Common Mistakes and Misunderstandings About Yoga?

  Yoga is a very popular form of exercising and spiritual balancing, but it is also very often understood by a lot of people.  This is almost inevitable when you consider the incredible popularity of Yoga as a discipline and the many different strands that Yoga has.  Quite often people have experience with one type of Yoga but not another, and as such they will base their overall impression of Yoga on what they have seen.  It is like people basing their impression on Germans on the most famous German they know - Adolf Hitler, or more recently the portrayal of George Bush internationally as the only example of an American anyone knows.  The truth is that Yoga can be very different depending on who you learn it from and how they perceive Yoga.  This article looks at some of the common misconceptions.

Misconception Number One:  Yoga is a form of exercise.

  Well yes it is, but so is walking.  I can walk from my couch to my table and I can hardly claim to have done my exercise for the day.  The truth is that exercise is just the beginning of what yoga is.  Its closer to a combination of exercise, physiotherapy, psychology and spirituality all rolled into one.  As you come to master Yoga you will need to become more and more mentally strong, and most importantly disciplined.  If you can discipline yourself to do regular Yoga sessions, and maintain your discipline to do each pose for the prescribed time, and do it properly, then you will naturally become a very disciplined and organized person.  For some people this transcends to a spiritual level because they are so efficient and clearing their thoughts while meditating.

Misconception Number Two:  Yoga is for Hippies.

  As previously mentioned Yoga can be a very spiritual experience if you become good enough at clearing your thoughts and concentrating whilst performing the exercises.  But you certainly do not have to begin with any spiritual belief.  Yoga believes in aligning the body and the mind and the spirit through achieving inner balance.  What that means to you is probably going to depend entirely on what your beliefs already are.  For some people it will be a spiritually freeing experience, for others it will be an effective way of distressing and achieving a level of calmness of thought.  Still others will claim that these things are one and the same.

Misconception Number Three:  Yoga is a fad.

  Recently there has been some much hyped up Yoga courses making big claims about what Yoga can achieve.  These are easy to associate with other 'fad' exercise crazes.  However Yoga is not something new and is based in documents that are hundreds of years old which describe exercises and poses that were probably being performed for generations before that.  An individual style of Yoga may come and go, but as long as people are still stretching before a game of football then Yoga will still be being used.

Misconception Number Four:  Yoga is too slow to help me lose weight/gain tone etc.

  This one is way off the mark, but we have been somewhat trained by the weight loss industry that weight loss, and toning our body is all about hours in the gym and fast high impact exercise.  That's simply not true.  Yoga can help with weight loss and in particularly toning for a number of reasons.  Firstly the exercises, while low impact and performed either statically or slowly - are still exercises.  While you use them you are using your muscles, and in many cases you are using muscles and muscle groups that regular exercise programs ignore.  The second way that Yoga can be of benefit in a weight loss program is that it will increase your mental strength and allow you to be more disciplined with your food consumption.  When it comes down to it excess weight is a result of excess eating and not enough physical exercise to burn off those calories.  Have you ever noticed how some people can eat donut after donut and not put on any weight at all?  It seems unfair, but it's a natural result of the state of their body.  Usually these people will be quite 'sinewy' and this muscle allows them the metabolize food faster.  That's the third benefit of Yoga in weight loss, as your muscles develop your body will actually become more efficient at consuming foods and processing them into nutrients and waste.

  Hopefully we have now gone some way to explaining away the various myths associated with Yoga.  It is such a broad topic that it is very much a case of Yoga being what you make of it.

Can Yoga Provide A Solution To Soaring Crime Rates?

  Crime and Yoga are not often two words that are used together in the same sentence, and that is part of the reason that they are combined in this article.  When you think of a stereotypical criminal, someone who does Yoga just doesn't spring to mind.  We think of criminals as being angry, or at least very active, while Yogi is seen as calm and sedentary.  Really the two are so far apart that it's hard to consider that someone who regularly undertakes Yoga classes could ever become a criminal.  Perhaps Yoga should become compulsory to fight the crime rate?  Here's why:

  Yoga classes begin with a simple standing exercise - the exercise is this:  Breathe.  You can spend a significant part of a Yoga class concentrating on the simple action of taking a deep breath, breathing it in and feeling its life giving force extend to all the far reaches of the body, and then exhaling it just as deeply and completely.  This simple act of concentrating of breathing has an unparalleled ability to focus our mental concentration.  It allows us to clear away unwanted or disturbing thoughts and restore ourselves to a central balance. 

