50) For Doing Yoga Podcast . 

These days audio and video podcasts are very common especially in the yoga community and it is easier for teachers to make available on the web audio / video podcasts to their students world wide and I too intend to do the same and have the following excellent book called Podcast Solutions by Michael Geoghegan and Dan Klass  as a good starting point for people to start their podcasting journey .

Podcast Solutions: The Complete Guide to Audio and Video Podcasting, Second Edition , by
Michael Geoghegan , Dan Klass
Product Description

Written by two of the best and brightest podcasting pioneers, Podcast Solutions: The Complete Guide to Audio and Video Podcasting, Second Edition is a comprehensive and perceptive guide to all things podcasting. From downloading podcasts to producing your own for fun or profit, Podcast Solutions covers the entire world of podcasting with insight, humor, and the unmatched wisdom of experience.

Big-name companies and podcasters throughout the United States and thousands of faithful listeners around the world will tell you that Michael W. Geoghegan ("Reel Reviews-Films Worth Watching" and GigaVox Media) and Dan Klass ("The Bitterest Pill" and JacketMedia.com) know how to put together compelling and engaging shows that people come back to week after week. These two pros will guide you through everything including developing your raw podcast ideas to selecting equipment, creating your podcast (including incorporating music, professional production techniques, and audio- and video-editing secrets), and mobilizing and growing an audience.

Plenty has changed since the best-selling first edition of this book, and Michael and Dan bring you all the latest and greatest information on production, distribution, and marketing from the world of audio and video podcasting. Nearly 50 pages of new material and hundreds of updates make this the most complete and up-to-date book on podcasting imaginable.

Between Michael's uncanny business and marketing sense and Dan's nearly two decades in the entertainment industry, these authors have the experience to back up their advice on what it takes to elevate your podcast to a professional level. Podcast Solutions gives you not only what youll need to know about podcasting but also the insiders view on the business of new-media production and marketing.

Whether you want to use podcasting to inform, educate, entertain, or inspire, whether you are a complete novice or an experienced professional, Podcast Solutions is the guide you need.

In this book you'll learn:

    * How to find and download audio and video podcasts to your computer or portable media player
    * How to develop, format, produce, edit, encode, and upload your audio or video podcast, including in-depth information on using music legally
    * How to set up an effective audio studio, including the complete and updated "The podcast studio buyers guide"
    * How to create great video, including tricks of the trade such as the law of thirds, the line, and the three-point light technique, as well as tips on casting, locations, scheduling, and more
    * How people are marketing and making money through podcasting in the era of Web 2.0

About the Author

Michael is a well know figure among podcasters and has been involved in podcasting since it earliest days. Because he started early, he has developed personal friendships with most of the key figures in podcasting. Michael is scheduled to speak and lead sessions at the upcoming Podcast and Portable Media Expo. He was also the first person to lead introductory podcasting classes entitled "Podcasting 101". Michael is frequently sought for comment on podcasting by media sources such as CNN, Wired magazine, The New York Times and USA Today among many others.

Michael currently produces his own show Reel Reviews &emdash; Film Worth Watching which has consistently scored in the top ten among podcast listeners. He recently syndicated Reel Reviews content to DVDtalk.com, the Internet's largest DVD movie review and discussion site. Reel Reviews also currently has paid sponsors. Michael's sponsorship deals represent some of the first for mainstream companies outside the podcasting industry.

In addition to Reel Reviews, Michael is executive producer of Grape Radio, a show about wine that in less than 8 weeks time places in the top ten out of over 4000 available podcast shows. Grape Radio has experienced phenomenal growth and features interviews with leading experts in the wine industry. Michael continues to develop and produce shows aimed at the lifestyle and technology markets. He also offers his services as a consultant to business developing podcasting and portable media strategies.

Michael is widely regarded as a leader in producing quality podcast audio. Many of his online articles on how-to podcast remain some of the most popular and widely linked to.

Michael lives in Newport Beach, CA with his wife and two young sons.

Klass has worked professionally as an actor and comedian for more than fifteen years, appearing in sitcoms, TV dramas and feature films while performing in venues throughout Los Angeles, including appearing regularly at the world famous The Comedy Store. Recently was the creator/writer/producer/star of NewsPop, an animated series for a joint internet venture between Steven Speilberg's DreamWorks SKG and Ron Howard's Imagine Entertainment.

Throughout his career, Dan Klass has worked as an advertising copywriter, written magazine articles, and worked with developers of interactive video systems for the toy industry.

Klass is currently devoting most of his time to his podcasts, the weekly Old Wave Radio, a retro-80's music show, and the much acclaimed twice-weekly The Bitterest Pill, a comedy/talk show that revolves around his musings as a stay-at-home dad on the outskirts of the entertainment industry. The Bitterest Pill has been featured on NBC, NPR and in USAToday.com and the Christian Science Monitor.

Klass lives in Los Angeles with his wife, two kids and two Macs.

49) What is Yin Yoga ?

Yin Yoga is known as the quiet yoga. Many of the most popular forms of yoga, such as Ashtanga and Power Yoga, are fundamentally yang in nature, based on rhythmic movements of the muscles and focused on the need for change and attainment. Yin Yoga, in contrast, does not concentrate on the muscles but on connective tissue and bones, the parts of our body that are closest to our core and critical to our physical well-being and range of motion. The postures are all practiced on the floor and each is held for a lengthy period, usually three to five minutes. This intense non-movement allows us to experience the poses in a deeper way that enables the muscles to relax, the nerves to calm, and the surrounding connective tissue to remain healthy and supple. This meditative approach is more akin to those found in the earliest Hatha Yoga traditions. The Sivananda Style of Classical Hatha Yoga is a combination of Yin + Yang as there is movement ( but not as intense as in Ashtanga / Power Yoga ) as well as holding ( but not as long as in Yin Yoga ) and hence it has combination of both . But it is better that Yin Yoga is practiced in isolation so that it compliments your other Yang based Yoga practice .This is just a basic introduction of Yin Yoga . More details will follow in subsequent posts .

