Through the repetition of prayers or mantras, Raja Yoga guides the conscious mind which in turn positively effects the subconscious mind to promote emotional and energetic well-being.

If the mind becomes peaceful there will be peace within and the world which we live in, will become a better place. The aim in our lives should be; to create peace in the mind through the understanding of the self being a soul or a positive energy.

The soul is the energy that creates thoughts. With this awareness, the individual can aspire to sustain a flow of positive and peaceful thoughts.

If the mind becomes peaceful there will be peace within and the world which we live in, will become a better place. The aim in our lives should be; to create peace in the mind through the understanding of the self being a soul or a positive energy. The soul is the energy that creates thoughts. With this awareness, the individual can aspire to sustain a flow of positive and peaceful thoughts.
Meditate on your soul
I now withdraw my attention away from the world around me………
My eyes are open and rested………….
I focus my thoughts energy on myself ….
I the being of light………
Thoughts of the outside world gradually fade away as I feel a burden being lifted from my mind…….
I see my physical on the screen of my mind …
I realize that I am not my physical body, it is merely an instrument for the transport of my soul…..
I am an eternal point of life positive energy….
This point of energy is the life force of the body……
In this state of awareness I become pure energy and consciousness……..
Thoughts emerging on the screen of my mind are being viewed like watching a movie on a picture screen……
I allow the negative thoughts to pass without being distracted by them …….
For I am an eternal radiant light ..
Shinning like a star in the midnight sky……..
I concentrate my thoughts on this one aspect …That I am a concentrated spark of light ….
Radiating light and love to the world…….
As my thoughts concentrate I fill with power ….
I become light …..
floating……
I find deep peace within.
It is best to meditate on a daily basis.
Meditating every day will make the mind healthy, positive and prosperous.
  Raja Yoga Performance
Raja Yoga is among those yoga methods that require the guidance of a professional teacher, especially for beginners. This will prevent straining yourself given the intense meditational requirements of yoga performance. Moreover, when an individual lacks proper guidance, one could be easily confused with delusional hallucinations as opposed to attaining a higher level of consciousness.

Integral yoga is designed to integrate the whole being, relying upon raja yoga, bhakti yoga, jnana yoga and Hatha yoga.

Flow from asanas to meditation to mantra recitation. This flow itself is part of the relaxation experience gained from integral yoga practice. A hatha yoga asana is Downward Dog, which stretches the entire back of the body. Other openings are also created.

Integral yoga is done for the sake of the Divine primarily and ultimately. For the seeker of Integral Yoga, yoga is not the aim or goal of life it is the only way to live, the true way of life. Integral yoga is the only yoga to divinize matter. The spirit manifests a fuller existence for the world. Integral yoga is the art of harmonious and creative living on the basis of the integral experience of Being.

   It aims at opening the springs of creative inspiration hidden in the human psyche.

  Integral Yoga is one of the most experienced and respected schools for yoga teacher training in the world. Since then it has greatly expanded the teacher training programs to include more advanced, therapeutic, and trainings geared toward specific populations and needs. Integral yoga is very popular, and there is even an Integral Yoga Institute in New York, yet some people are unsure what to expect when attending an Integral yoga class.

This article will explain how Integral yoga is sequenced, so you will feel comfortable when you attend your first Integral yoga class. Integral yoga is a lot more complex than most other forms of yoga and it is not as straightforward as imply learning some yoga asanas or poses, practicing meditation, or joining a yoga studio for regular sessions. It involves every fiber of your being and pervades every area of your life, which is why most people do not have the time or patience for a discipline like integral yoga.

It all comes from Ashtanga but frequently a with different sequencing of poses than in the traditional Ashtanga series work.

Our Ashtanga 1-2-3 classes are quite Ashtanga influenced yet offer a changing mix
of poses both familiar and esoteric.

Other teachers may have a more limited syllabus and will draw some things from the Ashtanga system but also from other traditions.

Most teachers try to make the classes comfortable for fit beginners yet include enough advanced poses to give experienced students a challenge.

If you’re new, just set some limits in class and work on modified versions of the more esoteric poses.

It contains similar Asana to ashtanga yoga . The exercise program is not fixed and chosen by the teacher in class often contains exercises from the first and second series of ashtanga.  Usually a power yoga class begins with only 3 sun salutations, all program and the Vinyasas are done in slower tempo than in the ashtanga yoga  practice .

A program with more power and longer holding of the asana  up to 10 breaths. So a power yoga program includes round to the half Asana in a class than ashtanga yoga .

