How Much Calories Different Yoga Forms Burn

People mostly opt for yoga because, either they want to lose some weight or build a good physique. Someone with such targets is excessively concerned about how much calories a particular yoga form is burning. Therefore, if someone wants to lose weight then he certainly will choose a form that burns many calories. 

However, as you go deeper into yoga practice and start to observe its effects on your life, your purpose of practicing yoga no longer remains limited to its physical aspect. If you get the chance to learn yogain Rishikesh or in any other hub famous for learning yoga in India, then you will get to learn about all aspects of yoga thoroughly.

In either case, whether you are learning yoga to lose weight or to experience mind body system, you can still get benefits from knowing how much calories different forms of yoga burn, so that you can avoid being exhausted by pushing yourself too far. 

Like in any other workout, math for calorie burning in yoga is pretty straightforward. The more vigorous a form is, the more calories it will burn. The following table will provide a good idea about how much calories you burn in your yoga practice. 

Type of Yoga	Calories Burned* (1 hour for a person with weight 150lb)
Hatha Yoga	189
Ashtanga Yoga	351
Bikram Yoga	477
Vinyasa Yoga	594

* Source: www.healthstatus.com

Let’s also discuss what poses are included in different forms of yoga. 

Hatha Yoga

People usually start their yoga journey with Hatha yoga, because of its popularity and diversity. Hatha yoga comprises a wide range of asanas and pranayamas that help us in building a better mind-body connection. 

Ashtanga Yoga

Ashtanga yoga is comparatively more challenging than Hatha yoga. Reason being, it includes the poses in which practitioners are required to perform challenging cardiovascular movements in one flow which puts extra pressure on body muscles. The emphasis is given to the flow, since in Ashtanga yoga what comes next is already decided and always the exact same routine is followed. Apart from building muscle strength and body flexibility, Ashtanga also reduces stress.

Bikram Yoga

Bikram yoga is practiced in hot temperature, and its practice includes 26 asanas and 2 pranayamas. The reason behind the high room temperature is to quicken the metabolic activity and toxin removal through excessive sweating. 

Vinyasa Yoga

Also known as Vinyasa Flow, this form of yoga has much diversity to it. The main focus is same as in other forms, which is to blend breathing with physical movements, but style is comparatively more vigorous. Poses are performed in one flow, like in Ashtanga yoga; however, their order is never same, and therefore, practitioners have to focus hard to maintain the flow when they transit between the poses. Vinyasa yoga builds strength in our muscles and improves our reflexes.

 
Knowing which yoga form has what sort of practice and burns how much calories can help you in choosing the right form for you.

4 New Styles of Doing Yoga That You Probably Have Never Heard About

All yoga practitioners like to modify their style of doing yoga with time. Some do it because their purpose of doing yoga has changed, some want to move on to something more challenging and some simply for the sake of change. Every once in a while a new, innovative and exciting style of doing yoga is introduced. This gives practitioners one more reason to switch to different style of doing yoga, even if it is just for fun.

In this article, we will discuss 4 such new styles of doing yoga, which are not yet quite popular worldwide but are being adopted in the yoga community readily. These new styles of doing yoga will make your yoga practice much more fun and challenging. So, let’s get down to knowing these exciting new styles yoga.

Laughter Yoga

Laughter has been considered the best medicine. And another good thing about it is that our body cannot distinguish between real laughter and fake laughter. So, even if we are laughing voluntarily, it is benefiting our body in the same manner, as when we laugh involuntarily.

Dr. Madan Kataria from India found that laughter can instantly change our mood by releasing endorphin, which led him to develop Laughter yoga. His further research showed that regular practice of Laughter yoga has helped practitioners in bringing their stress levels down, has strengthened their immune system and brought positive energy in their lives. Its practice includes lots of laughter while doing poses. The aim behind its practice is to make tough things in life look easier to deal with.

Viniyoga

Viniyoga is derived from Sanskrit language and it means adapting appropriate applications for specific purposes. The purpose behind developing Viniyoga was to make the process of self-awareness more comprehensive and authentic for the individual practitioner. Its practice includes all the regular components of yoga practice, such as asana, pranayama, mantra, chanting, etc. but in a more personalized way.

Unnata Aerial Yoga

Unnata means elevation. And as the name implies, in Unnata Aerial yoga traditional yoga poses are practiced in air with the support of a circus hammock. The purpose of this style of doing yoga is to achieve results quickly by gaining better physical and mental stability.

Wall Yoga

Wall yoga was first introduced by renowned yogi BKS Iyengar and has been around for a couple of decades. In its practice students use ropes or belts for support, which are attached to a wall. To get better balance in poses, practitioners can also adjust the height where ropes or straps are attached to the wall. The support of belts while doing yoga poses enables practitioners to remain in a particular pose for longer, as well as boosts their confidence. 

As a yoga practitioner you should never stop learning new things, whether you have taken your initial training at a yoga retreat in Rishikesh or at a local studio. Learning new styles of doing yoga introduces you to new challenging poses, keeps you engaged in yoga practice, broadens your knowledge of doing yoga, as well as benefits you in more ways.

How to Set-up an Ideal Spot for Your Meditation Practice

Your surroundings and the environment you practice yoga in play a crucial role in enhancing the effects of your yoga practice. While for learned yogis, who have spent a lifetime practicing yoga, it can be easy to meditate even in the most unlikely surroundings, but for an average yoga practitioner, having a quiet place for meditation practice is helpful, as well as essential.

According to Deepak Chopra, meditation isn’t primarily about quieting your mind, but about finding the quiet that is already there beneath the clutter of our day-to-day thoughts. While you are still learning how to achieve this state of quiet by building a better mind-body connection, it is helpful to build a connection with an ideal place in the first place.

Let’s discuss how one can set-up an ideal spot for meditation practice and why it is important.

Choose a place that is quiet and easily accessible
It can be within your house or nearby, for instance in your garden. You can also find a place in your vicinity which is usually quiet, like at a local park, but make sure that it isn’t very far from your house, because if the place is not easily accessible, you cannot really make a bond with it.

