Into the chant

Mantra in Sanskrit can be broken down into its derivative words. Mana meaning of the mind and tra can mean to cross or tool. So it is a tool to help you cross the mind.(2) The oldest know mantras come from the Rig Veda around 1500 B.C.E. the entire Veda is in mantric form.(3)

For the multitudes of sects of Hinduism there is an even greater number of mantras. The aim of any mantra is to use the vibrations with up and down tones created by the recitation to have the neuro-linguistic effect and Psycholinguistic effect. These effects release "curative chemicals" into the brain. "Listening to mantras directly lowers blood pressure, normalizes heart beat rate, brain wave pattern, adrenalin level, even cholesterol level."  Even if you do not understand the words of the mantra there can still be noticeable effects.(1)

My firsthand experience is that the calming effects of mantra can be felt the first time they are chanted. If enough repetitions are done in a sitting the effects are extended, and when a daily practice is maintained the effects can become a continuous state, altering the mental emotional level of the practitioner.

Work Cited

Arora, Indu. Yogsadhna! - Yoga as a therapy. Dr. Indu Arora, 2009. web. 25, Sept 2013.

Rajhans, Gyan. "The Power of Mantra Chanting." About. About. n.d. Web. 25, Sept 2013.

Sadasaivan, manoj. Das, Subhamoy. "The Four Vedas: Rig, Sama, Yajur, atharva." About. About, n.d. Web. 25, Sept 2013.

Moving and grooving

My experience with the physical practice of yoga is, when applied in a way that balances strength and flexibility it balances the body. I also found that yoga works its way through the body, developing muscles in stages. Such as in downward dog, which uses lots of shoulder and arms. To develop or go deeper into this pose for most beginners, shoulders have to be strengthened and relaxed, then the biceps, triceps, forearms, and hands. Once the arms can bare the bodies weight with ease, you then can focus on relaxing calves and hamstrings. After the legs are relaxed and the heels are touching the floor the weight becomes balanced. In the final step the shoulders are stretched further back in the sockets and the head sinks to the ground. All this leads from the beginning pose on the left, to the advanced pose on the right.

This happens over all the major body parts used; such as shoulders and back strengthen first then obliques, and inner thighs become sore as those become developed. It is important to note the need to balance flexibility with strength. It is possible to become flexible enough to do damage to tendons and ligaments through hyper-extension and bearing too much weight joints. Obversly if you work solely on strength the body tightens and becomes stiff to the point that it is impossible to even grab something off the ground. These physical benefits might be what draws in many people, looking for a quick fitness fix or to join the yoga fitness trend. Yoga has become a fitness trend and it could be said anything that will get people exercising is good, but this is far from yoga's origins.

Asana is for the purpose of preparing you for meditation. (1) This is true in the physical sense as, if you ask the average person who is over 30 to sit with a straight back perfectly still for forty five, thirty, even fifteen minutes they will be shifting around uncomfortable. This movement keeps the mind from reaching the  level of relaxing needed in meditation. A second less noticed aspect of yoga asana is as the body loosens up the mental tensions generated from the physical tensions are removed allowing for person release into meditation easier.

Some people though find the idea of meditating unattractive for reasons such as in Ed and Deb Shapiro's article on prana.com 7 reasons it's hard to meditate. Things such as: I don't have time, it's uncomfortable to sit, my mind won't stop, there are too many distractions, no seen benefit, I'm not good at it, and it's just too weird. All these are the mind being so wound  up it can't let go. Even if the mind is still chaotic with the physical and mental relaxation gleaned  from yoga it is possible to sit in the chaos. Then over time the mind will let go more, some experience change after the first session of meditation. Yoga helps those who are mentally wound up by distracting the mind with the poses, mixing that with deep breathing allow the mind to relax.  So even the most physical practitioner will experience mental effects.

In the Yoga Journal article The Scientific Basis of Yoga Therapy by M.D. Tom McCall  he describes how the scientifically proven effects of yoga on the body go well beyond physical fitness. "yoga is arguably the most comprehensive approach to fighting stress ever invented...One of yoga's secrets, documented in research from the Swami Vivekananda Yoga Research Foundation near Bangalore, is that more active practices followed by relaxing ones lead to deeper relaxation than relaxing practices alone."

