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Writer's pictureMaria Furtado

The guide to Yoga, Yoga is for everyone!

Updated: Oct 9




​My story with Yoga Practice is really interesting. For some time me and my Sister Paula decided to meet every day to exercise. It was all fine until she started to do Yoga, after we finish stretching and relaxing our muscles. I made fun of her about the weird Yoga Poses, and told her that I could never do that.


I started having these horrible ABS symptoms which caused so much pain I would lay in the bed crying. After trying the strongest painkillers and no success, my sister, told me to try Yoga and that it would certainly remove the pain. I put some videos on YouTube and I start breathing and doing the positions, when I finished the video of just10 minutes I felt relieved, the pain was gone.

From this day forward I was a believer in Yoga and its Results.

I continued it for several days and as I did my research about it, I was amazed by how these practices can help improve your body and mind at the same time. I felt better now I was connecting with my body through the breathing exercises during the Yoga Asanas. Being in the present moment, touching the floor and feeling all my body relax through the correct posture of the spine makes everything feel perfect. I started by doing simple Yoga, but as I watching "30 days with Adrienne" I found myself reaching the sky and really getting down with my head on the floor by the 15th day.

I decided to go further, and now I am a Yoga instructor myself.





Yoga is for everyone.




Always consult your GP or doctor before starting a new exercise practice.

But if you and your doctor agree that you are ready, Yoga is great for every stage of life.

It's versatile and can anywhere with anyone. You can do Yoga with your love ones, during pregnancy and even at mature ages. It is simply incredible!

But don't take just my word for it, check what this article says:




“The purpose of yoga is to build strength, awareness and harmony in both the mind and body,” explains Natalie Nevins, DO, a board-certified osteopathic family physician and certified Kundalini Yoga instructor in Hollywood, California.

While there are more than 100 different types, or schools, of yoga, most sessions typically include breathing exercises, meditation, and assuming postures (sometimes called asana or poses) that stretch and flex various muscle groups.

“As an osteopathic physician, I focus a lot of my efforts on preventive medicine and practices, and in the body’s ability to heal itself,” says Dr. Nevins. “Yoga is a great tool for staying healthy because it’s based on similar principles.”

Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine​, or DOs, focus on prevention by examining how your lifestyle and environment impact your health, rather than just treating your symptoms.

Beginners welcome

Because there are so many different kinds of yoga practices, it is possible for anyone to start. “Whether you’re a couch potato or a professional athlete, size and fitness levels do not matter because there are modifications for every yoga pose and beginner classes in every style,” says Dr. Nevins. “The idea is to explore your limits, not strive for some pretzel-like perfection. It is a great way to get in tune with your body and your inner self.”​

Physical benefits

“The relaxation techniques incorporated in yoga can lessen chronic pain, such as lower back pain, arthritis, headaches and carpal tunnel syndrome,” explains Dr. Nevins. “Yoga can also lower blood pressure and reduce insomnia.”

Other physical benefits of yoga include:

  • increased flexibility

  • increased muscle strength and tone

  • improved respiration, energy and vitality

  • maintaining a balanced metabolism

  • weight reduction

  • cardio and circulatory health

  • improved athletic performance

  • protection from injury

Mental benefits

Aside from the physical benefits, one of the best benefits of yoga is how it helps a person manage stress, which is known to have devastating effects on the body and mind. “Stress can reveal itself in many ways, including back or neck pain, sleeping problems, headaches, drug abuse, and an inability to concentrate,” says Dr. Nevins. “Yoga can be very effective in developing coping skills and reaching a more positive outlook on life.”

Yoga’s incorporation of meditation and breathing can help improve a person’s mental well-being. “Regular yoga practice creates mental clarity and calmness; increases body awareness; relieves chronic stress patterns; relaxes the mind; centers attention; and sharpens concentration,” says Dr. Nevins. Body- and self-awareness are particularly beneficial, she adds, “because they can help with early detection of physical problems and allow for early preventive action.”




Yoga is a great way to open your blocked Chakras, so if you are feeling that you could achieve more alignment but you are stuck this will be perfect for you!

It is also amazing to use as a mental health self-help tool, as exercise for your body and uses breathin exercises that help reduce anxiety and stress.

The History and Origin of Yoga.




