Yoga class for kids - Surya Namaskar

surya namaskaram and other exercises done before yoga by the students of Sri yadugiri school on the guidance of sri Char. 

NYTimes.com: How Yoga Won the West

Hello Yoga Friends:

Interesting article on how it got started in America. We may want to do some search and find if there was an earlier introduction. Also what Swami Vivekananda brought was more of the spiritual kind like we have in B.Gita in which each chapter's title has the appendix name of Yoga such as Jnana Yoga, Karma Yoga etc. but not the physical and mental exercise that Yoga in America means. 

Atul, you may want to circulate this to students.

Thanks.

S. Char

 

Opinion: How Yoga Won the West By ANN LOUISE BARDACH  

Vande Gurunam Mantra with translation

Astanga Yoga Mantram

OM
Vande Gurunam Caranaravinde
Sandarsita Svatma Sukhava Bodhe
Nih Sreyase Jangalikayamane
Samsara Halahala Mohasantyai
Abahu Purusakaram
Sankhacakrasi Dharinam
Sahasra Sirasam Svetam
Pranamami Patanjalim

OM

In English:

I pray to the Lotus feet of the Supreme Guru who teaches the good
knowledge, showing the way to knowing the self awakening great
happiness; who is the doctor of the jungle, able to remove the poison
of the ignorance of conditioned existence.

To Patanjali, an incarmation of Adisesa, white in color with 1000
radiant heads (in his form as the divine serpent, Ananta), human in
form below the shoulders holding a sword (discrimination), a wheel of
fire (discus of light, representing infinite time), and a conch
(Divine sound) - to him, I prostrate.

this sloka is dedicated to patanjali, the guru of ashtanga yoga.

Syllabus for Yoga teachers and students

SYLLABUS

A: Introduction to Yoga - Explain Original Ashtanga Yoga Recital of OM at Beginning and Conclusion, as well as the Patanjali Invocation

B: Simple Yoga Postures Standing (Do balancing exercises before heart rate goes up)·

·         Samasthiti (Namaste with a smile)

·         Tadasana (The Mountain hands above head, head down) ,

·         Tadasana (Parshva Bhangi, Parivritti Bhangi) .

·         Vrikshasana (The Tree)

·         Utkatasana (trying the chair with fingers above head)

·         Tuladana or Veera Bhadra (The Balance or Warrior)

·         Hanumanta

·         Veera Bhadrasana (Warrior)

·         Trikona (Triangle)

·         Parsvakonasana (heel to finger tip in 45° Angle)

·         Uttanasana Mudra (Forward bend with crossed fmgers above head)

·         Adhomukha Shvana (Downward Dog)

C. Sitting

·         Naukasana

·         Shashankasana (The Rabbit)

·         Narasimhasana (The Man~Lion) 

              Botox without the needles

·         Pachimottanasana(Forward bend)

·         Purvottanasana (Backward Bend)

·         Godhanasana ( Balance on folded leg, another stretched, hands spread like wings or

·         raised above head)

·         Badhakonasana ( The Shoemaker)

·         Upavistakonasana ( Forward Bend with legs spread out)

·         Vakrasana (legs stretched in front)      ~

·         Ardha Matsyendrasana (Lumbar Twist with hands wrapped around knees) .

·         Oustrasana (the Camel)

D. Lying: Down

·         Bhujangasana (Cobra)

·         Shvana (Dog)

·         Shalaba (Locust)

·         Dhanurasana (The Bow)

·         Sarvangasana (Shoulder stand)

·         Halasana ( The Plough) 

               Cures Diabetes

·         Shirshasana (The Headstand)

E: Pranayama (Breathing Exercises)

·         Bhastrika 

            Litmus Test: No thoughts!   For zero basing.

            Raises blood pressure slightly if done too much.

·         Nadi-Shodana Pranayama 

           Fingers must tightly clip the nose.  No leaks.

           Applying the chin to the chest helps activate thyroid. 

F:Shavasana

·         The Three Stages 

Some related links:

Sanskrit asana names with pictures

Asanas (with degree of difficulty) with pictures and some movements 

Asanas and Anatomy

Yoga Sutras 

Can Yoga Asanas wreck my body?

Warning to teachers 

How Temple Yoga Started - Words from Dr Char in early 2000

Yoga at Hindu Temple of Atlanta Exercise Schedule for a 10-Wk Session

Yoga Instruction is being imparted at the Hindu Temple of Atlanta, Riverdale, GA 30274 for the past twelve years. Yoga was then known by its generic name, plain vanilla Yoga. Yes, outstanding teachers such as Krisnamachar and his three students (brother-in-law) Sundaram Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois and (son) TKV Desikchar, and several others such as Swami Sivananda, Kripavalananda and others had established their own gharanas with distinct individualistic styles placing emphasis on different aspects of Yoga. There was, like at present, no plethora of brand names, with the obvious Mammon worship also being one of the considerations. Willy-nilly, the Yoga milieu has been transformed. Hopefully, the millennia-old values that underlie Yoga training have also not been modified.

While there is undoubtedly, merit in being specific about what type of Yoga is taught, there is lot more merit, especially to the beginner and to those looking to yoga for therapy, to call it by the generic name. At the more advanced or intermediate stage, it may serve a useful purpose to bring out the subtleties of each significant school. Even thereafter, it is sagacious to combine the best features of the major schools and offer what Temple Yoga instructors believe: Best Practices. Temple Yoga should be steeped in tradition like the very Temple gopurams (spires).

It is this basic philosophy that underlies Temple Yoga Instruction. The purpose is to -offer to the beginner as well as the advanced student the entire panorama of yoga starting with Yama and Niyama.. The drill would continue with the next logical steps of Asana and Pranayama. It would then conclude With the practice of Pratyahara. With these strong moorings in Yoga, the diligent student would Jollow up onhislher own oIJthe next three logical and somewhat intuitive steps of Dharana and Dhyana and ultimately Samadhi. If this is not Ashtanga Yoga. what is?

Yoga classes for beginners should invariably start with an introduction to what is Yoga, . how it is holistic and therefore from mere calorie-burning physical exercises such as aerobics. It is also emphasized that Yama and Niyama are prerequisites for Asana and Pranayama, like Math 101 is for Math 201. Sri Krishnamachar, the pater familias; of Yoga is adamant about this and has written that no one has any "adhikar" (permission) to go for Asana and other limbs of Yoga prior to observing Yama-Niyamas.

Keeping the foregoing detail in mind, Temple Yoga Instruction offers the following syllabus for its Yoga courses. It is expected that you become proficient in the listed asanas to qualify for the Temple' s Yoga Proficiency Certificate. Eventually, you should be able to claim a Health (and even Life) Insurance Rebate with the evidence of the Certificate. 

Yoga Sutras