Six Branches of Yoga

yoga is an ancient tradition from the Eastern world, and these oldest practitioners tended to look at yoga as a tree with six branches. What all six have in common are the asanas (the physical positions and movements), Pranayama (the structured breathing or breath control), meditation and a strong moral code.

1. hatha yoga

In Indian, "ha" means sun and "tha" means moon. hatha yoga refers to these twin energy channels in the body. Its goal is to prepare the body for the more pure state of meditation to come in the 2nd branch. hatha yoga was brought to us by an Indian yogi attempting to purify the body to make it fit for higher meditation. Western yoga is almost completely the hatha yoga branch, and Westerners find mental and physical comfort in the first branch alone.

2. Raja yoga

Raja and hatha Yoga are highly interrelated. Raja means "royal" in Indian, and in the royal tradition, this branch of yoga has eight included branches as follows:

- niyama - self discipline - asana - positions - pranayama - breath control - pratyahara - sensory deprivation - dharana - meditation - samadhi - ecstasy

Raja yoga is often practiced by religious leaders and monastery dwellers. However, anyone can find benefits in the practice of raja yoga.

3. Karma yoga

The basic teaching of karma yoga is that what we do and how we behave today will influence our happiness and fulfilment in the future, or a future lifetime. Understanding this cosmic principle helps us to create our current environment with love and positivity in order to forestall negativity in our future. Practitioners of karma yoga lead a life of selfless devotion and service to those less fortunate.

4. Bhakti yoga

Bhakti is a sanskrit term meaning love of God and mankind. practice of bhakti involves controlling and channeling emotions and having tolerance for all who come into our lives.

5. Jnana yoga

Jnana yoga is the branch of the intellect. Practitioners pursue scholarly paths, usually those of yoga masters or other spiritual traditions. In our Western religious culture, the Jnana yoga practitioner may be likened to the Jesuit priest, the Kabala scholars or Benedictine monks.

6. Tantra Yoga

Tantra yoga prioritizes ritual as the best way to experience the divine. The sanskrit word tantra translates to weave or loom. Rituals in everyday life lead to a recognition of the divine in everyday life which leads, in turn, to a reverent attitude in everyday actions.

Tantra yoga is the most misunderstood of the six branches. The ancient book, "The Kama Sutra" is a well-known example of this misunderstanding of the real goal of tantra yoga. It is a book of sexual positions and techniques, and in Westernized yoga tradition, tantra yoga has become associated almost exclusively with these published sexual practices. Worldwide, however, most schools teaching this branch of yoga recommend celibacy.

When finally understood by Westerners, tantra's ritualizations of everyday events appeal to them. Western civilizations tend to make rituals of everyday events anyway - births, deaths, weddings, going to church, forming clubs, and all the many various ceremonies and celebrations commonly held are all tightly related to tantra yoga rituals.

One of the best things about the six branches of yoga is that you are not limited to just one, or to a series. You can pick and choose what you want to practice when. Follow your own path using yoga as your toolbox.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Yoga

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How to Connect Your Playstation Portable to Your Playstation 3

Connecting your playstation portable (PSP) to your playstation 3 (PS3) will allow you to play your PS3 games running on your console in your home from your psp outside your home, using your PS3s wireless remote connection feature. In this article I will explain the benefits of establishing this connection.

In the resource box at the bottom of this article you will find a link to a video explaining how a PS3 and a psp can be connected. The operation should go pretty smooth if you follow the guidelines in the tutorial video. You will find a video link at the end of this page.

Being separated from your new PS3 for a longer period of time can be hard. Imagine how hard it will be when new games like the new Grand Theft Auto get released. Connecting your psp to your playstation 3 will allow you to play your PS3 games even when you are outside your home.

You can play your playstation 3 games from your office when you have a couple of minutes available, at your grandmothers birthday party, at the train or on the subway. With the wireless connection in your PS3 combined with the pretty high quality screen on your psp this is not a bad option at all.

In addition to playing games from your psp you are also able to watch movies from the blue-ray/ DVD player on your PS3. Even though it is very possible to install videos on a psp it is also a benefit to be able to watch DVDs on it. I bet you have more DVDs than you have psp movies. At least I have.

If you have music installed on your playstation 3 these are also available to play using your psp if you have built a connection between the two. This is a handsome feature that can come in handy in a lot of situations.

Still I believe the most powerful feature of building a psp-PS3 connection is the ability to play games. The quality is more than good enough and the ability to play my PS3 games from my sunny garden chair with a lemon ice tea is nothing to complain about.

If you want to know how to connect your psp to your PS3 to avoid problems on the way I have posted a video about it on my website. Follow this link to watch it

Power Yoga Pilates

Does Your Busy Lifestyle Lead to Overeating?