Yoga has many places of obscurity and uncertainty due to its oral transmission of sacred texts and the secretive nature of its teachings. The early writings on yoga were transcribed on fragile palm leaves that were easily damaged, destroyed, or lost. The development of yoga can be traced back to over 5,000 years ago, but some researchers think that yoga may be up to 10,000 years old old. Yoga’s long rich history can be divided into four main periods of innovation, practice, and develPre-Classical Yoga.
The beginnings of Yoga were developed by the Indus-Sarasvati civilization in Northern India over 5,000 years ago. The word yoga was first mentioned in the oldest sacred texts, the Rig Veda. The Vedas were a collection of texts containing songs, mantras, and rituals to be used by Brahmans, the Vedic priests. Yoga was slowly refined and developed by the Brahmans and Rishis (mystic seers) who documented their practices and beliefs in the Upanishads, a huge work containing over 200 scriptures. The most renowned of the Yogic scriptures is the Bhagavad-Gîtâ, composed around 500 B.C.E. The Upanishads took the idea of ritual sacrifice from the Vedas and internalized it, teaching the sacrifice of the ego through self-knowledge, action (karma yoga), and wisdom (jnana yoga). Source: Yoga Basics by Timothy Burgin ​https://www.yogabasics.com/learn/history-of-yoga/

Yoga styles.


Tone, Stretch, Balance, and Breath into Enlightenment

Vigorous Vinyasas:

Vinyasa-style yoga combines a series of flowing postures with rhythmic breathing for an intense body-mind workout. Here are a few different types: Ashtanga. The practice of Ashtanga that's getting mainstream attention today is a fast-paced series of sequential postures practiced by yoga master K. Pattabhi Jois, who lives in Mysore, India. Today, yogis continue to spread Jois's teachings worldwide, making it one of the most popular schools of yoga around. The system is based on six series of asanas that increase in difficulty, allowing students to work at their own pace. In class, you'll be led nonstop through one or more of the series. There's no time for adjustments. You'll be encouraged to breathe as you move from pose to pose. Be prepared to sweat. Ashtanga yoga is not for the faint at heart. Most classes that are labeled “all levels” may be very challenging for a new Yoga student, especially if you have any physical constraints. It is definitely worth trying, or even just witnessing at least once, but you may find there are other styles more fitting for you as a new student to Yoga. This style does work the muscles, however, so it is quite a workout.


Sugestion Vinyasa-style yoga Postures for beginers:


Plank Pose — Kumbhakasana. Inhale as you come into a high push-up position, with your hands under your shoulders and feet hip-distance apart.






Knees-Chest-Chin Pose — Ashtanga Namaskara

Exhale as you lower your knees to the floor, keeping your elbows tucked in toward your sides. Keep your hips lifted off the floor, but bring your chest and chin to the floor. Place your chest between your hands.





Cobra Pose — Bhujangasana.


Inhale as you draw your chest forward, keeping your hands underneath your shoulders. Extend your legs along the floor and un-tuck your toes. Draw your shoulders back and lift your chest slightly. Keep your lower ribs on the floor.





Downward-Facing Dog Pose — Adho Mukha Svanasana.

  • Exhale as you lift your hips and roll over your toes, placing the soles of your feet on the floor. Ground down through your hands and the soles of your feet as you lengthen your spine. Lift your belly and sit bones to the sky.







Pranashama VInyasa Yoga:

Is a fusion of Prana Flow & Asthanga/ Power Yoga styles, Qi Gong(martial arts), Dance, Core Power Functional Fitness Training, and Thai Yoga Massage healing therapy. Incorporating the mind, body, spirit, and emotional elements into the practice for a holistic approach to conscious human evolution and personal mastery on all levels. Available for people of all levels and abilities, this style will help you to find inner peace, open your heart more, lose weight, become stronger and more open than you may have imagined possible while keeping the experience fun and light-hearted. With an emphasis on proper alignment, cultivating strength from within, and becoming a “Lighter” in your body, mind, and spirit, you can begin your practice at home with instructional videos and DVDs, at a workshop, retreat, or class near you. Expect to feel younger, more open, alive, and aligned with each class.


Power Yoga:

In 1995, Bender Birch set out to challenge Americans' understanding of what it really means to be fit with her book Power Yoga (Fireside, 1995). Bender Birch's intention was to give a Western spin to the practice of Ashtanga Yoga, a challenging and disciplined series of poses designed to create heat and energy flow. "Most people wouldn't take a class called Ashtanga Yoga, because they had no idea what it meant. Power Yoga, on the other hand, was something Americans could relate to and know that they'd get a good workout," says Bender Birch. Power Yoga's popularity has spread to health clubs across the country and has taken on a broad range of applications. The common thread is a rigorous workout that develops strength and flexibility while keeping students on the move. For specifics, consult individual instructors before signing up for a class.


