...Chances are that if you are in your third trimester, you are also on maternity leave. This is perfect, since now you will have time to get started with some prenatal yoga. By simply doing gentle stretches and poses, your body and your baby will reap benefits. Always be sure to let your doctor know beforehand that you are interested in starting a prenatal yoga program or if you have any health concerns. Also, if you are taking a yoga class, be sure to inform your instructor that you are pregnant so that he/she can adjust the poses accordingly.

Yoga is all about forming a mind-body connection, so be sure to listen to your body. If something feels ...more

Ashtanga Yoga

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Ashtanga Yoga means "eight limbed yoga" which is designed to cleanse the body and the mind. There are eight spiritual practices of Ashtanga Yoga and they are Yama, niyama, asana, prananyama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and Samadhi. All of these mean something spiritual. Yama means moral codes, niyama means self purification, pranayama means to have breath control, pratyahara means sense of control, dharana means concentration, dhyana means meditation and Samadhi means c...more

Interested In History? How About The History Of Yoga?

...ritings known as Vedic Shastras. This would put Yoga at around 4000 years old.

Yoga as a discipline of that name can be found in the Upanishads which gave life to the Bhagavad Gita. This is considered to be the original writings on Yoga and sets out clearly the basis for the self realization which was Yogas goal. It also sets out the 3 main branches of Yoga known as Karma, Jnana and Bhakti.

There are now many streams of Yoga. Most are most closely related to Hatha Yoga which is younger than some other forms, thought to go back around 700 years. The swami Swatamarama set ...more

Want To Improve Your Life? Try Ashtanga Yoga

...One of the philosophies of Yoga is called Patanjali and comes from the Sanskrit for its definition of Ashtanga Yoga. Ashta means 8 and Anga means limbs and these 8 limbs are intended to help the Ashtange Yoga devotee to live a healthy life. The practice of this form of Yoga is intended to help us minimize stress in our lives, which if course is a good thing, or at least minimize its effect. It also strengthens our endurance.

Ashtanga Yoga was made popular by the Yoga guru Shri K Pattabhi Jois. There is a different term in western Yoga to describe what is in effect a form of ashtanga Yoga. This term is Power Yoga. Power Yoga is modeled on ashtanga yoga.

The 8 limbs of ashtanga Yoga are as follows:

Asana is the discipline of performing Yoga exercises for the betterment of your body and...more

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