The Preatures – Girlhood – DIY Magazine
Posted: August 12, 2017 at 10:43 am
The Preatures have never really seemed of this time. Their 2014 debut Blue Planet Eyes was steeped in 80s new wave sounds that earned them comparisons to The Pretenders and John Hughes movie soundtracks. Three years later, this follow-up finds them in much the same place.
Thats not to say the Australian four-piece havent had any new ideas in the intervening years. Girlhood sparkles with creativity, from climactic ambient motifs to riffs that sound like theyve been discovered in a long-forgotten record collection. Mess It Up rides on a funky bassline, frontwoman Izzi Manfredi grooving out her woes like a star. First Night ends with soft ripples that sound like youre swimming underwater on the moon, while Yanada opens with a brief burst of sci-fi tinged needling before seamlessly veering into INXS territory.
The record, the band say, is about the contradictions of being a modern woman. The title track addresses that theme right at the albums start, Izzi explaining: Fantasy rules and its there in my room / Yeah I tear myself apart for kicks for you / Whatever makes me a modern girl. Jack Moffitts guitar lines jitter quickly beneath, reinforcing a sense of uncertainty and urgency. On Lip Balm, a jangly pop treasure, Izzi delves into the personal performance of getting made up. I know that you dont wear it for me / That its only for when you wear your picture, she sings, mimicking the role of a partners understanding disapproval.
Originally, The Preatures only intended to spend a month writing and recording their second album, keen to keep the momentum from their acclaimed debut growing. That that month soon stretched into a year and a half can only have been a good thing. Without time and patience, Girlhood might not have sounded quite as accomplished as it does.
Read more here:
The Preatures - Girlhood - DIY Magazine
3 Things Intel Needs to Deliver With Its Ice Lake Desktop Processor Family – Madison.com
Posted: at 10:43 am
Microprocessor giant Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) recently reported its financial results for the second quarter of the year. The company's business performed well, helped along by better-than-expected results in its personal computer processor business.
Intel's personal computer processor business sells chips for both desktop computers as well as notebook computers. It was sales into the latter that helped boost Intel's overall personal computer processor business, with platform unit shipments up 14% and average selling prices up 6% year over year.
Desktop revenue was down 3% year over year, due to a combination of year-over-year unit shipment declines compounded by a slight average selling price decline.
In a recent column, I argued that Intel could improve the performance of its desktop chip business by building more compelling, targeted products for the segment.
In this column, I'd like to go over three specific things I'd like to see from the company's Ice Lake architecture-based desktop personal computer chips, which should arrive in late 2018 or early 2019.
More cores
Intel's mainstream desktop personal computer processors topped out at four physical processor cores since the launch of the Core 2 Quad processor family back in 2007. Over time, those cores have gotten faster, and Intel has integrated more non-processor components into the chips (e.g., graphics/media), but the per-core performance gains that Intel has been delivering generation over generation for the last half-decade have been rather modest.
With the Ice Lake family of processors -- which will likely be marketed as the company's ninth-generation Core processors -- I would like to see an increase in processor core counts to at least eight.
Remember: Ice Lake will be manufactured on Intel's 10-nanometer chip manufacturing technology, which Intel says delivers a more than doubling of logic density over its 14-nanometer technology. Given this dramatic increase in technology density, packing in additional processor cores could be a great way to translate improved manufacturing technology into value for consumers.
Smarter cores
Although "more cores" is generally a compelling selling point, those cores need to deliver performance improvements over what came before them, particularly as most consumer-grade software is still highly sensitive to per-core performance.
With Ice Lake, Intel is expected to deliver an enhanced processor core relative to the core found in the sixth-, seventh-, and upcoming eighth-generation Core families of chips.
Intel has historically delivered a roughly 5% improvement in performance-per-clock in the generation immediately following a new core architecture (known as a "tick" in Intel's now-defunct "tick-tock" development model), and then a 10% improvement in performance-per-clock in moving to a new core architecture (known as a "tock").
The Ice Lake core represents the next "tock" in Intel's processor core development process, so I would expect to see at least a 15% improvement in performance-per-clock over the processor core used in Intel's currently shipping products.
More graphics, too
One area that Intel has worked to improve on has been the integrated graphics processors inside of its chips. Today, Intel's graphics processors are adequate for non-gaming tasks (e.g., web surfing, video playback, etc.), but they're still not suitable for playing some of the most popular games out there today.
Intel's goal shouldn't, realistically, be to displace graphics processors for the high-end gaming market; that's simply not going to happen with a solution integrated into the processor for cost, power, and form factor reasons.
What Intel's goal should be, though, is to build graphics processors into each one of its chips that can handle the major eSports titles, like Overwatch, at fluid frame rates and reasonable quality settings.
Intel is expected to deliver a new graphics architecture with its Ice Lake family of processors that, like its processor cores, should be two architectural generations over what's shipping in Intel's chips today. However, a new architecture alone isn't enough -- Intel will need to cram more of those updated graphics cores into its mainstream desktop chips than it does today to deliver higher performance.
If Intel can offer credible integrated graphics capabilities for mainstream gamers, that could help bolster the value proposition of its latest chips and help its desktop personal computer chip sales and average selling prices.
10 stocks we like better than Intel
When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*
David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Intel wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.
*Stock Advisor returns as of August 1, 2017
Excerpt from:
3 Things Intel Needs to Deliver With Its Ice Lake Desktop Processor Family - Madison.com
Yoga – Wikipedia
Posted: August 10, 2017 at 11:47 pm
This article is about the umbrella term "yoga" which includes religion, philosophy, and practices. For one of the six Hindu philosophy schools, see Yoga (philosophy). For the popular yoga that explains and emphasizes the physical practices or disciplines, see Hatha yoga. For other uses, see Yoga (disambiguation).Male and female yogis from 17th- and 18th-century India
Yoga (;[1]Sanskrit, Listen) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India. There is a broad variety of yoga schools, practices, and goals in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.[3][4][5] Among the most well-known types of yoga are Hatha yoga and Rja yoga.[6]
The origins of yoga have been speculated to date back to pre-Vedic Indian traditions; it is mentioned in the Rigveda,[note 1] but most likely developed around the sixth and fifth centuries BCE,[8] in ancient India's ascetic and ramaa movements.[note 2] The chronology of earliest texts describing yoga-practices is unclear, varyingly credited to Hindu Upanishads.[10] The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali date from the first half of the 1st millennium CE,[11][12] but only gained prominence in the West in the 20th century. Hatha yoga texts emerged around the 11th century with origins in tantra.[14][15]
Yoga gurus from India later introduced yoga to the west, following the success of Swami Vivekananda in the late 19th and early 20th century. In the 1980s, yoga became popular as a system of physical exercise across the Western world.[15] Yoga in Indian traditions, however, is more than physical exercise; it has a meditative and spiritual core.[17] One of the six major orthodox schools of Hinduism is also called Yoga, which has its own epistemology and metaphysics, and is closely related to Hindu Samkhya philosophy.[18]
Many studies have tried to determine the effectiveness of yoga as a complementary intervention for cancer, schizophrenia, asthma, and heart disease.[19][20] The results of these studies have been mixed and inconclusive, with cancer studies suggesting none to unclear effectiveness, and others suggesting yoga may reduce risk factors and aid in a patient's psychological healing process.[19][20] On December 1, 2016, yoga was listed by UNESCO as an Intangible cultural heritage.[21]
In Sanskrit, the word yoga comes from the root yuj which means "to add", "to join", "to unite", or "to attach" in its most common senses. By figurative extension from the yoking or harnessing of oxen or horses, the word took on broader meanings such as "employment, use, application, performance" (compare the figurative uses of "to harness" as in "to put something to some use"). All further developments of the sense of this word are post-Vedic. More prosaic moods such as "exertion", "endeavour", "zeal", and "diligence" are also found in Indian epic poetry.[22]
There are very many compound words containing yoga in Sanskrit. Yoga can take on meanings such as "connection", "contact", "union", "method", "application", "addition" and "performance". In simpler words, Yoga also means "combined". For example, guyoga means "contact with a cord"; chakryoga has a medical sense of "applying a splint or similar instrument by means of pulleys (in case of dislocation of the thigh)"; chandryoga has the astronomical sense of "conjunction of the moon with a constellation"; puyoga is a grammatical term expressing "connection or relation with a man", etc. Thus, bhaktiyoga means "devoted attachment" in the monotheistic Bhakti movement. The term kriyyoga has a grammatical sense, meaning "connection with a verb". But the same compound is also given a technical meaning in the Yoga Sutras (2.1), designating the "practical" aspects of the philosophy, i.e. the "union with the supreme" due to performance of duties in everyday life[23]
According to Pini, a 6th-century BCE Sanskrit grammarian, the term yoga can be derived from either of two roots, yujir yoga (to yoke) or yuj samdhau (to concentrate).[24] In the context of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the root yuj samdhau (to concentrate) is considered by traditional commentators as the correct etymology.[25] In accordance with Pini, Vyasa who wrote the first commentary on the Yoga Sutras,[26] states that yoga means samdhi (concentration).[27]
According to Dasgupta, the term yoga can be derived from either of two roots, yujir yoga (to yoke) or yuj samdhau (to concentrate).[24] Someone who practices yoga or follows the yoga philosophy with a high level of commitment is called a yogi (may be applied to a man or a woman) or yogini (traditionally denoting a woman).[28]
The ultimate goal of Yoga is moksha (liberation), although the exact definition of what form this takes depends on the philosophical or theological system with which it is conjugated.
According to Jacobsen, "Yoga has five principal meanings:[29]
According to David Gordon White, from the 5th century CE onward, the core principles of "yoga" were more or less in place, and variations of these principles developed in various forms over time:
White clarifies that the last principle relates to legendary goals of "yogi practice", different from practical goals of "yoga practice," as they are viewed in South Asian thought and practice since the beginning of the Common Era, in the various Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain philosophical schools.
The term "yoga" has been applied to a variety of practices and methods, including Jain and Buddhist practices. In Hinduism these include Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, Laya Yoga and Hatha Yoga.
The so-called Raja Yoga refers to Ashtanga Yoga, the eight limbs to be practiced to attain samadhi, as described in the Yoga Sutras of Pantajali. The term raja yoga originally referred to the ultimate goal of yoga, which is usually samadhi, but was popularised by Vivekananda as the common name for Ashtanga Yoga.
