Category: Yoga
It’s rightly believed that though a spoken word is heard by all, the privilege of having the ability to listen to a softly spoken word is solely granted to people who are blessed with a sensible sense of hearing. Therefore, it’s essential for every individual to possess a good sense of hearing in order to be in a position to survive in this vast universe and this will be attained through the regular practice of yoga.
The word yoga has been derived from the Sanskrit word yuj which means to unite or to manage and so this ancient art involves the unification of the physical, mental likewise as the non secular aspects of its practitioner. Since the most objective of yoga is to assist the individual to calm down and develop a deep insight, this enlightenment which is achieved can be effectively used to seek ones energy points within the body which are called chakras.
The human body is home to seven chakras that reside in seven totally different parts of the body and each of the seven chakras resembles a wheel or a flower surrounded by a selected number of pokes or petals. It’s this chakra which is the focal point of energy among the body and also the chakra that encompasses the ear and influences our sense of hearing is referred to as the vishuddhi chakra, that is symbolized by a turquoise blue lotus surrounded by sixteen petals. Since this chakra is responsible for the clarity in communication, fluency of thought, independence furthermore a way of security during a soul, it ought to continually be open and functioning as an inlet for knowledge, knowledge and learning.
The branch of yoga which causes the vishuddhi chakra to open is called kundalini yoga and this entails a regular practice of a variety of yogasanas, pranayama, and jalandhara bandha and khecari mudra. The yogic asanas which are related to the sense of hearing in a human being and lead to its improvement through regular follow are listed as follows:
Tadasana, a standing asana, not only keeps the ear healthy, but conjointly improves the physical balance of someone and adds flexibility to a minimum of ones backbone.
Jal neti is a technique in which water is suffered the internal passages of the face therefore making certain the effective cleaning of the ear and subsequently reducing the probabilities of an infection.
Karma dhauti could be a method by which the ear wax is off from the ear by inserting the insufficient finger and rotating it in all directions.
II. Uttarakalamrita: Kalidasa of Uttarakalamrita a classical writer completely differs with Mantreswara and also introduced some precious knowledge about the exchange of houses which brought dramatic considering and bringing in practice. His suggestions are as below:
(a) When ninth and tenth lords exchange their position (provided they are not the owners of eighth and eleventh houses as well) they create a Raj Yoga and bring wealth and prosperous to the concerned native.
(b) There are three pairs of lords which are very important to be carefully noted and properly examined in a birth chart:
(i) Lords of ninth and tenth houses from Ascendant.
(ii) Lords of ninth and tenth houses counted from ninth house of birth chart (This means the author favour exchange of fifth and sixth lords also).
(iii) Lords of ninth and tenth houses reckoned from tenth house of birth chart (which means the author allows parivartana of sixth and seventh house to be good).
(iv) There are four sets have been considered viz. Lords of Rasi and Amsa occupied by a planet and Ascendant lord (b) Lords of tenth and ninth (c) Lords of 5, 3, 4 and 7 (d) Lords of 2 and 11: When they occupy each others house they bestow on the native the following blessings viz. (a) prosperity, (b) elephants, horses or like that, (c) happiness and children, (d) wealth.
(v) If any one of the following three interchanges of houses take place in a birth chart, thus constituted parivartana yoga do come in existence, viz. (a) eighth lord occupying twelfth or sixth (b) sixth lord occupying eighth or twelfth, (c) twelfth lord placed in eighth or sixth. Here vide (a) to (c) as above the concerned planets should at the same time be free from such relation with other planets.
Above mentioned yogas of parivartana when found to be present in any birth chart, bestow on the concerned native a great kingship, fame, name and wealth.
III. Jataka Yogavali: An author Venkatesa Sharma who in his later life became known as celebrated Venkatesa Daivagnya and wrote a grantha Sarvartha Chintamani, some 375 years ago, has written a classical work Jataka Yogavali and has given us some Privartana Yogas due to the interchange of certain houses. The Parivartana Yogas though they are very few, but clearly hint how cautious we should be to look other favourable conditions also for materializing the yoga phala.
(i)CHAPA(bow) YOGA: Interchange of signs between lords of second and tenth house whilst the Ascendant lord is exalted, will resultProfessionally the status of the native is comparable to a king. He is treasurer or a commander.
(ii)SIVA YOGA: Lord of fifth placed in ninth, ninth lord placed in tenth, whereas tenth lord placed in fifth house. Effects of this yoga are: the native engages himself in high undertakings, gets lordship over vast areas, wins battles, professionally positions himself as a commander, controls over his senses and has the vast knowledge.
