Yoga

                Everyone knows about yoga, benefits of yoga. But here are the meanings of some basic words which are used in yoga usually. Asanas means the physical poses which you do in yoga. Many yoga workshops provide classes for Bikram yoga, which is a practice of yoga which is done in a heated room. Hatha is known as physical practice of yoga. Restorative yoga is yoga which is done slowly, which is relaxing kind of yoga which is usually used to release stress.
                Yoga is all about self practice. Even though if you go somewhere for a vacation, then you can think about Yoga Travel. It will give you very nice and relaxing experience of yoga.  Yoga, for thousands of years has been taught from teacher to student on a one-to-one basis taking a student through his or her own development at an appropriate pace. Man who practices yoga is known as Yogi and a woman who practices yoga is known as yogini.

Role of Seva Yoga

              There is a special word, as mentioned earlier, in Sanskrit, seva, which translates to “selfless service”. Seva is an attitude towards the world with an open heart and readiness to help without expecting anything back. It is defined by the Seva Foundation as “compassion in action”.

The Seva Foundation should be the most widely-known organization promoting Seva Yoga. Its programs are concentrated in nine developing countries to help local communities build sustainable solutions to fight poverty and disease.

              Another well known program, Global Seva Challenges. In five years it has raised more than two million dollars for projects in Cambodia, Uganda, South Africa and Haiti. Their campaign focuses on raising awareness to stop sex trafficking in India and worldwide.

Being a yogi means taking care of your body and soul–but it also involves creating and sharing positive energy. Just as we roll out our mat every day, we can practice selfless service on a regular basis. Join existing movements or create your own. Think about your passion, recognize and feel the pain of others, and find an outlet to bring your compassion into action.

              Many years’ working in the nonprofit sector and knowing there is another way to guide people toward healing. Something to compliment the employment classes, the violence prevention programs, the case management, the counseling etc. 

              I’m damn sure that we have all experienced a time in our lives when someone helped us without even realizing what we are doing. Perhaps you never even spoke to other people, but something about what they did or how they are inspired you. So this Seva Yoga is about sending out a silent thank you to someone who played this role in your life.

Partner Yoga

                    

                    Partner yoga can help you deepen both your poses and your relationships. "Doing yoga with a partner makes many poses more accessible, comfortable, and therapeutic," says Mary Aranas, who teaches at Pure Yoga and leads partner yoga workshops around the country. "By holding onto another person, you can balance better than you could on your own, move into poses more deeply, and hold them longer, which increases strengthening and stretching." Working in tandem also improves communication. All you need is a spouse, a friend, or another willing partner -- and neither of you has to be overly fit or flexible. Aranas chose the following poses, including tension-busting twists and restorative stretches, for their simplicity.Most of the Yoga Workshop practice this method.

Benefits: Increases lung capacity, stretches the torso, and lifts the spirit.

How to Do It: Stand facing each other, feet hip-width apart so that you can comfortably hold each other's forearms with your arms bent. Inhale and lift the chest, then exhale and drop head gently back, straightening arms. Hold the pose for 2 to 3 breaths. Inhale, and return to standing.

My Encounter With Yoga

                 

                 I have been practicing yoga for roughly over 20 years now on a regular basis (I had given yoga a couple of tries earlier in life and had rejected it initially – another story for another day). One item that continually draws me to yoga is that it offers more than just exercise but also has life lessons and guidance. This does not mean that I accept everything and anything that anyone says in a yoga class, nor that it is my only source of direction. I have had moments though where I found the message being disseminated during my yoga session quite conflicting. 

                   Today I asked one of my students ‘What does Yoga mean?’ She gave me the same old definition as ‘Yoga is the integration of body and mind. Blah... Blah... ’ I think many of us feel the same. But yeah, though it literally means that… My views about it are a bit different. I think Yoga is a feeling that cannot be expressed. It is a relaxing feeling that one gets after all the stress in his day to day life.

Yoga Therapy is the best way to relieve oneself from all the worries. 