  The calming and focusing benefits of a Yoga breathing exercise can, quickly and easily clear away the types of distractions and temptations that can lead to a criminal act, at least an impulsive one.  Imagine the potential of that on habitual criminals - the ability to take a moment before committing a crime, focus their thoughts and realize that it is not the best course of action and should be avoided.

  Most domestic violence is a direct result of too much stress and strain in a relationship.  Statistics show that the arguments that lead to an incident of domestic violence are almost always of the 'little things'.  The final straw being a little thing rather than a big important issue.  Let's insert the ability to calm ourselves, sharpen our mind and rationalize into that situation.  Domestic Violence is a result of people 'snapping'.  Uncluttering the mind and calming oneself would mean that people never got to that point.

  Other forms of violent crime are similar to domestic violence - they occur when tension rises up over time until one person snaps and throws a punch or pulls a knife.  With the right self-calming tools at their disposal these criminals would be far less likely to offend.

  Of course, all that assumes that the criminal does not want to commit a crime and only does so due to a failure to see an alternative when certain set of circumstances present themselves.  They are hungry and can take a loaf of bread so they do, or they feel threatened, unappreciated or disrespected and see striking out as the only options.  Yoga would not benefit the kind of calculating mind that makes a career of criminal activities because each crime is carefully pre-meditated.

Or would it?

  Most people know of the physical side and have at least heard of the mental and spiritual benefits of yoga, but few know that the exercises that form the basis of Yoga are only the Western Worlds interpretation of Yoga.  Traditionally Indian Yoga includes an entire philosophy on how to treat each other and live our lives.  If criminals also followed this component of Yoga it would be possible to see crime disappear.  One can only dream...

An Introduction to Bikram Yoga

  Most people have a passing knowledge with what Yoga is, or think they know about what it sets out to achieve.  But until you have tried Yoga it is impossible to know whether you have the type of personality that can truly excel under its influence.  Yoga, quite simply can be a life changing experience and the discipline and mental strength that result from it can completely change your perspective and world view.

  One method of Yoga which is currently very popular is known as Bikram Yoga.  Bikram Yoga, often referred to as 'hot yoga' follows the Bikram Yoga Method.  As with all Yoga it has multiple goals - to build your inner strength as well as your outer physical strength.  A vital component of Bikram Yoga is the flexibility and balance required to perform the exercises and it is believed that this comes from mental strength as much as physical practice.  The roots of Bikram are in Hatha Yoga, which is a healing form of Yoga that strengthens both body and mind.

  The founder of Bikram Yoga was Bikram Choudhury, a yoga practitioner and innovator.  After a weightlifting accident Bikram Choudhury was determined to recover and set about investigating the healing ability of practicing certain types of exercise.  The result was Bikram Yoga, which so many people found to be an effective method of healing that its tenants were recorded and passed on as a new form of Yoga.  Those who practice Bikram Yoga purely for its healing benefits are plentiful, but there is also a strong holistic component, which is a key reason behind using Bikram Yoga for many of those who are regular users.

  They key to success with Bikram Yoga is to develop the mental strength required to discipline yourself in its use.  If you can master this side of the Yoga then the physical benefits will be forthcoming.  They have been proven by scientists including a group from the Tokyo University Hospital.  The medical benefits are beyond question and have been shown to improve chronic ailments as well as greatly assist in the treatment and recovery of tissue injuries.

At the 1972 International Medical Conference the findings were presented and it was concluded that Bikram Yoga had the ability to assist in the recovery of internal tissue.  The explanation given was that the positions practiced by Bikram Yoga replenish cells and assist in the lymphatic system flushing toxins from the body.  In addition to the toxin drain the cells are assisted by higher oxygen flows during and after exercise.

  Bikram showed that to get the best benefits from the exercise a healthy and well balanced body was important.  Where the body is weak Bikram Yoga will have less affect in the healing process, which relies on correct balance and circulation. 

  Bikram demonstrated 26 exercises and recommended a regime, which was to be practiced every single day in order to best treat the body.  Each posture exercise was developed based on a background of both Eastern and Western Yoga disciplines.  They all focus on the movement and pressure on muscles, nerves, ligaments glands and organs.  The exercises are meant to be performed together and in sequence, because they are all inter-related to each other.

  Bikram Yoga is low impact and can be performed by people of all different ages.  The important component is the discipline required to perform the posture exercises every day for maximum benefit.