What Is Core Power Yoga?

Core power yoga is a vigorous yoga exercise that physically and mentally challenges you to connect to an inner power. It heals, detoxifies and stimulates the body and mind through balance and intention. This special form of yoga has created an energetic, challenging program that combines strength, sweat and spirituality. It recognizes power in different levels; firstly is the physical power which...

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Jnana Yoga - Yoga For The Intelligent

Sharon Hopkins

Jnana means the knowledge. This yoga is the yoga for the intelligent and selected people. This yoga is the ultimate goal of all the other varieties of yoga. This yoga teaches you to look at the world as it is without any ignorance and bias. You can achieve this state by practicing rigorous mental discipline and virtue. This yoga is also called Raja Yoga or the king of all the yogas, since it is of the highest variety and rules over all the other varieties. This is the Yoga that Patanjali has described in his Yoga Sutras.

This yoga is made up of eight parts of which five are external and the other three are internal. Two of its parts, viz yama and niyama deal with types of behaviour that the student of yoga should avoid like lying, cheating, stealing etc. and those behaviours that he should cultivate like cleanliness, non-collection etc. Asanas and Pranayama are the next two parts of this yoga. Asanas are the physical movements that help in developing the suppleness of the body and thus cure any diseases. You can control your breath by using pranayama which increases the capacity of the lungs to take in air and thus increases the vitality of the body. The next part Pratyahara denotes the withdrawal of the sense organs from objects of enjoyment. The remaining three parts deal with intense mental concentration.

Patanjali maintained that practicing these eight parts of yoga faithfully and intensely will, over a period of time, erase all the impurities of the body and mind and thus attain knowledge that will liberate the person from bondage and ignorance. This yoga is called Ashtanga Yoga since it is made of eight parts. It is also called as Dhyana yoga due to its stress on mental concentration. Hence, whenever there is any mention of yoga, it is usually implied that the person is talking about Jnana Yoga

About the author:
Sharon Hopkins is the webmaster for Yogawiz where you can find information on , yoga basics, different yoga asanas, poses, Jnana Yoga,Ashtanga yoga and much more . Jnana Yoga is the science of knowledge and helps one unite with the Supreme.


Benefits of Shavasana

For many it is considered to be one of the easiest asanas, but that is not the case. Even though it may look very simple and non-beneficial but it is the other way round. After doing all your yoga poses this is one of the most essential and important pose to complete your yoga practice with. It is the asana which gives the opportunity to relax. Shavasana means Corpse pose due to the look of the asana. As you lie down it makes you aware about your body and how each part of your body plays a very important role in your life. As you go along meditating it relaxes each nerve of your body and improves...

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Yoga History 101

When you practice yoga, it is, of course, not necessary to have a full understanding of yoga history in order to fully benefit from your practice. A brief understanding of the history behind yoga, however, may increase your spiritual practice and inspire you to find out more about the tradition behind the discipline. The first writings about yoga were written in Sanskrit in early religious manuscripts in India called the Vedas. The word yoga has many meanings. The root of the word is yug which means to hitch up', referring to fastening horse bridles to a carriage. But yoga also means to actively...

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