Keep the place simple

If you have chosen a place for your meditation practice within your house premises, try to keep the surrounding as simple and clean. It is understandable that as human beings, we need motivations from an external source to keep us going, so, you can personalize the space with a few things that inspire you. Meditation is about finding the voice within; therefore, with time you will be able to draw the motivations from within. And since all the answers are within you, you can even begin with your practice only by making sure that place is clean.

Find a meditation seat for your spot

A meditation seat or ‘asana’ is crucial for meditation practice. It can be a simple pillow, a rolled or folded blanket, or meditation pillow, which are made specifically for the purpose.

Make sure that the place has enough fresh air and natural light

It is important that you make sure that you have access to fresh air and natural light during your meditation practice, since closed and dimly lit spaces can make you feel dizzy instead of fresh and alive. Breathing is crucial while doing mediation, and having the flow of fresh air around helps you to concentrate on your practice. Natural light also augments the effects of meditation on your body and mind.

Irrespective of the place you have learned yoga from, whether at a yoga retreat in Rishikesh or at a local studio, the two most important things about meditation practice are; first, to know what is the core concept behind its practice, which is transformation of a person’s conscience, and second, practicing it in an ideal place that helps us in building an affinity towards the process, as well as enhances its effects.

Yoga Practice and Music

Music arguably has been an indispensable part of yoga practice. For most people music works as an energy booster while they are doing other workouts, such as gym practice, running, etc. That is why including music in yoga practice seems useful.

However, yoga practice and music have old ties. Yoga in India has always been practiced along with mantras and chanting. And whether you include mantra and chanting in your practice or not, the prolonged utterance of the “Om” sound is inevitable in every yoga class. In addition, instruments such as Indian flute and sitar also have been part of yoga practice for centuries.

The goal of yoga practice is to teach a person how to switch off the voices outside and listen to the voice within. How then music being an external source of sound be helpful in yoga practice? Let’s find out.

Whether you should include music in your yoga practice or not firstly depends upon your purpose of doing yoga, and secondly, which form of yoga are you practicing.

When Music Can be Helpful

If your purpose of doing yoga is primarily to build a better physique and you have opted for a vigorous form or style of yoga, then it will be helpful to go along with the music. Music has the power of stimulating our movements and can help us is achieving momentum when we are required to do poses in a flow. In this way, music also helps us in learning challenging poses rather easily.

However, the music you play should be soothing or have mild beats. At different places people prefer different styles of music, so there is no standard for it. For instance, music played at a yoga retreat in Rishikesh can be quite different from what people listen to at your local studio in the United States. You can try out a CD of yoga music or simply play your favorite instrumentals. And try not to include any music that has lyrics to it, even if they are in foreign language.

When Music Can be Distracting

If you are doing yoga for its spiritual aspect and want to improve your awareness of the mind-body-soul connection within, then it is better not have any music during the practice. Silence is required in more intense practice of yoga, such as meditation, since the primary purpose of such practice is to listen to the voice inside and external sounds can be distracting. Besides, since music can stimulate our emotional state, it can change the way we perceive our practice, and therefore can be a distraction.

However, some yoga practitioners find music helpful in building concentration during meditation practice, because according to them there cannot be absolute silence in the environment, since there are always sounds around. 

In conclusion, while performing the physical poses music is usually helpful, in meditative practice it depends upon individuals’ taste. During your personal yoga practice, you can choose to do things your way but in a class you should make sure that everyone is comfortable with music during practice before plugging-in anything.

The Evolution of Yoga

Although the core purpose behind yoga has always been the being-transformation, but how it is practiced has inevitably changed over time. How yoga is being practiced today is quite different from how it was being practiced a century ago, let alone in ancient times and during the time of its origin. Like any other process, yoga too has evolved with time and in the due course, new things have been discovered as well.

In India, yoga has always been a part of the culture, more of a lifestyle than a workout. People there used to learn yoga through private lessons from yogis and Hindu gurus, or from family members or friends who had learned yoga from them. It’s the popularity of yoga in western countries over the last century that has made it a trendy studio workout. But many Indian gurus do not quite stomach how yoga has been transformed due to western influences, since for them yoga has always been a part of education rather than a physical workout.

Even though representing yoga as a physical workout had initially helped in spreading awareness about it in western countries, but it is yoga’s psychological, physiological, biochemical healing abilities that have given it the real popularity. However, even till today people in western countries mostly opt for the physical aspect of this mostly spiritual practice. And since modern western lifestyle is being adopted in various parts of India for past few decades, current Indian generation perceives yoga in the much the same manner as western people do.

Whether practiced for the psychological, physiological and spiritual benefits or just as a mystic workout option, yoga benefits everyone. The trendier version of yoga has been able to attract more followers worldwide, who later use their discretion to continue doing it as a workout or to delve deeper and understand its spiritual aspect. In addition, openness in yoga has helped evolve many new and beneficial styles, such as Power yoga, Hot yoga, Aqua yoga, etc.

To learn yoga in India has always been considered a privilege in the yoga community. And indeed, there is a difference between learning it in a yoga retreat in Rishikesh or other hubs in the country, and in learning it at local yoga studio.  Only in India, you can come to know and comprehend the spiritual roots associated with yoga practice. Surely, this knowledge helps you in understanding the true concept behind the practice, which is being-transformation.

Inevitably, from yoga attire, which has evolved from cotton robes to skin-tight yoga clothing, to the way poses are performed, which, in general has become more vigorous over time, every aspect of yoga has evolved. However, as long as practitioners understand the true concept behind yoga practice, changes are acceptable and in fact welcome.

How to Build Yoga Community in Your Yoga Class

As a yoga teacher, you have various challenges to address that you hadn’t even thought of as a yoga student. Developing precision in yoga poses is probably the simplest aspect of becoming a yoga teacher, yet it occupies most of the attention of aspiring yoga teachers. However, aspects that are more important come upfront after you have start giving yoga lessons.

