Positive Practice - Support Yourself With Quality Yoga Accessories

Whether you're an experienced yoga practitioner or a beginner, there are many accessories obtainable to enhance your yoga. Here are some of the most well-liked and helpful:

Yoga Bags & Totes

If you're going to a yoga class or yoga studio for your yoga, you'll probably want a yoga bag to carry your yoga mat. A yoga bag will carry and protect your yoga bag as well as provide you with a stylish accessory. Numerous yoga bags or yoga totes also come with inner or outer pockets for carrying a water bottle, yoga props, clothing or other yoga accessories.

Yoga Mats

A yoga mat is one of the most essential accessories you should have for your yoga. A high quality yoga mat will have some stickiness to it so that it grips the floor and does not slide. A yoga mat protects you from the harshness, hardness and coldness of the floor while doing your yoga. A yoga mat is essential for any yoga practitioner.

Yoga Attire

Numerous designers now have lines of clothing specifically made for doing yoga. Yoga clothing tends to be lightweight, soft, comfortable but form fitting so that the clothing does not get in the way of your postures. Typical yoga clothing includes tank tops, long sleeve tops, shorts, leggings and sweat pant and sweatshirt type apparel. Special yoga clothing is available for men and women and often comes with colors or symbols that represent meanings in yoga practice.

Yoga Props

There are lots of yoga props obtainable to help or enhance your yoga practices. These include yoga blocks, yoga straps, yoga bolsters, yoga pillows and yoga blankets. In the case of yoga blocks, these are used to prop yourself up to reduce the risk of over-extension and a resulting injury. Yoga straps are great for beginners and people who can't stretch very far, a yoga strap enables them to stretch farther or hold limbs when they wouldn't have been able to without a strap. Yoga straps are useful for numerous poses. In addition to yoga straps, yoga bolsters or pillows can also be used to anchor yourself during certain poses or provide comfort during awkward poses or allow you to deepen or extend certain poses.

Yoga Blankets & Rugs

Yoga blankets are one of the most versatile yoga accessories you can buy. A yoga blanket can be a mat for shoulder stands, stand in for yoga pillows, blocks or bolsters and can even provide added warmth under your body while you're doing your poses, for added relaxation.

More Yoga Accessories

Additional yoga accessories are also available, including yoga sandbags, benches, balls, aromatherapy accessories and much more.

Yoga Kits

You will find also all-in-one yoga kits obtainable to buy, where a mat, bag, blocks, pillows, straps and other accessories are included in one package. These yoga kits may also include a book or video about yoga.

Whatever yoga accessories you decide on, you're sure to enhance and strengthen your yoga experience.

A Brief Timeline of Yoga exercise

As we know, yoga exercise is enjoying an immense renaissance across the globe - we know about Bikram's Hot Yoga, Lotus Pose, general physical pretzelling and oh so much about where to purchase yoga clothes, yoga mats, even yoga gear for our pets! Nevertheless, the history of yoga is rich and long standing and deserves some mention. So without further ado, let us begin near the beginning.

Between 200BC and 300AD an Indian philosopher known as Patanjali gave the globe the Yoga Sutras - a series of aphorisms that set out the exercise of the eight limbs of classical yoga exercise. Though we know really little about the sage himself, Patanjali's excellent work is considered the cornerstone from the knowledge of yoga exercise exercise, from asana exercise towards the deeper internal journey of meditation and self- realization. The function is set out into four chapters known as The Samadhi Pada, the Sadhana Pada, the Vibhuti Pada and the Kaivayla Pada. Yoga exercise means union, sutra may be the Sanskrit word for thread, and pada may be the Sanksrit word for book. These 196 short phrases remain the foremost body of function on the philosophy of yoga. From the commentary and analysis of yogis, sages, translators and philosophers over waves upon waves of time we have accumulated the wisdom of yoga exercise as it's practiced today - a combination of asanas, meditation and body/spirit care that has proven to become of timeless benefit to all who engage in this exercise.

Hatha Yoga exercise

This may be the style most familiar to most of us. Hatha Yoga exercise is also called the forceful yoga exercise; the name Hatha comes from a mixture of two Sanskrit words Ha (sun) and Tha (moon). The western practice of Hatha Yoga focuses mostly on the asana exercise, which is designed to keep the body flexible and to cool the mind in preparation for meditation. This form of yoga also aids in creating a harmony in between our dual natures (masculine/feminine, hot/cold, will/surrender) and brings us closer to a deeper practice of yoga exercise.

Bhakti Yoga

Bhakti yoga may be the yoga exercise of devotion and chanting. Predating Hatha yoga, Bhakti yoga exercise is approx. 4000 many years old making it one from the oldest forms of yoga exercise in the globe! North Americans most frequently come to yoga like a form of exercise, whereas Indian culture approaches asana exercise like a way to calm the thoughts before meditation and worship. Kirtan is the practice of singing the name of God in all his/her divine aspects; translated from Sanskrit it indicates 'I surrender towards the Lord'. Traditionally, kirtan is performed in a call and response style. The kirtan leader sings a line or verse of a mantra or prayer, and the kirtan group responds as accurately as possible. Kirtan is a community, a dialogue between the call leader, the kirtan group and the energy of the Divine. Within the eight limb system of classical yoga, kirtan is regarded to become pratyahara (focusing the mind inward) and is really a bridge in between our inner and outer selves. Bhakti yoga exercise may be the divine melody and rhythm from the human spirit, expressed in chanting and song.

