was explained as yoga and wheels or lotus flowers are not at all mentioned.<...more

Six Branches of Yoga

...Yoga is an ancient tradition from the Eastern world, and these oldest practitioners tended to look at yoga as a tree with six branches. What all six have in common are the asanas (the physical positions and movements), Pranayama (the structured breathing or breath control), meditation and a strong moral code.

1. hatha Yoga

In Indian, "ha" means sun and "tha" means moon. hatha yoga refers to these twin energy channels in the body. Its goal is to prepare the body for the more pure state of meditation to come in the 2nd branch. hatha yoga was brought to us by an Indian yogi attempting to purify the body to make it fit for higher meditation. Western yoga is almost completely the hatha yoga branch, and Westerners find mental and physical comfort in the first branch alone.

2. Raja Yoga

Raja and Hatha Yoga are highly interrelated. Raja means...more

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