Health Benefits of Yoga

Yoga has both preventative and therapeutic benefits. Yoga asanas (postures) stretch, extend, flex, and exercise the muscles and the joints. When done in addition with pranayama (breathing techniques), yoga stimulates circulation, digestion, and the nervous and endocrine systems.

The 5 most cited reasons Westerners begin practicing Yoga are:
1. Heal an injury
2. Strengthen a weak back
3. Increase flexibility
4. Manage stress
5. Promote relaxation

Other documented health benefits include:•Relieves chronic stress and tension patterns in the body
•Increases lung capacity
•Improves ability to handle stress
•Reduces chronic pain
•Controls cholesterol and blood-sugar levels
•Lengthens, strengthens and tones muscles
•Improves function of breath, digestion, and circulation
•Lengthens spine and corrects posture
•Improves muscular-skeletal conditions (ex.bad knees, tight shoulders and scoliosis)
•Improving the function of the internal organs and endocrine systems thereby relieving pain
•Relaxes the nervous system (depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, seizures)
•Improves immune system
•Promotes healthy body awareness
•Improves sleep patterns
•Sharpens concentration
•Quiets the mind

Resources: B.K.S. Iyengar; Anatomy of Hatha Yoga, H. David Coulter; Yoga Journal

The story of Virabhadra, the Fierce warrior

In this story there are a few characters to keep in mind:
•Lord Shiva represents the Higher Self
•Sati (Shakti) represents the heart
•Daksha represents the ego

Once upon a time in the celestial realms lived a young man, Lord Shiva, and a young woman, Sati (also thought of as Shakti). Shiva and Sati fell madly in love and were wed. Unfortunately their story did not end here. For Sati was the daughter of King Daksha, who never approved of his daughter marrying a dreaded hair yogi who danced, sang, and consumed intoxicants. To show his disapproval, Daksha through a huge party, inviting everyone in the universe except for Shiva and Sati.



Sati heard about the lavish party that her father was throwing to punish her and Lord Shiva. Annoyed, she begged Shiva to go with her to the party in spite of her father’s wishes. As the wise Lord of Consciousness Shiva replied; “why go, were we are not invited?” Sati disagreed and decided to go alone.

When she arrived her father jokingly announced that she must have come to her senses and left her husband. Sati whom was not amused defended Shiva, even pointing out his divineness, his oneness with nature, and his supreme consciousness. She realized her father would never understand so she announced “since you have given me this body I no longer wish to be associated with it!” Determined she took her seat on the floor in the middle of the party and closed her eyes. She visualized Shiva and then through pranayama (breathing techniques) and other yogic exercises she cultivated her Agni (internal fire). Moments later she burst into flames, leaving the body her father had given her.

Out of devastation and grief of Sati’s fiery death, Shiva enraged tore out his hair (or a dread lock depending on which ancient text) and from this hair he created the fiercest warrior, which he named Virabhadra. Vira is the Sanskrit word meaning hero and bhadra means friend. Shiva instructed Virabhadra to go to the party and seek revenge for Sati’s death.

The actions that Virabhadra took that night in battle resulted in the asana poses we have come to know as virabradhrasana 1, 2, and 3:

Virabadhrasana 1: Virabhadra entered the party by breaking through the ground as he rose from within the earth clasping a sword in each hand.
Virabadhrasana 2: Moments later he spotted Darksha from across the room.
Virabadhrasana 3: Lastly he cunningly approachs Darksha while slaughtering the surrendering guests before he finally beheads Darksha. (pictured bellow)



Shiva quickly came to the party to see what Virabhadra had accomplished. When he arrived he was heartbroken, his rage turned to sadness followed by compassion. He searched for Daksha, finding only his body. Filled with remorse Shiva found a goats head and placed it on Darksha’s headless body bringing his father-in-law back to life. After Darksha awakens, he recognized Shiva’s kindness and bows. Shiva walked away to be alone and remember his love Sati.

Remembering that Lord Shiva represents the Higher Self, Sati (Shakti) represents the heart and Daksha represents the ego we can interpret the story to mean that the Higher Self destroys the ego for the sake of the heart. Through compassion the higher self forgives the ego but still withdrawals to remember the essence of the heart.

So...as we practice our warrior poses can we remember that we are destorying the ego!

Whata does yoga teach you?