These limbs can only be corrected by the proper application of the Ashtanga Yoga method. This type of yoga method is quite dangerous to the mind.
K. Pattabhi Jois said that practicing these Eight Limbs and also its sub-limbs of the external practices which include the niyama and yama is not possible. In doing so, the body should be strong so that it can perform the practices well enough. If the body is weak, and the sense organs are not functioning well, practicing will never be useful at all.
This is a philosophy that K. Pattabhi Jois has applied, this is important to understand so that in doing the practice, you are sure that the body will improve and the keep it stronger and healthier.

The ultimate goal of the relaxation technique is to reach a state in which the mind is very deeply relaxed, yet still conscious. This goal is achieved by slowly scanning the body with the mind.

In Yoga Nidra, the mind transcends the Waking State of Consciousness, the level at which traditional meditation is practiced. In this workshop, you will be guided past the Dreaming State, and into the Deep Sleep level of Consciousness, at which you will remain coherent, but be in a state of total relaxation.

A superlative relaxation tool, Yoga Nidra can be equivalent to 4 hours of sleep. However, the true nature of Yoga Nidra goes well beyond deep relaxation; Yoga Nidra establishes the link between the conscious desires, will power, and the subconscious & unconscious minds.

Students participating may bring their yoga mat, a small pillow or two and a light blanket.    You may want to use a pillow or blanket prop as a bolster beneath the knees for comfort and added tension release. The blanket will also be used below your body for cushioning and gentle warmth, as the body tends to cool during relaxation. There are several available in the studio if you can’t bring your own.

In Yoga Nidra, the mind transcends the Waking State of Consciousness, the level at which traditional meditation is practiced.  In this workshop, you will be guided past the Dreaming State, and into the Deep Sleep level of Consciousness, at which you will remain coherent, but be in a state of total relaxation.

A superlative relaxation tool, Yoga Nidra can be equivalent to 4 hours of sleep.  However, the true nature of Yoga Nidra goes well beyond deep relaxation; Yoga Nidra establishes the link between the conscious desires, will power, and the subconscious & unconscious minds.

Students participating may bring their yoga mat, a small pillow or two and a light blanket. You may want to use a pillow or blanket prop as a bolster beneath the knees for comfort and added tension release. The blanket will also be used below your body for cushioning and gentle warmth, as the body tends to cool during relaxation. There are several available in the studio if you can’t bring your own.

It will also offer a few basic exercises to help injuries and advice on persuading a friend to try yoga.

As a matter of fact, Yoga has become a house hold name in the recent time owing to its immense tangible benefits and virtually no side effects at all. Yoga has been an oriental practice since thousands of years by sages and saints.

However, of late, the efficacy and derivable benefits of Yoga for a better life have been well admitted by all who have ever dared to practice it.

Yoga is considered by many as an extremely powerful and quick fix solution to regain physical and mental fitness. It also helps those who practice it to achieve the highest level of spirituality. Yoga has many forms and types but the sole idea behind each type is to induce perfect coordination and cohesion within the personality of a human.

The perfection achieved through Yoga unites the body, the spirit and the mind in perfect harmony.

Melina integrates concepts of Ayurveda into these wonderful Vinyasa and Yin Yoga practices bringing attention to how the body and energy systems work with the summer season.

Benefits:
Stretches and tones all muscles and joints, strengthens bones, improves breathing rate and heart rate, increases energy level, improves concentra­tion, cleanses the glandular system of toxins, lifts depression and anxiety, speeds metabolic rate for weight maintenance

Warning
If you experience chronic back pain or have injured your back, consult a yoga instructor before proceeding with this vinyasa.

You’ve probably heard that yoga is good for you. Maybe you have even tried yoga and discovered that it makes you feel better.

But what are the specific health benefits you can expect to enjoy from doing yoga regularly?

Yoga is considered by many as an extremely powerful and quick fix solution to regain physical and mental fitness. It also helps those who practice it to achieve the highest level of spirituality. Yoga has many forms and types but the sole idea behind each type is to induce perfect coordination and cohesion within the personality of a human. The perfection achieved through Yoga unites the body, the spirit and the mind in perfect harmony.

  More importantly, yoga is extremely effective in:
1. Increasing flexibility: Yoga has positions that act upon the various joints of the body including those joints that are never really on the radar screen let alone exercise.

2. Increasing Lubrication of the joints, ligaments and tendons:- likewise, the well researched yoga positions exercise the different tendons and ligaments of the body.

Health Benefits of Yoga:

Health Benefits Within
*  From lowering blood pressure to increasing pain tolerance, the following health benefits can all be discovered within the body.

*  Blood pressure. A consistent yoga practice decreases blood pressure through better circulation and oxygenation of the body. These two exercises can help lower blood pressure.

*  Pulse rate. A slower pulse rate indicates that your heart is strong enough to pump more blood with fewer beats. Regularly practicing yoga provides a lower pulse rate.

