Essential Wellness

Nancy J. Hajeski

• Publisher: Thunder Bay Press
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781684128105
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Alternative & Complementary Medicine

Enhance your physical and mental well-being through practical solutions that are easy to incorporate into your daily routine.

Whatever your goals, Essential Wellness walks you through the many ways you can maximize health and minimize stress. Whether you're recovering from illness, controlling your weight, managing an addiction, minimizing the effects of aging, or simply boosting your overall well-being, this book provides you with recipes, routines, tips, and tricks for living your healthiest life. It introduces powerful tools that are easy to incorporate into your daily routine, including yoga, meditation, massage, and herbal remedies. Essential Wellness covers the simple but effective tools you can use to care for body and mind.

A HISTORY OF YOGA

Yoga and its teachings date back at least to 3000 BC. The practice promoted both physical and spiritual outcomes—the Sanskrit word yug means “to yoke together or unite”—and early writings were collected in Hindu scriptures. Today, this versatile discipline is practiced worldwide by lithe athletes, weekend warriors, and golden-agers alike.

Painting of Yogi seated in a garden

Yoga was originally a Hindu spiritual and ascetic discipline that incorporated breath control, meditation, and a series of body postures. Today it is practiced to improve health, achieve a more relaxed state, and elevate consciousness or spirituality. Physically, it is especially useful for increasing flexibility; aligning the skin, muscles, and bones; and strengthening and toning the body.

PRE-CLASSICAL YOGA

The first culture to develop yoga was the Indus-Sarasvati civilization of Northern India around 5,000 years ago, though some researchers believe the discipline may date back as far as 10,000 years. The term was first mentioned in the oldest Hindu sacred text, the Rig Veda, a collection of songs, mantras, and rituals. Subsequent developments and refinement in the practice—chronicled by the priest class, the Brahmans, and the mystic seers, the rishis—were collected in the massive compilation of scriptures called the Upanishads. The basic concept behind yoga was the sacrifice of the ego by employing three attributes: self-knowledge; action, or karma yoga; and wisdom, or jnana yoga. There were, however, many interpretations and manifestations of the practice, which led to an unclear doctrine.

CLASSICAL YOGA

In the second century AD, the clashing, contradictory, or disparate ideas of pre-classical yoga were replaced by a systematic presentation known as Raja yoga, which featured Patanjali’s Sutras. Patanjali was a Hindu mystic who organized yoga into “an eight-limbed path” that contained the steps needed to achieve samadhi, or enlightenment. Today Patanjali is considered the father of yoga; many of his sutras still influence modern styles in studios across the globe.

POST-CLASSICAL YOGA

For several centuries after the passing of Patanjali, yoga masters rejected the Vedic teachings and began to concentrate on the physical body as the means to enlightenment and longer life. They created Tantric yoga, with its extreme focus on cleansing the body and mind and slashing the knots that bind us to the physical plane. It was this dual goal, exploring both physical and spiritual connection, that led to the creation of the discipline that once defined yoga in the West—Hatha yoga.

Modern yoga lady

MODERN YOGA

Late in the nineteenth century, Indian yoga masters began a migration to the West in response to sudden interest in the practice. This likely began with the popular lectures on yoga by Swami Vivekananda at the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893. His talks included a belief in the universality of all the world’s religions. By the 1920s, Hatha yoga had a stronghold in India, but interest in the US was still limited to strict devotees. Then Indra Devi opened her yoga studio in Hollywood, and yoga became an established and accepted form of physical fitness. Western and Indian teachers alike continued to spread the word, opening ashrams and yoga centers, creating new forms of the discipline, and earning millions of new followers.

YOGA FOR EVERYONE

The benefits of yoga are manifold: Many harried career professionals swear by yoga’s efficacy as a relaxation technique and laud its ability to “turn down the noise” of busy lives and full schedules. For the athlete, yoga classes offer a chance for recovery after hard workouts at the gym. For seniors, yoga provides low-impact postures that can restore balance, flexibility, and vigor. For couch potatoes who want to get in shape, yoga can be a gradual stepping-stone to more rigorous forms of exercise—or it can be an end in itself.

A SAMPLER OF YOGA STYLES

As the centuries passed, many varieties of yoga evolved, each one placing emphasis on different criteria—continuous movement, precision of body placement, length of time spent in hold, intensity or depth of stretches, or spiritual renewal and psychic restoration.

Silver buddha statue

CURRENT CHOICES

Whatever your personal fitness or spiritual goal, you will find that yoga offers something for nearly everyone. The following list covers some of the most popular versions of yoga taught today, along with tips on their target audience and levels of difficulty. You might want to take a few sample classes covering several types of yoga until one clicks. You may also find more than one discipline that works, especially if you desire different results at different times. Always remember that in any level of yoga, the instructor is there to answer questions and guide you safely.

• Hatha Yoga. This slower type of yoga, which unifies body and mind, requires the practitioner to hold basic poses for the count of a few breaths. Technically, the Sanskrit term hatha—from ha, “sun,” and tha, “moon”—refers to any yoga that teaches physical postures. As a gentle introduction to yoga, it is ideal for beginners.

• Vinyasa Yoga. Here the student learns to link continuous movements and breathing in a dance-like, dynamic flow. Transitions are quick and sessions become aerobic; they are often taught to rhythmic music. Vinyasa is especially great for runners and endurance fans.

• Iyengar Yoga. This discipline focuses on precise movements and correct body alignment while the poses are held; it utilizes props such as bands, blankets, and blocks. Detail-oriented students will enjoy these classes, but will need at least one beginner session to learn technique. Iyengar works well for older students or those recovering from injuries.

• Ashtanga Yoga. This discipline features six sequenced poses that create internal heat as you work your way through them. Some classes h...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Introduction: Embracing Wellness
• Chapter 1: The Many Benefits of Yoga
• Chapter 2: Exploring Meditation
• Chapter 3: Herbal Remedies
• Chapter 4: Essential Oils
• Chapter 5: Natural Spa Treatments
• Chapter 6: Massage and Touch Therapies
• Chapter 7: The Naturally Healthy Home
• Chapter 8: Teas, Tonics, and Smoothies
• Index
• Picture Credits
• Copyright