Yoga and the Mind/Body Connection

By [http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Vaughn_Balchunas/8107] Vaughn Balchunas

Yoga is most famous for its healing ability and the peace of mind that it brings.  How does Yoga do this?

The body has two nervous systems, sympathetic, and parasympathetic.  The sympathetic system, also called the "fight or flight" system, causes blood pressure to rise, breath rate to increase, and stress hormones to flood the body.  This prepares the body for fight, and in today's world, this occurs when we are stressed or agitated.  This system, when over stimulated, can cause health problems like ulcers, migraines, and heart disease.

Raja Yoga Meditation - Achieving an Integration of Mind and Body

By [http://EzineArticles.com/expert/David_Barrett/102085]   David Barrett

The raja yoga meditation is an effective technique of meditating and kicking out stress and worries from your life. This technique is all about gaining control on everything that is connected with you. This is not just about controlling your breath, but in fact, it is more about controlling your mind. The ultimate purpose here is to achieve an integration of mind and body.

What is Yoga? Asana in the Context of the Six Yogas System

By [http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Elizabeth_Reninger/24043] Elizabeth Reninger

What Is Yoga?

Yoga is freedom. It is love. It is pure, radiant, unobstructed joy. It is pure awareness, wide-awake and clear.

~ Richard Freeman, director of The Yoga Workshop, in Boulder, CO

Here in the United States, on the cusp of 2006, just about everyone has heard the word "yoga." For many if not most, the word conjures images of scantily-clad beings with expanding and twisting limbs: a well-worn "scene" in health clubs, retreat centers, and yoga spaces throughout the country. In other words, it brings to mind the practice of asana ~ sequences of physical movements and postures ~ which, as it turns out, represent just a tiny slice of the entire "pie" that is the Yoga Tradition(s) of the larger world (universe, cosmos). Now there's nothing wrong with the practice of asana (I do it myself, and find it quite wonderful!), but it might be useful to be able to place this particular aspect of yoga onto its larger "map" ~ to have a sense of the tradition(s) from which it arises and to which it returns, and to understand asana to be just one of many possible entry-points into this vast and beautiful territory. So let's explore...