47) Adjusting in Yoga Poses

Irrespective of which Yoga style you practice /teach learning to receive /give adjustment is both an art as well a science . As a teacher one needs to give adjustments to a student for the following reasons :

1) To point out to him how  to do a posture correctly eg in Forward bends like Paschimotanasan the teacher will adjust the students legs to point out that the knees are not supposed to be bent while bending forward .

2) Even if the student  does the posture correctly adjustment will help him improve his quality in that particular posture eg : in Paschimotanasan even if the student keeps his knees straight and bends from the hips he may not be able to move much forward and the teacher will push his back with his arms to make him move forward

 3) To prevent injury while doing a particular posture like in Head Stand , Arm Balance etc .Here more than adjustment the teacher plays the role of a prop in helping the student to do the inverted postures with confidence and without any fear . 

So like this there are various ways by which the teacher helps a student to improve his confidence and quality in a posture .

But there are problems while adjusting : Not all teachers are competent to give proper adjustments and some even hurt a student while adjusting .Their intention might not be to hurt the student but out of over enthusiasm to get the student to do a posture perfectly the teacher may give some wrong adjustments that may lead to injury rather than the student improving in the posture .For eg : In Paschimotanasan not all beginners are able to bend forward properly and it is usual for the teachers to give a gentle push in the lower back to make the student move bit forward .But some over enthusiastic teachers push the back too much or even  go to extremes of standing/sitting   on the students back  to make them bend forward and that is really dangerous . So it is wise to always give gentle adjustments and allow the students to evolve in a posture slowly and steadily instead of expecting him to achieve success in a posture in a short time . 

Adjustment need not be just physical : Here again when a teacher is teaching a group class of over 20-30 students it is not possible for him /her to give physical adjustments to all the students .That will spoil the rhythm of the class .In those cases the teacher should use proper vocal instructions as tool for adjustments . If the teacher gives proper clear vocal instructions how to do the posture - pointing out the likely errors and also for those doing well how to optimise the same then it really helps a student a lot .

Sometimes I feel that vocal instructions have a better appeal than direct physical adjustments as it helps a student to develop more focus and concentration while doing the postures and lessens his dependence on a teachers direct physical touch to improve a posture . Some students are so much addicted to receiving a teachers physical adjustment that they never attempt to do the posture independently and always keep waiting for the teacher to help them . This is accepted if it involves tougher postures like head stand or hand stand but if the student keeps waiting for the teachers help regularly for simple  forward /back bends then he will take a long time to improve from that situation .

So giving and receiving adjustments in yoga postures are both an art and science in itself .Unfortunately this topic is  not much importance in many Yoga Teacher Trarning courses and very few books are also written on this topic . While lots of Books / DVDs keep coming out for practicing yoga according to different styles ,very few address the important topic of giving adjustments during yoga practice and in this context Brian Coopers book Yoga : The Art of Adjusting is an excellent book for all yoga teachers to understand the art and science behind giving adjustments in yoga .

46) Book Review : World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony

Product Description

Food is our most intimate and telling connection both with the living natural order and with our living cultural heritage. By eating the plants and animals of our earth, we literally incorporate them. It is also through this act of eating that we partake of our culture’s values and paradigms at the most primal levels. It is becoming increasingly obvious, however, that the choices we make about our food are leading to environmental degradation, enormous human health problems, and unimaginable cruelty toward our fellow creatures.

Incorporating systems theory, teachings from mythology and religions, and the human sciences, The World Peace Diet presents the outlines of a more empowering understanding of our world, based on a comprehension of the far-reaching implications of our food choices and the worldview those choices reflect and mandate. The author offers a set of universal principles for all people of conscience, from any religious tradition, that they can follow to reconnect with what we are eating, what was required to get it on our plate, and what happens after it leaves our plates.

The World Peace Diet suggests how we as a species might move our consciousness forward so that we can be more free, more intelligent, more loving, and happier in the choices we make.

About the Author
Will Tuttle has a master’s degree in humanities from San Francisco State University and a Ph.D. in the philosophy of education from the University of California. A professional pianist and teacher, he has for the last thirteen years toured progressive churches, vegetarian and macrobiotic conferences, and intentional communities throughout the country. He trained in Korea as a Zen Buddhist monk and has worked extensively in Tai Chi, yoga, massage, and dance and movement. He lives in Healdsburg, California.

Book review :
Various review exists for this book but I am presenting here one excellent review from amazon.com by a person named Delisa Renideo that expresses wonderfully what this book contains and why one must buy and read the same and imbibe the principles in our life .Here is the review below :
This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to grow spiritually, who wants to live a conscious and compassionate life, and who wants to contribute to world peace. I have read many books on the topic of vegetarianism, animal rights and animal welfare, spiritual growth, and peace and nonviolence. This book stands alone in its ability to make the connection between all of these subjects.

Will Tuttle, Ph.D. is a rare combination of extraordinary compassion, scholarly research and education, spiritual commitment and wisdom, intuitive insights, and the courage to challenge a worldview which goes back 10,000 years

In this book, Tuttle explores humanity's relationship with the foods we eat. He points out, very convincingly, that when humans began herding animals, it began to create a consciousness of exploitation which then spread to the control and domination of other humans, as well as animals. So the roots of human's violence to humans are found in the practice of seeing animals as objects to exploit for our own purposes: for food, furs, labor, entertainment, "sport" and experimentation. The use of humans as slaves and the subjugation of women followed the subjugation and enslavement of animals.

One thing that sets this book apart from any of the others that describe the problems associated with a meat-based diet is the focus on the spiritual aspects of our diet. When we take food into our bodies, we are also ingesting the energy contained in this food. Animals that are tortured and filled with terror and agony as they are killed are filled with this very negative energy. When humans eat their flesh, we are also ingesting this fear and anger. This affects us deeply. We cannot live with peace in our hearts as long as we are filling our bodies with the pain and suffering of other beings.