Yoga is considered as a philosophical school in Hinduism.[40] Yoga, in this context, is one of the six stika schools of Hinduism (those which accept the Vedas as source of knowledge).[41][42]
Due to the influence of Vivekananda, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are nowadays considered as the foundational scripture of classical yoga, a status which it only acquired in the 20th century. Before the twentieth century, other works were considered as the most central works, such as the Bhagavad Gita and the Yoga Vasistha, while Tantric Yoga and Hatha Yoga prevailed over Ashtanga Yoga.
Yoga as described in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali refers to Ashtanga yoga. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is considered as a central text of the Yoga school of Hindu philosophy,[44] It is often called "Rja yoga", "yoga of the kings," a term which originally referred to the ultimate, royal goal of yoga, which is usually samadhi, but was popularised by Vivekananda as the common name for Ashtanga Yoga.
Ashtanga yoga incorporates epistemology, metaphysics, ethical practices, systematic exercises and self-development techniques for body, mind and spirit.[45] Its epistemology (pramanas) is same as the Samkhya school. Both accept three reliable means to knowledge perception (pratyka, direct sensory observations), inference (anumna) and testimony of trustworthy experts (sabda, agama). Both these orthodox schools are also strongly dualistic. Unlike the Skhya school of Hinduism, which pursues a non-theistic/atheistic rationalist approach,[46][47] the Yoga school of Hinduism accepts the concept of a "personal, yet essentially inactive, deity" or "personal god".[48][49] Along with its epistemology and metaphysical foundations, the Yoga school of Hindu philosophy incorporates ethical precepts (yamas and niyamas) and an introspective way of life focused on perfecting one's self physically, mentally and spiritually, with the ultimate goal being kaivalya (liberated, unified, content state of existence).[45][50][51]
Hatha yoga, also called hatha vidy, is a kind of yoga focusing on physical and mental strength building exercises and postures described primarily in three texts of Hinduism:[53][54][55]
Many scholars also include the preceding Goraksha Samhita authored by Gorakshanath of the 11th century in the above list.[53] Gorakshanath is widely considered to have been responsible for popularizing hatha yoga as we know it today.[57][58][59]
Vajrayana Buddhism, founded by the Indian Mahasiddhas,[60] has a series of asanas and pranayamas, such as tummo (Sanskrit cal)[61] and trul khor which parallel hatha yoga.
In Shaivism, yoga is used to unite kundalini with Shiva.[62] See also 'tantra' below.
Buddhist meditation encompasses a variety of meditation techniques that aim to develop mindfulness, concentration, supramundane powers, tranquility, and insight.
Core techniques have been preserved in ancient Buddhist texts and have proliferated and diversified through teacher-student transmissions. Buddhists pursue meditation as part of the path toward Enlightenment and Nirvana.[note 3] The closest words for meditation in the classical languages of Buddhism are bhvan[note 4] and jhna/dhyna.[note 5]
Jain meditation has been the central practice of spirituality in Jainism along with the Three Jewels.[63] Meditation in Jainism aims at realizing the self, attain salvation, take the soul to complete freedom.[64] It aims to reach and to remain in the pure state of soul which is believed to be pure conscious, beyond any attachment or aversion. The practitioner strives to be just a knower-seer (Gyata-Drashta). Jain meditation can be broadly categorized to the auspicious Dharmya Dhyana and Shukla Dhyana and inauspicious Artta and Raudra Dhyana.[citation needed]
Samuel states that Tantrism is a contested concept. Tantra yoga may be described, according to Samuel, as practices in 9th to 10th century Buddhist and Hindu (Saiva, Shakti) texts, which included yogic practices with elaborate deity visualizations using geometrical arrays and drawings (mandala), fierce male and particularly female deities, transgressive life stage related rituals, extensive use of chakras and mantras, and sexual techniques, all aimed to help one's health, long life and liberation.[66]
The origins of yoga are a matter of debate. There is no consensus on its chronology or specific origin other than that yoga developed in ancient India. Suggested origins are the Indus Valley Civilization (33001900 BCE) and pre-Vedic Eastern states of India, the Vedic period (1500500 BCE), and the ramaa movement. According to Gavin Flood, continuities may exist between those various traditions:
[T]his dichotomization is too simplistic, for continuities can undoubtedly be found between renunciation and vedic Brahmanism, while elements from non-Brahmanical, Sramana traditions also played an important part in the formation of the renunciate ideal.[note 6]
Pre-philosophical speculations of yoga begin to emerge in the texts of c. 500200 BCE. Between 200 BCE500 CE philosophical schools of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism were taking form and a coherent philosophical system of yoga began to emerge.[73] The Middle Ages saw the development of many satellite traditions of yoga. Yoga came to the attention of an educated western public in the mid 19th century along with other topics of Indian philosophy.
Yoga may have pre-Vedic elements. Some state yoga originated in the Indus Valley Civilization. Marshall,[75] Eliade[10] and other scholars suggest that the Pashupati seal discovered in Indus Valley Civilization sites depict figures in positions resembling a common yoga or meditation pose. This interpretation is considered speculative and uncertain by more recent analysis of Srinivasan[10] and may be a case of projecting "later practices into archeological findings".
According to Crangle, some researchers have favoured a linear theory, which attempts "to interpret the origin and early development of Indian contemplative practices as a sequential growth from an Aryan genesis",[note 7] just like traditional Hinduism regards the Vedas to be the ultimate source of all spiritual knowledge.[note 8] Thomas McEvilley favors a composite model where pre-Aryan yoga prototype existed in the pre-Vedic period and its refinement began in the Vedic period.[81]
Ascetic practices, concentration and bodily postures described in the Vedas may have been precursors to yoga.[82][83] According to Geoffrey Samuel, "Our best evidence to date suggests that [yogic] practices developed in the same ascetic circles as the early sramana movements (Buddhists, Jainas and Ajivikas), probably in around the sixth and fifth centuries BCE."
According to Zimmer, Yoga philosophy is reckoned to be part of the non-Vedic system, which also includes the Samkhya school of Hindu philosophy, Jainism and Buddhism: "[Jainism] does not derive from Brahman-Aryan sources, but reflects the cosmology and anthropology of a much older pre-Aryan upper class of northeastern India [Bihar] being rooted in the same subsoil of archaic metaphysical speculation as Yoga, Sankhya, and Buddhism, the other non-Vedic Indian systems."[note 9]
The first use of the root of word "yoga" is in hymn 5.81.1 of the Rig Veda, a dedication to rising Sun-god in the morning (Savitri), where it has been interpreted as "yoke" or "yogically control".[87][88][note 10]
The earliest evidence of Yogis and Yoga tradition is found in the Kein hymn 10.136 of the Rigveda, states Karel Werner.[7]
The Yogis of Vedic times left little evidence of their existence, practices and achievements. And such evidence as has survived in the Vedas is scanty and indirect. Nevertheless, the existence of accomplished Yogis in Vedic times cannot be doubted.
Rigveda, however, does not describe yoga and there is little evidence as to what the practices were.[7] Early references to practices that later became part of yoga, are made in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, the earliest Hindu Upanishad.[note 11] For example, the practice of pranayama (consciously regulating breath) is mentioned in hymn 1.5.23 of Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (c. 900 BCE), and the practice of pratyahara (concentrating all of one's senses on self) is mentioned in hymn 8.15 of Chandogya Upanishad (c. 800700 BCE).[91][note 12]
Ascetic practices (tapas), concentration and bodily postures used by Vedic priests to conduct yajna (sacrifice), might have been precursors to yoga.[note 13]Vratya, a group of ascetics mentioned in the Atharvaveda, emphasized on bodily postures which may have evolved into yogic asanas.[82] Early Samhitas also contain references to other group ascetics such as munis, the kein, and vratyas.[94] Techniques for controlling breath and vital energies are mentioned in the Brahmanas (texts of the Vedic corpus, c. 1000800 BCE) and the Atharvaveda.[82][95]Nasadiya Sukta of the Rig Veda suggests the presence of an early contemplative tradition.[note 14]
Yoga concepts begin to emerge in the texts of c. 500200 BCE such as the Pali Canon, the middle Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and Shanti Parva of the Mahabharata.[98][note 15]
The first known appearance of the word "yoga", with the same meaning as the modern term, is in the Katha Upanishad,[10] probably composed between the fifth and third century BCE,[102][103] where it is defined as the steady control of the senses, which along with cessation of mental activity, leading to a supreme state.[94][note 16]Katha Upanishad integrates the monism of early Upanishads with concepts of samkhya and yoga. It defines various levels of existence according to their proximity to the innermost being tman. Yoga is therefore seen as a process of interiorization or ascent of consciousness.[105][106] It is the earliest literary work that highlights the fundamentals of yoga. White states:
The earliest extant systematic account of yoga and a bridge from the earlier Vedic uses of the term is found in the Hindu Katha Upanisad (Ku), a scripture dating from about the third century BCE[] [I]t describes the hierarchy of mind-body constituentsthe senses, mind, intellect, etc.that comprise the foundational categories of Smkhya philosophy, whose metaphysical system grounds the yoga of the Yogasutras, Bhagavad Gita, and other texts and schools (Ku3.1011; 6.78).