One such aspect, crucial for a successful class conduct, is to build a yoga community within your yoga class. Taking yoga training at residential retreats in Rishikesh, Bali or other yoga hubs can help you in realizing the importance of community, since you experience it yourself there. On the other hand, local studios may not be able to build that kind of an environment for nurturing camaraderie and community building.

Let’s discuss a few factors that will help you in achieving this feat; irrespective of the place you give lessons, whether at a studio or at home.

Welcome Everyone Warmly

Going to a new place often gives us a queasy feeling, especially if it includes meeting lots of strangers, like at a yoga class. You can ensure that your new students feel that they belong in the class from the very first day by inviting them in a friendly manner, as well as asking all the students to follow this ritual.

Call Everyone by Name

It is important that you and all your students know each other by name. Calling each other by name builds a bond between us and helps to establish good communication. Learning about each other’s life experiences inspires us to help others. And in this friendly environment teaching, learning and practicing yoga becomes much more fun.

Include Extracurricular Activities

The best bond between people is built when they share an adventure. Including extracurricular activities such as outdoor activities brings the sense of teaming up in your students and they learn to work as a community. Besides, adventurous activities also help us in living in the present moment which helps us in building focus in our yoga practice. 

Switch Roles

Switching roles is another good way to let people know about each other in a way they cannot know otherwise. For instance, ask your students to conduct the class every once in a while and let them teach each other. It will also give you a good idea about how much each of your students has learned so far, and how good their teaching skills are. Accordingly, you can advise them on what path they should choose for themselves. In addition, it will also make your class more alive and build a sense of camaraderie in your students.

Allow the Community to Grow

While you build a yoga community in your class, allow it to grow beyond the classroom. Let your students spread the awareness about yoga and build their own yoga communities. The more your yoga community will grow, stronger it will become. In fact, the idea of building your yoga community must have first come to you in the same fashion, from your teacher.

How Yoga Helps Us in Cultivating Our Intuitive Abilities

Intuition can best be defined as a person’s ability to know that something is right or wrong, or possible or impossible without any intellectual proof for it. American Entrepreneur, Steve Jobs, who co-founded the Apple Inc. once said, “Intuition is a very powerful thing, more powerful than intellect, in my opinion.”

Intuitive ability is an inborn quality and we only have to learn how to cultivate it. Easily, we can say here this can only be done by knowing ourselves in a better way. Yoga has been practiced for centuries for the purpose of self-awareness; therefore, what better way there could be other than yoga to cultivate our intuitive abilities?

Let’s see how yoga practice helps us in cultivating our intuitive abilities at different levels.

Physically

We are all aware that yoga practice provides relief from stress related issues, but how does it do that? With yoga we become able to cultivate body’s natural intuitive mechanism to deal with these problems. Yoga poses physically transform us to control the secretion of cortisol, the stress hormone. Apart from that, our body intuitively learns how to protect itself against internal secretion of toxins and external physical injuries by tightening and loosening certain body parts.

Mentally

Our mind’s abilities, just like our physical abilities, pretty much depend upon what it has been stimulating to over time. Our habits may keep some parts of our brain and even body disengaged. But it isn’t always possible to keep them disengaged and avoiding such needs can put stress on us.

Most of us get inspirations from external sources, and find other's voices effective in stimulating our disengaged parts. However, yoga on the other hand teaches us how to cultivate genuine inspirations, which means finding the answers by listening to the voice within.

Emotionally

Time and again it has been mentioned that yoga improves our perception towards life, ourselves as well as others. And our emotions pretty much depend upon how we see things in life. By and large, it is our conscience that builds our perception while the development of one’s conscience is an on-going process. It isn’t something that requires gathering knowledge only, but is based on one’s instincts and intuition as well.

Yoga, as mentioned above, provides a connectedness with ourselves and as a result we are able to clearly understand our emotions, and consequently refine our sense of self-righteousness. 

Spiritually

Yoga practice builds in us the spirit to take our own path. And this spiritual awareness cannot come with worldly knowledge. And it’s only our intuitive abilities that enable us to define something that hasn’t been defined before.

Learning yoga in India can give you an experience that can reform your life. Unlike in western countries, where analytical reasoning is the only way to comprehend things, in India people primarily rely upon their intuition and instincts to make decisions. Reason enough, why learning and practicing yoga in Rishikesh, Goa, Dharamshala and other yoga hubs in India, is a dream for many yoga practitioners throughout the world.

Yoga and Pilates: Know the Difference

Yoga practitioners often come across the question, ‘what is the difference between Yoga and Pilates?’ Beginners most often find the two workouts identical and even experienced practitioners get confused while describing the difference between these two exercise routines. So, the real understanding about the difference between the two forms comes by knowing the core purpose behind doing each of the forms.

The Purpose of Yoga Practice

As we go deeper into yoga practice, we come to realize that yoga is about our whole well-being. Even if we ignore the spiritual aspect of yoga and stick to its effects on our physical body and mind, we see that scope of yoga is so vast with different forms and different styles of doing them that it cannot be associated with a specific purpose and can only be regarded as a workout for the whole body.

Same asana in different forms of yoga is performed in different styles, thus, serves for different purposes or for the same purpose at different levels. In addition to that, every asana has a distinct purpose and benefits our body and mind in a different way. From body alignment to muscle strength and flexibility, yoga practice is for all-round fitness.

The Purpose of Pilates Practice

Like mentioned before, on the surface Pilates and Yoga seem pretty much the same workout, since both are practiced on yoga mats usually and blend breathing patterns with physical poses, however, the introduction of the reformers has given Pilates practice a distinct look. The reformers allow better stability even with increased resistance while doing the physical poses.

Pilates practice was first introduced as a rehabilitation workout and unlike Yoga the main purpose behind Pilates practice is to achieve better abdominal stability and to strengthen core muscles. Pilates also prevents from, as well as cures muscular injuries. For instance, with regular Pilates practice, you can keep shoulder, neck and back pain at bay.

