what can yoga do for you? a friend bought a yoga video and wants me to try it ..so im just curious.

I've done yoga for a while now....

I think it can sometimes be really relaxing for your body. Relieves stress in your muscles etc. I don't really know about the mind aspect.... if I go in there stressed out I still come out stressed and don't really enjoy the session.
I think the balance positions can help focus in some people.... its just for me I find it difficult to get in the mood.

physically (from regular practice): increase strength, build muscles, enhance muscle tone; burns calories and helps lose weight; raises metabolism so it can help weight management; correct joint alignments -especially the spine- when done correctly; increase flexibility; clear up and enhance one's skintone; aide digestion; increase diaphram strength and improve gas exchange levels in the lungs; and more...

mentally (immediate effects & with regular practice): elevates mood and aides with anxiety, stress, anger, etc; helps sleep; teaches one to focus better; and more...

that's the stuff just off the top of my head. done well and regularly, it's hugely beneficial.

thank you

I'm only 23 pages so far into this book and can readily recommend it.

Happy Yoga

I really wanted to start doing this..

So has anyone got any links to sites with positions etc?

I'm too scabby to buy a book/dvd.

Check my "Inhale With Steve Ross" thread. It's yoga shows I've uploaded, although with a much more lighthearted/humor-injected approach as Steve suggests that the military, stern-faced approach to yoga that seems to be rampant in the west is completely missing the point: It's about joy and having fun.

The true purpose of yoga in relation to having a toned body is that perfection of your body allows you to, oddly enough, forget about it altogether and transcend into the deeper aspects of the self. To find that quietness that lurks beneath the ego.

If you were to buy a book on it I'd highly suggest giving that one above a look. It shows a few poses, but more importantly, has many great lessons on life and putting desires in check/shutting off the ego and the habitual mind.
I'd recommend it even if you don't do yoga.

Although many just do it for the health aspects which is fine too.

His show is a bit faster-paced. Aimed at really working the muscles and cardio along with time constraints due to an hour show with a few commercial breaks.
There's another aspect of yoga that leans to holding poses longer and benefits the connective tissues more (knees, joints, tendons), it's called Yin Yoga.

On his show you'll see people doing poses maybe a bit different from each other/easier variations but they all work. He'll give advice now and then like, if this is too much for you, you can always bend the knees a little or put a knee on the floor, etc.

Feel free to download any of them if you'd like, that's what they're there for.

You'll need the divx and xvid video codecs to view the files. They can be found in this thread: http://kittyradio.com/soapbox/showthread.php?t=3860

Here's some background info on him: http://www.layogamagazine.com/issue5...steve_ross.htm

And don't push yourself too hard. If 10 minutes is all you can manage then 10 minutes it is. Listen to your body. And don't worry about being militant in getting a "proper form" Steve said one of the best yogis in India had what most western yoga teachers would consider lousy form, but yet he was probably more happy and blissful than 10 of them.
You can't really fail at yoga.

Here's the Inhale thread. (save you some searching) http://kittyradio.com/soapbox/showthread.php?t=3830

Thx.

proper yoga means devotional service to God. :/

Really?

And there I was, thinking it was all about....*describes stereotypical yoga position and makes stereotypical "hummmm" noise*

More like:

most hindus believe that the 'Aum'/'Om' is the sound of God (or Brahman, the Ultimate Reality, not to be confused with Brahma, the Creator) manifest in a sound, like probably most Christians believe that Jesus Christ was God/the Logos become flesh/[hu]man. in certain hindu traditions it is also representative of Vishnu and/or Krsna in quite a different way.

yoga is essentially the joining of the individual soul (atma) to the paramatman (an aspect of Brahman).

you are thinking only of hatha yoga, thisbytes. to you I say this: samadhi, niyama/yama. you quote pantanjali, but are you following his teachings of ahimsa and niyama? are you a vegetarian? niyama means surrender to God.

For people who wish to interject their religious beliefs into it, that's fine. But Yoga itself is not a religion. An atheist could get just as much out of it as anybody else.

Plenty of notable quotes here: http://swamij.com/religion.htm#simple

Yoga is about simply letting go, while most organized religions are about reigning in.

my references come from before the invention of the internet, when the very word 'yoga' first came into being.

So how does it feel being over 5,000 years old?

Mine happen to come from a monk who spent alot of time in India meeting yogis who practiced and lived in caves.

have you ever read the rig veda?

living in caves. yeah, that's really indian! we all do that.

Yoga: the west stealing yet another indian thing!

'the royal family? indian! have arranged marriages, live in the same house and all work for the family business. indian!'

[quote=Sridevi]have you ever read the rig veda?

Why would I? I'm not Hindu.
And with proverbs like, "Educating a woman is like handing a knife to a monkey,"
I'm thankful for that.

Are you trying to suggest that if you don't interleave religion with Yoga you'll get nothing from it?

Makes for a deeper practice with less distraction.

[quote=thisbytes] there isn't a book of proverbs in the vedas like there is in the bible. that proverb is not from hindu scriptures, it is just an indian (and irreligious) saying. it is only hindu inasmuch as it is probably of ancient indian origin.

there are many strong women, including goddesses, in my religion; radha, sita, kali...

don't bastardise our yoga and then slander our religion.