The hymns in Book 2 of the Shvetashvatara Upanishad, another late first millennium BCE text, states a procedure in which the body is held in upright posture, the breath is restrained and mind is meditatively focussed, preferably inside a cave or a place that is simple, plain, of silence or gently flowing water, with no noises nor harsh winds.[108][106]
The Maitrayaniya Upanishad, likely composed in a later century than Katha and Shvetashvatara Upanishads but before Patanjali's Yoga Sutra, mentions sixfold yoga method breath control (pranayama), introspective withdrawal of senses (pratyahara), meditation (dhyana), mind concentration (dharana), philosophical inquiry/creative reasoning (tarka), and absorption/intense spiritual union (samadhi).[10][106][109]
In addition to the Yoga discussion in above Principal Upanishads, twenty Yoga Upanishads as well as related texts such as Yoga Vasistha, composed in 1st and 2nd millennium CE, discuss Yoga methods.[110][111]
Yoga is discussed in the ancient foundational Sutras of Hindu philosophy. The Vaieika Stra of the Vaisheshika school of Hinduism, dated to have been composed sometime between 6th and 2nd century BCE discusses Yoga.[note 17] According to Johannes Bronkhorst, an Indologist known for his studies on early Buddhism and Hinduism and a professor at the University of Lausanne, Vaieika Stra describes Yoga as "a state where the mind resides only in the soul and therefore not in the senses".[115] This is equivalent to pratyahara or withdrawal of the senses, and the ancient Sutra asserts that this leads to an absence of sukha (happiness) and dukkha (suffering), then describes additional yogic meditation steps in the journey towards the state of spiritual liberation.[115]
Similarly, Brahma sutras the foundational text of the Vedanta school of Hinduism, discusses yoga in its sutra 2.1.3, 2.1.223 and others.[116]Brahma sutras are estimated to have been complete in the surviving form sometime between 450 BCE to 200 CE,[117][118] and its sutras assert that yoga is a means to gain "subtlety of body" and other powers.[116] The Nyaya sutras the foundational text of the Nyaya school, variously estimated to have been composed between the 6th-century BCE and 2nd-century CE,[119][120] discusses yoga in sutras 4.2.3850. This ancient text of the Nyaya school includes a discussion of yogic ethics, dhyana (meditation), samadhi, and among other things remarks that debate and philosophy is a form of yoga.[121][122][123]
Alexander the Great reached India in the 4th century BCE. Along with his army, he took Greek academics with him who later wrote memoirs about geography, people and customs they saw. One of Alexander's companion was Onesicritus, quoted in Book 15, Sections 6365 by Strabo, who describes yogins of India.[124] Onesicritus claims those Indian yogins (Mandanis ) practiced aloofness and "different postures standing or sitting or lying naked and motionless".[125]
Onesicritus also mentions his colleague Calanus trying to meet them, who is initially denied audience, but later invited because he was sent by a "king curious of wisdom and philosophy".[125] Onesicritus and Calanus learn that the yogins consider the best doctrine of life as "rid the spirit of not only pain, but also pleasure", that "man trains the body for toil in order that his opinions may be strengthened", that "there is no shame in life on frugal fare", and that "the best place to inhabit is one with scantiest equipment or outfit".[124][125] These principles are significant to the history of spiritual side of yoga.[124] These may reflect the ancient roots of "undisturbed calmness" and "mindfulness through balance" in later works of Hindu Patanjali and Buddhist Buddhaghosa respectively, states Charles Rockwell Lanman;[124] as well as the principle of Aparigraha (non-possessiveness, non-craving, simple living) and asceticism discussed in later Hinduism and Jainism.[citation needed]
Werner states, "The Buddha was the founder of his [Yoga] system, even though, admittedly, he made use of some of the experiences he had previously gained under various Yoga teachers of his time."[126] He notes:[127]
But it is only with Buddhism itself as expounded in the Pali Canon that we can speak about a systematic and comprehensive or even integral school of Yoga practice, which is thus the first and oldest to have been preserved for us in its entirety.[127]
The chronology of completion of these yoga-related Pali Canons, however, is unclear, just like ancient Hindu texts.[129] Early known Buddhist sources like the Majjhima Nikya mention meditation, while the Anguttara Nikya describes Jhyins (meditators) that resemble early Hindu descriptions of Muni, Kesins and meditating ascetics,[130] but these meditation-practices are not called yoga in these texts. The earliest known specific discussion of yoga in the Buddhist literature, as understood in modern context, is from the third- to fourth-century CE scriptures of the Buddhist Yogcra school and fourth- to fifth-century Visuddhimagga of Buddhaghosa.
A yoga system that predated the Buddhist school is Jain yoga. But since Jain sources postdate Buddhist ones, it is difficult to distinguish between the nature of the early Jain school and elements derived from other schools.[127] Most of the other contemporary yoga systems alluded in the Upanishads and some Pali canons are lost to time.[132][133][note 18]
The early Buddhist texts describe meditative practices and states, some of which the Buddha borrowed from the ramaa tradition.[135][136] The Pali canon contains three passages in which the Buddha describes pressing the tongue against the palate for the purposes of controlling hunger or the mind, depending on the passage.[137] However, there is no mention of the tongue being inserted into the nasopharynx as in true khecar mudr. The Buddha used a posture where pressure is put on the perineum with the heel, similar to even modern postures used to stimulate Kundalini.[138]
Alexander Wynne, author of The Origin of Buddhist Meditation, observes that formless meditation and elemental meditation might have originated in the Upanishadic tradition.[139] The earliest reference to meditation is in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, one of the oldest Upanishads.[94]Chandogya Upanishad describes the five kinds of vital energies (prana). Concepts used later in many yoga traditions such as internal sound and veins (nadis) are also described in the Upanishad.[82]Taittiriya Upanishad defines yoga as the mastery of body and senses.[140]
The Bhagavad Gita ('Song of the Lord'), uses the term "yoga" extensively in a variety of ways. In addition to an entire chapter (ch. 6) dedicated to traditional yoga practice, including meditation,[141] it introduces three prominent types of yoga:[142]
The Gita consists of 18 chapters and 700 shlokas (verses),[146] with each chapter named as a different yoga, thus delineating eighteen different yogas.[146][147] Some scholars divide the Gita into three sections, with the first six chapters with 280 shlokas dealing with Karma yoga, the middle six containing 209 shlokas with Bhakti yoga, and the last six chapters with 211 shlokas as Jnana yoga; however, this is rough because elements of karma, bhakti and jnana are found in all chapters.[146]
Description of an early form of yoga called nirodhayoga (yoga of cessation) is contained in the Mokshadharma section of the 12th chapter (Shanti Parva) of the Mahabharata. The verses of the section are dated to c. 300200 BCE[citation needed]. Nirodhayoga emphasizes progressive withdrawal from the contents of empirical consciousness such as thoughts, sensations etc. until purusha (Self) is realized. Terms like vichara (subtle reflection), viveka (discrimination) and others which are similar to Patanjali's terminology are mentioned, but not described.[148] There is no uniform goal of yoga mentioned in the Mahabharata. Separation of self from matter, perceiving Brahman everywhere, entering into Brahman etc. are all described as goals of yoga. Samkhya and yoga are conflated together and some verses describe them as being identical.[149] Mokshadharma also describes an early practice of elemental meditation.[150]
Mahabharata defines the purpose of yoga as the experience of uniting the individual tman with the universal Brahman that pervades all things.[149]
This period witnessed many texts of Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism discussing and systematically compiling yoga methods and practices. Of these, Patanjali's Yoga Sutras are considered as a key work.
During the period between the Mauryan and the Gupta eras (c. 200 BCE500 CE) philosophical schools of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism were taking form and a coherent philosophical system of yoga began to emerge.[73]
Yoga as a philosophy is mentioned in Sanskrit texts dated to be completed between 200 BCE200 CE. Kauilya's Arthashastra in verse 1.2.10, for example, states that there are three categories of anviksikis (philosophies) Samkhya (nontheistic), Yoga (theistic) and Crvka (atheistic materialism).[151][152]
Many traditions in India began to adopt systematic methodology by about first century CE. Of these, Samkhya was probably one of the oldest philosophies to begin taking a systematic form.[153] Patanjali systematized Yoga, building them on the foundational metaphysics of Samkhya. In the early works, the Yoga principles appear together with the Samkhya ideas. Vyasa's commentary on the Yoga Sutras, also called the Samkhyapravacanabhasya (Commentary on the Exposition of the Sankhya Philosophy), describes the relation between the two systems.[154] The two schools have some differences as well. Yoga accepted the conception of "personal god", while Samkhya developed as a rationalist, non-theistic/atheistic system of Hindu philosophy.[46][155][156] Sometimes Patanjali's system is referred to as Seshvara Samkhya in contradistinction to Kapila's Nirivara Samkhya.[157]
The parallels between Yoga and Samkhya were so close that Max Mller says that "the two philosophies were in popular parlance distinguished from each other as Samkhya with and Samkhya without a Lord."[158]
In Hindu philosophy, yoga is the name of one of the six orthodox (which accept the testimony of Vedas) philosophical schools.[160][161] Karel Werner, author of Yoga And Indian Philosophy, believes that the process of systematization of yoga which began in the middle and Yoga Upanishads culminated with the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.[note 19]
There are numerous parallels in the concepts in ancient Samkhya, Yoga and Abhidharma Buddhist schools of thought, particularly from 2nd century BCE to 1st century AD, notes Larson.[163] Patanjali's Yoga Sutras is a synthesis of these three traditions. From Samkhya, Yoga Sutras adopt the "reflective discernment" (adhyavasaya) of prakrti and purusa (dualism), its metaphysical rationalism, as well its three epistemic methods to gaining reliable knowledge.[163] From Abhidharma Buddhism's idea of nirodhasamadhi, suggests Larson, Yoga Sutras adopt the pursuit of altered state of awareness, but unlike Buddhist's concept of no self nor soul, Yoga is physicalist and realist like Samkhya in believing that each individual has a self and soul.[163] The third concept Yoga Sutras synthesize into its philosophy is the ancient ascetic traditions of meditation and introspection, as well as the yoga ideas from middle Upanishads such as Katha, Shvetashvatara and Maitri.[163]
Patanjali's Yoga Sutras are widely regarded as the first compilation of the formal yoga philosophy.[164] The verses of Yoga Sutras are terse. Many later Indian scholars studied them and published their commentaries, such as the Vyasa Bhashya (c. 350450 CE).[165] Patanjali's yoga is also referred to as Raja yoga.[166] Patanjali defines the word "yoga" in his second sutra:
(yoga citta-vtti-nirodha)- Yoga Sutras 1.2
This terse definition hinges on the meaning of three Sanskrit terms. I. K. Taimni translates it as "Yoga is the inhibition (nirodha) of the modifications (vtti) of the mind (citta)".[167]Swami Vivekananda translates the sutra as "Yoga is restraining the mind-stuff (Citta) from taking various forms (Vrittis)."[168]Edwin Bryant explains that, to Patanjali, "Yoga essentially consists of meditative practices culminating in attaining a state of consciousness free from all modes of active or discursive thought, and of eventually attaining a state where consciousness is unaware of any object external to itself, that is, is only aware of its own nature as consciousness unmixed with any other object."[45][169][170]
If the meaning of yoga is understood as the practice of nirodha (mental control), then its goal is "the unqualified state of niruddha (the perfection of that process)",[171] according to Baba Hari Dass. In that context, "yoga (union) implies duality (as in joining of two things or principles); the result of yoga is the nondual state", and "as the union of the lower self and higher Self. The nondual state is characterized by the absence of individuality; it can be described as eternal peace, pure love, Self-realization, or liberation."[172]
Patanjali's writing also became the basis for a system referred to as "Ashtanga Yoga" ("Eight-Limbed Yoga"). This eight-limbed concept is derived from the 29th Sutra of the Book 2 of Yoga Sutras. They are:
Yoga and Vedanta are the two largest surviving schools of Hindu traditions. They share many thematic principles, concepts and belief in self/soul, but diverge in degree, style and some of their methods. Epistemologically, Yoga school accepts three means to reliable knowledge, while Advaita Vedanta accepts six ways.[180] Yoga disputes the monism of Advaita Vedanta.[181] Yoga school believes that in the state of moksha, each individual discovers the blissful, liberating sense of himself or herself as an independent identity; Advaita Vedanta, in contrast, believes that in the state of moksha, each individual discovers the blissful, liberating sense of himself or herself as part of Oneness with everything, everyone and the Universal Self. They both hold that the free conscience is aloof yet transcendent, liberated and self-aware. Further, Advaita Vedanta school enjoins the use of Patanjali's yoga practices and the reading of Upanishads for those seeking the supreme good, ultimate freedom and jivanmukti.[181]
sayogo yoga ityukto jvtma-paramtmanoYoga is union of the individual self (jivtma) with the supreme self (paramtma).
