Learning Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga And It’s Many Benefits
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Thousands of students flock to the Yoga Research Institute in Mysore, India each year in hopes of finding that missing piece to life’s puzzle. The Institute’s style of Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga is particularly attractive to Westerners because they enjoy the physical rigor and discipline. While many forms of yoga are more about relaxing, this style is more about physically challenging poses that evoke mental release. Some people state the method attracts the “overachiever” personality type, but in reality it caters to people of each level.
Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga was first brought to the Western world by the teachings of Patanjali Maharishi, a sage from Mysore India. He spoke about the significance of reaching internal purification and reconnecting with the “Universal Soul” through eight principles: moral codes, self-purification and study, posture, breath control, sense control, concentration, meditation and contemplation. He believed that each step built upon one another, much in the same way each posture (or “asana”) builds upon the next.
In the beginning of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, a yoga teacher will help students master “external cleansing practices.” They learn about morality and study, while practicing specific postures and breathing. Teachers help beginners find the correct positions and inspire students to live a just and moral existence. Next, after days of mastering the proper poses and gaining strength, students will learn to control their minds. Through posture, breathing and focusing, the practice purifies the body, nervous system and mind over time.
In practice, Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga involves six specific postures (otherwise known as “asanas”) that are always completed in the same order. In the opening asana, there are ten standing “Sun Salutations” or “The Primary Series,” which is intended to align and detoxify the body. The “Intermediate Series” works on the nervous system by opening and clearing internal energy pathways. “The Advanced Series A, B, C and D” helps students achieve maximum flexibility, strength, definition and humility. Instructors accentuate the mastering of each level before moving on, with special focus and attention given to each step of progress.
The ujjayi (meaning “victorious breath”) method of exhaling and inhaling, combined with the fluid, dynamic asanas, heats the blood and generates a detoxifying sweat, or what’s known as “internal cleansing.” Advanced methods of breathing techniques (bandhas) instruct students how to “lock” or “seal” energy and redirect it to one of the 72,000 energy channels within the body. To obtain maximum benefit from the asanas, learning to lock in positive energy is crucial. Nine different focus points seek to purify and stabilize the mind, facilitating concentration.
The spiritual and physical impact has roughly 16.5 million Americans practicing their “sun salutations” and “downward dogs” at their local yoga studio. You needn’t go to Mysore India to learn. Yoga.com can give you a listing of classes near you. Whether you’re looking for relaxation and spirituality or muscle-definition and a rigorous workout, Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga is a great match.
Practicing Yoga and Pilates is nothing new. Its been around for centuries but has enjoyed a revival of interest in the past few decades. It is not just naturalists, Buddhists or Hindus practicing, it is now a mainstream form of exercise and relaxation. If you don’t have a regular workout program or even if you want a change of pace, Yoga may be what you need. You can look good and feel good quickly. Are you ready to begin learning this ancient art? Click here to read more: Types Of Yoga and at Yoga For Kids also at Yoga Positions
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