...The Lotus (Padmasana)

Years of consistent effort may be needed to make this advanced posture feasible.

In a Sanskrit language Padma means Lotus and in this posture the position of the legs look like a blooming lotus, hence the name. The position of the crossed legs and the erect back keeps the mind alert and attentive, which is why the lotus posture has been given a great importance in yoga practice as it is best suited for concentration and meditation.

The lotus is a wonderful yoga posture but it is not practical for most Westerners as a meditative posture. It places a lot of stress on the knee and hip joints, and should be appr...more

Yoga's Eight Fold Path to Enlightenment

...While many consider Yoga to be a form a physical exercise, it is also known to be an exercise in spiritual development. Most would agree that the true goal of Yoga is to provide the individual with the means to achieve inner peace and balance. To achieve these lofty goals, students are encouraged to become familiar Yoga's eight fold path. The eight fold path consists of eight disciplines; Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, and Samhadi.

The first fold, Yama, advises students to engage with the world from a moral standpoint, and is actually broken down into five distinct elements. The first element, Ahimsa, teaches the student to ...more

Teaching Hatha Yoga - Abundance is Under Your Nose

... talents, who can contribute much more for the common good of humanity, just by taking some action. If success, abundance, and achievement were bad things, why do so many people spend their time day dreaming about it?

A dream is a start, because an idea, in the form of a dream, has the potential for real possibility. Every man made creation started as an idea or a dream. Medicine, philosophy, mathematics, language, Yoga, and much more, sprang forth from ideas and dreams.

Patanjali put his own ideas, and those from the past, into print. Should he have withheld the Yoga Sutras from humanity for the sake of humility...more

Yoga and Spirituality

...I practice yoga on the chair and I love it! Were the words of Isabel, a woman of 100 years-old. Do you practice yoga here? I asked with a sense of incredulity. I was at the adult day care center where I facilitate a womens group. My viejitas as I called them with love, are from 65 (the baby) to a 100 year-old. In a very enthusiast manner they explained to me what yoga in chair, as it is normally known, meant.

It is basically a practice that involves a series of gentle movements and postures that are supposed to enhance flexibility, breathing, posture and circulation. These women expressed how they enjoyed this class and the physical and emotional effect it had on them.

Although I had been a great believer of the benefits of yoga and I even recommended as a way to cope with grief or any emotional pain, I didnt know the effect it had on older adults but after that conversation I realized that y...more

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