Tuttle helps us to see that none of us have actually chosen a diet based upon meat. Our mothers fed us meat from our infancy. As we got old enough to understand that we were eating animals, we were told that animals were put here for us to eat, so it was okay. We didn't question this, any more than we questioned wearing clothes or taking baths. Thus, we absorbed the acceptance of exploitation of animals so naturally that we didn't know it was happening. And being unconscious, it is hard to recognize the violence that is part of our everyday lives through the eating of animals. Therefore, it is also hard to recognize how insensitive we have become to violence, because we have to protect ourselves from an awareness of the violence we are part of 3 times a day.

This is a very important book for everyone who wants their lives to contribute to more peace in the world, rather than more suffering and violence.

My Ashtanga Journal: 5) My first Yoga Inspiration : Sri Krishnamacharya...

My Ashtanga Journal: 5) My first Yoga Inspiration : Sri Krishnamacharya...: "Even though I have been involved as a teacher /student with the Sivananda System of Classical Hatha Yoga ( founder Swami Vishnu devananda )..."

45) Book Review : Yoga Mind and Body  ( Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre )

 Right from the time ( i.e from 1998 ) I started practicing and teaching the Sivananda Style of Yoga I have been  using the book Yoga Mind & Body from the Sivananda Yoga Centre as a guide book for my practice / teaching and I find it to be a very extrmely useful guide .I gave a Morning Yoga Class in a Popular TV Channel few years back  as part of its Morning Breakfast show and I used lots of inputs from this book for my T.V Show . It has made an excellent sepraration of the basic / advanced postures and also dealt every posture with very clear step by step instructions on how to come to a posture , how to hold it and how to come out of it and it also deals with the physical , mental and spiritual benefits of each major posture .The most imortant of all is the section of common errors for each major posture that I found it to be very useful .No other book discusses the common errors of the postures as in this book . Apart from postures it also deals with Pranayama , Relaxation,Diet and Meditation . On the whole a very very excellent book .A must for every Yoga Student and Teacher

44) Hatha Yoga ( Sivananda Style ) v/s Vinyasa or Flow Yoga

The last 2 posts i.e Posts No: 42 and 43 dealt with Vinyasa or Flow Yoga and it is a different type of yoga practice than one sees in a normal Hatha Yoga practice especially in a classical yoga practice like the Sivananda Yoga . This posts just highlights the main difference between them .
1) Hatha Yoga is slow and gentle movement while Vinyasa /Flow Yoga is fast and vigorous movements based that also includes jumping .
2) Hatha Yoga involves holding the postures for a longer duration in a meditative way while in Vinyasa /Flow Yoga the postures are not being held for long and held for just 5 breaths ( except for inversions where they are held for long ) before moving on to the next posture .
3) In Hatha Yoga there is rest between the postures while in Vinyasa /Flow Yoga there is no rest at all between the postures and one needs to keep on moving till the end of the class as that is what to produce heat and detoxify the body .
4) In a Hatha Yoga class there is emphasis on gentle conscious breathing while holding the postures or while moving through one posture to another and in Vinyasa /Flow yoga the emphasis is on Ujjayai breathing .
5) In Hatha Yoga class there is no emphasis on holding the Bandhas while in Vinaysa /Flow Yoga there is continuous emphasis on holding the Bandhas and Drishtis ( Gazes ) and in fact Bandhas are key to jumps in Vinayasa Yoga .
6) You do not sweat much in a Hatha Yoga class while you sweat a lot in Vinyasa /Flow Yoga class .
7) The only sweating part of Hatha Yoga Class is the Surya Namaskar where the movements are vigorous and it resembles a Vinayasa /Flow Yoga type .

So these are some of the major differences between Hatha Yoga Class( Sivananda Style ) v/s the Vinyasa / Flow Yoga style and people must take these differences in to account before practicing the respective style and not expect one style to deliver the other . Both these styles are equally valid and it depends upon the taste and mental frame of the person practicing it and one need not fight on which style is better .Ideally I would say that a person must try doing both these styles to come out of their respective comfort zones just to experience another system . Frequently changing yoga styles is not recommended but I feel that if one has a grounding on one style then one needs to consciously shift to another totally different style to come out of his own comfort zones and relish his new yoga practice from a different dimension .
So for a person who is used to practicing the slow paced Hatha Yoga system then practicing Vinayasa /Flow Yoga will make him see the power of dynamism and for a person used to a fast paced Vinayasa /Flow Yoga then practising Hatha Yoga system with long holding will make him see the power of focus on keeping the mind one pointed during the practice .So both these styles very well complement each other if taken in the right spirit and it is dangerous to become fanatic with regard to one style / system .
Speaking personally I have been involved with practicing and teaching the Sivananda Style of Classical Hatha Yoga for the past 10 years but now I am consciously moving towards learning and practicing other Yoga styles like Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga ,Yin Yoga and Restorative Yoga for me to come out of my own comfort zones and be back as a student .So while I continue to teach the Sivananda Style of Classical Hatha Yoga I am at the same time practicing as a student for the Ashtanga Vinayasa Style and in a few years from now I feel that I will be competent to teach both these styles to my students and become a complete teacher .

43) More on Vinyasa Yoga or Flow Yoga

In the last post we saw what Vinyasa Yoga or Flow Yoga is .In fact Vinyasa Yoga is quite popular these days as it promises a more intense workout where your body really sweats and your arms and thighs get a wonderful workout like working out in a gym .
Also Vinyasa Yoga is called Flow Yoga as it is continuous movement based like a flow and there is no rest in between the postures .Some may even call it as movement meditation .Vinyasa Yoga became popular with Ashtanga Vinayasa Yoga of Pattabhi Jois but soon this Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga was started to get modified in to Power Yoga first which became a big hit in America and taking that clue many Ashtanga practitioners started their own version of Vinyasa Yoga or Flow Yoga and the elements are same in all these Yoga i.e they start with typical Ashtanga Surya Namaskar A ,B and then they have their own standing /sitting /back bending sequences with no rest in between . They vary with regard to their intensity of movements , no. of postures in the sequence , time held in each posture etc etc .