By knowing the difference between the purposes of Yoga and Pilates practice, you can choose either of the workouts to cater your specific needs. Or, better include them both in your practice to get the benefits of both workouts. While Pilates practice will improve your core stability, yoga will work for your general well-being while enhancing the effects of Pilates as well.

Apart from knowing the difference between the purposes of these two forms, another important thing is to learn how each form is practiced. You can purchase DVDs, attend local studios that teach Yoga and Pilates, or even join a yoga retreat in Rishikesh or Bali or at any other yoga hub, to get proper instructions and guidance on how each of the exercise routines is performed. However, the thing you need to emphasize on is to know how to blend the practice of both workouts to benefit yourself in best possible manner.

How Yoga Improves Our Lifestyle

People, who have some experience with yoga, never fail to list the numerous benefits that yoga has on our body and mind. However, not everyone knows much about how yoga practice transforms our conscience and improves our lifestyle. It is rather a matter of feeling than knowing. However, knowledge of these transformations gives you a good idea about where your yoga journey will take you. So, let’s discuss how yoga improves our lifestyle by improving our conscience.

Control Your Life

With regular yoga practice, you begin to understand your body and mind better. Your perception towards life and things changes, and you are able to deal with everyday life more efficiently. As a result, the difference between what you are and what you want to become in life starts to fade away.

Breathe Consciously

Breathing is the most essential component of our existence. But we don’t become aware of it until someone explicitly draws our attention to it. When we become conscious of our breathing, automatically our muscles get relaxed and we feel calmer. Now, it shouldn’t be hard to understand that when breathing can keep us alive, doing it in right manner can also keep us healthy.

Improve Eating Habits

You are what you eat. And it doesn’t require much effort to comprehend this universal truth. With regular yoga practice, you automatically begin to develop affinity towards healthier food and organic food.

Laugh More

Laughter is the best medicine. And the reason for terming laughter as the best medicine is that it not only makes our body and mind healthier but improves our conscience as well. With laughter yoga practice becomes much more fun, and it also helps us in becoming aware of the present moment.

Become Non-Judgmental

Today, most people are in a rush to form an opinion about everything. What yoga teaches us is to observe and not evaluate everything that we have around in our life. Your experience with yoga teaches you how comparing your ability with others is useless, because at end of the day it’s only your abilities that will benefit you.

Love Yourself

It’s ironic how most of us, although being selfish, find it hard to love ourselves. As mentioned above, yoga makes you aware of yourself, changes your perception and makes you non-judgmental, and all these changes not only make you love yourself but everything around you as well.

Become a Part of the Yoga Community

Yoga helps you realize what is beyond the concept of ‘I’ and ‘Me’. Being a part of yoga community will give you enough reasons to be happy and the opportunity to make others happy as well.

Understanding what yoga is all about is crucial, whether you are learning it at a local studio or at a yoga retreat in Rishikesh, since it is the only way to receive things in the their true form.

What is Aqua Yoga?

As yoga practitioners discover their own style of doing yoga, some come up with quite creative and astonishing ideas. Usually, practitioners who introduce such creative ideas are those who have learned yoga from esteemed yogis at yoga retreats in Rishikesh or Bali or Santa Barbara and other yoga hubs across the world, and have thorough grounding in the process.

One of such idea is practicing yoga in water, which is now known world-wide as Aqua yoga. Aqua yoga is particularly known for enhancing the effects of stretching and relaxation poses. Another good thing about Aqua yoga is that the people of all ages and fitness levels can do it. And even if you don’t have any prior experience of doing yoga or swimming, you can still do aqua yoga easily.

In Aqua yoga, some poses become inevitably harder to do and others easier due to the increased resistance and buoyancy force of water. But since water and air are two quite different media, doing Aqua yoga provides an entirely different experience than other regular forms of yoga.

How to Do Aqua Yoga?

The resistance and support water as a medium provides when you are partially immersed in it, enhances the effect the yoga poses. Different yoga practitioners choose to do Aqua yoga by getting immersed in water at different levels; for instance some practice it by getting immersed in water till neck while others only till torso.

Unlike other forms of yoga, where a bit loose clothing works well enough, in Aqua yoga a swimwear is considered to be the most appropriate attire as it allows free body movements.

A number of poses that we do on land and in air are included in Aqua yoga. And this number can be further increased by using supports to let your body float on water surface freely and use the pool wall as floor.

Let’s take an example of how Aqua yoga enhances the effect of yoga. For doing Shavasana, we are required to feel like we are floating in air, for which we need to focus hard. But when we do Shavasana in Aqua yoga, we are already floating on the water surface, thus, a better feeling is generated with comparatively much less efforts.

Benefits of Doing Aqua Yoga

•    Like other water workouts such as Aqua Aerobics and Aqua Kick-boxing, not including swimming, Aqua yoga helps us in improving our muscles strength and flexibility.

•    When we do yoga in water, its buoyant effect reduces the pressure one’s weight puts on the joints, thus, diminishing the pain that many people feel while doing physical workouts.

•    While practicing Aqua yoga, practitioners have to work against water resistance and buoyancy force at once, which requires quite more focus than that pose being practiced in air; consequently, we achieve better body alignment.

•    Body weighs less in water; as a result, body muscles feel less pressure and become more relaxed. Besides, there is no danger of falling and getting injured while doing challenging poses in water.

•    In addition, Aqua yoga is found to be quite effective in fighting against diseases and conditions like Arthritis, Knee or Hip injury, Muscular Dystrophy, post-surgery side-effects, depression, Sclerosis and many more.

If you are already familiar with yoga and looking to something challenging and new then aqua yoga may be just perfect for you.