If you're super busy, your hectic life may lead to being overweight.

How is a busy lifestyle connected with emotional eating and overeating?

There are lots of ways. First, we become nervous that eating healthy will require time (more time than we have). We react to this by not even trying, by going out to eat, and by grabbing food on the run. I know that I end up eating more carbs (think, frozen pizza) when I'm crazy busy.

Second, when were rushed we dont pay full attention to what we're eating. This is why people who eat on the go or while doing work or watching TV tend to eat more.

Did you know that normal weight people underestimate what they eat by 30%? And people who are overweight underestimate their calorie intake by 60%! One reason for this is that we dont pay attention to what we eat and then we dont realize how much we eat.

Finally, an extremely busy lifestyle can lead to more intense emotions which can lead to emotional eating. When were super busy we often sacrifice sleepand lack of sleep is a major cause of emotional instability. When were exhausted, we experience emotions more intensely and they often spike up quickly. We also act more impulsively without thinking decisions through.

And were less likely to exercise (since were so busy and tired) and exercise helps to stabilize mood and therefore reduce emotional eating.

So What Do We Do about All This?
You're probably thinking that your life will not be any less busy any time soon. This is okay, but you'll have to make some minor changes. First, recognize that if you plan and shop well, it won't take longer to eat healthy food.

You can always prepare food for several days and freeze it and buy healthy organic frozen meals. Get prepackaged little bags of nuts and dried fruit (or make your own). Stock up on low-fat string cheese and other snacks you can grab and go.

Second, when you're eating, eat mindfully. To begin mindful eating, take 5-10 minutes and pay attention to your food. Realize how much you're eating. Eat slowly and savor it so a little goes a long way. The other day I ate a take 5 bar (leftover from Halloween) while I was working on a book. after finishing it, I realized I hadn't even enjoyed it because I was focused on what I was writing. Don't make this mistake- pay attention to your food.

Third, work on keeping your sleep and emotions stable so you're less likely to engage in emotional eating. And if you know you're having a sleepy, cranky day, stay away from the drive-throughs and cookie aisle!

now enjoy the health and weight loss benefits that these changes will bring you!

Larina Kase, PsyD, MBA is the author or coauthor of 6 books including the New york Times bestseller The Confident Speaker (McGraw-Hill, 2007). Get many more tips on how to land a book deal, get quoted in the media, and get booked as a speaker at http://www.platformbuildingsecrets.com

Love Yoga Meditation

6 Superb Golf Courses in Florida

florida is well known as as both a vacation and retirement destination, and as you might expect, is home to many excellent golf courses. In this article, we will review some of beautiful public golf courses in florida, and what they offer.

1. When most people think of Orlando, they tend to think of the area's many tourist attractions, including the Walt Disney World Resort (which is actually in nearby Lake Buena Vista), SeaWorld Orlando and Universal Studios florida. The city is also home to Arnold Palmer's Bay hill club and Lodge, which has been rated as having one of the best 100 public golf courses in the country by golf digest. As well as excellent golf, the facilities include a 70 room lodge, a spa, a salon, a fitness center, a pool and tennis courts.

2. and 3. Ginn Hammock Beach Resort, located in Palm Coast, which on the Atlantic Coast of florida near St. Augustine, offers two interesting golf courses: "The Conservatory golf Course" and "The Ocean Course". The Conversatory features undulating greens that very unusual for golf courses in the state, and in fact has the highest slope rating of any golf course in florida. The Ocean Course is a signature design by Jack nicklaus, and has six holes that are right on the Atlantic Ocean - it is also generally considered one of the best public golf courses in the country, and beginning this year, 2007, will be home to the new Ginn championship, which will surely become one of the biggest events on the PGA Champions tour.

4. TPC at Sawgrass is a world reknown golf facility in jacksonville, which is home to the PGA Tour's THE players championship. There is more than one course at the TPC at Sawgrass, but surely the highest rated is the Stadium Course, which is one of the very best golf courses in the country. The Stadium Course has recently been renovated and improved, so as to offer an even better golf experience, all year round.

5. and 6. World Woods golf Course which is in Brooksville, offers two excellent golf courses: "Tom Fazio's Pine Barrens" and "Rolling Oaks". It is also home to a high quality golf practice facility and driving range, which is sure to help you improve your game.

For contact details of 100 excellent public golf courses in the USA, and a detailed guide to family-friendly golf vacations in the USA, please visit http://www.guide2golfvacations.com/

For a guide to improving your golf fitness, please visit http://www.guide2golffitness.com/

If you have a golf web site, click the "Affiliates" link at the bottom of the page to earn great commissions promoting either of these guides.

Streaming Video Yoga