Yoga doesn't have to be some spiritual practice of meditation, and chanting in a cave somewhere. Just don't be surprised to be changed though, mentally and emotionally even if it is just the physical practice that brings you to the mat.

Work cited
Gates, Rolf. Kenison, Katrina. Meditations from the Mat. New York: Anchor Books, 2002. Print.

What I have found

I have been looking around though yoga blogs. I have found a few very generalized constants:

1. It's mostly all women, there are men out there blogging but like my experience in the studios men are the minority.
2. It's almost all asana, yes there are more esoteric blogs and yes there are posts about healthy eat, green living, and meditation but it all seems to be buried under a mountain of asana. Articles about getting this pose right or being able to get that arm balance you've been working on. It seems some people  allow asana to become their next fitness addiction. I'll be the first to say asana is my least favorite aspect of yoga. It nourishes my body and is a great accompaniment to my other practices but it is a small peace of the whole.

That being said I have found some blogs I think are great, informative, and provide new information with each post. Here are my top three

Everyday Gita a blog by Vrndavana Vinodini or V.V. for short.  Is a blog posting around once every four  days, she provides a break down of The Bhagavad Gita. The bhagavad Gita is part of the  Mahabharata the great Indian epic. As the war is about to begin the hero Arjuna is talked to by Krishna his  charioteer and friend who he later learns is God. The conversation becomes a discourse on religion and the  three many paths that lead to freedom from suffering to enlightenment. Those being karma-yoga or the yoga  of action and service, jnana-yoga or the yoga of thought and contemplation, and bhakti-yoga or the yoga of  devotion, and worship.(1)

 V.V. who has read the Gita multiple times starts each post with a verse then breaks it down. Giving her  interpretations, real world applications and insights into verse that might be confusing at first glance such as  her August 30th post with the verse 4. 18: "One who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, is  intelligent among men, and he is in the transcendental position, although engaged in all sorts of activities."

Hindu Blog by Abhilash Rajendran. Being someone who grew up Irish Catholic there is a large learning  curve when it comes to yoga and Hinduism. This blog has helped me, each day has multiple posts.  One  with the astrology of the day: giving good and bad times for beginning new ventures, lunar phase, and the day in relation to  Vedic, Tamil, Malayalam, and Bengali calenders. There are brief entries on spirituality, sacred sites, fasting, and festivals. All this information is new parts of the Hindu religion for me. He offers a  nondenominational, user friendly websites with only a small number of terms that need to be looked up.

Hindu Expressions by Mukul Shri Goel, he combines classic Hindu literature, music, as well as devotional practice. Discussing their current relevance as well, giving very generalize post like "Hinduism: Main Beliefs", or "Nine Forms of Bhakti". He also has posts answering questions people could think of while exploring Hinduism, such as "Does Rama Need the Prefix 'Bhagavan'?". His posts are very light and easy to digest mentally, allowing for perusing through archives without feeling weighed down by reading each post.

As I have reached out into this community of Yogis, Hindus, and searchers of peace I have found many who are bring information that I have looked for and found lacking in many books. As well as everyday information on things such as Hinduism so that I can learn of this other vast culture that would be untouchable otherwise, to them I offer my thanks.
Work Cited
1 "Hinduism". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 15 Sep. 2013

How I found my way

From my early inquiries into a more in-depth understand of life, suffering and happiness I looked for knowledge from the outside. I did what any child was told to do, "go look it up in a book". This is a rather ridiculous idea in hindsight. Theses concepts are so subjective, expansive and just so hard to convey in any other way other than actual experience that all books can ever hope to do is act as sign post towards a practice or possibly hope to give you the who, what, when, and why but never the how. It is my belief actually that each one of us has a path that can lead us away from suffering, for each person it is different to fit their temperament, intelligence, and level of preparedness. We are given the choice to follow this path, though it might be hard to find, buried behind bushes so to speak it is there for us all. It might not happen in this life but it can happen. I have read books from most "major" religions in the world I am an expert on none of them, I will however keep my list of books to the ones that have had a definite impact. I had a point in my life where I thought I could become an expert on meditation by reading enough about it. I was reading a book when struck by a line that stated; you will never find enlightenment in a book only on a cushion. Meaning the only way to get at any of what I had been reading about was to practice in this case sit down on a cushion and meditate. Books are no substitute for the actual practice but they can be great introductions to aspects of or sign posts for your journey. Here is a list of books that have changed my way of looking at my spirituality mostly in order that I have read them.