1. alignment and breath = clear mind: In yoga we learn to focus our awareness on our alignment, and breath to help steady our mind. We learn to listen to our body, making little adjustments so our asanas (yoga postures) embodies and shines out our love. We learn different breathing techniques to help fine tune our awareness, keeping our mind in the present wonderful moment. We allow the breath to guide us so we may flow with our inner energy. By training the mind to both focus on the breath and the physical alignment brings about a very clear, calm , blissful mind, and allows for a resolution. Practicing in this way learning to follow the different sensations of the body and the breath cultivates an attitude of compassionate self acceptance!

"When we get out of alignment with Spirit and we try to make or expect life to be something different than it really is, suffering happens. We all experience pain and suffering, but it is not the quintessential nature of life. Just because the earth turns away from the sun and night occurs doesn't mean that the sun isn't always shining. It might be hard to see sometimes, but goodness and divine beauty can always be found if you adjust your vision just right." --John Friend

2.Attuning to Prana: there is an intelligent life force in all of us called prana. Prana is life force energy which guides the functioning of both body and mind. Through persistent practice you will become aware of the presence and flow of your prana. Sensing your prana can be used in two ways. You can dance with your prana flowing from one pose to another. You can hold a pose for a longer time as you focus on the sensations, emotions and thoughts that arise. Or you can do a combination of both. This teaches you to listen inwardly so you may be guided and prompted from within. This ability to one pointedly focus on the body, mind, and energy will begin to spread through all aspects of your life. This is a very exciting part of your yoga practice. It gives you a deep peace and inner knowing that you are more than this body and mind. You feel more centered and more clear.

3.Genuine happiness and deep peace: As you continue to deepen your practice, the ability of the mind to witness the movement and quality of the life force energy (prana) grows stronger. You will learn to surrender to this energy and allow it to guide you. The essential mystical truth is realized, spirit dwells within us! We learn that to be present and aware of our breath, body, and mind in the present moment is a fabulous thing that cultivates a genuine happiness and deep peace. You can tape into this state of peace while sitting in stillness, performing yoga asanas, or in your daily activities. This deep peace allow you to celebrate life more fully with a sense of playfulness.

"You will become familiar with the creative God Force inside you, the energy at your core. The world will look more beautiful because you're seeing it as it is, without the distorting influence of your conditioning. You will feel different, happy for no apparent reason. It will seem as though you have undergone an important change, a rebirth, as though you've become a new person, and yet you will feel more yourself than ever before." --Erich Schffmann, Moving into Stillness

What is Yoga?

"Yoga is the practice of radical transformation" -George Feuerstein.

Yoga is not used to change ourselves into something better, but to bring us back to our divine nature, our true Self, that which we are all apart

The way to use yoga for personal transformation is by being fully present in the moment. When present, you are connected to your body, mind and spirit. You feel fully alive. You learn to be present by continues practice that over time gets easier, and becomes something you want to do. You want to get back to that place of centeredness. You do this by:

•Breathe: let your breath flow freely in and out
•Relax: soften your skin, let go of mental, physical and emotional tension
•Feel: stay present to the different sensations (physical, mental and emotional) flowing through you as a way to stay connected to this magical moment.
•Watch: observe your experience with compassion, neither grasping what is pleasant nor avoiding what is painful.
•Allow: accept yourself and your experience exactly as it is, dropping the need to change it in any way. Allow for a revolution an awakening!
•Celebrate: the beauty and truthfulness of life.

Practicing yoga cultivates:

•Peace of mind, calmness, and a sense of well being
•Better relationships, better health, and a better life
•Personal, philosophical, and spiritual insights
•Increase the flow of prana
•Cultivates a celebration of the heart and reminds you of your intrinsic goodness

No matter what your age, race, gender or religion, the benefits of living yoga are available to everyone.

Mental Naming = learning to observe the crazy monkey

Sometime when we sit to meditate, our mind can feel like an untamed monkey hopping around from thought, to body sensations, to emotions. we can struggle with this untamed monkey for a long time, but if we cultivate a compassionate attention we can allow this jumping monkey to be just another sensation that can anchor our awareness to, that actually helps us stay connected to this moment. the monkey hops to either pleasurable things that we enjoy, so naturally we try to grasp on to it, to keep it. Or the monkey hops to things that we don't like and in this case we try to avoid it, push it away or numb it out.