Karma Yoga exercise

Karma yoga exercise is selfless service to others. This yoga exercise asks that the yogi make his/her actions in this globe expressions of devotion and offerings to God, without considering personal gain. If you do community function, volunteer work, or just do something very nice for someone for no reason at all, you are performing acts of karma yoga exercise. Ghandi's many years of selfless service to South Africa and India are famous examples of the function of Karma yoga.

Dream Yoga

Dream yoga is about listening attentively to what your dreams are telling you. This knowledge is used to much better your waking life by helping you pay more attention to your daily realities, dreamed or shared.

Jnana Yoga exercise

Jnana yoga may be the study of the philosophy of yoga exercise; Jnana is the Sanskrit word for understanding .
The practice of this yoga involves deep meditation exercise, study from the self, the True Self and the Transcendental Self. The yogi is challenged to examine the real and the illusory. So that you can do so the yogi should use his/her mind to retrain the mind to separate the real from the unreal and thus discover and liberate the True Self. Jnana yoga uses meditation, introspection and contemplation techniques to attain wisdom and enlightenment.

Mantra Yoga exercise

This is primarily the yoga exercise of sound. The word mantra comes from a combination of the Sanskrit words man 'to think' and tra 'instrumentality' .
Mantra is intention expressed as sound, unlike Bhakti yoga , which is strictly the yoga of song and chanting; for instance when you chant 'OM' you're combining mantra yoga and bhakti yoga. Mantras have been chanted for thousands of years (some continuously for thousands of years!) to guide the mind into meditation and to establish an intention to produce states of consciousness or ask for divine guidance.

Raja Yoga exercise

Raj may be the Sanskrit word for king and Raja yoga is known as the Royal Yoga simply because it brings out the king/queen in all of us; the noble inner self that's so infrequently acknowledged in our every day lives. Raja yoga exercise offers an opportunity to focus on the high quality of our everyday thoughts and deeds, being careful to reveal the goodness that the workings from the mind frequently conceal or disregard. Most closely associated with the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, it is most frequently expressed within the eight limbs of Classical Yoga.

Yoga of Sri Chinmoy

In the west yoga exercise has become synonymous using the aspect of physical workouts referred to as Hatha Yoga exercise. However Yoga is a wide ranging set of spiritual teachings which seek to bring an aspirant closer to the Universal Self. The word yoga exercise means "union" and in this case it is the union of a seeker with God or union with the transcedental consciousness. Sri Chinmoy says the essence of yoga is " Yoga is our union with Truth." Sri Chinmoy's route encompasses all aspects of Yoga exercise. The principle strands of Yoga exercise becoming

1. Hatha Yoga exercise - physical workouts

2. Karma Yoga exercise - Yoga of selfless action

3. Raja Yoga exercise - Yoga of gaining control over thoughts

4. Bhakti Yoga - Yoga exercise of adore and devotion

5. Jnana Yoga - Yoga of wisdom

Hatha Yoga exercise

Hatha Yoga exercise may be the science of practising different yoga postures for the improvement of physica health and general nicely being. It has been well documented that regular practise of Hatha Yoga exercise can also enhance posture and also contribute to an improved state of mind.

Hatha Yoga is not an integral part of Sri Chinmoy's yoga exercise. Meditation and spiritual growth depend primarily on a seekers sincere inner cry. Sri Chinmoy says of Hatha Yoga

"If your aim is just to keep the body relaxed and fit, then Hatha Yoga exercise will certainly help you. But should you wish to complete your course in the inner life, you have to enter into the school of concentration, meditation and contemplation."

But Sri Chinmoy does place excellent stress about the importance of physical health. A healthy body is of great benefit within the spiritual existence. To this end Hatha Yoga exercise can complement meditation really well. A number of of Sri Chinmoy's students provide Hatha Yoga classes such as Lotus Yoga exercise in Ireland and Yoga centres in San Francisco and Seattle.These hatha yoga exercise courses are held independently of meditation classes, but frequently there's an overlap with individuals benefiting from both.

Karma Yoga exercise

Karma yoga exercise is the yoga exercise of dedicated action or selfless service. The aim of Karma Yoga exercise is to engage in activities without attachment to the result. An example of this selfless service may be the humanitarian aid programme founded by Sri Chinmoy called "Oneness Heart Tears and Smiles." Staffed by volunteers from the Sri Chinmoy Centres the OHTS has collected aid for distribution in more than 100 countries. In the spirit of Karma Yoga exercise the OHTS programme aims to be much more than charity but to extend a feeling of oneness with those less privileged in material needs.