(iii)KAAR MUKHA YOGA: Interchange of signs between lords of Ascendant and tenth, whilst amsa lords of tenth and Ascendant falling in one and the same sign and there is Jupiters aspect on either first or tenth lords.
Effects: The native would be leader amongst learned people, highly courageous, very intelligent, charitable, enjoying life in high walks and very important personality in the community. The yoga phala materializes after nine years of age.
IV) INDRA YOGA: Whilst there is exchange of signs between lords of fifth and eleventh houses, the Moon should stand in fifth house. Effects: The native will has reputation for a very long period. He will be highly courageous having status like a king. He will enjoy life in high walks and will be liked by king.
(v) AMARAKA YOGA: Exchange of houses between lords of seventh and ninth provided both the lords are quite strong. Effects: The native will possess long hands, lotus like eyes. He will be well-versed in law, having a magisterial post, praised by public, interested in pilgrimages, has happiness from wife and will be enjoying greater happiness after age of 50 years.
(vi) SRIMANTHI(wealth) YOGA: If there is interchange of houses between lords of ninth and tenth provided Ascendant lord is with one of the above lords duly aspected by Jupiter. Effects: The native will be having highly charitable nature and all kinds of prosperity. He will be highly respected and be learned. He will have full span of life.
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It might surprise many people to learn that yoga has a long history in the United States. For a lot of Americans, their knowledge of yoga may only date back to the 1960s, when the concepts of spiritualism and meditation were embraced by the countrys counterculture.
But it may surprise some people to learn that yoga in the U.S. has a history that dates back to the late 1800s.
In 1883, Swami Vivekananda made an appearance at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago where he greeted his sisters and brothers of America, a salutation that brought a standing ovation from the large audience in attendance. His idea that all of the religions of the world are merely separate parts of a larger religion was a new concept to those hearing him speak about the mind, body and spirit.
Swami Vivekananda was followed by Yogendra Mastamani, also from India, who arrived in the U.S. and settled on Long Island, N.Y. in 1919 and established the American version of Kaivalyadhama, an Indian organization that made major strides in the scientific exploration of yoga. Mastamani introduced Hatha Yoga to the United States.
One year later, one of the most popular yogis of all time, Paramahansa Yogananda, arrived in Boston to introduce kriya yoga to the U.S. He created the Self-Realization Fellowship, which now has its headquarters in Los Angeles. Yogananda also wrote the world-famous best seller, “Autobiography of a Yogi”, a book that is still an inspirational resource for many yoga instructors and students.
In the 1930s, Jiddu Krishnamurti brought the yogi to new level of awareness in the U.S. thanks to this popular, eloquent speeches on Jnana-Yoga yoga, which is the yoga of discernment. His talks earned him the admiration of a number of celebrities of the time, such as writers Aldous Huxley and George Bernard Shaw and actors Charlie Chaplin and Greta Garbo.
In 1924, the U.S. imposed a restriction on the number of Indians it would allow to move to the U.S., meaning students who sought the teachings of yogis had to travel to India. One of these students was Theos Bernard, who traveled to India and came back in 1947 to write the book “Hatha Yoga: The Report of a Personal Experience”, an influential book which is still widely today.
The same year that Bernard penned his examination of Hatha Yoga, Russian-born yogi Indra Devi opened one of the first Hatha Yoga studios in Hollywood and earned the title First Lady of Yoga. Devi was admired by housewives across the U.S., as well as Hollywood stars such as Gloria Swanson, Jennifer Jones and Robert Ryan. Devi died in her home in Buenos Ares in 2002.
But the man who is generally credited with introducing yoga to middle America is not even a native of India. Richard Hittleman, who studied in India for a number of years and returned to the States in 1950 to become a yoga instructor in New York, introduced a non-spiritual-based yoga to the United States and forever changed the way yoga was thought of and taught in America. It was Hittleman who placed emphasis on the physical side of yoga, letting a Western audience focus on the bodily aspects of yoga and not just the mind. Hittleman’s goal was to teach American students to gradually embrace the spiritual side of yoga, which many people have.
As Hittleman worked to expand yoga on the East, Walt and Magana Baptiste were working to increase yoga’s scope on the West Coast when they open a studio in San Francisco in the 1950s. Both of the Baptistes were students of Yogananda and Walt brought the influence of Vivekananda to the practice, creating an entirely new approach to yoga. Their yoga influence is being continued by their daughter and son, Sherri and Baron.
