1. You don’t have to be bendy to practice ASANA or yoga postures; if fact, some say it’s best if you’re not (you bendy ones are fun to watch, though).
2. Yoga is not a form of trendy exercise but a collection of ancient disciplines or practices with a few main branches and many ‘younger’ offshoots. Historians trace yoga’s roots to roughly 400 B.C.E.-200 B.C.E., making it possibly the most enduring ‘fad’ in history.
3. Raja yoga, one of several main, orthodox branches of yoga, includes eight “limbs,” or practices. Of those, only one (asana) involves “exercise.”
4. Asana practice is really hard, and really easy. Sometimes in-between.
5. Yoga can be done anywhere, anytime and with no equipment, but is best experienced within a community of dedicated practitioners, and — at least some of the time — under the guidance of a qualified teacher.
6. The word yoga means ‘union,’ or ‘to yoke,’ as in mind and body, breath and movement, effort and ease, individual and infinite.
7. Yoga’s core teachings — among them compassion, honesty and nonviolence — complement any type of religious faith. If it seems dogmatic, find another teacher.
8. Sitting still is the finish line. Scratch the finish line part ….
9. You are not too old, too fat, too thin, too weak, too busy or too tired to try asana or meditation.
10. Practiced consistently and under the guidance of a qualified teacher, yoga strengthens and purifies body and mind and balances all physiological systems.
11. Many of yoga’s health benefits, which include stress relief, regulation of blood pressure and metabolism, increased muscle strength, flexibility and mental focus, kick in right away.
12. At least 12 million Americans practice yoga, according to research conducted by Yoga Journal magazine.
13. Inversions (heart over head) are believed to regulate the endocrine system by stimulating the thyroid and other glands. They also build strength and flexibility and are really fun.
14. Backbends strengthen the back and release the front. Forward bends cleanse the organs and calm the mind.
15. Each of the above posture types are present in a basic Sun Salutation (SURYA NAMASKARA), yoga’s full-body, all-purpose warm-up.
16. You will never be “good” at yoga. But you will never be bad, either.
17. Sanskrit is the ancient language of yoga. UTTHITA HASTA PADANGUSTHASANA means “extended hand to big toe pose.” SHANTHI: “peace.” NAMASTE: “I bow to you.”
18. People with physical limitations of all kinds practice asana, meditation and other cleansing techniques, called KRIYAS. If you can breathe, you can practice.
19. Asana practice is safe (and extraordinarily beneficial) for pregnant women only when appropriately modified and practiced under the guidance of a teacher trained specifically in prenatal yoga.
20. Asana practiced in a heated room cleanses the body through lots of sweat, allows muscles and connective tissue to stretch safely, and often strengthens one’s sense of humility.
21. There are probably hundreds of modern styles of yoga, some calm & meditative, some very physically vigorous (and meditative).
22. Yoga will improve your golf, bowling, running, tennis, eating, digestion, breathing, sleeping, relationships, brain function and attitude.
23. Schools that incorporate yoga in classrooms report improvements in behavior and academic performance. Moms like it, too….
24. You do not have to chant “OM” or anything else in yoga class.
25. You do not have to travel to India (or anywhere else requiring immunizations and buckets of money) for the ‘real thing.’ You can find inspiration and quality instruction much closer to home: PRACTICE YOGA, only in Dayton’s Oregon Arts District, 504 E. Fifth St. / WWW.PRACTICEYOGADAYTON.COM / 937.321.7676.