The Yoga Yajnavalkya is a classical treatise on yoga attributed to the Vedic sage Yajnavalkya. It takes the form of a dialogue between Yajnavalkya and Gargi, a renowned philosopher.[183] The text contains 12 chapters and its origin has been traced to the period between the second century BCE and fourth century CE.[184] Many yoga texts like the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the Yoga Kundalini and the Yoga Tattva Upanishads have borrowed verses from or make frequent references to the Yoga Yajnavalkya.[185] The Yoga Yajnavalkya discusses eight yoga Asanas Swastika, Gomukha, Padma, Vira, Simha, Bhadra, Mukta and Mayura,[186] numerous breathing exercises for body cleansing,[187] and meditation.[188]
According to Tattvarthasutra, 2nd century CE Jain text, yoga is the sum of all the activities of mind, speech and body.[5]Umasvati calls yoga the cause of "asrava" or karmic influx[189] as well as one of the essentialssamyak caritrain the path to liberation.[189] In his Niyamasara, Acarya Kundakunda, describes yoga bhaktidevotion to the path to liberationas the highest form of devotion.[190] Acarya Haribhadra and Acarya Hemacandra mention the five major vows of ascetics and 12 minor vows of laity under yoga. This has led certain Indologists like Prof. Robert J. Zydenbos to call Jainism, essentially, a system of yogic thinking that grew into a full-fledged religion.[191] The five yamas or the constraints of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali bear a resemblance to the five major vows of Jainism, indicating a history of strong cross-fertilization between these traditions.[192][note 20]
Mainstream Hinduism's influence on Jain yoga can be see in Haribhadra's Yogadisamuccaya which outlines an eightfold yoga influenced by Patanjali's eightfold yoga.[194]
In the late phase of Indian antiquity, on the eve of the development of Classical Hinduism, the Yogacara movement arises during the Gupta period (4th to 5th centuries). Yogacara received the name as it provided a "yoga," a framework for engaging in the practices that lead to the path of the bodhisattva.[195] The yogacara sect teaches "yoga" as a way to reach enlightenment.[196]
Middle Ages saw the development of many satellite traditions of yoga. Hatha yoga emerged in this period.[197]
The Bhakti movement was a development in medieval Hinduism which advocated the concept of a personal God (or "Supreme Personality of Godhead"). The movement was initiated by the Alvars of South India in the 6th to 9th centuries, and it started gaining influence throughout India by the 12th to 15th centuries.[198] Shaiva and Vaishnava bhakti traditions integrated aspects of Yoga Sutras, such as the practical meditative exercises, with devotion.[199]Bhagavata Purana elucidates the practice of a form of yoga called viraha (separation) bhakti. Viraha bhakti emphasizes one pointed concentration on Krishna.[200]
Tantra is a genre of yoga that arose in India no later than the 5th century CE.[201][note 21] George Samuel states, "Tantra" is a contested term, but may be considered as a school whose practices appeared in mostly complete form in Buddhist and Hindu texts by about 10th century CE. Over its history, some ideas of Tantra school influenced the Hindu, Bon, Buddhist, and Jain traditions. Elements of Tantric yoga rituals were adopted by and influenced state functions in medieval Buddhist and Hindu kingdoms in East and Southeast Asia.
By the turn of the first millennium, hatha yoga emerged from tantra.[14][15]
Vajrayana is also known as Tantric Buddhism and Tantrayna. Its texts were compiled starting with 7th century and Tibetan translations were completed in 8th century CE. These tantra yoga texts were the main source of Buddhist knowledge that was imported into Tibet.[205] They were later translated into Chinese and other Asian languages, helping spread ideas of Tantric Buddhism. The Buddhist text Hevajra Tantra and Carygiti introduced hierarchies of chakras.[206] Yoga is a significant practice in Tantric Buddhism.[61][207][208]
The earliest references to hatha yoga are in Buddhist works dating from the eighth century.[209] The earliest definition of hatha yoga is found in the 11th century Buddhist text Vimalaprabha, which defines it in relation to the center channel, bindu etc.[210] Hatha yoga synthesizes elements of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras with posture and breathing exercises.[211] It marks the development of asanas (plural) into the full body 'postures' now in popular usage[212] and, along with its many modern variations, is the style that many people associate with the word yoga today.[213]
Various yogic groups had become prominent in Punjab in the 15th and 16th century, when Sikhism was in its nascent stage. Compositions of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, describe many dialogues he had with Jogis, a Hindu community which practiced yoga.[214] Guru Nanak rejected the austerities, rites and rituals connected with Hatha Yoga.[215] He propounded the path of Sahaja yoga or Nama yoga (meditation on the name) instead.[216] The Guru Granth Sahib states:
Listen "O Yogi, Nanak tells nothing but the truth. You must discipline your mind. The devotee must meditate on the Word Divine. It is His grace which brings about the union. He understands, he also sees. Good deeds help one merge into Divination."[217]
Yoga came to the attention of an educated western public in the mid-19th century along with other topics of Indian philosophy. In the context of this budding interest, N. C. Paul published his Treatise on Yoga Philosophy in 1851.
The first Hindu teacher to actively advocate and disseminate aspects of yoga to a western audience, Swami Vivekananda, toured Europe and the United States in the 1890s.[218] The reception which Swami Vivekananda received built on the active interest of intellectuals, in particular the New England Transcendentalists, among them Ralph Waldo Emerson (18031882), who drew on German Romanticism and the interest of philosophers and scholars like G. W. F. Hegel (17701831), the brothers August Wilhelm Schlegel (17671845) and Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel (17721829), Max Mueller (18231900), Arthur Schopenhauer (17881860), and others who had (to varying degrees) interests in things Indian.[219][220]
Australia's Bette Calman is the oldest female yoga teacher at 83 years old. She teaches at the Indian mental and physical discipline of yoga.[221]
Theosophists also had a large influence on the American public's view of Yoga.[222] Esoteric views current at the end of the 19th century provided a further basis for the reception of Vedanta and of Yoga with its theory and practice of correspondence between the spiritual and the physical.[223] The reception of Yoga and of Vedanta thus entwined with each other and with the (mostly Neoplatonism-based) currents of religious and philosophical reform and transformation throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. M. Eliade, himself rooted in the Romanian currents of these traditions,[citation needed] brought a new element into the reception of Yoga with the strong emphasis on Tantric Yoga in his seminal book: Yoga: Immortality and Freedom.[note 22] With the introduction of the Tantra traditions and philosophy of Yoga, the conception of the "transcendent" to be attained by Yogic practice shifted from experiencing the "transcendent" ("Atman-Brahman" in Advaitic theory) in the mind to the body itself.[224]
The American born yogi by the name of Pierre Arnold Bernard, after his travels through the lands of Kashmir and Bengal, founded the Tantrik Order of America in 1905. His teachings gave many westerners their first glimpse into the practices of yoga and tantra.[225]
The modern scientific study of yoga began with the works of N. C. Paul and Major D. Basu in the late 19th century, and then continued in the 20th century with Sri Yogendra (18971989) and Swami Kuvalayananda.[226] Western medical researchers came to Swami Kuvalayananda's Kaivalyadhama Health and Yoga Research Center, starting in 1928, to study Yoga as a science.[227]
Outside of Buddhist, Hindu and Jain traditions in Asia, the term "yoga" has been usually synonymous with its asanas (postures) or as a form of exercise.[228] This aspect of Yoga was adopted as a cultural trend in Europe and North America starting in the first half of the 20th century. There were periods of criticism and paranoia against yoga as well.[222] By the 1960s, western interest in Hindu spirituality reached its peak, giving rise to a great number of Neo-Hindu schools specifically advocated to a western public. During this period, most of the influential Indian teachers of yoga came from two lineages, those of Sivananda Saraswati (18871963) and of Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (18881989).[229] Teachers of Hatha yoga who were active in the west in this period included B.K.S. Iyengar (19182014), K. Pattabhi Jois (19152009), Swami Vishnu-devananda (19271993), and Swami Satchidananda (19142002).[230][231][232]Yogi Bhajan brought Kundalini Yoga to the United States in 1969.[233] Comprehensive, classical teachings of Ashtanga Yoga, Samkhya, the subtle body theory, Fitness Asanas, and tantric elements were included in the yoga teachers training by Baba Hari Dass (1923), in the United States and Canada.[234]
A second "yoga boom" followed in the 1980s, as Dean Ornish, a follower of Swami Satchidananda, connected yoga to heart health, legitimizing yoga as a purely physical system of health exercises outside of counter-culture or esotericism circles, and unconnected to any religious denomination.[218] Numerous asanas seemed modern in origin, and strongly overlapped with 19th and early-20th century Western exercise traditions.[235]
Since 2001, the popularity of yoga in the USA has expanded. The number of people who practiced some form of yoga has grown from 4 million (in 2001) to 20 million (in 2011). It has drawn support from world leaders such as Barack Obama who stated, "Yoga has become a universal language of spiritual exercise in the United States, crossing many lines of religion and cultures,... Every day, millions of people practice yoga to improve their health and overall well-being. That's why we're encouraging everyone to take part in PALA (Presidential Active Lifestyle Award), so show your support for yoga and answer the challenge".[236]
The American College of Sports Medicine supports the integration of yoga into the exercise regimens of healthy individuals as long as properly-trained professionals deliver instruction. The College cites yoga's promotion of "profound mental, physical and spiritual awareness" and its benefits as a form of stretching, and as an enhancer of breath control and of core strength.[237]