The four agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom
by Don Miquel Ruiz. This book is definitely under the New Age genre however it helped me through years of depression. In a straight forward  four step way this book allowed me to take a more objective view of the world, abandon my role of the victim, and give myself enough empowerment to move forward.

The Art of Happiness, How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful Life By His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Though I don't completely prescribe to Buddhist beliefs and find myself being an amalgamation of Hinduism and Buddhism The Dalai Lama can always bring topics into a clear and easy to understand way. He can sometimes explain something to death for some people, but he really just wants to makes sure you understand the concepts.

Meditations from the Mat: Daily Reflections on the Path of Yoga 

By Rolf Gates and Katrina Kenison. This book is set up in a daily inspirations sort of way. The whole book broken down into the eight aspects of yoga: Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, Samadhi. The Yamas and Niyamas get the most attention each one of the ten being touched on for a few days each. The authors trade of giving their experiences in daily life and the understandings of each aspect that they have gained over time. This book was a great way to learn more in depth about about the eight aspects of yoga without being buried in Sanskrit yogic terminology.

Wheels of Life: A User's Guide to the Chakra System 
By Anodea Judith. This book was recommended to me by a yoga teacher, when I was looking to deepen my understanding of the chakra or energy system of the body. Anodea in her book portrays each chakra as being a node of specific energies emotions and psychological aspects. As we develop from infancy to adulthood we work our way up the chakras, each being affected by the psychological health of each developmental stage. If a trauma or unhealthy development should happen it causes a blockage or dysfunction in the chakra affecting our emotional and possibly physical health. It is then possible to work through psychological issues, energetically or on the chakra of its relation through psychological work. This gave me a new way to view myself, my emotional and energetic health, and see how physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual are all linked.

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali By Swami Satchidananda

This is one of those books you have to read, reread, reread, and then maybe you understand a third of what you can glean from this book. Swami Satchidananda was one of the greats of the yoga world being one of the first to bring yoga to the U.S., as well as led a movement for interfaith dialogue. Eventually opening Yogaville close to Charlottesville Virginia, his center for all faiths to gather in peace.(1) This is his translations of the sutras each line translated, the translation is given followed by a few lines or in some cases whole pages of explanation, examples and interpretations of each sutra.




Though These books helped guide me, and I still pick up new books to read today not all people will find these books accessible, interesting, or fitting into their beliefs. I know their is a way to lasting peace out there for everyone, only if they look.

Work Cited
1.Satchidananda Ashram--Yogaville. Sri Swami Satchidananda. 2013. Web. 17, Sept. 2013

Finding your way to the mat

I show up, hopefully a few minutes early for class. The class before me is getting out, some are ripe with sweat, others just sticky hair, but all have a sort of content happy face. The doors from the outer studio to the practice room are open. I slide off my shoes and head in, find an opening and roll out my mat, sit down and start to center myself. Focusing on my breath moving in and out. More people come in, I do a some neck stretches for the stiff neck I've had all day. The teacher walks in, she's been manning the desk out front checking people in as they come in. She takes her seat in the front of the class and starts a guided breath meditation.

This was my experience most weeknights at the yoga studio I attended in Northern Virginia. For about three years I slid around trying out classes, attending new teachers, and above all just practicing. Yoga is a practice as one of my favorite teachers said, "Yoga is the practice of staying calm even while you are pushing yourself physically, and it will slowly retrain your brain for handling the stresses of daily life." As I practiced there were two things I had over the years and though it took a long time to embrace them. They helped my practice tremendously.:

• No expectations: Keeping an open and fresh mind about each class gets hard especially if you have a routine. However, if you show up to your Thursday night sweat your butt off hot flow class only to find a substitute who is gonna teach a slow but equally as challenging class you won't become upset if you stay open. You might even learn something you would never have gotten from the original teacher. Yoga teaches control and surrender, it is just many think surrender in life is the same as losing.