*  Circulation. Yoga improves blood circulation. By transporting nutrients and oxygen throughout your body, yoga practice provides healthier organs, skin, and brain.

*  Respiratory. Like the circulatory system, a lower respiratory rate indicates that the lungs are working more efficiently. Yoga decreases the respiratory rate through a combination of controlled breathing exercises and better fitness.

*  Mental Calmness. Yoga asana practice is intensely physical. Concentrating so intently on what your body is doing has the effect of bringing a calmness to the mind. Yoga also introduces you to meditation techniques, such as watching how you breathe and disengagement from your thoughts, which help calm the mind.

*  Stress Reduction. Physical activity is good for relieving stress, and this is particularly true of yoga. Because of the concentration required, your daily troubles, both large and small, seem to melt away during the time you are doing yoga. This provides a much-needed break from your stressors, as well as helping put things into perspective.

General Introduction To the Yoga Cleansing Techniques.
The term Hatha Yoga most correctly refers to a group of techniques used for purification of the body and psyche which work on balancing the flow of Prana (energy) between the Solar (Ha) and the Lunar (Tha) parts of human personality.

The term Hatha Yoga is often misunderstood in the West to mean solely the postures and exercise regimes of Yoga. Some teachers and students think only of Hatha Yoga being “the physical side of yoga” and that meditation is the “mental stuff”.

Whilst it is true that the yogasanas (postures) do help to balance the Ha and Tha energy flows, with exercises and static postures, it is achieved much more slowly and somewhat less effectively than with the more direct methods of the pranic cleansing practices.

Each morning start with a cleansing routine to aid in purifying the body before beginning your daily Sadhana – which is for purifying the mind and spirit.
As one approaches the divine, the body should be cleaned,
dressed in fresh clothes, and a sacred space provided for your spiritual practice and meditation.

  Why cleanse the nose?
To cleanse the nose with luke warm salt water is a yoga technique, which benefit is presently being discovered by still more people. This article deals with its origins, its possible applications and other things worth knowing. Nose cleansing, also called neti, is very easy to do. Everybody can learn it. The few directions given at the end of this article, though, should be followed carefully.

  Intestinal Cleansing Routine
The Procedure
Intestinal cleansing is done by drinking a glass of salt water and performing five simple exercises that help the water to pass through the intestines. Afterwards, you again drink a glass of salt water, do the exercises and continue like this.

After the seventh glass, you begin to go to the toilet following the exercises. Gradually, as you drink more glasses and do the exercises, the water that is evacuated becomes lighter and contains fewer and fewer particles. Finally, it is almost as clear as the water you drink, and completely free from particles.

The intestinal cleansing itself is now over. Altogether, about sixteen large glasses of salt water are drunk. However, do not drink ordinary water during the process and the following four hours.

Some people finish in one hour, some finish in 4 hours. On average, between 16 and 25 glasses of salt water must be taken in order to cleanse your digestive system

Pranayama is one of the Eight Limbs of Yoga, as defined by the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. In addition to deepening your yoga practice, learning ways to calm or invigorate the body through breathing will greatly benefit your life off the mat.

Breathing is an involuntary act; it is an essential part of life. Although we cannot control whether or not we breathe, we can control the way that we breathe. A belief that different methods of breath affect the body’s health and life force is the core of Pranayama practice.

Breathing Yoga is all about enhancing awareness, creating space and finding stillness in the mind, the body and the spirit, through the practises of Yoga asana, pranayama and meditation.

Yoga is a complete science of life that originated in India many thousands of years ago.  It is the oldest system of personal development known, encompassing body mind and spirit. However, there are times when breathing correctly, while moving the body through space, is as important as knowing how to do the yoga pose.

  Being aware of the breath is a learning process that gets easier with practice. Awareness becomes almost instinctive, in that the breath “flows” with the movement, without having to think about it. In the beginning, learning to be aware of the breath is more like watching the breath. When holding a pose and even while moving from one pose to the next, being the observer of the breath is more of an intentional act than an instinctive one. It isn’t until the student finally becomes a yogi that he is aware of the breath.

So, the question is, how do you become aware of the breath?

  Breathing is a crucial element in Yoga whether one is doing Yoga poses (asanas) or just meditating. There are wide variations in breathing styles, rhythms, and structures. These variations all come into one basic purpose-to generate greater connection to energy flow, to manipulate the presence and function of prana (life-force energy), and to enable a stronger foundation of internal balance (mind, body, and spirit).

Breathing through the nose can aid in developing a slower, more focused breath. By elongating the breath, we can establish a more profound inner gaze and meditative state whether we are doing Yoga postures, lying in relaxation (savasana), or enjoying time in meditation.