Vinyasa Yoga comes in various formats now from the simple Anusara Flow to the High Intensity Ashtanga Yoga ,Power Yoga and recent Shiva Rea's Prana Flow Yoga .Also included in the list is Seane Corn's own version of Vinyasa Yoga , Sadie Nardinie's Core Vinyasa that focuses more on working out the core region , Kathryn Budig's own version of a Vinyasa Yoga flow that focuses more on arm balances etc and so on the list continues .

42) What is Vinyasa Yoga ?

Vinyasa is a term that covers a broad range of yoga classes. The word Vinyasa means “breath-synchronized movement.” In other words, the teacher will instruct you to move from one pose to the next on an inhale or an exhale. This technique is sometimes also called Vinyasa Flow, or just Flow because of the smooth way that the poses run together and become like a dance.

A Cat-Cow Stretch is an example of a very simple Vinyasa, because the spine is arched on an inhale and rounded on an exhale. A Sun Salutation sequence is an example of a more complex Vinyasa. Each movement in the series is done on an inhalation or an exhalation.

What To Expect From a Vinyasa Class

This style allows for a lot of variety, but will almost certainly include Sun Salutations. If your yoga class schedule lists a Vinyasa class, expect movement, not just stretching. Whether the class is fast or slow, includes chanting, or is very alignment-oriented will depend on the individual teacher. Some very popular yoga styles, such as Ashtanga and Power Yoga, make use of the Vinyasa method, but they will be listed on a class schedule by their individual names.

What Does “Go Through Your Vinyasa" Mean?

When vinyasa is used as a noun, it describes a series of three poses that are done as part of a Sun Salutation sequence. When the teacher says, "go through the vinyasa at your own pace," she means do Plank, Chaturanga, and Upward Facing Dog.

Is Vinyasa Yoga for You?

Vinyasa’s strength is in its diversity. There is no single philosophy, rulebook, or sequence that teachers must follow, so there is a lot of room for individual personalities and quirks to come through. This makes it essential that you find a teacher you enjoy and can relate to. If your first Vinyasa class doesn’t rock your world, keep trying different teachers. If you enjoy having things a little loose and unpredictable and like to move, Vinyasa is probably right for you.


Vinyasa Styles

Anusara,Ashtanga,Bikram/Hot Yoga,Jivamukti,Kundalini,Power Yoga

Source : By Ann Pizer, About.com Guide

41) What is the level of precision needed in Yoga Asanas ?

When it comes to yoga asanas the word "precision" or more specifically "antaomical precision" is mostly associated with the Iyengar System of Yoga . I have never been trained in the BKS Iyengar system of yoga and hence cant really vouch for the quality / effectiveness of such a high degree of anatomical precision needed during a yoga asana practice . Even if it is needed the question comes whether it is the job of the teacher to give such a long complex list of commands to the students to help him find such a high degree of anatomical precision or should the student discover for himself what is the best anatomical right position for himself ? Many such question exists .
The Iyengar System of Yoga has some of the world's best yoga teachers like John Schumacher(http://www.unitywoods.com/), Judith Lasater(http://www.judithlasater.com/), Dr.Krishna Raman ( http://www.krishnaraman.com/)and many others who appreciate BKS Iyengar System of Yoga and vouch for the effectiveness of its highly anatomical approach to yoga . But there are again some famous Yoga teachers like Vanda Scravelli ,Esther Myer , Victor Van Kooten who were once serious students of BKS Iyengar but later became critical of his highly anatomical approach to the asana practice and quit BKS Iyengar System to start their own yoga styles that encourages people to find what is the best way to do a posture with the teacher giving only the main pointers and not all the detailed anatomical instructions that happens in an Iyengar Yoga Class .Why even the great philosopher J.Krishnamurti started practicing yoga first with BKS Iyengar and later went for the more gentler Vinayasa based approach of Krishnamacharya as taught by his son Sri.Desikachar .

So now comes the question , who is right and who is wrong ?
There is no right or wrong approach here and it all boils to discover what is true for you . That is the beauty of yoga . The various styles and system offers us an excellent opportunity to choose what is best for us and what is the best style that we resonate with . Maharshi Patanjali in his Yoga Sutra gives the definition of Asana as "Sthira ( Steady) and Sukham ( Comfortable ) " .He does not elaborate further but these 2 things are to be met in a yoga practice i.e the posture should be steady as well as comfortable . How do you go building both these things and up to what extent you go about building both these things depends upon the competency of the teacher as well as the dedication of the student .

Coming to the Sivananda System of Yoga - Swami Vishnu devananda did not focus on elaborate instructions with regard to Asana practice nor he gives too much space for the student to discover what is true for himself as he felt both these approaches are quite complicated for a student who is just a common man i.e who has many things to do apart from yoga practice and who cant dedicate full time in to this . He wanted to keep things simple and except for some basic instructions with regard to Asana practice he did not not focus on detailed descriptions . Since the Sivananda System of Yoga is more ideal for a group practice for common people it is more ideal to keep the instructions simple and less and hence it is the way it is and many people are happy with the system .
But in case a student is fully in to yoga and willing to dedicate his time and energy in to this practice full time then he needs to go beyond the Sivananda System of simplicity and discover what is true for him i.e the highly anatomical precision approach of BKS Iyengar or the more holistic approach of Vanda Scravelli .

Conclusion : Do what is best and true for your situation and no need to get fanatical with a particular approach .