How to Design a Room into a Yoga Class

As more and more people are opting for yoga practice, new needs are arising in yoga community every day. The challenge that most aspiring yoga teachers are facing today is finding a place where they can teach yoga. Since only a handful of teachers can afford to have their own yoga studios, new teachers mostly decide to give yoga lessons at their homes. But the challenge here is how one can build a serene environment in one’s home to give students an experience that is comparable to yoga studios and retreats.

The experience you want to give your students basically depends upon these three factors.

Time: What time of the day you have scheduled the class? For instance, early morning is the best time for yoga practice, however, you can choose other times of the day as per your schedule and your students’ needs.

Space: How much space students get in performing the poses freely; possible without any adjustments? You can ensure this by deciding how many students you should enroll in one session.

Method: Whether the method you chose suits your students’ needs? Since, everyone has different needs; there is no way to determine which method is the best method before the session begins. Begin with the method that works for you, and as you get to know your students’ needs, start evolving a unique method that serves the purpose in the best possible manner.

In addition to these factors there are other things which you can work upon to ensure that your students get an ideal environment to practice yoga.

Room Priorities

You can turn any room in your house into a yoga room if
a) it is spacious enough,
b) it has good ventilation, and
c) you can afford to remove or shift some of its furniture

Room Equipping

You can choose to keep things simple by not adding anything at all except for a few essential things. If you and your students prefer to practice with slow background music then you can install a music system in the room. You can also have your laptop during the practice to show your students videos that can help them in learning something you consider important for them to know.

The important thing about equipping a room is providing students mats, blocks and other props for the yoga practice. Most yoga practitioners expect these things, since yoga studios and retreats usually provide these facilities.

Apart from that, you can have some quotes pasted on the wall of the yoga room to inspire your students. But remember to have them pasted a little higher since practitioners often require the support of the wall in doing some yoga poses.

Ensuring this much is enough to start off your yoga teaching career, however, the most important thing is that you are able to deliver the message of yoga in its true form. And if things work out well for you, maybe soon enough you will find yourself teaching yoga in India at a yoga retreat in Rishikesh or Dharamshala, or at any other part of the world known for best yoga practices.

Learn How Yoga Helps in Achieving Better Body Alignment

Yoga practitioners are often told to listen to their body while practicing yoga. But listening to one’s own body isn’t really that easy, especially while doing a challenging yoga pose that requires practitioners to test their limits. When it comes to physical poses, then one of the primary goals yoga practice has is improving the overall body alignment, so that we are able to do more of yoga poses. In this manner, slowly but surely our physical limits reach new heights.

What is Body Alignment?

A good yoga teacher always refers body alignment as a process instead of an end result. The word alignment is often associated with one’s proficiency of performing yoga poses. In other words, a person is considered to have better alignment if he can perform yoga poses rather easily, and with much accuracy. The scope of perfect body alignment differs from person to person, since different people have different physical limits. Also, even the different forms of yoga have different standards for perfect body alignment.

Since there is no single alignment state that can be considered ideal universally, therefore you don’t necessarily have to follow the standards set by others. As an individual, your personal best is your perfect state of alignment.

Let’s discuss a few simple techniques that can be of great value in improving your overall body alignment.

Engage Your Core Muscles

The muscles of your torso and trunk are the core muscles, which primarily provide the support for your spine. Engaging core muscles in your exercise routine inevitably aligns your spine in the perfect manner, as well as provides you better control over your body movements.

Use Your Tailbone Effectively

There are many yoga poses that require practitioners to use their limbs to support their body, for example, AdhoMukhaSvanasana and Parsvott anasana. While doing these poses if you try to bring down your tail bone you will feel strain in your limbs, which eventually helps in holding bones and muscles together and provides better body alignment.

Spread Your Fingers Wide

If a pose requires you to put your hands on the floor, always keep your fingers wide open. This allowsfor uniform distribution of the body weight across your palm and fingers and youbecome able to remain in that particular position more firmly. In simple words, with a wider base you are able to achieve better balance.

Align Hands with Shoulders and Knees with Hips

Another crucial technique that you should follow while doing yoga poses, is aligning your hands position with your shoulders and keeping your knees hip distant-apart. This simple alignment technique allows you to achieve a better balance by distributing your body weight across the limbs uniformly.

If you are planning to learn yoga in India, at one of the world famous yoga retreats in Rishikesh or Goa, or other yoga hubs in the country, then you have a better chance to learn thoroughly about the concept of body alignment. These places are known for adopting yoga as a lifestyle, which certainly gives you a chance to learn something new.

Why to Choose Rishikesh for Yoga Teacher Training

Experienced yoga practitioners and aspiring yoga teachers are often advised to take yoga teacher training at residential retreats, which are located in the lap of nature and where they can get a chance to meet esteemed yogis to enhance the learning experience. Besides, it also gives practitioners a chance to learn about a new place and culture.

Rishikesh is one such yoga hubs that many practitioners think is among the best places in the world to learn and practice yoga. In addition, its ancient ties with the yogic culture make it a favorite yoga destination among yoga practitioners. Let’s see how getting yoga teacher training in Rishikesh will not only be a great learning experience but fun as well.

Location

Located in Shivalik Mountains (foothills of Himalaya Mountain Range), Rishikesh, in Indian culture is regarded as a spiritual place since it serves as the gateway to several pilgrimage places such as, Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. Besides, the fresh air of mountains provides the ideal environment to practice yoga.

History and Culture

Being at the river back where holy river Ganges and Chandrabhaga meet makes Rishikesh a sacred place in the Hindu culture, where life revolves around prayers and festivals. Even the name of the place itself translates to Lord of the Senses, which is one among the numerous names used to refer to Lord Vishnu.

For centuries, people from around the world have been visiting ashrams of Rishikesh to cleanse their mind and soul through meditation and offering prayers. And because of the serene environment people get here, many even decide to settle down here. In addition, being termed as the world capital of yoga, Rishikesh also hosts the International Yoga Festival every year during early February.

