YOGA THROUGH TIME Yoga is not like any other type of exercise First of all yoga isn't only about exercise The practice of yoga also encourages proper nutrition relaxation and positive thinking Yoga is about being healthy and balanced in both your body and your mind Ancient Origins No one knows when people first took up yoga Some say it started at the dawn of human civilization But clay seals made 4 nearly 5,000 years ago in what is now India show people sitting with their feet tucked under their buttocks just like modern yogis and yoginis The word yoga means to unite the mind body and spirit It comes from the ancient Sanskrit word yuj for join or unite Sanskrit is the language that ancient gurus used to teach yoga Many gurus teachers and students still call yoga poses by their Sanskrit names today About 2,000 years ago a sage named Patanjali wrote down the oral teachings of yoga in the Yoga Sutras In the Middle Ages the years from 500 to 1500 different types of yoga arose based on living a spiritual life Around 700 people began to combine body poses breathing and meditation into a practice a lot like modern yoga June 21 is International Yoga Day Just as yoga unites the mind body and spirit the annual celebration encourages people to see themselves as one with the world and nature
The poses in this book are easy enough for you to try at home A yoga class at school or in a yoga studio is a great way to learn more This book will give you a great introduction to the world of yoga YOgA in the West Yoga didn’t begin to catch on in North America until the 1890s when gurus such as Swami Vivekananda began to arrive But they focused on breathing and meditation not asanas the physical poses It wasn’t until 1947 when Indra Devi opened a yoga studio in Hollywood and taught the poses to movie stars that it began to take off Devi was the first woman to study yoga with Indian guru Tirumalai Krishnamacharya At first the guru said it was impossible for him to teach her because yoga was for Indian men only But when she would not give up he agreed Devi developed a yoga style that grew into the yoga that millions of North Americans practice today Two other students of Krishnamacharya B K S Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois also developed popular types of yoga Bring YOur MAt tO clAss Not only to gym but to math science and art Schools include yoga in a variety of classes to help kids develop tools to bust stress focus energy manage anger communicate improve sports performance and stay mentally healthy 5
WHAT’S YOUR TYPE So you want to get into yoga What type would be the best for you Check out these four popular types of yoga and see hAthA YOgA No matter what type of yoga you get into it’s hatha yoga In Sanskrit hatha means force or effort Today the term hatha yoga refers to the physical poses of yoga All types of yoga in North America are hatha yoga However hatha yoga has also come to mean a gentle type of yoga centered around the most basic poses Do a hatha yoga class and you’re likely to leave feeling more relaxed longer and looser without having worked up a sweat What’s more hatha yoga is great for beginning yogis and yoginis AshtAngA YOgA Want to get physical and heat things up Try Ashtanga yoga You’ll flow through a vigorous sequence of standing poses balance poses seated poses twists and backbends And you’ll move with your breath In fact every move you make in Hatha yoga is great for beginners It includes many breathing exercises Ashtanga is linked to an inhale or exhale of breath Each pose has a movement linked to breath that connects it to the next pose Linking breath and movement like this connects the mind and body together and produces heat This makes you sweat purifying the body Named after the Sanskrit word for eight limbs Ashtanga yoga has eight stages But according to Pattabhi Jois the late guru of Ashtanga everyone starts with the third one asana 6 A yoga teacher may guide students into proper form
iYengAr YOgA It won’t make you jump to the moon and back or raise your heart rate but Iyengar yoga will still challenge you The late B K S Iyengar believed that properly positioning the body in each pose is the most important thing in yoga He had students focus on details of the body to find the correct alignment in each pose He encouraged students to pay close attention to how their body was feeling during each pose to find the proper position for their individual body Students were able to use items such as bands or blocks to help them achieve their proper position Iyengar also had students hold each pose for a long time to develop strength flexibility and awareness and to bring the mind body and spirit into balance Iyengar yoga uses bands blocks and other props to get the body into proper position VinYAsA YOgA If you like to move to the groove rock out in a Vinyasa yoga class No joke You’ll flow through moves as if dancing from one pose to the next to the beat of lively music Vinyasa yoga comes from Ashtanga yoga So each movement is linked to the breath However unlike Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga does not follow a set sequence of poses Teachers choreograph their classes stringing poses together to challenge and inspire students and to change things up You’ll find that no two teachers or classes are the same So if routine bores you to tears give Vinyasa yoga a whirl Some Like It Hot Get set to sweat buckets in a Bikram or hot yoga class Not only is the heat cranked up high in the studio but students also shimmy through a set list of 26 vigorous poses Chances are you might find it too hot to handle until you hit your teens 7 Vinyasa is a good class to take after you learn the poses in beginning yoga Did You Know The eight limbs of Ashtanga are yama or moral codes niyama or self-purification or study asanas or poses pranayama or breath control pratyahara or sense control dharana or concentration dhyana or meditation and samadhi or contemplation
