Asthma is a disease that more and more people seem to be suffering from today. Many things trigger asthma - the main amongst those being: stress and anxiety, allergies and genetics. This yoga program seeks to tackle the root causes and work towards strengthening the immune system.

We will present asanas (postures), kriya (cleansing technique) and pranayama (breathing techniques) that strengthen, stretch and relax the body physically and re-balance internal systems at a deeper level. We begin with asanas that focus on increasing capacity of the lungs and relaxing the chest muscles which contract and remain tense during and after asthma attacks.

Instructions and benefits for

-       Singhasana

-       Ardha Chakrasana

-       Kapalbhati Kriya

-       Bhramri Pranayama

-       Bhastrika Pranayama

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

Read more here: » Yoga and Health: Asanas for Asthma

What is so special about Kriya yoga? It expands your consciousness; it enables you to move up from the ridiculous to the sublime - from say, matters of state, politics and (Cauvery) disputes to a deeper understanding of nature of the Self.

I got this divine intuition some days ago which prompted me to travel to Babaji's cave in Uttaranchal - he used to meditate there. I've been initiated into practising Kriya yoga through divine dispensation. I'd been through hardly a year's basic training before my intuition took me to Babaji's cave...

(See also: Kriya yoga , God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Kriya yoga: From The Ridiculous To the Sublime  

The common cold is an upper respiratory infection caused by a virus. Colds are considered to be the immune system's response to viral attack.

Yoga not only helps prevent cold but improves a person's health and strengthens the immune system thus lessening susceptibility to colds.

If ling mudra is practised daily, along with a proper practise of Kapalbhati Pranayan then various incurable disease of the chest can be healed.

Instructions and benefits for:

-       Kapal Bhati Paranayam or Bhastrika

-       Ling Mudra along with Pran Mudra

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

Read more here: » Yoga and Health: Yoga for Cold

The Bow yoga position (Dhanurasana) works all parts of your back simultaneously. In this asana, your head, chest, and legs are lifted, while your body rests on your abdomen. The pose is so named because as you hold it, your body is bent back like a bow and your arms are held straight and taut like a bowstring.

Read more here: » Yoga Poses: The Bow Pose - Yoga Poses

Vedic Yoga and the Three Gunas

The Vedas present a vast pantheon of deities (devatas) on many different levels, often said to be innumerable or infinite in number. One of the main early efforts to classify the Vedic Gods (as in the Brihad Devata of Shaunaka) was to reduce them to the three prime deities for the three worlds.

Agni or Fire on Earth (Prithivi)

Vayu or Wind in the Atmosphere (Antariksha)

Surya or the Sun in Heaven (Dyaus)

These three deities are three aspects of the One God or the Purusha, the supreme consciousness principle and higher Self that is pure light.

Read more here: » Three Gunas: Vedic Yoga and the Three Gunas

Definition of The Cobra yoga position (Bhujangasana): Coiling your upper body up and back.

Read more here: » Yoga Positions: The Cobra - Yoga Position

SUKSHMA SARIRA: the subtle body, the astral body

(See also: SUKSHMA SARIRA , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

For more dictionary entries, see » Plato Dictionary

O Divine Mother Kundalini, the Divine Cosmic Energy that is hidden in men! Thou art Kali, Durga, Adisakti, Rajarajeswari, Tripurasundari, Maha-Lakshmi, Maha-Sarasvati! Thou hast put on all these names and forms. Thou hast manifested as Prana, electricity, force, magnetism, cohesion, gravitation in this universe. This whole universe rests in Thy bosom. Crores of salutations unto thee. O Mother of this world! Lead me on to open the Sushumna Nadi and take Thee along the Chakras to Sahasrara Chakra and to merge myself in Thee and Thy consort, Lord Siva.

Read more here: » Kundalini Yoga: Preface to Kundalini Yoga by Sri Swami Sivananda

The four main spiritual paths for God-realisation are Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga and Jnana Yoga. Karma Yoga is suitable for a man of active temperament, Bhakti Yoga for a man of devotional temperament, Raja Yoga for a man of mystic temperament, and Jnana Yoga for a man of rational and philosophical temperament, or a man of enquiry.

Mantra Yoga, Laya Yoga or Kundalini Yoga, Lambika Yoga and Hatha Yoga, are other Yogas. Yoga, really, means union with God. The practice of Yoga leads to communion with the Lord. Whatever may be the starting point, the end reached is the same.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Hindu Yoga: The Four Paths of Hindu Yoga

Sanskrit dictionary. From Advaita to Yoga.

Please note that all words in grey, like "enlightenment" or "kundalini" are hyperlinked to archives further explaining the term. At the corresponding archive you will also find articles related to the term.

For more dictionary entries, see » Plato Dictionary

The different yoga schools simply adhere to different applications of inner discipline, all of which ultimately lead to the liberation of the soul and to a unique understanding of the Divine Unity. The schools are merely named according to the yogi's objective of self-transformation and the instrument chosen for such anticipated change. The yoga schools are: Ashtanga Yoga, Purna Yoga, Integral Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, Raja Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Mantra Yoga,and Tantra Yoga.

Read more here: » Yoga Schools: The different Schools of Yoga

The Bhagavad Gita has been universally hailed by the learned as truly reflecting the essence of all the Vedas. Its depth, richness and rationality of philosophy have universal appeal.

It teaches man that the true goal of life is union with God or the Supreme Impersonal-Personal Brahman, and the principal means to attain it are the four paths of karma or work, jnana or knowledge, yoga or psychic control and bhakti or loving devotion.

