I Am Interested In Yoga, But How To Start

Yoga can be practiced by everybody. Yoga has positive effects on every body whether you are young or old, sick or in pink of health.  Through regular practice of yoga, you achieve perfect physical and mental health. Yoga comprises of yoga asanas or poses and pranayama i.e. controlled breathing technique.

As a beginner, it is better to learn yoga under the expert guidance of a Yoga Instructor who will systematically pace you out according to your requirement and endurance capability.  You can join yoga classes as well.

Yoga poses are practiced standing, sitting, lying or in inverted postures.  It is mainly stretching, twisting, contracting and relaxing of muscles, ligaments and tendons.  The body bends forward, backward and sideways.

Start with simple stretching yoga poses and gradually move on to select poses according to your needs, ability and availability of time. Yoga poses should work out all parts and organs of your body including abdominal muscles and spinal column.

Do not expect perfection in the beginning.  Even if you are unable to attain the exact posture, the stretching involved will show good result.  Do not rush from one yoga pose to another.  The movements should be smooth and steady, rhythmic and graceful.  Practice the yoga poses in tune with your breathing to get the maximum benefit.  In yoga, you breathe out when you are bending forward, breathe in when you are bending backward or stretching and breathe normally during other times.

It is important to maintain the three main stages of a yoga posture i.e. getting into it, staying in it and getting back to the normal position to get optimum result. If due to paucity of time, you are unable to practice all the yoga poses that you normally practice, do not rush through them.  Reduce the number but do the rest without quickening the pace.  If required, you may reduce the number of repetitions but not their holding period.

Practice of yoga poses should never be done haphazardly.  Follow a systematic order of standing, sitting and lying down postures, followed by relaxation or the corpse pose (Shavasana).  Yoga poses which are performed on both sides of the body should never be performed on one side.  There is always a counter-posture for each posture.  Bending in one direction should normally be followed by bending in the other direction so that the balance is maintained.

If at any point of time, you feel discomfort, immediately discontinue practice.   Resume only when you feel fit.

After yoga poses, practice pranayama or controlled rhythmic breathing of   Kapalbhati (The Cleansing Breath) and Anuloma Viloma (Alternate Nostril Breathing) to get mental peace and equilibrium.

There Are Few Important Things Which You Should Follow.

• The best time for practice is early morning but one can do it in the evening also.

• You should always practice in empty stomach or there should at least be a gap of 4 hrs.

• Practice on a yoga mat or a carpet and never on a bare floor.

• Wear loose and comfortable clothes.

• Practice in a spacious well ventilated room.