A Tourist Attraction

Be it shopping or local cuisine, in Rishikesh, you will find enough things to keep your trip full of activities and adventures. Throughout the year, people from different parts of the world come to Rishikesh to visit pilgrimage places, learn yoga or simply to spend their holidays. Apart from being a yoga hub, another big draw for Rishikesh is white water rafting. Other adventure activities to do there include rock climbing, forest trekking, mountain biking, and bungee jumping. Every year people from across the world flock to Rishikesh to experience spirituality and yoga or rafting or both.

For shopping, you can get many yoga related articles at a very low price that you might not even find in other parts of the world, such as religious books, mythological sculptures, Rudraksha, religious yoga attires and more. And as for the food, in Rishikesh you get mostly vegetarian food since people mostly follow a Sattvic diet here. However, you can roam around the place to find something different as some places also offer continental, Italian and other international cuisines.

The place has a history to it. The world famous English rock band, ‘The Beatles’ spent a considerable time in the now-closed Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram in Rishikesh. According to the band, inspirations for many of their songs came from their visit here. They even recorded 48 songs while they were in Rishikesh. The Beatles’ love for Rishikesh has attracted many western people to visit and explore the place. And many even choose to make Rishikesh their home, simply after visiting it once.

Whether you are yoga practitioner, an adventure seeker or a holidayer, visit to Rishikesh is a must.

A Lowdown on Yoga

When you put efforts into something and don’t get expected results than it could be quite discouraging. Yoga on the other hand provides instant and lasting delights to practitioners. Yoga practice works its way through your inner body to improve your physical and mental capacities, as well as refine your conscience. Below are given some facts about yoga, with not only what it does but how it does it as well.

Yoga is for everyone

You can do yoga, regardless of what your age is, or whether you have a medical condition. In case, you are diagnosed with some serious illness then it is possible that you might not be able to opt for all yoga forms, but you could still do a number of yoga forms that can help you in fighting off your disease and improve your overall health. Besides, yoga is considered to be a great stress-buster, since it relaxes muscles of our entire body and calms our mind by improving blood circulation in our body. Therefore, a person of any age can get benefits from it.

Yoga has many forms

As just mentioned above that yoga comprises many forms and styles, so whatever your needs are, you will always be able to find a form that suits your lifestyle. Most people start with Hatha yoga, which is comparatively a milder form, before moving to vigorous forms of yoga such as Bikram yoga, Power yoga, etc. Joining a yoga retreat in Rishikesh or in other yoga hubs across the world can be a great start to your yoga journey, since you will get a chance to meet learned yogis in such places who will teach you all there is to know to practice yoga effectively.

How yoga strengthens muscles?

A few yoga forms and styles, such as Ashtanga yoga, power yoga and more, include challenging poses that practitioners have to do for a bit longer then the usually recommended duration for yoga poses. Practice of these forms requires more energy and focus from practitioners, and in return builds greater body strength.

How yoga brings about mental agility

While doing other workouts can also strengthen muscles, but in a yoga practice, poses are done with blended breathing patterns that enhance the effect of the workout. While doing these poses, practitioners have to put more efforts, mental as well as physical, to synchronize breathing patterns with physical poses that improves their focusing power as well.

How yoga calms our mind?

Yoga’s breathing patterns improve the circulation of oxygen throughout our body. A better oxygen flow, especially around the pituitary gland and hypothalamus, not only improve the functioning of other body organs but improves our cognitive activities as well. With boosted brain powers, we become more efficient at work and happier in personal life by knowing how to address day to day problems more effectively. In addition, yoga balances the flow of our nervous system which has a direct impact in keeping our mind calm and body relaxed.

Numerous Benefits of Doing Yoga

There is nothing new in saying that there are numerous benefits of doing yoga. However, people often need to be reminded that doing yoga on regular basis can change their life entirely. Telling people that yoga improves one’s health doesn’t attract much attention any more, but when these benefits are listed all together, then they certainly grab people’s attention.

Let’s discuss a few benefits of yoga that ensure all-round fitness.

A Total Body Workout

For most of us the term workout means excessive physical exercise, which is only associated with gyms. However, that in not necessarily true and a workout can also include a gentler exercise routine. Everything you achieve through a vigorous gym workout, you can achieve with yoga in a much peaceful manner and with more lasting effects. With yoga practice you not only get a better toned body and muscles’ strength, but also get better body alignment.

It Improves Your Breathing

It is astonishing how we can cure several physical and mental ailments simply by practicing a few breathing patterns. These breathing patterns improve our blood circulation by supplying more oxygen in our lungs. In addition, on regular practice, these breathing patterns improve our breathing habits that help us in remaining relaxed, as well reduce the risk of life threatening diseases such as high cholesterol, diabetes and heart disease.

It Calms Your Mind

Yoga practice relaxes our body muscles and calms our mind. Yoga is a practice of developing the connection within. And when you become aware of this connection, all your life’s worries start to dissipate automatically and you attain a state of perfect calmness. Reason enough for yoga to be called a great stress buster.

It Improves Body Flexibility and Improves Muscles Strength

Yoga poses cover all types of cardio, functional and stretching workouts and provides better and lasting results. And if you have seen professional yoga instructors performing astonishing yoga poses, then you know how yoga can take us beyond the flexibility limits that we have set in our minds.

It Helps You in Losing Weight

The reason why yoga is considered to be the most effective way of losing weight is that it not only keeps your body in healthy weight category, but also improves your eating habits. With yoga you naturally develop a habit of eating healthy food. In addition, yoga improves the functioning of body organs to improve body’s digestive powers and provides a natural way to deal with obesity problems.

It Boosts Immunity

With yoga’s breathing patterns, we have a better supply of oxygen throughout our body which improves our blood circulation and consequently strengthens our immune system.

It Improves Sleeping Habits

Quite often it has been said that a body hosts many diseases due to sleep deprivation. With regular yoga practice, you attain a balance of energy in your body that inevitably improves your sleeping habits and makes you a healthier person.

