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    Yoga for Health and Happiness
    Yoga for Health and Happiness
    Yoga for Health and Happiness
    Ebook165 pages1 hour

    Yoga for Health and Happiness

    By Julie Bernier

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    About this ebook

    Health and happiness are a tall order, but yoga has the extraordinary ability to give both. Its age alone attests to its potency-- people have been practicing yoga for more than 5,000 years and its popularity is ever growing. Ancient Indian yogis gifted humanity with this tremendous system to develop a healthy physical body and a peaceful, blissful existence. Yoga for Health and Happiness gives you the strong foundation needed to unleash yoga's true potential, whether you’re a complete beginner or an ongoing student.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBookBaby
    Release dateMar 5, 2014
    ISBN9781483523224
    Yoga for Health and Happiness

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      Book preview

      Yoga for Health and Happiness - Julie Bernier

      Author

      Introduction

      Health and happiness are a tall order, but yoga has the extraordinary ability to give both. Its age alone attests to its potency-- people have been practicing yoga for more than 5,000 years and its popularity is ever growing. Ancient Indian yogis gifted humanity with this tremendous system to develop a healthy physical body and a peaceful, blissful existence. This book gives you the strong foundation needed to reap these benefits for yourself, whether you’re a complete beginner or an ongoing student.

      Yoga was traditionally taught one on one: guru (the Sanskrit name for teacher) to student. This enabled the guru to assess the student’s body type, capabilities and progress; and individualize each practice accordingly. After all, everyone’s body is different, and everyone learns at a different pace. A yoga practice should therefore be tailor-made.

      Most students in the modern Western world now learn in large group classes. This is a relatively new concept. Although this method lacks individualization and is not the ideal way to learn, it has made yoga accessible to the masses. And the larger the yoga population, the better; it will only make our planet more peaceful. However, important elements of classical yoga are generally skipped over in the modern world’s studio classes. Yogic philosophy, breathing exercises, meditation and even basic guidelines for practice are often omitted. These core elements of yoga must not be overlooked.

      Herein lies the role of this book. Whether you’re just starting or have long been practicing yoga, this introduction to its deeper teachings will open your mind to the vast ocean of yoga. This book will teach you the core principles for a beneficial practice that are almost never discussed in yoga classes. You’ll learn 40 of the most important asanas (yoga postures), most of which come from the classical hatha yoga that’s been passed down for thousands of years. You’ll learn mudras (hand gestures) and pranayama (breathing exercises) that positively influence the mind, and the basics of a wholesome yogic diet. You’ll be guided through the practice of dhyana (meditation), from what it is to how to sit. You’ll gain a clear understanding of yoga’s spiritual and philosophical background to ignite your practice as you become aware of the ways you can expand and progress.

      This book is not meant to be a substitute for a teacher. A student who learns solely from books will never know if they’re practicing correctly and risks injury. Rather, it’s meant to enhance your work with a teacher, whether that be in a yoga class or once you start practicing on your own. Using this book will help you gain the confidence needed to establish a home practice. This is one of the best ways to grow. It gives you the flexibility to practice when your schedule allows. More important, it allows you to adjust your practice to your body’s own daily ebb and flow, move at your own pace, and take as much time as you need to master each yoga posture.

      You’ll see the word practice used over and over again in this book. Practice is precisely what yoga requires; you must experience it for yourself to reap its rewards. May this book serve as a guide and inspiration on your journey toward good health and happiness.

      Part 1: Understanding Yoga

      Yoga for a Healthy Body and Mind

      You can have calmness of mind at all times by the practice of yoga. You can have restful sleep. You can have increased energy, vigor, vitality, longevity, and a high standard of health. You can turn out efficient work within a short space of time. You can have success in every walk of life. - Swami Sivananda

      Even those who have never practiced yoga know that it makes the body flexible. However, this is only one of its many advantageous effects. Yoga’s physical benefits go far beyond flexibility, reaching the deepest layers of the body. They come as a sort of bonus by-product of practice, as yoga was never intended to be a mere workout. Nevertheless, its health benefits are enormous and in many ways surpass those of other exercise forms.

      It’s now a well known fact that exercise is imperative to good health. The yogis were aware of this even thousands of years ago, and also understood that the point of exercise isn’t to exhaust the body. Hatha yoga (the type of yoga described in this book) is unique in that it acts gently to tone and stretch the body. All movements are slow and gradual. They’re synchronized with deep inhalations and exhalations, and interspersed with short periods of relaxation. Unlike other forms of exercise, which use aggressive movements and can cause fatigue or even injury, yoga doesn’t induce stress or strain. Instead, it rejuvenates the body.

      Vigorous exercise can create an internal oxygen debt. If the body doesn’t have enough oxygen to generate the energy needed, lactic acid begins to accumulate and can cause muscle fatigue. Since the movements in yoga are slow and paired with deep breathing, the body receives enough oxygen to avoid any oxygen debt in the first place. Neither body nor heart is strained or overexerted. If any lactic acid buildup still occurs, the use of interspersed relaxation poses allows its release.

      Every asana, or yoga posture, has a physical purpose. Each one targets some area of the internal body; stimulating, toning or massaging organs and glands so that they properly function. A yoga practice bears effect on all body systems: nervous, skeletal, muscular, endocrine, cardiovascular, lymphatic, digestive, respiratory, urinary and reproductive. A well-rounded yoga sequence will have positive effects on the entire internal body.

      Yoga keeps the body pliable. Ligaments naturally tighten with age and the body starts to stiffen. This is exacerbated by bad posture, common in our culture of sitting for extended periods of time. The result is general immobility, explaining why it’s more difficult to touch your toes when you’re 50 versus 10. Yoga uses slow, nonviolent movements to gradually stretch the muscles and ligaments. Although aging is irreversible, regular yoga practice can help revitalize the body so that it remains agile even in old age.

      Despite its gentle approach, yoga is not all stretching. It absolutely builds strength. It develops the strong core and long, lean, balanced muscles that are essential for good posture and performing everyday tasks. Moreover, the body will never plateau in yoga. Every pose has increasingly difficult variations that continually challenge focus, balance and strength.

      Yogis say that you’re only as young as your spine is healthy, and most yoga poses in some way target the spine. They’re designed to keep

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