Yoga

Recent Yoga Articles

Think You Can't Meditate? Think Again - Yoga Nidra is an Easily Accessible Form of Meditation

By Barbara Pearce

... cope with some of my worries but I was still basically shy and tended to worry. I started to take yoga nidra lessons in my early 40s. After practicing it for a while I noticed that I had become ...

Yoga for Those Who Think They Can't...

By Barbara Pearce

I took my first yoga class when I was forty and I loved it. I tried many different styles of yoga and different teachers until I stumbled on a combination that really resonated with me. I loved it so  ...

Pink Tantric Massage and Bodywork

By Larry Melamerson

... enough, yet many adults have difficulty moving, because of hip and lower back stiffness. Table yoga is very helpful in loosening up the spine and extremities. My work is specially designed to ...

The Importance of Chair Yoga

By Jennifer Heard

Yoga has been in North America since the late 1800’s but was considered taboo by Christians, and therefor was not as widespread as it is today. What people began to realize is that yoga is not ...

Happiness is Our Moral Duty

By Gaby

... and do what they do. Remember: happiness is contagious! Take care of you body (soft and gentle), Yoga, Qigong, Tai chi, it will move the right energies Take care of your mind, avoid emotional ...

Upcoming Yoga Events

Dharma Day: Awakening the Spirit

Jun 29, 2013 - United Kingdom

Yoga For Everyone 8.30am-9.30am The day starts with a yoga class suited to all levels given by Tribe's primary teacher Scarlett. Whether you are new to yoga or have had the joy of yoga practice in ...

Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga Classes

Jul 01, 2013 - Manasquan, New Jersey, United States

Join us at The Crystal Lotus for Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga Classes Mondays 9am-10:15 am; 6pm-7pm Tuesdays 6am-7am Wednesdays 9am-10:15 am; 5:30pm-6:45pm; 7pm-8pm Fridays 9am-10:15am What are The ...

Freeing the Body - Yoga Holiday in Turkey

Jul 08, 2013 - Karaçulha, Turkey

Freeing the body – yoga holiday with Katrin Heuser and Fairlie Gibson A real treat for your body, mind and spirit with two yoga sessions a day, the opportunity for nourishing treatments such as  ...

"The 8 Limbs of Yoga" - An Immersion Monsoon Retreat in the Heart of the Goan Forest

Aug 11, 2013 - India

Yoga, Rejuvenation, Meditation Sonja Appel (E-RYT 200 – founder of Sushumna Yoga, Goa, India) invites you for a 7 days yoga immersion in the Goan forest in the middle of the monsoon. Monsoon is  ...

Yoga & Ayurveda Retreat in France

Sep 09, 2013 - Biarritz, France

... programs for detox, stress and burnout, fitness and weight control, based on Ayurveda. 7 days of Yoga and Ayurveda to detox and rejuvenate in the wonderful Basque country on the Atlantic Ocean. ...

Frequently Asked Questions About Yoga

How Does Yoga Fit in with Health Insurance?

Many health insurance providers may cover some portion of fitness memberships, and a yoga membership may be included in that. You will need to verify this with your individual provider to see what is covered.

Yoga may also be covered by insurance if it is part of a physical therapy program

Many people also have some type of Health Spending Account or Flexible (flex) Spending Account. The rules vary, but if the yoga has been recommended by a doctor or is considered part of a treatment plan for your condition, it may be covered, or if it is considered to be a ‘healthy living expense’. Definitely check the rules of your particular plan. Sometimes Yoga will be covered if you buy a membership but not if you are paying for individual classes, and some plans will even cover your yoga mat!

How Much Does Yoga Cost?

Yoga prices vary widely. You can pay anywhere from 50-100$+ per hour for private yoga classes. Some large employers will offer yoga classes for their employees as part of a corporate wellness program. Many yoga studios allow you to pay for an individual class (often 15-25$ per) or to buy a set of tickets (often called passcards) for x many classes at a discounted rate. Many studios also offer memberships which can range from 30-200$ per month, depending on what they offer and what limitations there are on your membership. You will usually pay less per class if you buy a membership, and the longer you are willing to commit to, the less expensive the membership will usually be per class. However, make sure you read the terms and conditions carefully. Many studios offer significantly discounted introductory classes (10 classes for 10$, for example) to allow you to get a taste of yoga and see whether it is for you before you make a commitment.

What is a Yoga Class Like?