Yoga has been studied and is increasingly recommended to promote relaxation, reduce stress and some medical conditions such as premenstrual syndrome in Europe as well as in the United States.[238] According to Dupler and Frey, Yoga is a low-impact activity that can provide the same benefits as "any well-designed exercise program, increasing general health and stamina, reducing stress, and improving those conditions brought about by sedentary lifestyles". It is particularly suited, add Dupler and Frey, as a physical therapy routine, and as a regimen to strengthen and balance all parts of the body.[238] Yoga has also been used as a complete exercise program and physical therapy routine.[238]
In 2015 the Australian Government's Department of Health published the results of a review of alternative therapies that sought to determine if any were suitable for being covered by health insurance; Yoga was one of 17 practices evaluated for which no clear evidence of effectiveness was found, with the caveat that "Reviewers were limited in drawing definite conclusions, not only due to a lack of studies for some clinical conditions, but also due to the lack of information reported in the reviews and potentially in the primary studies."[239]
While the practice of yoga continues to rise in contemporary American culture, sufficient and adequate knowledge of the practice's origins does not. According to Andrea R. Jain, Yoga is being marketed as a supplement to a cardio routine with health benefits, but in Hinduism it is more than exercise and incorporates meditation with spiritual benefits.[240]
While much of the medical community regards the results of yoga research as significant, others point to many flaws which undermine results. Much of the research on yoga has taken the form of preliminary studies or clinical trials of low methodological quality, including small sample sizes, inadequate blinding, lack of randomization, and high risk of bias.[241][242][243] A 2013 systematic review found strong evidence that yoga was effective for low back pain in the short-term, and moderate evidence that it was effective in the long-term.[244]
There has been an emergence of studies investigating yoga as a complementary intervention for cancer patients. Yoga is used for treatment of cancer patients to decrease depression, insomnia, pain, and fatigue and to increase anxiety control.[245]Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programs include yoga as a mind-body technique to reduce stress. A study found that after seven weeks the group treated with yoga reported significantly less mood disturbance and reduced stress compared to the control group. Another study found that MBSR had showed positive effects on sleep anxiety, quality of life, and spiritual growth in cancer patients.[246]
Continue reading here:
Yoga - Wikipedia
Hatha yoga – Wikipedia
Posted: at 11:47 pm
Hatha yoga is a branch of yoga that emphasizes physical exercises to master the body along with mind exercises to withdraw it from external objects. The word haha means "force" in Sanskrit, and may have this association because the early Indians believed that its practice was challenging and "forced its results to happen" on the yogi. The term "Hatha yoga" connotes a system of supplementary physical techniques within the broader concept of Yoga.[3]:770,[4]:527
The Hatha yoga origins have been credited by some scholars to the Nath yogi tradition of Shaivism, particularly to Gorakhnath.[5] However, according to James Mallinson, Hatha yoga has more ancient roots and the oldest known twenty texts on Hatha yoga suggest this attribution to the Naths is incorrect. Hatha yoga was a broad movement that developed over a range of sectarian yoga traditions in India, one that was available to all and in some formulations and could be practiced by the householders (grihastha).[5][6] Important innovations in Hatha yoga, for example, are associated with the Dashanami Sampradaya and the mystical figure of Dattatreya.[7][8]
The Hatha yoga practice emphasizes proper diet, processes to internally purify the body, proper breathing and its regulation particularly during the yoga practice, and the exercise routine consisting of asanas (bodily postures). The methodology sometimes includes sequences such as the Surya Namaskara, or "salute to the sun", which consists of several asanas performed as a fluid movement sequence.
The aims of Hatha yoga have traditionally been the same as those of other varieties of yoga. They include physical siddhis (special powers or bodily benefits such as slowing age effects) and spiritual liberation (moksha, mukti). In the 20th century, techniques of Hatha yoga particularly the asanas (physical postures) became popular throughout the world as a form of physical exercise for relaxation, body flexibility, strength and personal concentration. It is now colloquially termed as simply "yoga". It has also developed into new movements and styles, such as the Iyengar Yoga, but these are not same as the traditional Hatha yoga.
According to Mallinson, an Oxford scholar known for his studies on Hatha yoga, its techniques can be traced back to the 1st millennium BCE texts such as the Sanskrit epics (Hinduism) and the Pali canon (Buddhism).[3]:770 However, the first explicit use of the phrase "Hatha yoga" appears for the first time in Sanskrit texts of about the 11th-century CE.
The Vedic era sage Kapila of Samkhya school fame is attributed in section 29 of the Dattatreya yogasasta text to have developed early Hatha yoga techniques. Kapila's methods, states this text, contrasted with the eight fold yoga methodology of another Vedic sage named Yajnavalkya.[10] Hathayoga, states Mallinson, overlapped with major traditions of Hinduism of the 1st millennium, and elements of Hatha yoga can be traced to the Vedic religion, Vaishnavism and Shaivism of that era.
Ancient Sanskrit texts do not use the phrase "Hatha yoga", but their verses describe physical exercises and postures (asanas) that appear in later Hatha yoga texts, though sometimes in a different poetic meter.[12] For example, the Agama texts of Vaishnavism called Pancaratrika teach non-seated asanas such as mayurasana in section 96 of Vimanarcanakalpa patala (9th-century), section 1.21-22 of Padma samhita yogapada and section 12.31-37 of Ahirbudhnya samhita.[12] According to Nicholas Tarling, the Pancaratrika doctrines crystallized by the first two centuries of the common era.[14] Gerald Larson and other scholars date the yoga-containing Vaishnava Pancaratra text Ahirbudhnya Samhita to somewhere between 300 and 800 CE.
In the earliest texts, Hatha Yoga is not opposed to Patanjali Yoga, nor is it ranked superior or inferior as it was presented in the 19th century.[3]:770-771 Rather it is supplementary, with a different aim. Hatha Yoga in these texts aim to conserve physical essence of life, which these texts call as bindu (semen) and far less discussed rajas (menstrual fluid). In contrast, later texts describe kundalini energy through a system of cakras. The texts state that being able to preserve and use this energy through Yoga is a means to achieve various siddhi (special powers).[3]:770-771
The Pali canon (Suttanipata) contains three passages in which Khecharividya, the practice of pressing the tongue against the palate, are mentioned. Two of these state that they help bring "mind under control", while the third passage states it suppresses thirst and hunger.[16] These Buddhist texts state that the Buddha tried the Khecharividya practice as well as a posture where pressure is put on the perineum with the heel, similar to even modern postures used to stimulate Kundalini. The canon also mentions the Hatha yoga-style practices of Ajivika ascetics an ancient Indian tradition that became extinct.[17]
Prior to the composition of the Hathapradpik (also called the Hatha Yoga Pradipika), all medieval Hatha Yoga literature is in Sanskrit.[note 1]
Some medieval Hatha yoga-related texts include:
The methods of the Amtasiddhi, Datttreyayogastra and Vivekamrtaa are used to conserve bindu, although the Vivekamrtaa also involves raising kundalini.[3]:771 The Goraksaataka and Khecarvidy involve raising kualin.[3]:771
The only other texts older than the Hathapradpik to teach Hatha Yoga mudrs are the Shiva Samhita, Yogabja, Amaraughaprabodha, and rgadharapaddhati.[3]:771-772
According to British indologist James Mallinson, some scholars have been falsely associating the origin of hatha yoga with the Nath yogis, in particular Matsyendranath and Gorakshanath.[35] In his view, the origins of hatha yoga should be associated with the Dashanami Sampradaya of Advaita Vedanta (Hinduism), the mystical figure of Dattatreya,[37] and the Rmnands.[38]
The Hathapradpik, also called Hatha Yoga Pradipika, is an important and one of the most influential texts of the Hatha yoga.[39] It was compiled by Svtmrma in the 15th century CE from earlier hatha yoga texts.[3]:772 These earlier texts were of Vedanta or non-dual Shaiva orientation.[40] From both, the Hathapradpik borrowed non-duality (advaita) philosophies. According to James Mallinson, this reliance on non-dualism helped Hatha Yoga thrive in the medieval period as non-dualism became the "dominant soteriological method in scholarly religious discourse in India".[40]
Hatha Yoga Pradipika lists 35 great yoga siddhas starting with Adi Natha (Hindu god Shiva) followed by Matsyendranath and Gorakshanath.[41] It includes information about shatkarma (six acts of self purification), 15 asana (postures: seated, laying down, and non-seated), pranayama (breathing) and kumbhaka (breath retention), mudras (internalized energetic practices), meditation, chakras (centers of energy), kundalini, nadanusandhana (concentration on inner sound), and other topics.
Hathapradipika is the best known and most widely used Hatha yoga text. It consists of 389 shlokas (verses) in four chapters:
The Hatha Yoga Pradipika and the Gheranda samhita are derived from older Sanskrit texts. In Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Swatmarama introduces his system as preparatory stage for physical purification that the body practices for higher meditation or Yoga. It is based on asanas (postures) and pranayama (breathing techniques).[citation needed]
Post-Hathapradipika texts on Hatha yoga include:[3]:773-774
Historically, Hatha yoga has been a broad movement across the Indian traditions, openly available to anyone.[6]
Hatha Yoga, like other methods of yoga, can be practiced by all, regardless of sex, caste, class, or creed. Many texts explicitly state that it is practice alone that leads to success. Sectarian affiliation and philosophical inclination are of no importance. The texts of Hatha Yoga, with some exceptions, do not include teachings on metaphysics or sect-specific practices.
According to Mallinson, the Hatha yoga represented a trend towards democratisation of yoga insights and religion similar to the Bhakti movement. It eliminated the need for "either ascetic renunciation or priestly intermediaries, ritual paraphernalia and sectarian initiations".[6] This led to its broad historic popularity in India. Later in the 20th-century, states Mallinson, this disconnect of Hatha yoga from religious aspects and the democratic access of Hatha yoga enabled it to spread worldwide.
