New Understandings: Meditation: Awakening Your Power
Asanas
The Plow (Halasana)
The Cobra (Bhujangasana)
Your Program
Insight: Looking Further at Meditation Techniques
New Understandings: Mantra Yoga
Asanas
Foot and Hand Pose (Padahastasana)
The Camel (Ushtrasana)
Your Program
Insight: Tratak (Gazing)
New Understandings: A Beautiful You Through Better Eating
Asanas
Spinal Twist (Ardha Matsyendrasana)
Half Lotus (Ardha Padmasana)
Your Program
Insight: Balancing Food, Balancing You
New Understandings: Yogic Power Centers: The Chakras
Asanas
The Wheel (Chakrasana)
Back Stretch (Paschimottanasana)
Your Program
Insight: Slow Motion
New Understandings: Your Energy Field: Your Aura
Asanas
Spiraled Head-to-Knee Pose (Parivritti Janusirshasana)
Head Stand (Sirshasana)
Your Program
Insight: Imagining Yourself
New Understandings: Putting It All Together
Asanas
The Crane (Bakasana)
King of Dancer’s Pose I (Natarajasana I)
King of Dancer’s Pose II (Natarajasana II)
One-Leg Stand (Eka Padasana)
Tree Pose (Vrikshasana)
Half-Moon Pose (Ardha Chandrasana)
Palm Tree Pose (Talasana)
The Peacock (Mayurasana)
Insight: Further Your Self-Discovery
Preface
As women, we are all seeking a way to achieve good health and inner peace in a world that is charged with tension and anxiety. Throughout my many years of taking and teaching yoga classes, I have found that the skills and understandings of this ancient tradition can be especially helpful in leading us to that goal.
I have also found that yoga is best learned in small increments, a little at a time. Seen as a gradual process, an unfolding, the stress of gaining immediate results is diminished and the learning process becomes an end in itself, providing an abundance of joyful self-discovery and new insights. For that reason I have chosen to present A Woman’s Book of Yoga in a journal format because accomplishments derived from the study of yoga are very subtle and can be easily lost or not completely understood unless they are recorded for future comparison. Also, writing in a journal is an extremely useful tool because it will enable you to become aware of new accomplishments gained from each practice session.
All of the information that you will need for your study has been presented in a logical step-by-step progression of new ideas and concepts. Because the concepts are at first unfamiliar to those of us who are accustomed to living in a Western culture, I have designed this book to encourage you to interact with these new ideas in a way that will make them readily understandable and relevant to your daily life. If you use it as a journal and on a regular basis, it will become an aid to self-discovery by giving you a chance to pause and reflect on past experiences and future goals. It should be perceived as a constantly available source that you can use whenever you wish to record your many new experiences.
Willingness to participate fully in the study of yoga can also open channels of personal growth that lead to a sense of well-being on many different levels. Many yoga students gradually develop deeper understandings that allow them to become free of the negative demands of our competitive society. The values of harmony within nature and a sense of love and unity may slowly replace the desires for materialistic gain.
It is my hope that A Woman’s Book of Yoga will afford you many hours of pleasure and become a source of inspiration to help you on your path of self-fulfillment and discovery.
Chapter 1
Origins of Yoga
The Paths of Yoga
How Yoga Can Benefit You
Getting Started
Helpful Knowledge for
Hatha Yoga Practice
Your Journal
Origins of Yoga
Yoga originated in ancient India. Begun by Tibetan monks more than six thousand years ago, the techniques and theories were initially handed down orally by a chain of teachers and students. At first its teachings were secret, as were those of its offshoots, among them karate and t’ai chi. The first written account of yoga is attributed to the Indian sage Patanjali, who codified the complete system in the second century B.C. His Yoga Sutras remain one of India’s most important writings.
The word yoga is derived from the ancient Sanskrit root verb yuj, which means “to join” or “unite.” It signifies the union of the conscious mind with the deeper levels of the unconscious or universal mind, which ultimately results in a totally integrated personality. The yogic ideal of unification is called mukusha and connotes a perfect balance or state of naturalness. The philosophy stresses that the whole of life strives toward this ideal, which is described by the Christian religion as the peace that passeth all understanding. Yoga teaches