Yoga classes can vary widely depending on the style of yoga. Some are done in a heated room; others in a regular room. Almost always, you will have a yoga mat (which can often be rented at the studio to start with), and the instructor will be at the front of the class demonstrating the poses and providing instruction in how to do them. It is generally a good idea to be very clear about what style of yoga you will be trying, as they can range from extremely physical and challenging all the way to gentle yoga classes for people with physical impairments or a lack or range of motion. Select a style of yoga that works for you. Yoga classes range from 30 minutes to 90 minutes in length, and most studios offer a variety of styles at different times, although some will offer only one style over and over throughout the day. Many yoga studios recommend that you not eat for two hours before coming to class, but try to make sure that you are well hydrated before you start the class (particularly if you are doing a more intensive type of yoga class). You want your clothes for the class to be comfortable and relatively close fitting (so the instructor can see your form and offer suggestions to correct/improve it as necessary). Avoid wearing perfume to the yoga class if you possibly can. If it is your first class, you can often arrive early and chat briefly with the instructor to let them know that you are just starting out.

When you start yoga, a lot of new stuff is coming at you fast; so if you’re new to yoga, start with a beginner or introductory class. You want to be able to absorb all the newness and learn it thoroughly before you start getting fancy. Learn how to do each pose with the correct alignment before you start moving through the poses quickly so that you’re spot on with each pose as you do it. The faster you move through the poses, the more risk of injury if you’re not doing them with confidence. Start slow and listen to your body, above all else.

How to Select a Yoga Teacher

You can do yoga either at a studio or through private instruction. Cost may be a factor in which one you select, but you will probably also want to determine what you care most about. For example, is it critical to you to have an individual teacher that you are comfortable with? Or are you happy to go to a studio where all the teachers have some type of similar training or credentials but you will have different teachers at different classes? Some smaller studios will have one instructor for each type of yoga, so in that case, the individual instructor may again be more important.

Some questions you may want to consider include

• The style of yoga – You probably want to start by considering one of the more classical styles of Yoga (i.e. Hatha, Iyengar, which incorporate the postures and breathing and meditation/relaxation all together) or one of the gentler/therapeutically focused styles (like Kripalu Yoga, Viniyoga, Sivananda Yoga, Forrest Yoga or Restorative Yoga. If you are new to yoga, you may want to try several until you find a mix that suits you. It is extremely important to not go beyond your comfort level or suffer any physical pain.
• The fitness/spirituality mix of the studio or practitioner (some focus more on the physical aspects, others on the spiritual or metaphysical and some will combine both – you need to decide where your comfort level is)
• What credentials / training / experience the yoga teacher or school’s teachers have? Make sure you ask this, particularly where the instructor trained (this is even more important than how long they have been teaching) and what degree of formal training they have had in anatomy. Also, watch for how many questions the instructor asks you. The best instructors will ask you lots of questions to determine what you know about your body and your condition – they are aware that they may know about your condition (i.e. asthma) in the abstract, but you want them to be asking lots of questions about your symptoms and how the condition impacts you. No teacher will have experience with every physical condition, and a teacher doesn’t necessarily need to have experience with asthma to teach you safely, but they do need to be able to ask you a lot of questions so you can teach them about your body and your condition; you don’t want a teacher who thinks they know everything, but a teacher who is willing to ask the questions to best help you.
• Safety – how do they ensure your safety during the yoga classes? Do they have training to be able to teach you adjustments to the standard postures if necessary? Do they practice therapeutic yoga (if that matters to you)? Do they encourage you to push through pain or to listen to your body?
• Comfort level – do you feel comfortable with the teacher and or the studio’s style? If not and if you want that learning experience, that may be fine. But if it doesn’t feel like a fit, try another instructor or studio. Yoga should not be a chore, although it may at times be a workout!

History of Yoga

Yoga itself is a complex topic. There are many different styles of Yoga (on vitalitylink.com alone we have 40 different styles of yoga listed and even that is not exhaustive). Yoga has been around for well over 5,000 years. It originated in the Vedas (the scripture that is the basis of modern day Hinduism – although Yoga is said to predate the existence of the Hindu religion).

Yoga is seen by some as a spiritual practice, and by others as a physical discipline, and by yet others as a combination of the physical and spiritual. Yoga has become popular in the western world over the last century and particularly since the 60s. This caused a vast multiplication of the available ‘styles’ of yoga, as many different practitioners brought over a long existing style from India and then modified it and branded it as their own. Most Yoga that we are familiar with comes from the Hatha style of Yoga, via various lineages (a yoga lineage describes the list of teachers who learned from other teachers who learned for other teachers), with the two largest branches being “Ashtanga Yoga” as taught by Patabhi Jois, and Iygengar Yoga as taught by BKS Iyengar. For serious students of yoga, the lineage is very important and tells you a lot about their particular practice of yoga. However, for someone just looking to get started, the lineage is probably not your biggest concern.

Digging into the history of yoga and who learned from who can rapidly get very complicated. If you want to see the details of which styles of yoga come from which other ones, have a look at Alison Hink’s amazing infographic that shows the relationships and dependencies between most of the various styles of yoga: http://www.yogadork.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/yoga-history-flowchart-0411.jpg