...In Sanskrit the word chakra means spinning wheel representing the seven spinal energy centers. The charkas correspond to your spiritual growth, behavioral characteristics and to specific areas of your body. All the charkas can be aligned together and made to spin in the same direction and speed through the art of yoga. You can bring a certain type of balance and peace to your mind, body and spirit by understanding how to fine tune and control your charkas through yoga and meditation.

Each and every part of your body from the perineum to the crown of your head is associated with the seven chakras alo...more

What to Look for When Hiring a Yoga Teacher (Part 2)

...unication skill for most Yoga teachers to master.

Assisting is another communication skill, but must be applied gently, and with knowledge of alignment. Yoga teachers should ask for permission before making an assist. Otherwise, this can lead to misunderstandings. Assisting is great, but should not take over the entire class.

Demonstrating is very important. Some Yoga instructors like to walk around and cue. This is fine for part of the class, but what about the Yoga student who learns visually? This student is looking around at the Yoga teacher and everyone else.

Knowledge of alignment is not hard to learn, but some teachers get carried away with their own demonstration and forget about everyone in the room. If a Yoga student is showing poor posture, it should be corrected.

Listening does not seem like a big deal, but wha...more

Part I: Yoga and weight Lifting Go Perfectly Together

...minate toxins, and bring balance to the body once again.

From my vantage point, yoga and lifting weights go perfectly togetherlift weights three days a week and do on yoga two days. The result will be a body of perfect tone; possibly larger muscles if that is your goal, better balance in bodily function, improved focus, concentration and breathing.

Used in tandem, free weight workouts and yoga will provide you with a more harmonized exercise regime and an overall sense of calmness that only comes from the quiet of yoga.<...more

Concentration and Meditation

...Concentration and Meditation

This article is a continuation of the earlier article Yoga and Ethics.

The two components of yoga leading to the last (eighth) are concentration (dhaaranaa) and meditation (dhyaana); the last one is trance (samaadhi). As stated in the earlier article it is possible to practice meditation without going through the preceding stages. We mentioned only the first two components. The third and fourth (aasana and praanaayaam) are in the form of exercises. We used the terms lower and higher yoga in the sense of physical and spiritual. They were not meant to denigrate the beneficial aspects of exercises and meditation, but only to stress the point that they do not take one towards the main goal of yoga.

Paatanjali defines concentration as confining the mind in a limited mental area. The mental territory is vast though not infinite at the lower levels of the mind. Concentrati...more

Thick Olive Green Yoga Mat