To enhance yoga’s effects, you can choose to learn or simply practice it at a yoga retreat in Rishikesh, Bali, California or any other yoga hub, where you get to meet learned yogis and get a chance to do yoga in the lap of the nature.

Overcome Your Fears to Find Your Inner Voice

Despite all their efforts aspiring yoga teachers find it difficult to gather the confidence to become a yoga teacher. Becoming a yoga teacher is primarily about finding your inner voice. However, due to this lack of confidence, many practitioners develop some fears. And these fears prevent them from finding their inner voice.

Let’s discuss some of these fears, faced by many aspiring yoga teachers, and see how one can overcome them:

I Don’t Have Enough Experience

With abundance of yoga teachers in almost every corner of the world, it is understandable that new yoga practitioners primarily choose yoga teachers who have enough experience. But beside the experience, students also check whether the teacher is someone who can understand them. While you cannot have the experience when you start, but you can develop the habit of understanding students’ needs and help accordingly, and that will be enough for them to join your class.

I Don’t Know about Many Yoga Poses

If you have developed this notion then you can never be free of it. Yoga has been developed over a period of thousands of years, by thousands or probably millions of sages, yogis and practitioners and its practice comprises countless poses. Therefore, having this feeling that you don’t know enough poses to start teaching is not quite thoughtful. The important thing is to know thoroughly about what you know. 

I Don’t Know Enough about Yoga Philosophy

Learning about yoga philosophy is an essential part of yoga training; however, it is not a compulsion. Besides, if you are practicing yoga sincerely then you will be able to unravel the essence of yoga by becoming aware of your being. And what your awareness will teach you is not going to be any different from what is already there in the text.

My Training Isn’t Helping Me in Finding My Inner Voice

Many practitioners develop these feelings because they didn’t get what they had expected from yoga teacher training. They feel that their program isn’t structured well and teachers aren’t providing the necessary insights that they need to find their inner voice. It may be just a feeling, or it may be the reality, but it doesn’t mean that there is no hope.

While instructions have their own importance in leaning the process, however, it is your own practice and dedication towards that process that primarily help you in finding your inner voice. All you have to do is try to understand the deeper meaning every yoga pose and meditate sincerely and the rest will follow.

Joining a renowned yoga retreat in Rishikesh or Dharamshala, in India or other famous yoga hub in the world can help you in overcoming these fears. Most teachers at these retreats are learned yogis who know what fears aspiring yoga teachers have and help them accordingly. Besides, most of these retreats are in the lap of nature that enables practitioners to become more aware of themselves, and this eventually helps them in finding their inner voice.

Perks of Being a Yoga Teacher

People have always been advising to choose something that you love to do as your profession. And when your passion becomes your work, then the challenges at work are no longer ‘problems’ but only the stepping stones. While any kind of work can give satisfaction, if it is what you like to do, but taking up yoga teaching as a profession has a whole lot of benefits to it. Let’s discuss some perks of being a yoga teacher.

Job Satisfaction

As a yoga practitioner you come to know whether the path leads you further or not. And if it does, then you know that becoming a yoga teacher is the right thing for you, because it is something that you love to do. Besides, according to a survey professionals in the fitness and health industry have the highest job satisfaction of 85%.

A Chance to Help Others

As a yoga teacher, your job is not only to teach others a handful of physical poses, but also to help them in overcoming their life’s problems. Helping others inevitably makes you feel good about yourself, as well as enhances the job satisfaction.

Become Healthier

Becoming a yoga teacher, whether full-time or part-time, allows you to practice yoga more. Needless to mention endless benefits of yoga, as you do more of it you start to have more control over your life.

No Shortage of Work

Yoga isn’t a fashion that will remain in hype for a limited period of time. People are going to keep learning yoga as long as it benefits them, which is always. So, unlike other professions, there is no downtime in yoga teaching. In addition, whichever part of the world you want to go and live, you will always get many opportunities as yoga teacher. In fact, many yoga teachers start teaching yoga at their native places, then roam around the world to give yoga lessons. Many yoga teachers also go back to teach at the yoga institutes where they took the teaching course. Yoga retreats in Rishikesh, Goa, Bali, and Dharamshala are most popular among travelling yoga teachers.

Continue Your Work and Education

As mentioned above, you can be a full-time or part-time yoga teacher. Therefore, as a part-time yoga teacher, you can easily continue your primary profession or other works. Even as a full-time yoga teacher you have plenty of time that you can spend on your education or in simply learning more about yoga.

Freedom in Life

As a yoga teacher, you are self-employed, which is enough to say that you have plenty of work freedom. You have the freedom of scheduling the classes, which allows you to spend more time with your family and to handle your personal matters.

Success in Life

Yoga teachers don’t  run after corporate success. Although, plenty of yoga teachers manage to establish their own yoga studios, but their primary goal is always to spread the awareness about yoga. The real success in life is having the chance to do your work honestly, remain healthy and happy in life and helping others in doing the same, for which yoga is your best option.

5 Simple Steps to become a Hatha Yoga Instructor

Hatha yoga is among the most popular forms of yoga today. And due to its popularity and inclusion of its poses in several other forms of yoga, hatha yoga is often referred as simply ‘yoga’. Basically, it comprises several physical postures to be practiced at slow to moderate pace while taking deep and gentle breaths.

According to some yoga practitioners, the term hatha yoga came from the Sanskrit work hatha, which means force, while the other theory says that the term is a combined form of Sanskrit words, ‘ha’ which means sun and ‘tha’ which means moon. Therefore, hatha yoga is considered to be as uniting force of a pair of opposites.

The reason behind its popularity is that it is easy to learn and practice, and provides immense benefits to our body and mind.

Let’s take a quick look on a few tips that can help you in becoming a hatha yoga teacher.
Decide Your Discipline

“If you will run after two hares, you will catch neither.” Therefore, the first step is to choose from different disciplines of hatha yoga such as Bikram, Kundalini, Vinyasa, Power, Ananda, Integral and more. Each discipline has a distinct set of yoga poses and a distinct style of performing them.