Prenatal Yoga

Prenatal yoga classes are more popular than ever. When paired with a cardiovascular exercise such as walking, yoga can be an ideal way to stay in shape during your pregnancy. Yoga is also beneficial because it helps you learn to breathe deeply and relax, which will come in handy as you face the physical demands of labor, birth, and motherhood. In fact, one of the first things you learn in a yoga class is how to breathe fully. The breathing technique requires you to take in air slowly through your nose, filling your lungs, and exhale completely until your stomach compresses. The benefits of yoga aren't limited to your physical well-being. "Taking a prenatal yoga class is a great way to meet other pregnant women — to become part of a community”. Remember to follow the safe pregnancy exercise such as drinking lots of water before, during, and after exercising to keep your body hydrated. Learning how to breathe well helps you for labor and childbirth by training you to stay calm when you need it most. When you're in pain or afraid, your body produces adrenalin and may produce less oxytocin, a hormone that makes labor progress. A regular yoga practice will help you fight the urge to tighten up when you feel pain, and show you how to relax instead.

Types Of Yoga

There are four distinct yoga systems, or sadhanas, and each one offers something different to the practitioner.

•             Hatha yoga: This is considered to prepare you for more spiritual or meditative yoga practices. The term Hatha yoga comes from the Sanskrit words “ha,” meaning sun, and “tha,” meaning moon. Therefore it is all about balance. Once the body is tamed through Hatha Yoga, any Yogi can move to more advanced technique which focuses on mastering the mind through meditation, postures and breathing.

•             Jnana Yoga: This is a yoga that strives for self-knowledge. A practice most commonly associated with Buddha himself. Students are taught to sit quietly and working, disregarding their previous abstract notions and beliefs.  Through self-questioning, practitioners can come to understand the separation between their bodies and souls, and thus achieve a greater understanding of what is eternal (real) and temporal (unreal).

         

•    Bhakti yoga: This strives towards loving-kindness and devotion to a personal form of God. Bhakti means Devotion, a kind of selfless love and generosity with no personal ego.

•   Karma Yoga: Karma means Action. It stresses on divorcing ones actions from selfish motivations. Emphasizes on calming the mind and connecting to God for inner peace, instead of worrying about the future.

In all the above forms the body and the mind are strongly connected. Physical strength is nothing if not combined with spiritual strength. Performing all the above mentioned yoga therapy practices together or separately can benefit the yogis both physically and mentally.

Seva Yoga In Brief

What does Seva Yoga mean??

          Seva Yoga is a Sanskrit term made up of two words Seva meaning ‘Service’ and Yoga ‘Union’. So Seva Yoga means ‘Service for Unity’ literally. It means to place Yoga to the service for others by widening access to the healing and nourishing benefits of yoga as therapy and as a practical support for joyful living even in the face of challenge, difficulty and change. 

              Yoga philosophy is an Art and Science of living in tune with Brahmand - The Universe. Unlike earlier, Yoga today is no longer restricted to a privileged minority of hermits; it has taken its place in our everyday living and has undergone a worldwide awakening and acceptance in the last few decades. The Science of Yoga and its techniques have now been re-oriented to suit modern sociological needs and lifestyle. Experts of various branches of medicine including modern medical science are realizing the role of these techniques in the prevention of disease and promotion of health.                 

          Swami Vivekananda defines Yoga as "It’s a means of compressing one’s evolution into a single life or a few months or even a few hours of one’s bodily existence". By Yoga, Sri Aurobindo, meant a methodological effort towards self perfection by the development of potentialities latent in the individual .Most people have their first experience of yoga by joining a yoga class and practicing asana. Seva yoga is usually described as service, but this word does not quite capture the essence of seva. People who conduct Yoga for the welfare of mankind is called sevaks and their work is called Seva i.e. serving. Seva Yoga is a blessing in disguise. The joy and happiness you get by offering your love and affection to another human being becomes a blessing for you. Truly , Seva Yoga is a blessing to mankind.