40) Order of Sequence of Yoga Asanas

There is always a confusion among students as to why the order of sequence in yoga asanas is different each yoga system .In some yoga systems like the Sivananda it starts with the Head Stand and then comes shoulderstand and the standing poses comes in the end while in some systems the sequence starts with the Standing postures while head stand and shoulder stand comes in the end .Some systems have the Soorya Namaskar as the main warming up sequence while in some systems there is no Soorya Namaskar at all . Even among those that have soorya namaskar there is a difference in the way the Soorya Namaskar is done like some have 12 steps , some 14 and 10 etc .So why these differences ? Kindly note that each and every system is equally right in its own approach and there is no rigid rule as to how the postures are to be sequenced . Problem comes only when you mix sequences from each system blindly . Each yoga system has its own uniqueness and it is better those uniqueness are respected and left as it is . Beyond a point it does not matter which system you follow as the journey becomes more inward and you need to bring more awareness in to your practice .That is one reason why Swami Vishnu devananda made the Sivananda Asana System a simple one with just the standard soorya namaskar and 12 basic postures . This sequence is easy to remember and it has the essence of all the major postures and gives a complete yoga workout and this system is uniformly practiced around all the Sivananda Centres and Ashrams world wide and it does not matter whether u are in Chennai , New York or London , the same sequence applies to all .
So better to practice one system regularly and go deeper in to it instead of just switching one system to another frequently . All that matters is that at the end of the practice you must feel refreshed and energized . For this you must learn from a proper teacher who teaches the system well respecting your body condition and giving you alternative variations in case you are unable to do a particular posture in the standard way .

39)Silence as a Teaching Tool
http://www.yogajournal.com/for_teachers/2433
Moments of quiet in class are doorways to learning, not empty spaces to be feared.

By Brenda K. Plakans

As a teacher, you want to share everything you know about yoga with your students. But when you talk too much during class, you run the risk of ruining your students' opportunity for stillness and introspection.

Sometimes the best way to help deepen your students' practice is to hold your tongue, and let your students learn from the quiet.

"I use silence as a way to let the students go in and experience," says Yoga Alliance president Rama Berch. "If I keep talking, they'll think the pose is about the anatomical details. But if I give them that choreographed moment of silence, they have an opportunity to experience what yoga is really about."

Cyndi Lee, who founded the OM Yoga Center in New York City, agrees. "When people come to [do] yoga, they come to empty," she says. "If the teacher is filling up too much space with talking, too much music, or too many stimuli, it makes it difficult for people to empty."

But using silence to enhance your students' practice can be harder than it appears—especially for the inexperienced teacher who isn't totally at ease in front of a class yet. How can you avoid the trap of nervous chatter?

Be Your Own Editor
Once you've noticed your own tendency to talk, observe when your words begin to be distracting.

Some inexperienced teachers find that they talk unnecessarily because they are uncomfortable with silence.

"As a teacher, you have to look at why you are talking," says Senior Advanced Iyengar teacher Joan White. "Do you really have something to say? Or are you just talking to hear yourself talk?"

Another common mistake teachers make is babbling when they can't find the words to describe an action or principle. To avoid this, it's helpful to have a detailed lesson plan and follow it. Knowing exactly what you want your students to feel at any given point in the class makes it easier to plan your language so it's as concise and understandable as possible.

When you notice you've gone off on a tangent, stop, take a deep breath, and refocus, says Berch.

A Time for Quiet and a Time for Talk
One way to avoid unnecessary chatter is to structure your classes so that silence comes naturally. When it's introduced in the appropriate spot, it won't feel strange or intimidating.

There are obvious places in a class to incorporate silence. "Sometimes after a very vigorous sequence, students get overstimulated," Lee says. "It's nice to just sit quietly and let them feel the effects of that practice."

However, using silence in your classes does not mean you should be completely quiet.

"When you teach a new pose, such as an inversion or backbend, you should keep up a steady stream of instruction," warns White. "You should not bombard them, but at the same time don't leave them hanging. Talking to people gives them the sense that you are present and ready to help them if they need help."
Strategies for Silence

It takes practice to learn to be comfortable with silence. The following strategies may be useful.

1. Give yourself assignments. "Tell yourself, 'I'm only going to give two or fewer instructions per pose,'" Lee suggests.
2. Leave room for self-exploration. Ask your students to contemplate what they've learned. After you've described the pose, let them explore it a second time on their own. "Once you've built the pose and the students are getting it, leave them there," says Berch. "Let them breathe and settle into it."
3. Don't keep talking. When you find yourself giving too many instructions or digressing, you can always stop. "I bring the whole class to a halt," acknowledges Berch. "As a teacher, you're better at pulling yourself together than they are."
4. Cultivate silence in your own practice. "Do meditation practice before you teach, so you have a sense of your own habit and a discipline of staying quiet and grounded," says Lee. "If you want to be a really good yoga teacher, you need to be connected to yourself through your own practice, and that gives you something to bring back to your students."
5. Choreograph quiet. As your confidence level grows, you will find it easier to include moments of quiet. "The silent points are like rests in music, punctuation points that help you hear the composition," says Berch. "The purpose of a yoga class is to get you to silence—and not merely external silence, but inner silence and stillness."

Brenda K. Plakans lives and teaches yoga in Beloit, Wisconsin. She also quietly maintains the blog Grounding thru the Sit Bones.

38)Is Yoga Enough to Keep You Fit?

http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/739
By Alisa Bauman

Alisa Bauman stays fit through yoga, running, and fitness ball workouts. She lives and writes in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, where she is studying for yoga teacher certification under Mary Rosenberger at Accent on Yoga and Health.

We sent three yogis to the lab to test the theory that yoga is all you need for optimal fitness.