Decide How Much Time You Can Spare

Usually it takes 4 week time if you are joining a 200 hours training. There are other training programs available as well, such as weekend courses, monthly sessions, etc. Whether you decide to take a hatha yoga teacher training in Rishikesh in a residential retreat or learn it locally, important thing is to schedule your training in advance, as it allows you to take the right decision in accordance to the amount of time you can spare.

Find a Retreat/Studio

As mentioned, there are various sources from where you can get hatha yoga teacher training, so what you have to do is find a reliable yoga retreat or studio that offers training that satisfies your needs and meets your schedule. To ensure the reliability of an organizer, you can go through people’s reviews about them or contact their previous students.

Get Firmly Settled at your Yoga School

To begin with your yoga training it is essential to first make yourself feel at home. If you have decided to learn yoga in India or California, or any other yoga hub in the world, where most of the retreats are in the lap of the nature, you will find it easy to get settled. That is why residential retreats are recommended when you want to take your yoga knowledge to new heights.

Become a Part of the Yoga Community

As a yoga teacher, you are a representative of yoga community who is introducing the process to aspiring yoga practitioners. Besides learning poses, practice a yogic life and try to adopt the discipline that your teachers have in their lives. Develop a thorough understanding of each pose and process, so that you can deliver the same message to your students. And at the end of the day, you will realize that becoming a part of yoga community provides a lot of help in teaching yoga.

Patience: The Virtue Every Yoga Practitioner and Teacher Must Have

B. K. S. Iyengar, one of the most learned yoga teachers of our time, once said, “Yoga is an ocean”. An ocean of knowledge that one can never consume completely, and an ocean of efforts that one can make in learning it. And with every new effort, practitioners will always come to know something new about themselves and about the process.

The ocean is also meant as an analogy for patience. Patience to learn yoga; patience to practice yoga; and above all patience to teach yoga. If you have joined a yoga teacher training in Rishikesh or Dharamshala or in any other famous yoga hub across the globe, then the first thing you have to accept is that it will take a great deal of time and effort to become a yoga teacher.

Becoming a true yoga teacher is about adopting compassion in your nature, which will also give you the confidence when you are taking a class. But the first step is to have patience in learning the process and in developing the essential skills. You barely need to make an effort to keep up with your own pace. But when you have to take others with you, then it really becomes challenging, and it’s here the virtues of patience and empathy pay off. That is why it has been repeatedly said that teaching yoga requires more patience than learning yoga.

As a yoga student, it is necessary that you don’t get desperate when you see your fellow practitioners doing challenging poses. Concentrate on your own practice, make earnest efforts and allow yourself some time, and you will be able to do things that you previously thought were beyond your abilities.

While teaching yoga, you must have the patience to accept the fact that each student of yours is on a different level and requires different amount of time and effort in learning the same thing. In fact, your yoga practice is also a teaching for your students. Therefore, you must take everything slowly and step by step, even if you are repeating it for the 15th time, to make sure that every student of your class has understood the pose and its implication.

At a glance, a 200 or 300 hours of yoga teacher training looks good enough for becoming a yoga teacher, however, it takes way more time than that to become a true yoga teacher. The process continues even when you are off the mat. And as you learn more and more about yoga, you become aware of how much more there is to learn. And then the meaning of the “ocean” becomes more comprehensible. But again, patience is required to first, accept this fact then to tread upon the yogic path.

To have patience may often seem difficult, because we do not know our true capabilities. Through yoga, we become aware of ourselves and come to realize our true potential, and that awareness builds patience in us. One can see it as a cycle of learning; patience comes with yoga practice and with patience we learn more about yoga.

4 Fundamental Things about Yoga That You Might be Missing

It is quite possible to go on with your yoga practice for a long period without learning a few fundamental things about it. Usually, it is with people who start to learn yoga on their own. However, it doesn’t mean that if you have a yoga teacher, then you are sure to learn those things. Often enough, even teachers don’t mention these critical things because they presume that practitioners are already aware of them.

What are these things that have been missed out by beginners as well as experienced practitioners? Let’s find out.

Practice Yoga Empty Stomached

Firstly, this doesn’t mean that you have to fast every time for the sake of practicing yoga. The point is to refrain from having a heavy meal before the practice. To be more precise, wait for more than a couple of hours if you have taken a heavy meal and wait for an hour or so, if you have taken something light, like a fruit. In addition, except for the vigorous forms and styles of yoga, you should not drink water or any other fluid for at least half an hour before and after the class.

Our digestive system needs time to function properly. Practicing yoga right after having a heavy meal can disturb our digestion, as well as keep us from getting other benefits that we are supposed to get with yoga practice.

Practice Yoga during Early Morning

Yoga has manifold benefits when it is practiced during the morning hours, before the breakfast. The mind is relatively fresh and empty of thoughts, which allows practitioners to focus more on their moves. It also brings energy and builds positive attitude in practitioners for the day ahead.

Every Yoga Posture has a Deeper Meaning

We are all aware of the fact that yoga postures transform us physically, but each and every pose has a deeper meaning to it. Every yoga pose is associated with the functioning of an internal body organ. And learning thoroughly about every pose will help you in knowing about the poses that are most beneficial for you.

Yoga is a Spiritual Practice

As a regular yoga practitioner, you can’t miss out this, but it doesn’t mean that you will not ignore it. Unfortunately, many yoga practitioners avoid learning spiritual aspect of yoga since they believe it is hard to comprehend; when in reality it’s all about opening up to the idea of spirituality. All you have to do is focus on yourself, and contemplate each and every move. And by the end of the day, you will realize that yoga has so much more to offer, if only one can comprehend the process as more than just an exercise.

In case, you are lucky enough to learn yoga in India, for instance at a yoga retreat in Rishikesh or Dharamshala, then you have a better chance to learn about these small yet vital things, since teachers there understand that even the regular practitioners can miss out these details, and believe in starting every yoga class from the scratch.