Sri Chinmoy says of Karma Yoga exercise

"Karma Yoga is desireless action undertaken for the sake from the Supreme. Karma Yoga exercise is man's genuine acceptance of his earthly existence. Karma Yoga is man's dauntless march across the battlefield of life... Karma Yoga exercise claims that life is really a divine opportunity for serving God" (3)

Raja Yoga exercise

Raja Yoga exercise occasionally referred to as ashtanga Yoga exercise may be the yoga exercise of gaining manage over the mind in order to achieve liberation. In Raja yoga exercise the aspirant practices concentration and meditation in order to still the thoughts. The great proponent of Raja yoga was Patanjali who described the various practices in a series of aphorisms. Sri Chinmoy's approach to Raja Yoga exercise and meditation is to take a path of simplicity. Sri Chinmoy recommends focusing on the spiritual heart. It is here within the spiritual heart that a seeker can gain access towards the inner wealth of peace, love and happiness. By meditating in the thoughts it's much more hard to be unemcumbered with thoughts.

"Our route is basically the route from the heart and not the path of the thoughts. ... The heart is all love.
The thoughts is quite frequently all confusion. When we say the heart, we mean the spiritual heart, which is flooded with divine love."

- Sri Chinmoy

Sri Chinmoy Centres offer free of charge meditation classes in cities around the world. The courses are aimed at beginners of meditation and are based on the meditation teachings of Sri Chinmoy. The classes are free of charge at the request of Sri Chinmoy that spirituality ought to be obtainable to all and not have a monetary fee.

Bhatki Yoga exercise

Bhakti yoga exercise is known as the yoga exercise of devotion. Here a seeker seeks to attain union with God via an attitude of love, devotion and surrender. Sri Chinmoy's yoga places excellent emphasis on devotion. For example his numerous songs emphasize a strong devotional approach, as does his early poetry.

Jnana Yoga exercise

Jnana Yoga is the yoga of wisdom. In Jnana yoga the aspirant strives to understand the mystery of the transcendental truth.

Yoga exercise for Beginners: The Very first Step of Yoga Practice

Maybe your doctor, chiropractor, physical therapist, or greatest friend told you Yoga exercise will be great for you. You've heard so much about Yoga; it seems that Yoga exercise is a "cure" for nearly anything. The more you hear, the more confusing it's to understand what Yoga exercise is all about.

Ought to you go out and purchase a Yoga exercise book? What would be the greatest Yoga book to purchase? If you visit the local book store, you see hundreds of Yoga exercise books, CD's, DVD's, card decks, and kits. Should you purchase a copy of the Yoga exercise Sutras by Patanjali or buy 1 from the "for dummies" Yoga books?

Below is an overview of Yoga, which may assist you decide your path of Yogic study. There's no correct or wrong path of Yoga study, but be selective whenever you select a Yoga teacher, Yoga book, or Yoga class..


You ought to very first realize that there are lots of designs of Yoga exercise. You will find nine major styles of Yoga; numerous more designs exist, too as many sub-styles. The nine main styles of Yoga are Bhakti, Hatha, Jnana, Karma, Kundalini, Mantra, Raja, Tantra, and Yantra Yoga. Each style emphasizes unity of body, thoughts, and spirit.

The literal meaning of Yoga exercise is "union" or "unity." If we can unify the entire body, mind, and spirit in harmony, we can achieve tranquility. 1 from the main purposes of Yoga exercise is tranquility via enhanced health due to a holistic approach to life.

India may be the birth place of Yoga exercise. There are many written works about Yoga exercise, but the origin of Yoga exercise dates back thousands of years. Yoga may be the "mother" of most from the world's health maintenance systems. Asian martial arts, with an origin from the Shaolin temple, and Pilates, can trace their ancestry back to Yoga exercise.

The "higher forms of Yoga" are said to be Bhakti, Jnana, Karma, and Raja Yoga exercise. Each of these four designs is a complex subject, within themselves, and I can't do them justice by a summarization.

Hatha Yoga exercise sub-styles are the most prolific outside of India. Most new Yoga exercise practitioners will discover a Hatha Yoga exercise sub-style very first. Hatha Yoga exercise, and its numerous sub-styles, primarily emphasize physical wellness, which will likely result in enhanced mental health. Most Hatha Yoga exercise classes, outside of India, do not approach spiritual wellness.

Nevertheless, Hatha Yoga is seen by fundamentalists as an "export of Hinduism." In some rare instances, this may be true, but most Hatha Yoga exercise teachers are content to teach enhanced wellness for entire body and thoughts.

Therefore, when you choose a book, or local Yoga teacher, be aware that the Yoga exercise teacher or Guru is a guide - but you have a correct to know which direction you're being guided to. The Yoga exercise practitioner learns to expand his or her mind and make independent decisions "along the way."

Yoga exercise is non-threatening to religion. If a Yoga exercise instructor teaches intolerance, of any kind, that's not Yoga exercise. Unity isn't sectarianism. We have to discover to appreciate diversity, and we should never tolerate prejudice. Prejudice and intolerance are often the cause of crime and wars.

On the "Grand Scale," the goal of Yoga is world peace through unity.