0_Wizard
Having taught yoga once upon a time, I'm always reminded about how much I miss a regular practice! It's physical, yes -- but also meditative and spiritual. Do you practice?
Yoga in Indian traditions, however, is more than physical exercise; it has a meditative and spiritual core.
chosen_Yoga_0
Yoga
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Meditation
Meditation can be defined as a practice where an individual focuses his or her mind on a particular object, thought or activity to achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm state. Meditation may be used to reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and pain. It may be done while sitting, repeating a mantra, and closing the eyes in a quiet environment. Meditation has been practiced since antiquity in numerous religious traditions and beliefs. Since the 19th century, it has spread from its Asian origins to Western cultures where it is commonly practiced in private and business life. Meditation is under psychological, neurological, and cardiovascular research to define its possible health effects.
Baba Hari Dass
Baba Hari Dass (Devanagari: बाबा हरि दास); born 26 March 1923 in Almora near Nainital, Uttar Pradesh, now Uttarakhand, India, is a yoga master, a silent monk, and a commentator of Indian scriptural tradition of Dharma and Moksha. He was classically trained in Ashtanga Yoga – Raja Yoga of Patanjali (the Yoga of Eight Limbs), as well as Kriya Yoga, Ayurveda, Samkhya, Tantra Yoga, Vedanta, and Sanskrit. Born into the 13th generation of a Kumaoni Karnatak Brahmin family, in the lunar month of Chaitra, in Shukla Paksha (Rama Navami), he is also an author, playwright, martial arts teacher, sculptor and builder of temples.
Yoga
Yoga (; Sanskrit, योगः 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. Among the most well-known types of yoga are Hatha yoga and Rāja yoga. The origins of yoga have been speculated to date back to pre-Vedic Indian traditions; it is mentioned in the Rigveda, but most likely developed around the sixth and fifth centuries BCE, in ancient India's ascetic and śramaṇa movements. The chronology of earliest texts describing yoga-practices is unclear, varyingly credited to Hindu Upanishads.
Zen yoga
Zen yoga refers to a variety of physical and energetic practices that can be found within the Zen Buddhist tradition, and increasingly taught in the West. Some Zen temples include a taiso (exercise) period, often early in the morning, including yoga-like postures, quick repetitive exercises, and/or more flowing exercises reminiscent of Tai Chi. These exercises are designed to open and unblock the body in preparation for sitting meditation, develop a deeper awareness of the body, and as an opportunity to practice "becoming one” with what’s happening in the moment (expressed in Japanese through the terms "narikiru" – become one – or "ima-koko" – now-here).
Vihangamyoga
Vihangam Yoga is an ancient meditation technique practiced by Indian seers and sages. In the current time, it is established by Sadguru Sadafaldeo Ji Maharaj. Vihangam Yoga is also known as "Brahmavidya", "Madhu-vidya", "Para Vidhya" in the Indian ancient most scriptures and Vedas. ""Vihangam"" literally means "bird". Just as a bird leaves its base on the earth to fly high in the sky, so does "Vihangam Yoga" enable the human Soul (Atma) to cut off its moorings in the Prakriti (phenomenal world) and realize its true and free nature. This knowledge is emerged from Brahma so it is also named as Brahma Vidya and who ever has gained this knowledge by practising it called Brahma Rishi.
Buddhism and Hinduism
Hinduism and Buddhism have common origins in the Ganges culture of northern India during the so-called "second urbanisation" around 500 BC. They have shared parallel beliefs that have existed side by side, but also pronounced differences. Buddhism attained prominence in the Indian subcontinent as it was supported by royal courts, but started to decline after the Gupta era, and virtually disappeared from India in the 11th century CE, except in some pockets of India. It has continued to exist outside India and is the major religion in several Asian countries. Certain Buddhist teachings appear to have been formulated in response to ideas presented in the early Upanishads – in some cases concurring with them, and in other cases criticizing or re-interpreting them.
Yoga Yajnavalkya
The Yoga Yajnavalkya (, "Yoga-Yājñavalkya") is a classical Hindu yoga text in the Sanskrit language. The text is written in the form of a male-female dialogue between the sage Yajnavalkya and Gargi. The text consists of 12 chapters and contains 504 verses. Like Patanjali's "Yogasutras", the "Yoga Yajnavalkya" describes the eight components of yoga; however, it has different goals. The text contains additional material that is not found in "Yogasutras", such as the concept of "kundalini". The "Yoga Yajnavalkya" contains one of the most comprehensive discussion of yoga components such as the "Pranayama", "Pratyahara" "Dhyana", and "Dharana".