When it came to the fitness benefits yoga can or can't provide, yoga teacher John Schumacher had heard it all. A student of B. K. S. Iyengar for 20 years and founder of the Unity Woods studios in the Washington, D.C. area, Schumacher was convinced yoga provides a complete fitness regime. But many people, even some of his own students, disagreed. Yoga might be good for flexibility or relaxation, they'd say, but to be truly fit, you had to combine it with an activity like running or weight lifting.

Schumacher just didn't buy it.

He knew three decades of yoga practice—and only yoga practice—had kept him fit. He didn't need to power walk. He didn't need to lift weights. His fitness formula consisted of daily asanas (poses) and pranayama (breathwork). That's all he needed.

Four years ago at age 52, Schumacher decided to prove his point. He signed up for physiological testing at a lab in Gaithersburg, Maryland. As he expected, Schumacher tested near the top of his age group for a variety of fitness tests, including maximum heart and exercise recovery rates. His doctor told him that he was in excellent physical condition and estimated that Schumacher had less than a one percent chance of suffering a cardiac event. "I've always maintained that yoga provides more than adequate cardiovascular benefits," says Schumacher. "Now I have the evidence that regular yoga practice at a certain level of intensity will provide you with what you need."

Evidence of yoga's ability to bolster fitness, however, goes well beyond Schumacher's personal experience. Yoga Journal's testing of three yogis also yielded impressive results. Even physiologists who don't do yoga now agree that the practice provides benefits well beyond flexibility and relaxation. Recent research—though preliminary—shows that yoga may also improve strength, aerobic capacity, and lung function. If you practice yoga, you already knew that. But if, like Schumacher, you've been told by friends, family, doctors, or even other yoga students that you need to add some power walking for your heart or strength training for your muscles, here's evidence that yoga is all you need for a fit mind and body.

What Is Fitness?
Before you can prove yoga keeps you fit, you must first define what "fitness" actually means. This isn't a simple task. Ask eight different physiologists, and you'll hear eight different definitions, says Dave Costill, Ph.D., one of the first U. S. researchers to rigorously test the health and fitness benefits of exercise.

Now professor emeritus of exercise science at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, Costill defines fitness simply as the ability to live your life without feeling fatigued. "For normal daily living you don't need the strength of a football player or the endurance of a marathon runner, but you've got to be able to perform your normal activities and still have a reserve," says Costill. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), the largest exercise science association in the world, defines fitness as both related to your ability to maintain physical activity and related to your health (for example, people who become more fit reduce their risk for heart disease). According to ACSM, four types of fitness help to bolster health:

Cardiorespiratory fitness. This refers to the fitness of your heart, lungs, and blood vessels. The better your cardiorespiratory fitness, the better your stamina, the lower your risk for a host of diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

Your ability to move without feeling winded or fatigued is measured by your VO2max (maximal oxygen uptake), a technical term that indicates how efficiently oxygen enters your lungs, moves into your bloodstream, and is used by your muscles. The more fit you become, the more efficiently your body transports and uses oxygen, improving your overall VO2max.

To test VO2max, physiologists ask you to cycle or walk or run on a treadmill with a tube-like mask over your mouth. The mask gathers the carbon dioxide and oxygen you exhale, and the ratio between the two gasses helps to indicate how efficiently your muscles use oxygen.

There are other tests that measure additional aspects of cardiorespiratory fitness, including a lung function test, in which you take a deep breath and then blow into a tube to measure your lung capacity, and heart rate tests, taken both at rest and during exercise. Since equally fit people can vary as much as 20 percent in heart rate,this measure best indicates your own progress: If you become more fit, your heart rate generally drops.

Muscular fitness. This refers both to muscle strength (how heavy an object you can lift) and muscle endurance (how long you can lift it). Without exercise, all of us lose muscle mass as we age, which can eventually result in weakness and loss of balance and coordination. Because muscle is such active tissue, it also plays an important role in regulating your metabolism, with every pound of muscle burning about 35 to 50 calories a day.

In a lab, researchers test your muscle strength and endurance on specialized equipment that looks like an exercise machine at a gym but contains sensors that read how much force your muscles generate as they contract.

Flexibility. As most people age, their muscles shorten and their tendons, the tissue that connects muscles to bones, become stiffer. This reduces the range of motion, preventing optimum movement of your knees, shoulders, elbows, spine, and other joints. Loss of flexibility may also be associated with an increased risk of pain and injury. Tight hamstrings, for example, pull down on your pelvis, putting pressure on your lower back. In general, tight muscles increase the likelihood you'll suddenly move past your safe range of motion and damage ligaments, tendons, and the muscles themselves.

Body composition. Your body composition refers to the percentage of your body made up of fat instead of muscles, bones, organs, and other nonfat tissues. Though the use of body composition as a fitness and health indicator has come under fire in recent years by those who argue that it's possible to be both fat and fit, the ACSM and many physiologists continue to assert that too much fat and too little muscle raises your risk for disease and makes movement less efficient.

Physiologists can measure body composition in several ways. The simplest method uses a pair of calipers to pinch the skin and underlying fat at various spots on the body. This method works best for athletes and others with little visible body fat. For those with more body fat, a more accurate method is hydrostatic weighing—being weighed while submerged in water and comparing the result to your out-of-water weight. Because fat floats, the greater the difference between your submerged and dry weights, the higher your body fat percentage.

Experts have long recommended that we do at least three different types of activity to achieve optimum cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness, flexibility, and body composition. For example, the ACSM recommends building cardiorespiratory fitness by exercising at an intensity that raises your heart rate to at least 55 percent of your maximum heart rate (the highest rate you can maintain during all-out effort, generally estimated as 220 minus your age); muscular fitness by targeting each major muscle group with eight to 12 repetitions of weight-bearing exercise; and flexibility by stretching.

No one argues against yoga's ability to satisfy the flexibility requirement. But until recently, few scientists had considered whether yoga could improve other aspects of fitness. Now that's starting to change.