Between the 17th and 19th-century, however, the various urban Hindu and Muslim elites and ruling classes viewed Yogis with derision. They were persecuted in the Mughal era, with Aurangzeb beheading their leaders. Hatha yoga remained popular in rural India. They were viewed as champions of the persecuted, their Hatha yoga practice becoming an alibi for training in militant resistance groups that were armed, violent "akharas" targeting the ruling officials.[54] Negative impression for the Hatha yogis continued during the British colonial rule era. According to Mark Singleton, this historical negativity and colonial antipathy likely motivated Swami Vivekananda to make an emphatic distinction between "merely physical exercises of Hatha yoga" and the "higher spiritual path of Raja yoga". This common disdain by the officials and intellectuals slowed the study and adoption of Hatha yoga.[note 4]
Modern hatha yoga, of the type seen in the West, has been greatly influenced by the school of Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, who taught from 1924 until his death in 1989. Among his students prominent in popularizing yoga in the West were K. Pattabhi Jois famous for popularizing the vigorous Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga style, B. K. S. Iyengar who emphasized alignment and the use of props, Indra Devi and Krishnamacharya's son T. K. V. Desikachar.
Another better known school of Hatha yoga in the 20th-century has been the Divine Life Society founded by Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh (18871963) and his many disciples including, among others, Swami Vishnu-devananda founder of International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres; Swami Satyananda of the Bihar School of Yoga; and Swami Satchidananda of Integral Yoga. After about 1975, yoga techniques have become increasingly popular globally, in both developed and developing countries.[60]
The Bihar School of Yoga has been one of the largest Hatha yoga teacher training center in India, but is little known in Europe and the Americas. In the West, Krishnamarcharya-linked schools have been historically more well known. Examples of other branded forms of yoga, with some controversies, that contain Hatha yoga methodologies include Anusara Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, Bikram Yoga, Integral Yoga, Iyengar Yoga, Jivanmukti Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Kripalu Yoga, Kriya Yoga, Siddha Yoga, Viniyoga, Vinyasa Yoga and White Lotus Yoga.
Hatha yoga practice has many elements, both behavioral and of practice. The Hatha yoga texts state that a successful yogi has certain characteristics. Section 1.16 of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, for example, states these characteristics to be utsaha (enthusiasm, fortitude), sahasa (courage, optimistic attitude), dhairya (patience, persistence), jnana tattva (essence for knowledge), nishcaya (resolve, determination) and tyaga (solitude, renunciation).[41]
In the Western culture, Hatha yoga is typically understood as asanas and it can be practiced as such. In the Indian and Tibetan traditions, Hatha yoga is much more. It extends well beyond being a sophisticated physical exercise system, and integrates ideas of ethics, diet, cleansing, pranayama (breathing exercises), meditation and a system for spiritual development of the yogi.[65]
The Hatha yoga texts place major emphasis on mitahara, which connotes "measured diet" or "moderate eating". For example, sections 1.58 to 1.63 and 2.14 of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika and sections 5.16 to 5.32 of Gheranda samhita discuss the importance of proper diet to the body. They link the food one eats and one's eating habits to balancing the body and to gaining most benefits from the practice of Hatha Yoga. Eating, states Gheranda samhita, is a form of a devotional act to the temple of body, as if one is expressing affection for the gods. Similarly, sections 3.20 and 5.25 of the Shiva Samhita text on Hatha Yoga includes mitahara as an essential part of a Hatha yoga holistic practice.
- | ||
Verses 1.57 through 1.63 of the critical edition of Hathayoga Pradipika suggests that taste cravings should not drive ones eating habits, rather the best diet is one that is tasty, nutritious and likable as well as sufficient to meet the needs of ones body and for ones inner self.[70] It recommends that one must eat only when one feels hungry and neither overeat nor eat to completely fill the capacity of ones stomach; rather leave a quarter portion empty and fill three quarters with quality food and fresh water.[70]
According to another Hatha Yoga classic Gorakshasataka, eating a controlled diet is one of the three important parts of a complete and successful practice. The text does not provide details or recipes. The text states, according to Mallinson, "food should be unctuous and sweet", one must not overeat and stop when still a bit hungry (leave quarter of the stomach empty), and whatever one eats should aim to please the Shiva.
Hatha yoga teaches various steps of inner body cleansing with consultations of one's yoga teacher. Its texts vary in specifics and number of cleansing methods, ranging from simple hygiene practices to the peculiar exercises such as reversing seminal fluid flow. The most common list is called shat-karmani, or six cleansing actions: dhauti (cleanse teeth and body), vasti (cleanse bladder), neti (cleanse nasal passages), trataka (cleanse eyes), nauli (abdominal massage) and kapala-bhati (cleanse phelgm). The actual procedure for cleansing varies by the Hatha yoga text, with some suggesting water wash and others describing the use of cleansing aids such as cloth.
Pryma is made out of two Sanskrit words pra (, breath, vital energy, life force)[75] and yma (, restraining, extending, stretching).[77]
Some Hatha yoga texts teach breath exercises but do not refer to it as Pranayama. For example, Gheranda samhita in section 3.55 calls it Ghatavastha (state of being the pot). In others, the term Kumbhaka or Prana-samrodha replaces Pranayama. Regardless of the nomenclature, proper breathing and the use of breathing techniques during a posture is a mainstay of Hatha yoga. Its texts state that proper breathing exercises cleanses and balances the body.
Pranayama is one of the core practices of Hatha yoga, found in its major texts as one of the limbs regardless of whether the total number of limbs taught are four or more. It is the practice of consciously regulating breath (inhalation and exhalation), a concept shared with all schools of yoga.[85] This is done in several ways, inhaling and then suspending exhalation for a period, exhaling and then suspending inhalation for a period, slowing the inhalation and exhalation, consciously changing the time/length of breath (deep, short breathing), combining these with certain focussed muscle exercises.Pranayama or proper breathing is an integral part of asanas. According to section 1.38 of Hatha yoga pradipka, the siddhasana is the most suitable and easiest posture to learn breathing exercises.
The different Hatha yoga texts discuss pranayama in various ways. For example, Hatha yoga pradipka in section 2.71 explains it as a threefold practice: recaka (exhalation), puraka (inhalation) and kumbhaka (retention). During the exhalation and inhalation, the text states that three things move: air, prana and yogi's thoughts, and all three are intimately connected. It is kumbhaka where stillness and dissolution emerges. The text divides kumbhaka into two kinds: sahita (supported) and kevala (complete). Sahita kumbhaka is further sub-divided into two types: retention with inhalation, retention with exhalation. Each of these breath units are then combined in different permutations, time lengths, posture and targeted muscle exercises in the belief that these aerate and assist blood flow to targeted regions of the body.
Before starting yoga practice, state the Hatha yoga texts, the yogi must establish a suitable place for the yoga practice. This place is away from all distractions, preferably a mathika (hermitage) that is distant from falling rocks, fire and a damp shifting surface.
Once a peaceful stable location has been set, the yogi begins the posture exercises called asanas. These Hatha yoga postures come in numerous forms. For a beginner yogi, states Mircea Eliade, these asanas are uncomfortable, typically difficult, cause the body shakes and typically unbearable to hold for extended periods of time. However, with repetition and persistence, as the muscle tone improves, the effort reduces and posture improves. According to the Hatha yoga texts, each posture becomes perfect when the "effort disappears", one no longer thinks about the posture and one's body position, breathes normally per pranayama, and is able to dwell in one's meditation (anantasamapattibhyam).
The asanas discussed in different Hatha yoga texts vary significantly. Unlike ancient yoga texts of Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism, it is the Hatha yoga texts that provide step by step methodology on how to enter into an asana. The Hindu text Gheranda samhita, for example, in section 2.8 describes the padmasana for meditation. Most asanas are inspired by nature, such as a form of union with symmetric, harmonious flowing shapes of animals, birds or plants.
Early hatha yoga aimed at preserving and raising vital energies, which was stated to be the bindu (semen) and the less discussed rajas (menstrual fluid).[100] In the early formulation of their methods, Hatha yogis aimed to use move this "physical essence of life" along their spine through breathing exercises. Alternatively, they would stand on their head to reverse the dripping down of their vital energies (vipartakaran).
In later formulations, they developed the concept of kundalini (sleeping serpent goddess) and a system of chakras within the body, and the exercises were a means to awaken the sleeping kundalini and rejuvenate the body. The idea of vital energy or principle was linked to jiva (prana, life force), and the aim was to move this "vital energy" with mudras, access amta the stated nectar of immortality situated in the head and flooding it into the body.[102] The later formulations of Hatha yoga thus differed from the early hatha yoga aims of preserving bindu.
Accessing and moving the stated vital life essence has been a part of the Hatha Yoga literature. The two techniques they taught, one being mechanical asana and the other through pranayama, were linked to yogic mudra (literally, "seal"). These mudras in Buddhist and Hindu Hatha yoga literature are described as means to "access and manipulate the dormant vital energies within the body".[103] Eleven mudras are commonly described in Hatha Yogas classical synthesis, though only eight are found in the Hatha yoga pradipika. These are mahamudra, mahavedha, mahabandha, khecarimudra, jalandharabandha, uddiyanabandha, mulabandha, viparitakarani, vajroli, sakticalani and yonimudra. The last two in particular, sakticalani and yonimudra, are stated to awaken the kundalini. However, this awakening is the aim of all mudras according to the Hatha yoga pradipika.
The Hatha yoga pradipika text dedicates almost a third of its verses to meditation. Similarly, other major texts of Hatha yoga such as Shiva samhita and Gheranda samhita discuss meditation. In all three texts, meditation is the ultimate goal of all the preparatory cleansing, asanas, pranayama and other steps. The aim of this meditation is to realize Nada-Brahman, or the complete absorption and union with the Brahman through inner mystic sound. According to Guy Beck a professor of Religious Studies known for his studies on Yoga and music, a Hatha yogi in this stage of practice seeks "inner union of physical opposites", into an inner state of samadhi that is described by Hatha yoga texts in terms of divine sounds, and as a union with Nada-Brahman in musical literature of ancient India.