1_Apprentice
I love yoga! I mostly do Bikram yoga though
0_Wizard
Bikram is *intense*! 90 minutes and the *heat*. Here in a Texas summer, all you need to do is step outside to practice those 26 postures ;-)
All Bikram Yoga Beginning Series classes run for 90 minutes and consist of the same series of 26 postures, including two breathing exercises.
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Bikram Yoga
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Bikram Yoga
Bikram Yoga is a system of yoga that Bikram Choudhury synthesized from traditional hatha yoga techniques It became popular in the early 1970s. All Bikram Yoga Beginning Series classes run for 90 minutes and consist of the same series of 26 postures, including two breathing exercises. Bikram Yoga is a hot yoga style, and is ideally practiced in a room heated to with a humidity of 40%. All official Bikram classes are taught by Bikram-certified teachers, who have completed nine weeks of training endorsed by Choudhury. Bikram-certified teachers are taught a standardized dialogue to run the class, but are encouraged to develop their teaching skills the longer they teach.
Hot yoga
Hot yoga refers to yoga exercises performed under hot and humid conditions. From the 1970s through approximately 2010, Bikram Yoga - the only major yoga tradition at that time to add heat and humidity - was known as "hot yoga". However, from approximately 2012 onward, many unrelated yoga-inspired exercise and fitness trends also began labelling themselves "hot yoga". Although traditionally associated with the style devised by Bikram Choudhury, "hot yoga" is now used to describe any number of yoga or yoga-inspired fitness styles that use heat. The heat in Bikram Yoga is used to increase the "tourniquet effect", to train the mind, and to improve circulation to the joints.
Copyright claims on Bikram Yoga
Copyright claims on Bikram Yoga are the claims made by Bikram Choudhury ("Bikram") that his yoga practice, Bikram Yoga, was under copyright and that it could not be taught or presented by anyone whom he had not authorized. Bikram began making copyright claims on Bikram Yoga in 2002. In 2011 Choudhury started a lawsuit against Yoga to the People, a competing yoga studio founded by a former student of Bikram's and with a location near one of the Bikram Yoga studios in New York. As a result of that lawsuit, the United States Copyright Office issued a clarification that yoga postures ("asanas") could not be copyrighted in the way claimed by Bikram, and that Yoga to the People and others could continue to freely teach these exercises.
Bikram Choudhury
Bikram Choudhury (born February 10, 1944) is an Indian yoga teacher and the founder of Bikram Yoga, a form of hot yoga performed in a series of 26 hatha yoga postures done in a hot environment of . After several lawsuits were filed against him alleging sexual assault and various forms of discrimination against racial and sexual minorities, courts awarded ownership of Bikram Yoga to former employee Minakshi “Micki” Jafa-Bodden and he fled from the United States to India. Born in Calcutta, India, Bikram Choudhury began learning Hatha Yoga poses at the age of three. At five, he began studying with Bishnu Ghosh and is reported to have won the National India Yoga Championship for three consecutive years in his teens.
Yoga series
Yoga series consist of asanas done in sequence. Surya Namaskara Sanskrit for "Sun Salutation" owes its name for expressing devotion ("bhakti") to Surya, the solar deity in the Hindu pantheon, by concentrating on the Sun. The Sun Salutation is, for many yogis, an exercise to be performed at sun rise, or at least in the morning. Surya Namaskara is a sequence of twelve asanas, where the five beginning asanas are the same as the last five asanas of the sequence. The Sun Salutation can be practiced at varying levels of awareness, ranging from that of physical exercise, to a complete "sadhana" which incorporates asana, pranayama, mantra and chakra meditation.
Gunday
Gunday (English: "Outlaws") is a 2014 Indian action thriller film written and directed by Ali Abbas Zafar and produced by Aditya Chopra. The film features Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Irrfan Khan in the lead roles. Set in 1971–1988 Calcutta, "Gunday" is a story about two best friends and outlaws, who fall in love with a cabaret dancer, which causes rivalry and misunderstandings between them. Zafar conceived the film as an amalgam of stories he had heard from his father as a child about the effects of war-caused immigration and the Mafia Raj's illegal marketing of coal. He wrote the film as a tale of the consequences of the struggle of two outlaws against the system, using his father's stories as a backdrop for the characters.
Ashtanga vinyasa yoga
The Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga is a style of yoga codified and popularized by K. Pattabhi Jois during the 20th century which is often promoted as a modern-day form of classical Indian yoga. Ashtanga means eight limbs or branches, of which asana or physical yoga posture is merely one branch, breath or pranayama is another. Both Pattabhi Jois and Sharath Jois, his grandson, encourage practice of Ashtanga Yoga - all eight limbs. The first two limbs - Yamas and Niyamas - are given special emphasis to be practiced in conjunction with the 3rd and 4th limbs (asana and pranayama). Sri K. Pattabhi Jois began his yoga studies in 1927 at the age of 12, and by 1948 had established the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute for teaching the specific yoga practice known as Ashtanga (Sanskrit for "eight-limbed") Yoga.
