Ashtanga Yoga: A Yoga regimen commonly know as "Power Yoga", Ashtanga is a flowing practice in which the postures are linked together and are always done in the exact same sequence.

(See also: Ashtanga Yoga, Yoga, Yoga Dictionary)

Ashta-anga-yoga, ashtanga-yoga:

Ashta-anga-yoga, ashtanga-yoga ("eight-limbed union"): the eightfold yoga of Patanjali, consisting of moral discipline (yama), self-restraint (niyama), posture (asana), breath control (pranayama), sensory inhibition (pratyahara), concentration (dharana), meditation (dhyana), and ecstasy (samadhi), leading to liberation (kaivalya)

(See also: Ashta-anga-yoga, ashtanga-yoga, Yoga, Yoga Dictionary)

Power Yoga (Ashtanga): Astanga yoga or a variation thereof. Power Yoga includes ujjayi and a series of postures designed to effect therapeutic bodily alignment and to release stress, tightness, and toxins from the body-mind.

(See also: Power Yoga, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Hatha Yoga

Physical Yoga or the Yoga of postures is known as Hatha Yoga. It is the most popular form of yoga practiced in the West. This form of yoga consists of many different styles. The different styles of Hatha Yoga have common roots. The founders of three of the most popular styles, Ashtanga, Iyengar and Viniyoga were all students of Krishnamacharya, a famous teacher at the Yoga Institute at the Mysore Palace in India . This form of yoga brings together Pranayama and Meditation with physical poses in its aim to promote positive energy and good health of the body.

Read more here: » Yoga Branches: Hatha Yoga

Ashtanga Yoga mentions nothing about this Kundalini, but propounds a still subtle, higher path, philosophical and rational, and asks the aspirant to control the mind, to withdraw all the senses and to plunge in meditation. Unlike Ashtanga Yoga which is mechanical and mystical, Ashtanga Yoga teaches a technique with eight limbs, appealing to the heart and intellect of aspirants.

Read more here: » Kundalini: Ashtanga Yoga and Kundalini

Suryanamaskar is the salutation to Sun God which is one of the major sources of prana in this creation. Prana being "The Force" in the universe, that which is responsible for creation, maintenance and transformation in the physical.

The sun's energy vibrates at innumerable frequencies manifesting in the physical as various food/ prana for various living things like trees, leaves, animals, humans etc.

Instructions and benefits for:

-       Surya Pranam Asana

-       Hasta Uthaan Asana

-       Padhasta Asana

-       Ashwa Sanchalan Asana

-       Parvat Asana

-       Ashtanga Namaskar

-       Bhujang Asana

(See also: Suryanamaskar, Yoga, Yoga and Health, Yoga Systems, Yoga Positions)

Yoga Schools: The Six Branches of Yoga

Of the six branches of yoga, only one is concerned with Prana and physical body. The rest can be seen as spiritual disciplines.

Includes: Hatha Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Karma Yoga and Tantra Yoga

Read more here: » Yoga Schools: The Six Branches of Yoga

Hinduism and Yoga

Yoga means union. Yoga aims to bring this union through the integration of various components of the body and mind into one harmonious whole and in the next stage through the union of the individual self with the Higher Self. Yoga unites a disorganized body and mind into one performing whole leading to the opening of energy channels and flowering of his consciousness. 

Read more here: » Hinduism: Hinduism and Yoga

The word Yoga comes from the root Yuj which means to join. Yoga is restraint of the activities of the mind, and is the union of the individual soul with the Supreme Soul.

Hiranyagarbha is the founder of the Yoga system. The Yoga founded by Patanjali Maharshi is a branch or supplement of the Sankhya. It has its own charm for students of a mystic temperament and of a contemplative type. It claims greater orthodoxy than the Sankhya proper by directly acknowledging the existence of a Supreme Being (Isvara).

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Yoga: Hindu Philosophy - The Yoga

The Vedas 

The Vedas are the Divine scriptures of ancient India and in modern times can be traced as least as far back as 12,OOO B.C. a lthough it is generally accepted tat the Vedas appear at different times of the cosmic creation forte benefit of human society. They are considered to be the revelations of the Divine nature, and its relationship within and without us. "Mantra" is the term used to mean Divine sound vibration or the word of God. There are teachings of mantras (hymns), teachings of ritual, theology, and philosophy at the root of all the vedic sciences. The point of all is the knowledge of the soul called "atma vidya", being our real "self" and separate and distinct from the material body , and the material world which surrounds us.