The aims of Hatha yoga in various Indian traditions have been the same as those of other varieties of yoga. These include physical siddhis (special powers, bodily benefits such as slowing age effects, magical powers) and spiritual liberation (moksha, mukti). According to Mikel Burley, some of the siddhis are symbolic references to the cherished soteriological goals of Indian religions. For example, the Vayu Siddhi or "conquest of the air" literally implies rising into the air as in levitation, but it likely has symbolic meaning of "a state of consciousness into a vast ocean of space" or "voidness" ideas found respectively in Hinduism and Buddhism.
Some traditions such as the Kaula tantric sect of Hinduism and Sahajiya tantric sect of Buddhism pursued more esoteric goals such as alchemy (Nagarjuna, Carpita), magic, kalavancana (cheating death) and parakayapravesa (entering another's body).[107] James Mallinson, however, disagrees and suggests that such fringe practices are far removed from the mainstream Yoga's goal as meditation-driven means to liberation in Indian religions.[109] The majority of historic Hatha yoga texts do not give any importance to siddhis. The mainstream practice considered the pursuit of magical powers as a distraction or hindrance to Hatha yoga's ultimate aim of spiritual liberation, self knowledge or release from rebirth that the Indian traditions call mukti or moksha.
The goals of Hatha yoga, in its earliest texts, were linked to mumukshu (seeker of liberation, moksha). The later texts added and experimented with the goals of bubhukshu (seeker of enjoyment, bhoga).
Hatha yoga is a branch of yoga. It shares numerous ideas and doctrines with other forms of yoga, such as the more ancient Yoga system taught by Patanjali. The differences are in the addition of some limbs, and different emphasis on other limbs. For example, pranayama is crucial in all yogas, but it is the main stay of Hatha yoga. Mudras and certain kundalini-related ideas are included in Hatha yoga, but not mentioned in the Yoga sutras of Patanjali. Patanjali yoga considers asanas important but dwells less on various asanas, unlike Hatha yoga texts. In contrast, the Hatha yoga texts consider meditation as important but dwell less on meditation methodology, unlike the Patanjali yoga.
The Hatha yoga texts acknowledge and refer to Patanjali yoga, attesting to the latter's antiquity. However, this acknowledgement is in the passing, and the Hatha Yoga texts offer no serious commentary or exposition of the Patanjali's system. This suggests that Hatha yoga likely developed as a satellite branch of the more ancient yoga. According to P.V. Kane, Patanjali yoga concentrates more on the yoga of the mind, while Hatha yoga focuses on body and health. Some Hindu texts do not recognize this distinction. For example, the Yogatattva Upanishad teaches a system that includes all limbs of the Yogasutras of Patanjali, and all additional elements of Hatha yoga practice.
The impact of Hatha yoga on physical and mental health has been a topic of systematic studies. Some scholars state that a regular and proper yoga practice yields health benefits.[119][120] Others state that the results of these studies have been mixed and inconclusive, with cancer studies suggesting none to unclear effectiveness, and others suggesting yoga may reduce risk factors and aid in a patient's psychological healing process.[121][122]
Yoga's combined focus on mindfulness, breathing and physical movements brings health benefits with regular participation. Yoga participants report better sleep, increased energy levels and muscle tone, relief from muscle pain and stiffness, improved circulation and overall better general health. The breathing aspect of yoga can benefit heart rate and blood pressure.[123]
The 2012 "Yoga in America" survey, conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Yoga Journal, shows that the number of adult practitioners in the US is 20.4 million, or 8.7 percent. The survey reported that 44 percent of those not practicing yoga said they are interested in trying it.[124]
See more here:
Hatha yoga - Wikipedia
How to Do Yoga for Absolute Beginners
Posted: at 11:47 pm
Reader Approved
Yoga is a physical and mental practise that originated from Hinduism in ancient India. Get the benefits of yoga; Relax in a few minutes with an easy yoga series. Learn yoga from a video with beautiful music. The first ten minutes we learn some basic yoga exercises and the last minutes we meditate with some mantras and the muscle relaxation. If you have little time, make only the yoga exercises or the meditation. Do yoga at least twice a week so that you stay healthy, fit and happy.
1
/e/e7/Do Yoga for Absolute Beginners Step 1 Version 3.360p.mp4
2
/9/99/Do Yoga for Absolute Beginners Step 2 Version 3.360p.mp4
3
/6/60/Do Yoga for Absolute Beginners Step 3 Version 3.360p.mp4
4
/0/0b/Do Yoga for Absolute Beginners Step 4.360p.mp4
5
/1/1a/Do Yoga for Absolute Beginners Step 4 Version 3.360p.mp4
6
/4/44/Do Yoga for Absolute Beginners Step 5 Version 3.360p.mp4
7
/5/59/Do Yoga for Absolute Beginners Step 6 Version 3.360p.mp4
8
/c/cf/Do Yoga for Absolute Beginners Step 7 Version 3.360p.mp4
9
/e/e4/Do Yoga for Absolute Beginners Step 8 Version 3.360p.mp4
10
/e/eb/Do Yoga for Absolute Beginners Step 9 Version 3.360p.mp4
How can I do yoga when my body is not flexible?
wikiHow Contributor
Be patient, and respect your body's limits. If you approach yoga too aggressively, you won't see much improvement, and might hurt yourself. A skilled yoga teacher can help you adjust each pose to work within your limits, and gradually expand them. Many poses have several variations, and the goal is to pick the variation where you can stay relaxed with good form but still be challenged. Don't be afraid to pick an "easier" variation, but perform it well, instead of straining through something too advanced. Learn how to use props (blocks, bolsters and straps) to support your body.
Is it bad for me to criss cross my legs?
wikiHow Contributor
No, only if you feel extreme pain or discomfort while doing it, then just criss-cross them as comfortably as possible.
What if I can't put my head to my feet?
wikiHow Contributor
It's okay if you can't put your head to your feet, everyone's body is different. Go as far as you comfortably can, the idea is to get a good stretch. You may find you become more flexible over time.
Please tell me that how many days and how much time is required for each step?
Do yoga every day for a quarter of an hour.
Whats are the benefits of yoga exercise?
wikiHow Contributor
It helps to relax your body and remove stress. If you do yoga regularly, you will feel calmer and less angry or stressed.
Will yoga help strengthen my body?
wikiHow Contributor
Yes, yoga will strengthen your muscles and increase your flexibility.
How do I relax before a musical recital?
wikiHow Contributor
Go to your happy place, a place that calms you down and relaxes you and when you get on stage and you are feeling, then nervous go back to that place.
How many calories does yoga burn?
wikiHow Contributor
The number of calories you'll expend doing yoga is based on your body weight and workout duration. If you weigh 125 pounds, you'll burn about 120 calories, and if you weigh 185 pounds you'll expend 178 calories in 30 minutes doing yoga, according to Harvard Health Publications.
My mind is always running and I can't relax. Any tips for relaxing?
wikiHow Contributor
Try chakra meditation, as well as meditation. Healing your chakras will especially help.
How old should I be to do yoga?
wikiHow Contributor
Yoga can be done in any age, however, if you have medical issues whatever be the age, it is safe to ask your doctor first.
Ask a Question
If this question (or a similar one) is answered twice in this section, please click here to let us know.
Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 1,097,324 times.
YesNo
Read more from the original source:
How to Do Yoga for Absolute Beginners
Study And Download Yoga Online | Yoga International
Posted: at 11:46 pm
Empower your practice and your life with online yoga resources, articles and videos from Yoga International. Our community is a holistic home for those who are seeking to deepen their yoga knowledge. We offer engaging and inspiring content designed to bring a beautiful balance to your life. Nurture body, mind and spirit with Yoga International.
Let our outstanding online yoga classes, columns, and tutorials support your practice. Enjoy classes of various lengths and styles at anytime, from anywhere, to accommodate your schedule. Our valuable yoga resources for both students and teachers can help yogis of all levels honor their commitment to practice. Uniting breath and body on a daily basis has never been more accessible. In addition to video classes and digital workshops, we offer in-depth articles and tips on an array of topics, ranging from pose breakdowns to creative sequences. Discover authentic information, expert instruction, and our joyful yoga community today.
You can find daily inspiration or dive into workshops when you join the Yoga International community. We believe in yogas profound effects and whole-life benefits. Thats why we offer highly accessible information to support every member, from those who are new to yoga to those who are advancing their practice. Join a yoga community that provides both restorative and powerful classes, valuable health tips, motivating workshops and more. Accessing yoga online will connect you to standout teachers and unique perspectives. Stream a live event, benefit from a soothing sequence, or participate in a fun challenge. Sign up for a free 30-day membership now, and well help you embark on or continue your personal yoga journey!
Here is the original post:
Study And Download Yoga Online | Yoga International
Functional Yoga for Your Fitness – Man Flow Yoga – Yoga for …
Posted: at 11:46 pm
We believe that getting in great shape is easier than you think. It only takes a few minutes per day and the right exercises to keep you injury-free, mobile, and healthy.
Man Flow Yoga is yoga for men that focuses on the technique above all else. We want you to know exactly what you should be doing in each pose, instead of guessing whether or not youre right based on what other people are doing.
We focus on the physical aspects so you can get the maximum benefit out of each posture. At the same time, we also teach you exactly what each exercise is doing for your body, so you understand the benefit and the applicability to your everyday fitness.
Using our programs, you build the basics of your physical fitness; flexibility, core strength, balance, endurance, body awareness, and proper movement patterns which you can apply to any of your physical fitness pursuits, whether thats competing in a triathlon, being a weekend warrior, playing sports, or playing with your grandkids.
The rest is here:
Functional Yoga for Your Fitness - Man Flow Yoga - Yoga for ...
An Index of Yoga Poses and Sequences
Posted: at 11:46 pm
Updated September 07, 2016
Yoga poses (also called asanas) are at the heart of the physical practice of yoga. Although there are many different types of yoga, the same group of poses ties almost all of them together. However, the yoga pose canon is always expanding. There are only a handful of poses that come from the earliest surviving yoga sources, and they are largely seated poses for meditation. In fact, the word asana means seat.
Yoga is constantly evolvingand has picked up a lot of poses along the way,particularly in the past century. Although each yoga pose has aspecific focus, it's really the consistent practice of a wide variety of posturesthatbuilds a well-rounded practice, which in turn offers the greatest physical and mental benefits.
The postures can be categorized in different ways:by type of pose, by level of difficulty,or by anatomical focus.