1_Apprentice
Haha, don't I know it, here in Florida, it like's to treat heat like a full time job.
0_Wizard
At least we have interior spaces to escape to, right? ! Air conditioning is a *necessity*. I also love Astanga yoga, and its "flow" -- more the classical form of Indian yoga. 
The Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga is a style of yoga codified and popularized by K. Pattabhi Jois during the 20th century which is often promoted as a modern-day form of classical Indian yoga.
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Ashtanga vinyasa yoga
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Yoga
Yoga (; Sanskrit, योगः 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. Among the most well-known types of yoga are Hatha yoga and Rāja yoga. The origins of yoga have been speculated to date back to pre-Vedic Indian traditions; it is mentioned in the Rigveda, but most likely developed around the sixth and fifth centuries BCE, in ancient India's ascetic and śramaṇa movements. The chronology of earliest texts describing yoga-practices is unclear, varyingly credited to Hindu Upanishads.
Rāja yoga
In Sanskrit texts, Rāja yoga () refers to the goal of yoga (which is usually samadhi) and not a method of attaining it. The term also became a modern retronym, when in the 19th-century Swami Vivekananda equated raja yoga with the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Since then, Rāja yoga has variously referred to as "royal yoga", "royal union", "sahaj marg", "classical yoga", and "aṣṭāṅga yoga". Rāja (Sanskrit: राज) means "chief, best of its kind" or "king". Rāja yoga thus refers to "chief, best of yoga". The historical use of the term "Rāja yoga" is found in other contexts, quite different than its modern usage.
Air conditioning
Air conditioning (often referred to as AC, A/C, or air con) is the process of removing heat from the interior of an occupied space, to improve the comfort of occupants. Air conditioning can be used in both domestic and commercial environments. This process is most commonly used to achieve a more comfortable interior environment, typically for humans or animals; however, air conditioning is also used to cool/dehumidify rooms filled with heat-producing electronic devices, such as computer servers, power amplifiers, and even to display and store artwork. Air conditioners often use a fan to distribute the conditioned air to an occupied space such as a building or a car to improve thermal comfort and indoor air quality.
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
The Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali are 196 Indian sutras (aphorisms). The "Yoga Sutras" were compiled prior to 400 CE by Sage Patanjali, taking materials about yoga from older traditions. The "Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali" was the most translated ancient Indian text in the medieval era, having been translated into about forty Indian languages and two non-Indian languages: Old Javanese and Arabic. The text fell into obscurity for nearly 700 years from the 12th to 19th century, and made a comeback in late 19th century due to the efforts of Swami Vivekananda, the Theosophical Society and others. It gained prominence again as a comeback classic in the 20th century.
Vihangamyoga
Vihangam Yoga is an ancient meditation technique practiced by Indian seers and sages. In the current time, it is established by Sadguru Sadafaldeo Ji Maharaj. Vihangam Yoga is also known as "Brahmavidya", "Madhu-vidya", "Para Vidhya" in the Indian ancient most scriptures and Vedas. ""Vihangam"" literally means "bird". Just as a bird leaves its base on the earth to fly high in the sky, so does "Vihangam Yoga" enable the human Soul (Atma) to cut off its moorings in the Prakriti (phenomenal world) and realize its true and free nature. This knowledge is emerged from Brahma so it is also named as Brahma Vidya and who ever has gained this knowledge by practising it called Brahma Rishi.
Yoga Yajnavalkya
The Yoga Yajnavalkya (, "Yoga-Yājñavalkya") is a classical Hindu yoga text in the Sanskrit language. The text is written in the form of a male-female dialogue between the sage Yajnavalkya and Gargi. The text consists of 12 chapters and contains 504 verses. Like Patanjali's "Yogasutras", the "Yoga Yajnavalkya" describes the eight components of yoga; however, it has different goals. The text contains additional material that is not found in "Yogasutras", such as the concept of "kundalini". The "Yoga Yajnavalkya" contains one of the most comprehensive discussion of yoga components such as the "Pranayama", "Pratyahara" "Dhyana", and "Dharana".
Swaminarayan
Swaminarayan (IAST: ', 3 April 1781 – 1 June 1830), also known as Sahajanand Swami, was a yogi, and an ascetic whose life and teachings brought a revival of central Hindu practices of dharma, ahimsa and brahmacharya. He is believed by followers as a manifestation of God. Swaminarayan was born Ghanshyam Pande in Chhapaiya, Uttar Pradesh, India in 1781. In 1792, he began a seven-year pilgrimage across India at the age of 11 years, adopting the name "Nilkanth Varni". During this journey, he did welfare activities and after 9 years and 11 months of this journey, he settled in the state of Gujarat around 1799.