(See also: Bhakti Yoga , God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Bhakti Yoga: Krishna's Choice - Bhakti Yoga  

Hatha Yoga: Hatha Yoga Styles

Hatha Yoga is the branch of Yoga that focuses on the physical well-being of a person and sees the body as the driver of the spirit. Each of these styles of yoga use Asanas or poses to balance the body, mind and spirit. However, some emphasise the alignment of the body while others concentrate on co-ordinating the movement and breath. Ten of the most common styles of Hatha Yoga are described: Ashtanga Yoga, Iyengar Yoga, Viniyoga, Bikram Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Ananda Yoga, Anusara Yoga, Jivamukti Yoga, Sivananda Yoga and Svaroopa Yoga.

Read more here: » Hatha Yoga: Hatha Yoga Styles

The Fish Yoga Position (Matsyasana) is the stretch that counters the Plough, and so follows them in Yoga session. The name of the posture derives from the fact that if you adopt the position in water, you will float quite easily.

Read more here: » Yoga Positions: The Fish - Yoga Position

The Latin word aeon, also spelled eon or æon, means "forever" or "for eternity". It is derived from the Greek word αίών (aion), which at one point meant "a period of existence" or "life". In geology, the word eon quantitatively refers to a period of time of 1,000,000,000 years. However, geologists refer to the period in which animals evolved into abundance as the Phanerozoic Eon, which has only lasted 545 million years, to the present day. Aeon - In philosophy and mys ...

Including:

• Aeon - In philosophy and mysticism
• Aeon - In Gnosticism

Read more here: » Aeon: Encyclopedia - Aeon

Aristotle (Greek: Αριστοτέλης Aristotelēs 384 BC – March 7, 322 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher, student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote many books about physics, poetry, zoology, logic, rhetoric, government, and biology. Aristotle, along with Plato and Socrates, is generally considered one of the most influential ancient Greek philosophers in Western thought. They transformed Presocratic Greek philosophy into the foundations of Western philosophy as we know it. The writings of Plato an ...

Including:

• Aristotle - Biography
• Aristotle - Early life and studies at the Academy
• Aristotle - Aristotle as philosopher and tutor
• Aristotle - Founder and master of the Lyceum
• Aristotle - Methodology
• Aristotle - Aristotle's epistemology
• Aristotle - Logic
• Aristotle - Science
• Aristotle - Aristotle's metaphysics
• Aristotle - Aristotle's four causes
• Aristotle - The difference between natural objects and artifacts
• Aristotle - Modes of causation
• Aristotle - Chance
• Aristotle - The Five Elements
• Aristotle - Aristotle's ethics
• Aristotle - Nicomachean ethics
• Aristotle - Aristotle's critics
• Aristotle - Aristotle's mistake
• Aristotle - Bibliography
• Aristotle - Major works
• Aristotle - Specific editions
• Aristotle - Named after Aristotle

Read more here: » Aristotle: Encyclopedia - Aristotle

Broadly defined, Dialectic (Greek: διαλεκτική) is an exchange of propositions (theses) and counter-propositions (antitheses) resulting in a synthesis of the opposing assertions, or at least a qualitative transformation in the direction of the dialogue. It is one of the three original liberal arts or trivium (the other members are rhetoric and grammar) in Western culture. In ancient and medieval times, both rhetoric and dialectic were understood to aim at being persuasive (through dialogue). The ai ...

Including:

• Dialectic - In philosophy
• Dialectic - Socratic dialectic
• Dialectic - Hegelian dialectic
• Dialectic - Marxist dialectics
• Dialectic - Critiques of dialectic
• Dialectic - Dialectical biology
• Dialectic - Footnotes
• Dialectic - Sources

Read more here: » Dialectic: Encyclopedia - Dialectic

A Yoga Dictionary from Abhyasa to Yukti.

From "Kundalini Yoga" by Sri Swami Sivananda

For more dictionary entries, see » Plato Dictionary

During the Spiral Twists yoga position (Ardha Matsyendrasana) your vertebrae are mobilized; the exercises also allow more nourishment to reach the roots of the spinal nerves and the sympathetic nevous system.

Read more here: » Yoga Positions: Spinal Twisting - Yoga Position

An allegory (from Greek αλλος, allos, "other", and αγορευειν, agoreuein, "to speak in public") is a figurative mode of representation conveying a meaning other than and in addition to the literal. Through allegory a subject of a higher spiritual order is described in terms of that of a lower which is made out to resemble it in properties and circumstances, the principal subject being so kept out of view that we are left to construe the drift ...

Read more here: » Allegory: Encyclopedia - Allegory

The Acheron river is in the Epirus region of north west Greece. Acheron translates as "river of woe" and believed to be a branch of the underworld river Acheron over which in ancient Greek mythology Charon ferried the newly dead souls across into Hades. The lake called Acherousia and the river still called Acheron with the nearby ruins of the Necromanteion are found near Parga on the mainland opposite Corfu. Another branch of Acheron was believed to surface at the Acherusian cape (now Eregli in Turkey) and was seen by th ...

Read more here: » Acheron: Encyclopedia - Acheron

Aesop, or Æsop (from the Greek Aisopos), known only for his fables, was by tradition a slave of African descent who lived from about 620 to 560 BC in Ancient Greece. Aesop's Fables are still taught as moral lessons and used as subjects for various entertainments, especially children's plays and cartoons. Nothing was known about Aesop from credible records. The tradition was that he was at one point freed from slavery and that he eventually died at the hands of Delphians. In fact, the obscurity shrouding his life ...

Including:

• Aesop - Life
• Aesop - Aesop's Fables
• Aesop - Sources

Read more here: » Aesop: Encyclopedia - Aesop