• No judgement: Though many people take this as not judging others and you shouldn't judge others in your class, it is more important to not judge yourself. I know every time I have hurt myself in yoga is when I was pushing myself because I was judging myself harshly and forcing myself to go further.

(2)

After I began to practice these two key points I found myself feeling even greater peace and relaxation from the classes I took. As these principles spilled into my life it began to take on a more peaceful tone. The hardest part I find most new yoga students have is fear of attending new yoga classes. When I was a new student I would see photos like this and think that this had be the kind of poses they were doing in the class and if I don't know how to do it I will stick out like a sore thumb. Most beginner classes follow a form close to basic hatha classes, though the teacher may change around the style of sun salutation or some of the seated pose it gives and accurate portrayal. The following is a common hatha yoga classes. In the opening of the class some teachers will chant OM, others use a set opening chant or one that fits the class dynamics. This is followed with breathing, eye and neck exercises. Then a series of sun salutations, which can be considered a warm up exercise allowing muscles to loosen up. This is usually done in the vinyasa style. After this all the other poses are for toning and stretching specific muscle groups. There are standing pose such as the forward fold and squats. Then balancing poses, followed by seated poses and twists.(1) Then the final relaxation usually done in corpse pose, this pose has an importance most new students miss. The pose allows you body to let go of tension it may have built up, as well as any mental stress. (2)

Below is a photo of a common hatha series from Rowan Cobelli's website.

(3)

Work Cited
1.Yoga Now Malaysia. Yoga Practice Outline. n.d. Web. 8 Sept. 2013
2.Yoga Journal. Yoga Journal Poses. AIM Co. n.d. 2013. 8 Sept. 2013
3.Rowan Cobelli. "A Basic Class Sequence". Rowan Cobelli. n.d.Web. 8 Sept. 2013

So many styles to choose from

There is a major hurdle to attending a yoga class, not all yoga is the same. The main styles of yoga I have seen offered are: Hatha yoga, vinyasa/flow/ashtanga, kundalini, and beginner classes by many names like fundamentals, stretch and condition, or open to all.

• Hatha yoga: Hatha literal means sun and moon, yoga is actually the word for the joining together or yoking. So hatha is the joining of sun and moon or masculine and feminine energies. It is yoga in its purest form.(1) It involves moving from pose to pose, stopping in each pose for a certain number of breaths. According to Peter Marchand in his article Hatha Yoga: The Essential Techniques "Hatha yoga has two essential objectives. The first is that to practice any real meditation, one needs at the least one posture in which one can be perfectly comfortable".  The use of yoga as a meditation and to assist in meditation seems to be a practice no matter the style

• Ashtanga: This covers all flow classes since they all originated from Ashtanga which came out from Sri K. Pattabhi Jois teaching in  Mysore India after studying under Sri Tirumala Krishnamacharya.(2) Jois started using breath to guide movements. (1) This was changed or expanded by different teachers forming all the forms of vinyasa which translates to breath-sychronized movement. (2) 

• Iyengar: Developed  by B.K.S. Iyengar who also studied under Sri Tirumala Krishnamacharya in Mysore.(3) Iyengar had lived his young years being sickly, it was only until he began doing yoga that he began to gain health. He used his experience to teach a practice that was more accommodation to peoples limitations, introducing the use of props and removing some of the more esoteric Hindu practices. His style focuses more on proper physical alignment of asanas for the safety of the body as well as to achieve better results from the energies generated by each asana.(4) Iyengar can be good for beginners because of the focus on alignment so that they can learn the poses correctly the first time and avoid repetitive stress injuries.

• Beginning classes: These classes are usually amalgamations, with some short serieses of gentle vinyasa with mostly hatha for the rest of the class. The teachers usually offer variations for different levels of flexibility and strength.