Putting Yoga to the Test
In one of the first studies done in the United States that examines the relationship between yoga and fitness, researchers at the University of California at Davis recently tested the muscular strength and endurance, flexibility, cardiorespiratory fitness, body composition, and lung function of 10 college students before and after eight weeks of yoga training. Each week, the students attended four sessions that included 10 minutes of pranayama, 15 minutes of warm-up exercises, 50 minutes of asanas, and 10 minutes of meditation.

After eight weeks, the students' muscular strength had increased by as much as 31 percent, muscular endurance by 57 percent, flexibility by as much as 188 percent, and VO2max by 7 percent—a very respectable increase, given the brevity of the experiment. Study coauthor Ezra A. Amsterdam, M.D., suspects that VO2max might have increased more had the study lasted longer than eight weeks. In fact, the ACSM recommends that exercise research last a minimum of 15 to 20 weeks, because it usually takes that long to see VO2max improvements.

"It was very surprising that we saw these changes in VO2max in such a short time," says Amsterdam, professor of internal medicine (cardiology) and director of the coronary care unit at the U. C. Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. He is now considering a longer, larger study to authenticate these results.

A related study done at Ball State University offers further evidence for yoga's fitness benefits. This research looked at how 15 weeks of twice-weekly yoga classes affected the lung capacity of 287 college students. All of the students involved, including athletes, asthmatics, and smokers, significantly improved lung capacity by the end of the semester.

"The athletes were the ones who were the most surprised, because they thought their athletic training in swimming or football or basketball had already boosted their lung capacity to the maximum," says study author Dee Ann Birkel, an emeritus professor at Ball State's School of Physical Education.

From the perspective of a Western scientist, the few additional studies that have looked at yoga and fitness all contain flaws in their research design—either too few subjects or inadequate control groups. One study, conducted in Secunderabad, India, compared a group of athletes taught pranayama to another group who were not. After two years, those who practiced pranayama showed a larger reduction of blood lactate (an indicator of fatigue) in response to exercise; in addition, they were more able than the control group to increase their exercise intensity as well as the efficiency of their oxygen consumption during exercise. Other smaller studies also done in India have found that yoga can increase exercise performance and raise anaerobic threshold. (Anaerobic threshold is the point at which your muscles cannot extract enough oxygen from your blood and therefore must switch from burning oxygen to burning sugar and creatine. Unlike oxygen, sugar and creatine are dirty fuel sources, creating lactic acid and other by-products that build up in the blood and make you hyperventilate, "feel the burn," and lose muscle coordination.)

Although the research on yoga is only starting to build, a convincingly large amount of research has been done on tai chi, an Eastern martial art that involves a series of slow, graceful movements. Many studies have found that tai chi helps to improve balance, cardiorespiratory and cardiovascular fitness, ability to concentrate, immunity, flexibility, strength, and endurance of the knee extensor muscles.

Dina Amsterdam, a yoga instructor in San Francisco and graduate student at Stanford University, is one of many researchers conducting a three-year study that compares the psychological and physiological benefits of tai chi as to those of traditional forms of Western exercise such as aerobics. (The daughter of Ezra Amsterdam, Dina Amsterdam was the inspiration behind her father's U. C. Davis study on yoga and fitness.)

"Though there haven't been a lot of studies done on yoga that are considered valid, there are numerous studies done on tai chi, with the current Stanford study the largest to date," she says. Because yoga shares many elements with tai chi but can also provide a more vigorous physical workout, Amsterdam expects future yoga studies to produce at least similarly encouraging results. But Amsterdam says she doesn't need additional research to prove to her that yoga builds fitness. "I haven't done anything but yoga and some hiking for 10 years," she says. "When I came to yoga, I was 25 pounds overweight and suffering from a compulsive eating disorder. Yoga completely brought me back to physical and emotional health."

Many yoga practitioners echo such thoughts. Jack England, an 81-year-old yoga and stretching instructor at the Club Med in Port Saint Lucie, Florida, says more than 30 years of yoga have kept him flexible, healthy, and strong. He's the same weight and height as he was in high school, and his stellar health continues to amaze his doctor. He delights audiences at Club Med by practicing Shoulderstand and other poses while balancing on a float board in a water ski show. "I'm an inspiration to people of all ages," he says. "I do things that 14-year-old girls can't do."

Stephanie Griffin, a 33-year-old director of business development for a pharmaceutical research company in San Francisco, discovered yoga after years of running marathons, spinning, and weight lifting. Before discovering yoga, she thought her intense exercise habits had turned her into a poster child for health and fitness. During the last four years, however, Griffin began doing more and more yoga and less and less running, weight lifting, and aerobicizing. As she dropped back on her hardcore fitness pursuits, she worried she might gain weight or lose her muscle tone or exercise capacity.

She didn't. "I have maintained my fitness and even enhanced it through yoga," says Griffin, who no longer has a gym membership. "And I like the way my body looks and feels now better than the way it did before."

Why Yoga Works
Exactly how does yoga build fitness? The answer you get depends on whom you ask. Robert Holly, Ph.D., a senior lecturer in the Department of Exercise Biology at U. C. Davis and one of the researchers on the U. C. Davis study, says that muscles respond to stretching by becoming larger and capable of extracting and using more oxygen more quickly. In other words, side benefits of flexibility include increased muscle strength and endurance.

"My own belief is that the small but significant increase in maximal oxygen capacity was due to an increase in muscle endurance, which allowed the subjects to exercise longer, extract more oxygen, and reach an increased maximal oxygen uptake," says Holly.

Then there's the pranayama theory. Birkel suspects that yoga poses help increase lung capacity by improving the flexibility of the rib area, shoulders, and back, allowing the lungs to expand more fully. Breathwork further boosts lung capacity—and possibly also VO2max—by conditioning the diaphragm and helping to more fully oxygenate the blood.

