Yoga: More African Americans are Doing It
KRIYA YOGA- this is a blend of raja, jnana and bhakti practices. It is practiced by a daily program of self-discipline of mind and body, introspection and devotion to God (Yogaworld, 2001).
ASHTANYA YOGA- also called power yoga is a series of poses that flows from one into the next. The poses come in six progressions. The first is a forward bend sequence and the second is a back bending sequence, both including some inversions. The remaining four advanced progression purify the nervous system and detoxify muscles and organs (Salovaara, 2001).
Like I said earlier those are just some of the forms out their. Within each of the forms there is a common factors are concentration, postures, mediation and breathing. And each of those has a specific purpose in the world of yoga.
Let's take the postures that are involved. These postures are used to strengthen your muscles and align your body. What I found interesting was some of the names they have for the different kinds of postures. Some of the names are cobra (bhujaungasana), hero (virasana) and fish (matsyasana) among other name that represent what the pose looks like (River Maya, 2000).
If you want to try yoga there are certain things to know about practicing yoga at home. Matter of fact the article "creating a home yoga practice",has some pointers about doing yoga at home:
1- The yoga student should approach each practice with intelligence.
2- Approach your practice as a gift because if your worry about how to squeeze it into your schedule than frustration will come. And along with frustration comes stress.
3- Make sure you practice in a clean, well-ventilated and warm environment
4- Think of your yoga sessions as having three sections, a beginning, a middle and end (Payne, 1997).
And of course there are some things to be aware of when doing yoga: 1- do not practice asanas on a full stomach
2- Never perform asanas on bare ground.
3- Do not engage in running, sports or freehand exercises immediately after asanas (River Maya, 2000).
Well I hope you got an idea of what yoga is. As for me, I am going out to try it because I really did something to help relieve some of the stress in my life.
Sources
Bruno, Leonard C. "Yoga". Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine 1999
"Exercises (Asanas)". River Maya 2000 www.rivermaya.com/asanas1.html
"Exercises (Asanas): Before you begin". River Maya 2000 www.rivermaya.com/asanas.html
"General yoga information". American Yoga Association 2000 www.americanyogaassociation.org/general.html
Muz, Murray. "The mystery for Mantra: Mantra Yoga- Transformation by conscious sound".
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