Free Private Yoga Lessons: Yoga for Beginners. Yoga Poses for Beginners That Will Make Your Dog Go "What The..." by Michelle Nicole

What Yoga Is Not
     
    When starting yoga, there are certain things which you need to know regarding its common misconceptions. Yoga is NOT…
     
·       An aerobic exercise meant to sculpt the body or help with weight loss. Understand that yoga isn’t meant to feed the vanity or ego. It is, first and foremost, a meditation practice meant to calm the mind in order to discover your true self. Toning the body and losing weight may only be considered a by-product of the yoga practice itself.
     
·       About flexibility. Yoga is primarily about practicing balance and accepting who you are as a person. But it is the wrong reason to practice yoga for the purpose of becoming flexible. The poses are designed to eventually calm the mind, which should be your primary purpose of practicing this art. Doing this, you promote harmony and peace in your entire being. Flexibility of the body comes as a result of constant practice of poses meant to calm your inner being.
     
·       Only existent during session time. Yoga, being an art, must be considered a way of life. Know that every little thing you do in your daily life, every connection with a fellow being is also a yoga moment. Therefore, yoga is a practice that will help you achieve a state of clear and peaceful mind.
     
·       A religion or cult. People need constant guidance, and this is clearly depicted in history. When doing yoga, this is clearly your own personal choice. However, as a yogi, you need to understand that the practice can’t be found in a single guide book or bible. The teachings of each yogi master are developed according to their respective experience, their body’s motion range and qualities, body limits and spiritual growth. Blindly following someone’s teaching means also preparing yourself for certain setbacks that you may encounter along the way. This is because your teachers, no matter how experienced, are still mere humans.   
     
·       Merely about poses. When practicing yoga, the poses are considered meditation in movement. Moving while meditating, you are freeing your breath to experience a clear mind as you execute each pose. Still, yoga poses don’t need to be in a specific form. It is more like finding which position is most comfortable for you so you can stay still for meditation. However, despite everything, if you have a mind that is filled with negativity, you are not practicing yoga, but merely executing the poses.  
     

The Wonderful Benefits of Yoga
     
    Y oga by way of meditation has remarkable effects on people. It is very effective in the synchronization of the mind and body for attainment of inner peace and harmony.
     
    Stress is considered as the primary factor that influences every aspect of a person’s emotional, physical and endocrinal system. Personal conflicts tend to weight down an individual. As a result, it greatly affects personal and work relationships, daily performance and interaction with society. Yoga can greatly help correct these things. Listed below are its many benefits:
     
·     Increased lubrication of tendons, joints and ligaments. Yoga positions have been well-studied, aimed to develop various ligaments and tendons.
     
·     Increased flexibility. Different yoga postures and poses influence different joints of the body. This includes parts that don’t get tapped with standard exercises.
     
According to studies, a person who starts doing yoga, who once doesn’t get involved in exercise routines, experience a remarkable flexibility with constant practice. Even certain body parts that normally don’t get purposely worked upon become flexible as well.
     
·       Massages every organ in the body. Among all exercises that ever existed, yoga is by far the only practice known to thoroughly work all internal organs of the body, including the ones that barely get stimulated under normal circumstances.
     
·       Total body detoxification. Yoga doesn’t only