Elsewhere in San Francisco, Swami Vishu-devananda immigrated from India in 1958 and created “The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga” with famed artist and designer Peter Max. The book has become a go-to manual for yoga instructors and students. Vishu-devananga would later go on to create the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta yoga centers, which has become one of most prominent yoga school franchises in the entire world.
When the counterculture began to take hold in the 1960s, the idea of yoga and its emotional effects caught the interest of many people, and one of the most famous groups to explore the meditative possibilities of yoga were The Beatles, whose relationship with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was famous around the world. He created the Transcendental Meditation school of yoga that today employs more than 40,000 instructors and approximately 4 million followers worldwide.
In the late ’60s, Professor Richard Albert of Harvard took a journey into India and came back with the name Ram Dass and gave talks to college students around the nation in support of his blockbuster book “Be Here Now”, which set thousands of young people on a journey of discovery through yoga. The book continues to be source of inspiration for many people in their quest for spirituality through yoga.
In the 1970s, yoga continued to grow as studios began popping up all over the nation. The Mount Madonna yoga school, founded by Baba Hari Dass, gave residential yoga to the inhabitants of Santa Cruz, California. Shrila Prabhubada began the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, which led to the international spiritual study of Bhakti Yoga. Ashtanga-vinyasa Yoga was brought to the U.S. by Pattabhi Jois in the mid ’70s and made yoga popular with new groups of people. Swami Satchitananda was probably the most famous non-musician to appear at Woodstock. Swami Sivananda Radha is the female yogi credited with first investigating the link between the spirituality and psychology of yoga. And the teachings of Swamii Chidananda, who himself was a student of yoga master Swami Sivananda, were delivered to the world by one of his former students, instructor Liliias Folan through her landmark PBS television series “Lilias, Yoga and You” which aired on the network from 1970 to 1979 and made yoga available in every home in the U.S.
Yoga has continued its influence across America with classes and studios in cities all over, from the smallest town to the major metro areas. In addition, the advent of digital media, including CDs, DVDs and streaming Internet video, yoga can go anywhere, further giving it a foothold in the United States.
This is the latest article in our yoga central series and today we will be looking at a pose known as cat cow pose and is the combination of two poses. We will look at how to properly carry out the pose, the benefits you can get from it and anything that you need to consider before beginning. Please read the entire article before trying the pose.
How to Carry Out the Pose
We have put together instructions on how to carry out the pose correctly however there are also a number of modifications that can be done to make the pose easier as well as deeper. These modifications will be found lower in the article.
1. Begin the pose by coming to your hands and knees. It is important that you make sure your knees are directly underneath your hips and are hip width apart. Your hands should also be directly under your shoulders and your wrists firm. Make sure your head is in a neutral position and that you are looking at the floor.
2. As you exhale round your spine towards the ceiling making sure that your hands and knees remain in their starting position. You should also lower your head towards the floor but not press your chin against your chest.
3. Now release the pose and go back through the starting position and arch your back. As in the previous step you should keep your hands and knees in their starting positions. The head should be lifted towards the ceiling but it important to keep your neck soft and not compress it and lift it too far.
4. You should then release this pose and go back to step 2. Continue through steps 2 and 3 for 4 or 5 times in order to get the maximum benefit.
5. On completion of the pose push back into child pose with your bottom on your feet and rest your head on the floor or on your hands whichever is most comfortable.
Tips and Precautions
This is a relatively easy pose to perform but there are a number of things you may want to do if you are new to it and lack flexibility. For example you may find it difficult to round your back for the cat part of the pose. If this is the case then you should get someone to place their hand above and between the shoulder blades in order to activate that area. For the cow part of the pose you can protect your neck by broadening the shoulder blades and drawing your shoulders down away from your ears.
If you suffer from a neck injury then it is a good idea to keep your neck in a neutral position for both sections of this pose combination. This will enable you to keep your neck safe but still get the desired benefits.
Benefits and Focus
Although this is the combination of both the cat pose and cow pose the benefits are the same for both of them which is part of the reason why they go so well together. Practising this pose on a regular basis will help to stretch out the back torso and the neck. It will also provide a gentle massage to both the spine and the abdominal organs. The main anatomical focus of this pose combination is on the uterus and therapeutically it will be very helpful for people suffering from stress. In addition, although it is not its main focus it may also be helpful for people who suffer from anxiety and depression as well as other similar conditions.