Jivamukti:

Looking for a highly meditative but physically challenging form of yoga? Try Jivamukti. You won't be alone. Each week, more than 2,000 people visit the Jivamukti Yoga Center in New York City. Its popularity lies in the teaching approach of cofounders David Life and Sharon Gannon, who opened their first studio in 1986, combining an Ashtanga background with a variety of ancient and modern spiritual teachings. In addition to vinyasa-style asanas, classes include chanting, meditation, readings, music, and affirmations. This spiritual resource center also offers specialized courses in Sanskrit and the sacred yoga texts.

Over the course of time, students will get a broad yoga education," Life promises. "One week, a class may focus on a particular asana, while the next week's theme may discuss more metaphysical issues." Beginner classes start by emphasizing standing poses, followed by instruction on forwarding bends, backbends, and inversions. These classes also introduce chants. For more information on class schedules or to find a certified instructor in your area, visit www.jivamuktiyoga.com.




Kali Ray TriYoga:

Kali Ray TriYoga. A series of flowing, dancelike movements intuitively came to Kali Ray (Kaliji) while leading a group meditation in 1980. In 1986, after developing these movements into seven distinct levels, Kaliji established the TriYoga Center in Santa Cruz, California, offering a system of yoga that is taught in a meditative environment. The first level is a slow, relaxing, and rejuvenating practice. The class, often accompanied by music, focuses on natural alignment and breath within the flow and ends with meditation. A union of asana (postures), pranayama (breathwork), and mudra (seals), this practice is deeply meditative, promoting relaxation and inner peace. For more information visit www.kaliraytriyoga.com. White Lotus. White Lotus Yoga is the collaborative effort of Ganga White and Tracey Rich, who meld two eclectic backgrounds and years of experience into a non-dogmatic teaching approach dedicated to helping students develop a well-balanced personal practice. At their 40-acre retreat in the Santa Ynez Mountains of Santa Barbara, California, this husband and wife team offers a complete yogaimmersion experience with programs ranging from the

weekend and weeklong getaways to 16-day teacher training programs.


White Lotus Yoga:

Is a flowing vinyasa practice that ranges from gentle to vigorous depending on your ability or comfort level. In addition, class formats incorporate alignment, breath, and the theoretical understanding of yoga. For more information, visit www.whitelotus.org.


Yengar:

From his home in Pune, India, B.K.S. Iyengar reigns as one of the most influential yogis of his time. At 80 years old, he continues to teach thousands of students from all over the world, encouraging them to penetrate deeper into the experience of each pose. This is the trademark of Iyengar Yoga? It has an intense focus on the subtleties of each posture. In an Iyengar class, poses (especially standing postures) are typically held much longer than in other schools of yoga, so that practitioners can pay close attention to the precise muscular and skeletal alignment this system demands. Also specific to Iyengar, which is probably the most popular type of yoga practiced in the United States, is the use of props, including belts, chairs, blocks, and blankets, to help accommodate any special needs such as injuries or structural imbalances. "In forwarding bends, for example, if someone's hamstrings aren't flexible, he or she can use a prop to help extend the spine. The wall is often used for support in a variety of poses," explains Janet MacLeod, who teaches at the Iyengar Yoga Institute in San Francisco. "Using props gives the student support, allowing them more freedom to breathe deeply into the pose." For more information, visit www.iyisf.org.



Healing Yoga Styles

Integrative Yoga Therapy:

In 1993, Joseph Le Page, M.A., founded Integrative Yoga Therapy (IYT) in San Francisco. Le Page developed a yoga teacher training program designed specifically for medical and mainstream wellness settings, including hospitals and rehabilitation centers. Two-week IYT intensives are offered worldwide, training healthcare professionals, yoga teachers, and bodyworkers to adapt gentle postures, guided imagery, and breathing techniques for treating specific health issues such as heart disease, psychiatric disorders, and AIDS. "Healing happens through connection with the deepest part of who we are," says Le Page. "The program emphasizes the healing process in detail by addressing all levels of the patient: physical, emotional, and spiritual. An example of this therapeutic application is to teach patients with heart disease to become more aware of themselves and their condition at all levels, using yogic lifestyle changes, breathing techniques, asanas suitable for their condition, guided imagery for the circulatory system, and meditation with a focus on healing the heart." For more information, visit www.iytyogatherapy.com.

Viniyoga:

As we travel through life, it's no mystery that we are constantly evolving on all levels: physically, emotionally, and intellectually. So why not tailor a yoga routine that will help address and integrate these transitions? Viniyoga, in fact, is an empowering and transformative practice designed to do just that. In this gentle practice, created by T.K.V. Desikachar, poses are synchronized with the breath in sequences determined by the needs of the practitioner. According to Gary Kraftsow, owner and teacher at The American Viniyoga Institute on the Hawaiian island Maui, Viniyoga is a methodology for developing an integrated practice for each person's needs as they grow and change. "As children, our practice should support balanced growth and development of the body and mind. As adults, it should protect our health and promote our ability to be productive in the world. And as seniors, it should help us maintain health and inspire a deeper quest for self-realization," says Kraftsow. For more information, visit www.viniyoga.com.

