Yoga Postures and Positions Are Only One Aspect of A More Holistic Balanced Practice

Yoga, the Indian tradition that focuses on both the spiritual and physical awareness of the body, uses specific exercises, including yoga postures and yoga positions to help the individual achieve quietude and harmony.

There are many different types of yoga postures, each one designed to achieve a specific purpose, such as to stretch, strengthen,  release engergy, release tension and much more. The postures of yoga can be practiced with intensity or with moderation. It depends entirely on how you're feeling at the time.

There are also many different types of yoga - including bhakti,  jnana, karma, kundalini, laya, raja and hatha yoga. Hatha yoga as a generic name is very popular in the West and is the style of yoga upon which many other styles are based.

Yoga is very self-contained, and self satisfying. By this I mean that you do not need to rely on expensive equipment to be able to do the yoga asanas.

All you need is a  mat and some comfortable clothing  and this will usually be adequate for all types of yoga poses and positions.

You do need to make sure that your clothes are comfortable enough in the sense that they stretch when you do the yoga stretches ... it's very uncomfortable to have tight and restricting clothing just as you're trying to get into a stretch.

Yoga exercises require that the person places themselves in various postures, or asanas, to strengthen and align the spinal column, and to release tension from the muscles.

The chakras, or the body’s centers of energy run from the base of the spine to the top of the head.

Different yoga postures, if done correctly tap in and release certain energy points in the body. For instance, in doing the various forward bends, you will stimulate the stomach chakra, and you will feel an immense amount of heat generated through the body. This heat stimulated by the compression of the stomach region is a cleansing and relaxing heat and shows the beginner that you're starting to do the poses correctly.

However, it is always advisable for people starting out that they do not over strain their bodies and do too much at first. The aim of yoga is not to be able to do all the postures, but to learn how to do the one’s you can, correctly.

All yoga instructors teach how to combine your breathing to the physical movements, but some will spend more time than others on breathing exercises, rather than the yoga postures themselves. That's fine, you just need to find a style of yoga that suits you. If you believe that you want a more active yoga session then a yoga class that focuses on the breath is not for you.

Also, many yoga instructors include some form of simple meditation in their lessons, and some will spend some of their time discussing the philosophy behind the form of meditation they teach.

Further Articles of Interest:

• The power of correct yogic breathing or pranayama is immense! - Have you ever noticed in your yoga class, how hot you can get just from breathing and stretching ...that's a testament to how beneficial it can be to fully oxygenate the body.

• Does Post-Natal Yoga really help or is this just a lot of hype driven by a fitness crazy industry? - The answer to that really depends on your state of mind at the present doesn't it. If you're fed up and cranky, stressed out and not getting enough sleep, then odds are on that you'll think ... this is a lot of .... what's a polite term? ...Rubbish! But if you're out there trying to find a solution to your blues, then post natal yoga classes may just be the thing for you.