The major types of poses are as follows, and there isof coursea lot of overlap among them. For example, a pose like king dancer (natarajasana) is a standing, balancing backbend. In general, the more elements that are combined in a single pose, the more difficult it becomes.
Although classifying poses by level of difficulty makes yoga seem goal-oriented, quite the opposite is true. As you build your practice, more poses become accessible. It's fun to try challenging poses, but don't get attached to the results. Instead, try to tune into your body every time you get on the mat. Every day is different, so let go of expectations and really experience each posture.
Anatomical focus means the area of the body that is targeted the most by a pose. This is a good way to find poses if you know you are looking for hip openers or hamstring stretches, for example. However, as noted above, most poses have several areas of anatomical focus. Even if you have aspecific body part in mind, you'll work other regions of your body as well, resulting in greaterstrength and flexibility overall.
Take a peek into a yoga class at your gym or local yoga studio and you will see students moving through poses as if choreographed. The teacher calls the name of the posture and the students assume the position in unison. If you have never done yoga, this may seem mysterious. But once you get started, you'll soon learn how to join in. Some poses areso simple, you're probably already doing them without realizing it.Remember, however, that the ability to do a difficult pose doesn't make anyone better at yoga.The simplest poses have the same value as the most complex.
View original post here:
An Index of Yoga Poses and Sequences
Retreats take yoga practitioners to India – Centre Daily Times
Posted: at 11:46 pm
Looking for a positive reason to get out of town this fall? Community members are invited to integrate a deeper sense of well-being into their lives with the Lila Yoga Retreat, taking place in Mamallapuram, India, and brought to you by the State College yoga staple on Beaver Avenue.
Lila Yoga founder Erica Kaufman is a lifelong yoga practitioner, but said something magical happened the first time she traveled to India.
Its an elated, expansive energy that both calms me into a natural ease and excites me to deepen my love and appreciation of life, she said. Now I spend three months a year teaching, practicing, supporting important initiatives and being nourished by taking the time to simply be in India. Because its so positive in my life, I am compelled to share it with others.
Kaufman describes the retreat as perfect for everyone who loves yoga. Nearly 100 State College residents have joined her on the annual trip in the past seven years. At first, it was open only to Lila Yoga teacher-trainees and practitioners, but now anyone interested in yoga, Lila Yoga or India itself is invited to sign up.
Its an experience of a lifetime and a chance to immerse yourself in authentic Indian experiences while having the comfort of the retreat, she said. Since Im familiar with the region, I curate a carefully designed schedule to provide time to learn, practice, cleanse, relax and explore.
The experience kicks off Sept. 27, with days filled with sightseeing, seminars, sacred ceremonies and workshops led by world-renowned teachers and spiritual leaders. The retreats setting is Mamallapuram, located on the eastern shore of the country and just south of Chennai. The village is situated on a narrow, beached strip of land, flanked by the Bay of Bengal and the Great Salt Lake. The interior is filled with ancient temples, shrines and monuments. In the midst of it all, participants call the Mamallapuram Tourism Resort home for the five-day World Yoga Conference and Festival, through Oct. 2.
Following the conference and festival, Kaufman leads her State College crew to Chennai, where guests relocate to the Hindu-style New Woodlands Hotel, and enjoy Lila Yoga Sun Salutations on the beach and classes in philosophy, meditation and yogic breathing at two of Indias premier centers for yoga, Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram and Krishnamacharya Healing and Yoga Foundation.
Kaufman assures, however, that the trip isnt all seminars and ceremonies.
Im also excited to visit the bazaar, get street henna for our hands (for those who want) and tour the Kapaleeshwar Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, she said.
After the jam-packed retreat, Kaufman says most attendees leave very stimulated and excited ... returning with a renewed application for the practice of yoga and life in general.
We have precious time to explore the divine play of energy by clarifying intentions within our yoga practice, within the retreat itself and within life hallmarks of Lila Yoga, Kaufman said. These practices, along with being in the amazing spiritual energy of India, combine to form a powerful opening of the heart, creativity and inspiration. Many seem to return with a feeling of freedom to shine with joy and love.
For more information on the Lila Yoga Retreat, visit lilayogastudios.com/event/yogaworldfestival. You can also text, call or email Kaufman for more details, at 720-840-4144 or admin@lilayoga.com.
See more here:
Retreats take yoga practitioners to India - Centre Daily Times
Goat yoga classes are perfect for Instagram photo-ops – Houston Chronicle
Posted: at 11:46 pm
Goat yoga classes are perfect for Instagram photo-ops Fun fitness class is like an adult petting zoo
By Maggie Gordon
Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Staff
Michaela Serpas of League City isn't so sure the goat will stay on her stomach as she is in a reverse table.
Michaela Serpas of League City isn't so sure the goat will stay on her stomach as she is in a reverse table.
A kid gets up close to Goat Yoga Houston founder Rachel Henson as she does a downward dog pose during a class at Butler's Courtyard in League City.
A kid gets up close to Goat Yoga Houston founder Rachel Henson as she does a downward dog pose during a class at Butler's Courtyard in League City.
A Goat Yoga Houston class at Butler's Courtyard League City on Friday, Aug. 4, 2017, in League City. ( Elizabeth Conley / Houston Chronicle )
A Goat Yoga Houston class at Butler's Courtyard League City on Friday, Aug. 4, 2017, in League City. ( Elizabeth Conley / Houston Chronicle )
A goat walks on the back of students during a Goat Yoga Houston event at Butler's Courtyard League City on Friday, Aug. 4, 2017, in League City. ( Elizabeth Conley / Houston Chronicle )
A goat walks on the back of students during a Goat Yoga Houston event at Butler's Courtyard League City on Friday, Aug. 4, 2017, in League City. ( Elizabeth Conley / Houston Chronicle )
A goat walks on the back of students during a Goat Yoga Houston event at Butler's Courtyard League City on Friday, Aug. 4, 2017, in League City. ( Elizabeth Conley / Houston Chronicle )
A goat walks on the back of students during a Goat Yoga Houston event at Butler's Courtyard League City on Friday, Aug. 4, 2017, in League City. ( Elizabeth Conley / Houston Chronicle )
A kid crashes out in the arms on an assistant during Goat Yoga Houston class at Butler's Courtyard League City on Friday, Aug. 4, 2017, in League City. ( Elizabeth Conley / Houston Chronicle )
A kid crashes out in the arms on an assistant during Goat Yoga Houston class at Butler's Courtyard League City on Friday, Aug. 4, 2017, in League City. ( Elizabeth Conley / Houston Chronicle )
Houston Goat Yoga event at Butler's Courtyard League City on Friday, Aug. 4, 2017, in League City. ( Elizabeth Conley / Houston Chronicle )
Houston Goat Yoga event at Butler's Courtyard League City on Friday, Aug. 4, 2017, in League City. ( Elizabeth Conley / Houston Chronicle )
Laurel Bobak, left, and Jessica Shofner use goats as weights as they do squats during a Goat Yoga Houston class in League City.
Laurel Bobak, left, and Jessica Shofner use goats as weights as they do squats during a Goat Yoga Houston class in League City.
Goat yoga classes are perfect for Instagram photo-ops
Amber Murphy gets a lot of calls at Butler's Courtyard, a special-events venue she owns in League City. Brides-to-be and corporations are always looking for a beautiful spot to book. And by this summer, she thought she'd heard it all.
Then one day, Jessica Shofner, the wedding and event coordinator took a strange call: Someone was asking if they could host goat yoga on the grounds.
Murphy had questions.
"I was like, I'm not sure. Does she bring the goats? Do they live here? Where do they go to the bathroom?"
The answers, she's since learned, are: yes; no; and mostly at home, but sometimes on a mat.
Goat yoga is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: A class of 30 yogis gather on the lawn at Butler's Courtyard, joined by 20 goats, who frolic around during a beginner-level class. It's 60 minutes of yoga followed by 30 minutes of photo-ops.
"I saw the idea originally on TV," says Rachel Henson, owner of Goat Yoga Houston, which she launched at Butler's Courtyard in July. "I'm not pretending I came up with the idea or anything like that."
Goat YogaHouston
Classes: $35, and are held on Saturday and Sundays. Find availability at goatyogahouston.com.
Locations: Butler's Courtyard, 112 Michigan, League City; Chantilly Country, 11780 Calfee, Conroe
But while goats are trendy as heck this year, Henson thinks she was ahead of the curve on that. As a member of Rodeo Houston's lamb and goat auction committee for the past eight years, she's always had a soft spot for the animals.
"I got my yoga certification, and I called my brother, who has goats and was like, 'Haul 'em on down here,'" she said. "He was like, 'Worst idea ever.'"
Except it wasn't.
Goat yoga is peak 2017. And it's less about fitness than it is about your Facebook feed.
After opening at the end of July, Henson's classes sold out in a flash, thanks to Facebook shares and viral attention.
To read this article in one of Houston's most-spoken languages, click on the button below.
"We have enough inquiries and people sending their credit card numbers - which I don't take like that - that we could be sold out until December," she said. "That's why we have to do reservations. I know people ask why we don't do credit cards on site, but think about if someone drove an hour-and-a-half to get here, and the class sold out. Like, how terrible would that be?"
It'd be pretty ba-a-a-ad.
"What I like to tell everybody is this is not your normal yoga class," Henson said last Friday as she began her class, with her two four-week-old kids, Conway Twitty and George Strait milling around near the front of her mat. The goats live with Henson, following her around like puppies. At night, they sleep in her (air-conditioned) garage.
"I encourage you to laugh and smile," she said during the class. "The main thing is just to have a good time. In savasana, we normally laugh. I encourage that. I know it's supposed to be your peaceful moment. But if you have something like this sucking on your toe, and you're not laughing, that kind of defeats the purpose of this."
Throughout the 60-minute session, the goats meander and bleat, sniffing Starbucks cups in search of a treat and rubbing their horns against yoga bags. They kiss yogis. One pees on a mat.
About halfway through, the goats are invited to participate. Class members can practice lunges with a kid slung over their shoulders; after class they can invite a goat to hop on their backs during downward-facing dog for an adjustment.
"When the goat was on our back, it actually felt like a little back massage," Murphy said at the end of class. "I wasn't sure about it at first, but it felt really good."
And it looked even better on Instagram.
See the article here:
Goat yoga classes are perfect for Instagram photo-ops - Houston Chronicle