Read more here: » The Vedas: Divine scriptures of ancient India - The Vedas

Meditation Experiences by Sarasvati Buhrman PhD - Part I

Sometime after 350 B.C. a great yogi sage wrote the "Yoga Sutra". This brief translation should wet your appetite. This describes the transformation of mind that will unfold over a course of sadhana (spiritual practice), focusing on the relationship between the mind and the object of meditation.

Read more here: » Meditation: Meditation Experiences According to the Ashtanga Yoga Tradition with Commentary on Patanjali's Yoga Sutra

Kundalini Developmentalism

The different stages in kundalini and spiritual awakening.

Excerpt from Words From the Soul: Time, East/West Spirituality and Psychotherapeutic Narrative (pgs. 162-165) by (pgs. 162-165) by Stuart Sovatsky

Read more here: » Kundalini Awakening: Kundalini Developmentalism

Sahaja Yoga: The Living Tradition of Sahaj Marg

The Raja Yoga system known as "Sahaj Marg" is still relatively obscure in the West, even among Yoga aficionados. This is largely due to the fact that Sahaj Marg has been a low-key, word-of-mouth practice. Works by the lineage of Sahaj Marg Masters, published under the auspices of the Shri Ram Chandra Mission (SRCM), are difficult to locate, and beyond the abhyasis or practitioners of Sahaj Marg, few are aware that SRCM centers have been established worldwide since the Mission was founded in India fifty years ago.

Read more here: » Sahaja Yoga: The Living Tradition of Sahaj Marg

Four Asanas are prescribed for the purpose of Japa and meditation. They are Padmasana, Siddhasana, Svastikasana and Sukhasana. You must be able to sit in any one of these four Asanas at a stretch for full three hours without shaking the body. Then only you will get Asana-Jaya, mastery over the Asana.

From "Kundalini Yoga" by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Asanas: Most important Yoga Positions - Yoga Asanas

Hinduism Lexicon on A

From aadheenam to axis.

Read more here: » Hinduism: Hinduism Lexicon on A

This article is about the style of yoga taught by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois of Mysore, India. This article is about the Ashtanga Yoga style of yoga taught by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois of Mysore, India. This school of yoga seeks to embody the traditional eight limbs of yoga (referred to as ashtanga or Raja Yoga) as expounded by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras. Ashtanga Yoga is said to have its origin in the ancient text Yoga Korunta by Vamana Rishi, which Krishnamacharya received from his Guru Rama Mohan Brahmachari, and later ...

Including:

• Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga - Method
• Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga - Bandhas
• Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga - Drishtis
• Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga - Mantras

Read more here: » Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga: Encyclopedia - Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga

Arhatic Yoga is a form of Yoga, developed and taught by Grand Master Choa Kok Sui, that synthesizes in a single discipline all the other paths of yoga. The goal of AY is the achievement of "Arhatship", or "Arhat" status. A good definition is the following: "The Arhat is the Perfected One who has overcome The Three Poisons of Desire, Hatred and Ignorance. At the end of the p ...

Read more here: » Arhatic Yoga: Encyclopedia - Arhatic Yoga

Paschimottanasana literally translated as "intense stretch of the west". A yoga position (or asana) where one sits on the floor with legs flat on the floor, straight ahead. Put your hands flat on the floor and lean slightly forward without bending your knees. ...

Read more here: » Paschimottanasana: Encyclopedia - Paschimottanasana

While Yoga evolved as a spiritual practice, in the West it has grown popular as a form of purely physical exercise. Some Western practice has little or nothing to do with Hinduism or spirituality, but is simply a way of keeping healthy and fit. This differs from the traditional Eastern view of yoga. While it is not always possible (or even desirable) to completely separate "exercise yoga" from "spiritual yoga," this article seeks to concentrate on the former. Yoga as exercise has evolved into numerous subdivisions and variation ...

Read more here: » Yoga as exercise: Encyclopedia - Yoga as exercise

Pratyahara is the fifth among the Eight steps of Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga. In it, the consciousness, or more specifically, the neural currents, are internalized, so that sensations from the Indriyas, or the five senses of taste, touch, sight, hearing and smell don't reach their respective centres in the brain, so that the Saadhaka, or disciple, is free to meditate without distractions. The electrical currents in the nerves of even the involuntary muscles are turned off by advanced practitioners through superior willpower and breath-c ...

Read more here: » Pratyahara: Encyclopedia - Pratyahara