Birkel, Dina Amsterdam, and others are also quick to point out that Suryanamaskar (Sun Salutations) and other continuously linked poses increase the heart rate, making yoga aerobically challenging. And many yoga poses—particularly standing poses, balancing poses, and inversions—build quite a bit of strength because they require sustained isometric contractions of many large and small muscles. Of course, holding the poses longer increases this training effect.

Finally, yoga tunes you into your body and helps you to better coordinate your actions. "When you bring your breath, your awareness, and your physical body into harmony, you allow your body to work at its maximum fitness capacity," says Dina Amsterdam. "Yoga class is merely a laboratory for how to be in harmony with the body in every activity outside of yoga. This improved physical wellness and fluidity enhance not just the physical well-being but also permeate all levels of our being."

Are You Fit?
Given all this evidence, can you now confidently tell your nonyogi friends they're wrong when they insist that you should add other forms of exercise to your practice?

Maybe, maybe not. The answer depends largely on how much you dedicate yourself to yoga. Studies done on yoga have included more than an hour of practice two to four days a week. The yoga sessions included breathwork and meditation in addition to typical yoga poses. Finally, the asanas used in these studies included not just aerobically challenging sequences, like Sun Salutations, but also many strengthening poses, like Virabhadrasana (Warrior Pose), Vrksasana (Tree Pose), Trikonasana (Triangle Pose), Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog Pose), Navasana (Boat Pose), Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand), Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose), and Plank.

So if you want to become and stay physically and mentally fit, make sure your yoga practice includes a balance of poses that build strength, stamina, and flexibility, along with breathwork and meditation to help develop body awareness. In particular, include a series of standing poses in your practice. As your practice expands, Schumacher suggests adding more challenging asanas such as balancing poses and inversions. "If you are just doing 15 minutes of gentle yoga stretches three to four times a week, you will also need to do some other form of exercise to stay fit," Schumacher readily admits. "I often tell my beginning students that they will need to do something in addition to yoga for a while until they can practice more vigorously."

Holly agrees. If you practice yoga for less than an hour twice a week, he suggests you either pair your practice with moderate intensity exercise like walking, or increase your yoga time or frequency. "But the best form of exercise is whatever you enjoy most and will continue to do on a regular, almost daily, basis," he says. "Should you do more than yoga if you don't enjoy other activities? No. Yoga has a lot of benefits, so do yoga regularly and enjoy it." Beyond fitness, yoga also offers many other gifts. It improves your health, reduces stress, improves sleep, and often acts like a powerful therapy to help heal relationships, improve your career, and boost your overall outlook on life.

All these positives are enough to keep former exercise junkie Stephanie Griffin hooked on yoga for life. Griffin had worried that, unlike her other fitness pursuits, yoga wouldn't give her the emotional satisfaction of aiming for and meeting goals. Soon, however, she realized that yoga offered her a path to constant improvement. "One day it hit me: I realized that my goal was to be practicing yoga well into my 90s," says Griffin. "For me, that is the new finish line. Practicing with that goal satisfies me more than any marathon."

37) Being BKS Iyengar: The enlightened yogi of yoga(part2-2)

In the last post we saw the Part-1 of the interview of BKS Iyengar with CNN-IBN's Anuradha SenGupta , here we will see Part-2 of the interview .

35) Being BKS Iyengar: The enlightened yogi of yoga Part-1

CNN-IBN's Anuradha SenGupta meets BKS Iyengar at his Pune residence.

34) Shiva Rea's flow Yoga - Yoga Shakti

Shiva Rea, M.A., is a leading teacher of transformational Prana Flow Yoga and Yoga Trance Dance™. She began exploring yoga at the age of fourteen as a way to understand her name, given to her by her father, a surfer and artist. Her studies in the Krishnamacharya lineage, Tantra, Ayurveda, Bhakti, Kalaripayattu, world dance, yogic art and somatic movement infuse her approach to living yoga and embodying the flow. She is known for bringing the roots of yoga alive for modern practitioners in creative, dynamic and life-transforming ways and for offering the synthesis form of vinyasa flow out in the world.

Here is a video sample from her DVD - Yoga Shakti and this workout is only for advanced practitioners of yoga as it is an intense workout .

33) Simplicity of the Sivananda System of Yoga

The Sivananda System of Yoga as systematized by Swami Vishnu devananda through his "Five Points of Yoga " and "12 Basic Postures" is a simple and straightforward method of living a Yogic life in practical terms . The "Five Points of Yoga" give a Macro view of what is needed to live a Yogic life and the "12 Basic postures" give a very practical tool for starting the Yogic Journey . Being a Sivananda Yoga Teacher myself I found this system of Yoga to be very useful not only for my own daily Sadhana but also for teaching beginners and helping them develop a healthy yogic life . Of course Yoga is a vast subject and the Sivananda System of Yoga does not address all those aspects but yet it is quite complete and comprehensive in its content to satisfy the needs of many common people who want a simple and straightforward approach to yoga without bothering them with deep technical details , mysticism , or dry theory . It is quite practical and the best way to experience the "5 Points of Yoga " is to take a short break and try the "Yoga Vacation" programs at the various Sivananda Ashrams the world over .The "Yoga Vacation" programs will give u the much needed detoxification of the body and mind and give you a taste of what is needed to live a Yogic life .

For more details refer the site www.sivananda.org

32) Did my Sadhana Intensive for the second time

I was away for nearly 3 weeks and returned back to Chennai only on Jan 20,2010 and had gone to the Sivananda Ashram in Madurai for doing the Sadhana Intensive Course for the second time . I did this course last year itself i.e in Jan 2009 and was thrilled to repeat it again the second time .I thoroughly enjoyed the course .We had 32 people from various parts of the world and many were repeating this course for the second time and some for the third time . Last year for me doing this course was a new experience but this time I could manage it better and could do the practices with more maturity . In end it was a terrific experience for me and I thoroughly enjoyed the course and felt this was the best way to start year 2010 .I am back to my usual schedule and will be updating this blog regularly .