Work Cited

1. Granger, Clyde. "The Origin Of Vinyasa Yoga". The Yoga Circle. 20 Mar. 2011. Web. 8 Sept. 2013

2. Lululemon. Vinyasa - yoga. Lululemon. 2013. Web. 8 Sept. 2013

3. Lululemon. Iyengar - yoga. Lululemon. 2013. Web. 8 Sept. 2013

4. B.K.S Iyengar Yoga. B.K.S Iyengar. n.d. Web. 8 Sept. 2013

That first step

About three years ago I found myself in a yoga class in Northern Virginia stressing and straining, trying to "make it work". Coming from a background of martial arts I was used to applying my mind over my body forcing it to do what I wanted. Yoga is almost the opposite your mind works with your body. Pushing your limits but not straining, finding the edge and not going past, and most importantly of all breathing.

The key to yoga is the breath after becoming proficient with poses it becomes the focus of your practice. You still are paying attention to your body and all those details but that becomes a second nature, you link your body with your breath allowing yourself to flow with the breath.

All that being said if you have never done yoga all that stuff above makes no difference at the moment. Here are a few tips for entering into your first yoga class:

• If you are going to a yoga studio that has a website check it out. 
• They might have classes listed for beginners, if not try to avoid "flow" or "vinyasa" classes as these are usually faster paced. 
• If you can find a studio that is running an introduction class or series, that is a great way you can learn the basics at a slow pace. Getting your alignment right instead of having to learn on the fly.
• Don't eat at least three hours before hand; try not to drink 30 minutes before either. Nothing is worse than folding forward and feeling like you're going to barf, or half way through class having to run to the bathroom. 
• It's okay to take a break from poses, I know you'll look around and see these people gliding through poses or looking so peaceful while you're ready to scream holding certain poses. Taking a break means you're respecting yourself and your limits, the teacher will respect you more than if you try to limp through their class and they know if you are. Also you avoid possible injuries.
• Hydrate, after class, slowly. As you're stretching and toning your muscles you are also releasing toxins, especially during twists and inversions, the water helps your body transport out those toxins. Even if you don’t break a sweat in class. Otherwise you will find yourself having headaches.
• It takes time, if you’re like me. You will get frustrated after your first couple classes. Either from not being able to do everything in the class or from just pushing too hard and created tension in your body. Give it say five classes, by then you should find a rhythm and feel more at ease.

Here is something I found that sums up etiquette when it comes to most studios, though some studios have varying rules especially when it comes to late comers.

(1)

The key is that you are doing this for you, that competitive edge that is there especially with us guys will be evident with extreme soreness the next day. So try to keep it about you, it’s not a quick fix it’s a slow transition, though there are some instant benefits. 

As a side note: Some people get weirded out by the spiritual side of yoga, either because they aren’t at all or they feel their own religion is being impeded on. To this I say I have seen these basic spiritual ideas of yoga affixed to peoples existing religions smoothly and beautifully even if your religion is no religion. No one is trying to convert you, far from it one of the main beliefs in most yoga circles is the idea that God or the universe created many paths for many people. I hope that dispels some fears I have seen first had from some people at yoga or when yoga is brought up.

After the physical part of the practice starts to become second nature you will find you move to focusing on breathing and setting intentions. The idea being your whole yoga class is a moving meditation and you focus all that energy on one intention. As Phillip Moffitt at Yoga Journal puts it:

"Setting intention, at least according to Buddhist teachings, is quite different than goal making. It is not oriented toward a future outcome. Instead, it is a path or practice that is focused on how you are "being" in the present moment. Your attention is on the ever-present "now" in the constantly changing flow of life. You set your intentions based on understanding what matters most to you and make a commitment to align your worldly actions with your inner values." (2)

So you set the intention of peace, over time you start to become your intention. Manifesting and embodying the intention until you are peaceful. In this way yoga can transform you physically, mentally, and spiritually. As the first line in the Yoga Sutra says,"The restraint of the modifications of the mind is yoga" (3) so through yoga we still the mind and find peace. next post will be a brief intro into the exact phases so to speak of a yoga class.

Work cited:

(1) Yoga studio etiquette. http://www.yogasamatva.com/newstudentsetiquette.html. Web. 4 Sept, 2013.
(2) Moffitt, Phillip. "The heart's Intention". Yoga Journal. Web. 4 Sept, 2013.
(3) Satchidananda. "The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali". Yogaville: Integral Yoga Publication, Print.