By starting with basic nostril breathing, we can build a powerful foundation to our practice. Through this simple breathing, we understand the benefits of breathing…

Raja Yoga:
Raja Yoga is one of the four yogas of Hinduism, along with Jnana, Bhakti and Karma. All forms of yoga have a goal of release from the mundane physical world, which is achieving “moksha.” The word “raja” comes from the Sanskrit word for royal or king, and the word “yoga”from the word for union.

The main preoccupation of Raja Yoga is cultivation of the mind. Scholars describe it as quite introspective, and a yoga form that uses the mind as an instrument of research. One of its most notable teachers, Swami Vivekananda, differentiated Raja Yoga from many religious practices that are based on faith, suggesting that you can use your own mind as a more scientific method of understanding the universe and answering life’s questions.

The Philosophy of Yoga
It is said that the original propounder of classical Yoga was Hiranyagarbha Himself. It is Patanjali Maharishi who formulated this science into a definite system under the name of Ashtanga Yoga or Raja Yoga.

  This forms one of the Shad-Darsananas or Classical Systems of Philosophy. Vyasa has explained the original aphorisms or Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and this has been further elaborated through a gloss by a learned author named Vachaspati Mishra, and through the celebrated writings of Vijnana Bhikshu.

  The Yoga, in allegiance to the Sankhya, holds that there is an eternal and omnipresent inert Prakriti and a plurality of omnipresent Conscious Purusha. The Yoga accepts a third principle, viz., Ishvara. The contact of the Purusha with Prakriti makes the latter evolve itself into its various effects. The Purusha, due to Aviveka (non-discrimination),  feels that it is an individual on account of its identification with Prakriti and its modifications.

   Deep within everyone there is an abiding faith in a Supreme Being, someone to whom a Sadhaka can look up for help and guidance, for protection and inspiration. But the ego does not allow this to happen. Disentanglement of the Purusha from the ego alone can lead to Its release from the snares of Prakriti.

  Eight-Step Process
Reaching complete fulfillment through raja yoga is a lengthy process. Strict moral discipline guides the raja yoga follower through eight steps, the first of which is yama — the avoidance of injury, greed, sensuality and stealing. Niyama is the second step of achievement, requiring individuals to invoke cleanliness, self-control, devotion, studiousness and contentment. Step three, or asana, promotes physical posture, while step four, or pranayama, calms the spirit. The spiritual journey continues with steps five, six and seven — pratyhara, dharana and dhyana — requiring extraordinary mental discipline to withdraw from the present and enter into deep concentration and meditation.
Goal

The goal of raja yoga is for an individual to achieve samadhi. In the Hindu religion, samadhi is liberation from samsara or the cycle of death and reincarnation. Northern Virginia Community College explains that it is through samadhi or moksha that one circumvents life’s usual stages, bypassing all earthbound goals and desires, in favor of spiritual-related goals. Moksha is the eighth and final goal of raja yoga, in which the self becomes one with brahman — the ultimate spiritual reality.

The term Bhakti comes from the root ‘Bhaj’, which means ‘to be attached to God’. Bhajan, worship, Bhakti, Anurag, Prem, Priti are synonymous terms. Bhakti is love for love’s sake. The devotee wants God and God alone. There is no selfish expectation here. There is no fear also.

Therefore it is called ‘Parama Prem Rupa‘. The devotee feels, believes, conceives and imagines that his Ishtam (tutelary deity) is an Ocean of Love or Prem.

Bhakti Yoga:

Bhakti Yoga as the name suggests, is the spiritual practice of loving devotion or ‘Bhakti’ to the Almighty. It lays emphasis on the love and devotion of a devotee to the God. Highly religious though, Bhakti Yoga should be adopted by every human being, living in this world of infidelity and rage, because it helps one to develop a positive attitude towards life.

An individual performing this Yoga concentrates on the existence of the Almighty. It develops the peace of mind of the person. With a peaceful mind, it becomes possible for the person to live contented. He/she expresses the emotion of compassion and love for the other creatures co-existing with him/her.

  Hence, Bhakti yoga is beneficial to lead a healthy and peaceful life.

Nothing to Lose, Everything to Gain

Bhakti yoga as mentioned repeatedly by health and fitness experts offers a total range of benefits to practitioners. Tantric yoga benefits are in fact too many to list down and write about. With its numerous benefits in all aspects of a person’s well-being, it is the secret to long life and youthful appearance as well.

Yoga is a form of exercise based on a belief that the body and breath are intimately linked to the mind. By controlling breathing and the body remains in balance poses, or asanas, yoga creates harmony. Yoga is a vast collection of spiritual techniques and practices to integrate all our mind, body and spirit and achieving a state of enlightenment or oneness with the universe.