This grasping or resistance to an experience stops our practice and stops our opening to our divine truth. As we encounter these experiences with a mindful attention, we discover that one of three things happen:

1. It will go away.
2. It will stay the same.
3. It will get more intense.

Whichever happens doesn't matter. When we expand our practice to noticing whatever states arise and choosing to not react to them, we can make them part of our practice. Instead of wanting to reach out and grab the monkey to keep it, or push it away and avoid it, we simply witness what the mind is doing. A helpful way to witness this is through a practice called mental naming. Consciously name the experience as it arises as a way of acknowledging what is present, instead of getting hooked by the story line and carried out of the present moment.

Begin by sitting comfortably, focusing awareness on you breath. As you feel each breath, simply name it as "in" "out" or "rising" "falling" say these words silently in the back of your mind. This mental naming gives your thinking mind a way to support awareness rather than wandering off. It helps connect you to the now experience. This is your life right here. This is what is happening when your not chasing or avoiding the monkey.

This process of naming can be extended to all the experiences that might arise in your awareness. You can name body sensations that come up, such as "cold", "itch" or "cramp". You can name feelings, such as "bored", "restless" or "tired". You can name also use mental naming for the kinds of thought experiences that arise, such as "planning", "remembering" or "anticipating".

When starting this practice first name the breath until a stronger experience arises that interrupts your attention. Then move your awareness to the stronger experience, feel it, name it, but don't label it good or bad. If judging comes up, name that "judging". Just be with whatever is most dominant in your now experience. One you name the experience, it will normally shift. Continue to name whatever is most prominent in each moment. When there is no dominant experience, return to naming the breath until the next strong experience arises. Stay simple, focus on one thing at a time. let the monkey mind be a tool instead of a nuisance.

Heart Centered in 2010

As a society we have developed habits in our breathing patterns and in our minds that stop of from connecting to the center of our heart. We tend to live more from our mind and our ego derived sense of self which causes a disconnect to the experience of life. When we live from our heart we steady into the "now" experience bringing us clarity, strength of mind, peace, and a deep connection. From this place we can learn honesty, compassion, and to love more deeply. With awareness to ones breath we can create space and openness in our heart so we can live more full from our center!

The Practice:

Turn your awareness to the flow of your breath. As you inhale follow the breath as the upper lobes of the lunges fill, and the heart space expands. At this point in the breath there is a tendency to get up rooted from the earth...As you reach the top of your inhale notice if your eyes flicker upwards, this is a sign that you have temporarily lost your connection to the apana (downward flow of energy) and have momentarily become ungrounded. Continue by softly smiling at the end of the inhaling breath. Allow the pallet of the mouth to become luminous and keep the eyes soft and down cast. Just like a tree we must be rooted in order to blossom and open more fully.

Now watch the out breath notice if the chest collapses in and the upper back rounds, work to maintain the openness of the heart as you feel the lungs softly peel. As if the lungs just finished gently kissing the inner ribs, instead of pushing the breath out. It's as if the peeling away allows a melting quality which keeps the center of the heart more fully open. Continue to follow the exhale and notice if you unconsciously contract the body at the end of the out breath. This squeezes and pushes us out of our heart. instead as you reach the end of the breath, keep the body soft with the heart radiating outward.

Continue to practice in this way, allow the breath to bring you into the present moment while creating an environment where we may live and flourish from the center of our being. Maintain an inward smile, feel this smile tickle your brain bringing more compassion, kindness, and a sense of humor into our life.

These natural breathing habits unconsciously push us out of our heart, for 2010 can we bring a conscious awareness to our breath so we my live more fully from our center.

Do your habits serve your higher self?

When we live our life every day, it's easy to fall into habits. Habits are actions that are repeated so frequently that they begin to happen almost unconsciously. It is important to pause every once in a while and examine these habits that have developed over time.

Notice if these unconscious actions are serving you.

• Are they helping you show up for the world in a better way?
• Are they helping show up in your relationships in a more positive way?
• Are they making you a happier, healthy, more energized and dependable person?

If they are then that is fabulous. But if you find a habit that is no longer helping you be the best person you can be, can you let this habit go. Habits are hard to break, like I said they almost happen unconsciously. You just sit down and turn on the TV, you get home and have a bear, you grab the third piece of pizza, you judge critically....

Yoga is a great way to help break these baits. In asana practice we can cultivate strength, courage, and determination. We can practice doing things on our mat that are uncomfortable, but still choose to do them because we know in the long run we will be a better person because of it. Can we decide on and off the mat to let go of old habits that are stopping us from showing up in the world, and in our relationships, in a more active positive way?

One way to do this is by asking yourself "is this action I am about to take going to serve my higher self?"