s modern life grows ever more stressful, due to the economy, en- vironment, and other global issues, it’s taking a toll on our relationships, health and outlook. As a result, many people are turning to yoga as the perfect stress reliever.


Based on data from a 2001 Yoga Journal, a conservative estimate of yoga enthusiasts now exceeds 24 mil- lion people in North America alone. Yoga is a global phenomenon, reaching into Latin America and Europe, and is experiencing a revival in its native India.


In the U.S., yoga is often perceived as a mix of contortions and sweat. But it’s more than a workout. The yoga landscape is vast and inclusive by na- ture. In fact, the word “yoga” is derived from the Sanskrit word “yuj,” which means “union,” “junction,” and “to yoke.” There is a style of yoga for all ages, dispositions and conditions. And it’s not just for women.


Here are a couple of things that


yoga is not. Yoga is not witchcraft, as some folks in Dallas thought in 1966, when Texas’ first yoga studio opened in Preston Center. And yoga is not a religion. The formidable yoga teacher Indra Devi once wrote: “A yogi can belong to any religion or to none at all. The purpose of all yoga is to unite finite man with the infinite, with one’s own consciousness, truth, and light. ” Fundamentally, yoga practices are tools for personal transformation. That means the practices benefit one’s personal health and wholeness on all levels, from the physical to the subtle. This can yield profound results. One simply needs the right teacher. Currently, yoga goes by many different names: Iyengar, Kripalu, Sivananda, Ashtanga, Viniyoga, Jiva Mukti, Tibetan Heart, the Himalayan


A Yoga Landscape A


By Jeffry Farrell


Institute, and dozens more. These are styles of yoga whose names originated with individual teachers or schools and that designate a method of learning. Some can be connected with a lineage that dates back centuries.


Regardless, most yoga practices begin in asanas: physical postures that bend, stretch, strengthen and awaken the body. More than a cult of youth and beauty, yoga includes breathing exercises that affect the nervous system. Yoga also provides a set of ethical principles to guide one’s actions, both in the world and within oneself. These elements are all part of Hatha yoga. Furthermore, the inmost heart of yoga allows all types of individuals to progress along various paths. Jnan


yoga awakens the mind. Karma yoga is the yoga of action and service. Mantra yoga employs the repetition of sounds resonant in the body. Krya yoga aims to cleanse the temple of the body and the faculties of the mind. Bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion, is the yoga of the awakening heart.


Judging from its growing popular-


ity, yoga may be the ideal solution for what ails us today, and may help to improve tomorrow.


Jeffry Farrell owns and operates Park Cities Yoga in Dallas and is a contribut- ing author of “Inspired Lives: the best of real life yoga from Ascent Magazine”. 5757 Lovers Lane, Suite 216. Park CitiesYoga.com See ad page 15.


natural awakenings


September 2010


13


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32