1_Apprentice
For sure, a nice cold shower is usually my flow after yoga.
0_Wizard
Hey, it's all about balance! And while I love the exercise aspect, I do appreciate the meditative and spiritual aspects.
Yoga in Indian traditions, however, is more than physical exercise; it has a meditative and spiritual core.
chosen_Yoga_0
Yoga
chosen_topic_0_Yoga
Meditation
Meditation can be defined as a practice where an individual focuses his or her mind on a particular object, thought or activity to achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm state. Meditation may be used to reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and pain. It may be done while sitting, repeating a mantra, and closing the eyes in a quiet environment. Meditation has been practiced since antiquity in numerous religious traditions and beliefs. Since the 19th century, it has spread from its Asian origins to Western cultures where it is commonly practiced in private and business life. Meditation is under psychological, neurological, and cardiovascular research to define its possible health effects.
Yoga
Yoga (; Sanskrit, योगः 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. Among the most well-known types of yoga are Hatha yoga and Rāja yoga. The origins of yoga have been speculated to date back to pre-Vedic Indian traditions; it is mentioned in the Rigveda, but most likely developed around the sixth and fifth centuries BCE, in ancient India's ascetic and śramaṇa movements. The chronology of earliest texts describing yoga-practices is unclear, varyingly credited to Hindu Upanishads.
Perisai Diri
Perisai Diri is a Martial Arts Organization of pencak silat from Indonesia that was founded by Raden Mas Soebandiman Dirdjoatmodjo (R.M. Soebandiman Dirdjoatmodjo) on July 2, 1955, in Surabaya, East Java. The term literally means "shield of oneself". Raden Mas Soebandiman Dirdjoatmodjo, also known as Pak Dirdjo, was born on January 8, 1913 in the Paku Alam Palace, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. He is the first son of Raden Mas Pakoe Soedirdjo, great-grandfather of Paku Alam II. When he was 9 years old he mastered the palace's martial arts and was authorised to train his friends in the palace. In addition to learning pencak silat, he also learned traditional dance at the Palace of Paku Alam and became friends with Wasi and Bagong Kussudiardja.
Well-being contributing factors
Well-being is a much-studied topic in psychology, especially positive psychology. Related concepts are eudaimonia, happiness, flourishing, quality of life, contentment, and meaningful life. Central theories are Diener's tripartite model of subjective well-being, Ryff's Six-factor Model of Psychological Well-being, Corey Keyes' work on flourishing, and Seligmann's contributions to positive psychology and his theories on "authentic happiness" and P.E.R.M.A. Positive psychology is concerned with eudaimonia, "the good life" or flourishing, living according to what holds the greatest value in life – the factors that contribute the most to a well-lived and fulfilling life.
Christian meditation
Christian meditation is a form of prayer in which a structured attempt is made to become aware of and reflect upon the revelations of God. The word meditation comes from the Latin word "meditārī", which has a range of meanings including to reflect on, to study and to practice. Christian meditation is the process of deliberately focusing on specific thoughts (such as a bible passage) and reflecting on their meaning in the context of the love of God. Christian meditation aims to heighten the personal relationship based on the love of God that marks Christian communion. Both in Eastern and Western Christianity meditation is the middle level in a broad three-stage characterization of prayer: it involves more reflection than first level vocal prayer, but is more structured than the multiple layers of contemplative prayer.
Qigong
Qigong, qi gong, chi kung, or chi gung () is a holistic system of coordinated body posture and movement, breathing, and meditation used for health, spirituality, and martial arts training. With roots in Chinese medicine, philosophy, and martial arts, qigong is traditionally viewed as a practice to cultivate and balance qi (chi), translated as "life energy". According to Taoist, Buddhist, and Confucian philosophy, qigong allows access to higher realms of awareness, awakens one's "true nature", and helps develop human potential. Qigong practice typically involves moving meditation, coordinating slow flowing movement, deep rhythmic breathing, and calm meditative state of mind.
Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner (27 (or 25) February 1861 – 30 March 1925) was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect and esotericist. Steiner gained initial recognition at the end of the nineteenth century as a literary critic and published philosophical works including "The Philosophy of Freedom". At the beginning of the twentieth century he founded an esoteric spiritual movement, anthroposophy, with roots in German idealist philosophy and theosophy; other influences include Goethean science and Rosicrucianism. In the first, more philosophically oriented phase of this movement, Steiner attempted to find a synthesis between science and spirituality.
1_Apprentice
It's absolutely crucial. When I'm not doing yoga, I'm always practicing meditative mindfulness.