... Only a Western yoga guru can demonstrate the joy of surrendering yourself to another in order to allow him to show you the way to God. Pride and individualism have a high price in loneliness and we all pay it in the Western world. The right Western yoga guru can show you how to let your sense of individuality slip away in order to feel less alone. Loneliness shortens Americans lives, gives us more health problems, and makes us the most depressed citizenry in the world.

The word guru is derived from two Sanskrit words, ru, meaning remove, and gu, meaning darkness or muck. Find your Western guru and find peace of mind by move towards light. Most Westerners come to yoga for the purposes of improving physical health. If you take that next step and find your guru, you'll really start to understand what yoga is all about.

You'll find him anywhere. You needn't take the long trip to India; you may just need a walk around the corner. Your guru will be recognizable by the way you feel in his presence. Be open and receptive and your guru will find you!more

Yoga Breathing Exercise Fundamentals

...hing process. For example, when you practice deep breathing, the puffing out of the abdomen is a critical indicator that you are taking in enough breath to accomplish adequate oxygenation. Truly mastering pranayama (yoga breathing) is only possible when you become aware of your breathing rhythms in any activity at any time of day.

4. Focus on both inhalation and exhalation. When I first started yoga breathing techniques, I focused almost entirely on the inhalation, making sure I was taking a truly deep breath, without focusing at all on how I was letting the air out of my body. In fact, exhalation is just as important to the success of yoga breathing exercises. Focus on a consistent, controlled release rather than a jerky, uncontrolled release.

The long-term health benefits of yoga breathing exercise are thought to be significant, but I can tell you that the short-term increase in energy, focus, peace and brain power you gain from just a 5-minute yoga breathing technique are incredibly powerful to your overall well being, productivity and happiness.<...more

Yoga in Practice - Taking Control of Your Life

... it is the personality, which governs the initial perspective of lifes daily struggles. In Yoga, there are many practices to help us change the personality, but we must first really want to change. You cannot change by reading about it.

You must put Yoga, knowledge, and the desire to change your life for the best, into practice. Applying what you learn separates you from the masses. Most peopl...more

Discovering The History And Concepts Of Different Branches of Yoga

...History of Hatha Yoga: The history of hatha yoga goes back in the fifteenth century India when Yogi Swatmarama, a sage during those times, introduced it as a form of "a stairway to the heights" of Raja Yoga which is the preparatory stage of physical purification that makes the body fit for the practice of higher form of meditation. Hatha yoga is also known to be called as "hatha vidya" and the word "hatha" is a combination of the words, "ha" which means sun "tha" that means moon and they are said to refer to the prinicipal "nadis" or the energy channels of the body and must be fully operational to attain the state of "dhyana" or a certain aspect of meditation.

Some people may link that the origins of hatha yoga which dates back in the tenth or eleventh century with Goraknath, a yogin during those times. However, the oldest surviving text about hatha yoga is the Hatha Yoga Pradipika by yogin, Yogi Swatmarama. The text is said to be taken from old Sanskrit writings and personal yogin experiences of the yogin himself. The text relates about shatkarma, asana, pranayama, chakras, kundalini, bandhas, kriyas, shakti, nadis, and mudras among others.

Concept of Hatha yoga: The total concept of the traditional hatha yoga is a holistic yogic path comprising of moral disciplines, physical exercises, breath control, and meditation. The hatha yoga that is widely practiced and popular in the western countries mainly composed of the "asanas" or postures and other exercises.

Hatha yoga is only one of the two concepts of yoga that concentrates on the physical culture and the other yoga is the Raja yoga but both of these are referred to as Ashtanga yoga. The main difference is that the Raja yoga concentrates more on the "asanas" or postures to get the body ready for a prolonged meditation that c...more

Yoga And Meditation Practices