Svaroopa:

This style of yoga teaches different ways of doing familiar poses, emphasizing the opening of the spine by beginning at the tailbone and progressing through each spinal area. Every pose integrates the foundational principles of asana, anatomy, and yoga philosophy, and emphasizes the development of transcendent inner experience, which is called svaroopa by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutra. This is a consciousness-oriented yoga that also promotes healing and transformation. Svaroopa Yoga was developed by Rama Berch, who founded and directs the Master Yoga Academy and created the yoga program for Dr. Deepak Chopra's Center for Well Being, both located in La Jolla, California. Berch says teaching asanas became increasingly frustrating because the students seemed to be trying to "impose the pose upon their body rather than unfolding it from within." She began looking for ways to guide her students to the deeper effects of each asana, speaking of them as "angles that provide opening, rather than poses to be learned." New students find this a very approachable style, often beginning in chair poses that are comfortable and have a deep healing effect on the spine. For more information or to find out if there is a teacher in your area, visit www.masteryoga.org.

Bikram:

When you take a Bikram yoga class, expect to sweat. Each studio is designed to replicate yoga's birthplace climate, with temperatures pushing 105° Fahrenheit. Why the sauna-like effect? "Because sweat helps move the toxins out of your body," explains Radha Garcia, owner of Bikram's Yoga College of India in Boulder, Colorado. "Your body is like a sponge. To cleanse it, you need to wring it out to allow fresh blood and oxygen to circulate and keep your immune system running smoothly." This method of staying healthy from the inside out was designed by Bikram Choudhury, who sequenced a series of 26 traditional Hatha postures to address the proper functioning of every bodily system. Choudhury first visited the United States from India in 1971 on a trip sponsored by the American Medical Association to demonstrate his work using yoga to treat chronically ill patients. Today Choudhury continues teaching students of all ages and abilities from his studio in Los Angeles where he also conducts a certified teacher's training program. For more information, visit http://www.bikramyoga.com/.



Tibetan:

Tibetan Yoga is a term used among Buddhists to describe a range of tantric meditation and pranayama practices. Though little is known in the West about the physical practices of Tibetan Yoga, in 1939, Peter Kelder published Ancient Secret of the Fountain of Youth (Doubleday, 1998), describing a sequence of postures of Tibetan origin called "The Five Rites of Rejuvenation." In 1994, yoga teacher Christopher Kilham published a modern version of these exercises called The Five Tibetans: Five Dynamic Exercises for Health, Energy, and Personal Power (Inner Traditions). Composed of five flowing movements, this active workout keeps students on the move. Beginners start with 10 or 12 repetitions and progressively work their way up to the 21 repetitions of the full routine. Classes may be difficult to find. Tibetan Buddhist monk Tarthang Tulku adapted another ancient movement practice for the modern west called Kum Nye. More contemplative in nature than the vigorous Five Tibetans, Kum Nye strives to integrate body and mind and means "interaction with the subtle body." For more information, see Tulku's Kum Nye Relaxation (Dharma Publishing, 1978) or visit www.nyingma.org.

Hatha:

If you are browsing through a yoga studio's brochure of classes and the yoga offered is simply described as "Hatha," chances are the teacher is offering an eclectic blend of two or more of the styles described above. It's a good idea to ask the teacher or director of the studio where he or she was trained and if the poses are held for a length of time or if you will be expected to move quickly from one pose to the next, and if meditation or chanting is included. This will give you a better idea if the class is vigorous or more meditative

How to start doing Yoga?

Do not feel like yoga is not for you before giving it a try. And I really encourage you to go for it, if you having back pains, or feeling really stressed, this will make you feel fantastic. Then just put your most comfy close on, take your shoes off, feel the floor, find some space to do it.

Yoga is an ancient system that has been helping people find balance in their lives for thousands of years. Only just recently has it caught on in the Western world. Suddenly, yoga is everywhere. But when you see the women in the designer yoga outfits, with plush yoga mat carrying bags, you may immediately decide you don’t fit the “yoga crowd”. I’m here to change your mind. The practice of Yoga can help everyone, no matter what is your current physical, mental, or emotional condition. Naturally, as a beginner, you may have a few questions and/or concerns.

Please feel free to Register on our Members area to enjoy free material, and videos, to start this blissful journey true to Yoga Practice.

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