Yoga is an ancient practice with its origins found in India’s history. It involves a number of techniques which include movement, posture, breath, sound, diet, study and or reflection and meditation. It is a process of inhibiting or gaining control over the mental impulses (fluctuations) we experience. All Yoga teaching and techniques are meant to bring us to this state, a place of calm, a place of stillness. Yoga today can act as a tool which can be used in a variety of ways, such as a therapy to address health issues in order to prevent, to maintain or improve our current state of health. Alternatively, it may help you to learn how to, for example, cope with excessive stress or anxiety or care for chronic disorders such as arthritis or asthma etc.
The word Viniyoga means the appropriate application of Yoga techniques to particular situations. It is a process for developing a personal practice, using asana (posture), pranayama (breathing practices), meditation, sound and study. Viniyoga respects the fact that as we move through life, the methods we use in Yoga need to be modified and the purpose of our practice changed in order to reflect the changes in our personal circumstances. These practices are adapted and combined in different ways so as to meet the changing conditions you experience on all levels of your body and mind. Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya believed in this person-centred approach to Yoga. It is fundamental to his teachings and those of his son T.K.V. Desikachar. For Yoga to have its full therapeutic value and be sustained over time, it must be continually adapted to the person. In this way you are brought closer into contact with your true potential. This possibility makes Yoga a powerful tool in our quest for well-being, clarity and personal insight. This is the Viniyoga of Yoga.
• Careful modification of postures
• Dynamic and static work in postures
• Adaption and combination of postures in sequences
• Attentive and precise application of the breath
You may want to learn more about the teachings that form the foundation for your Yoga practice, or developing a posture/s. You may want to learn a breathing technique to ease an over taxed nervous system, or a practice for mediation or preparing to join a local group class.
• Enhance strength and flexibility
• Manage anxiety and tension
• Complement modern medicine and alleviate many common ailments
• Learn relaxation techniques and meditation
• Support structural imbalances, e.g. excessive curvature of the spine
• Ease tension headaches
• Restore energy and health after illness and injury
If you would like to learn more about Yoga visit Sadhana Mala, the Association of Yoga Studies (aYs) and the British Wheel of Yoga online (BWY):
Other useful links:
Study/Research on Yoga for Osteoporosis:
Loren Fishman www.sciatica.org
Ellen Saltonstall www.mohiniyoga.com