Yoga Retreats in India

Yoga retreats are the centres where you will find residential facilities with training of yoga. In India you would find various types and sizes of yoga retreats catering to your needs and desires. Mostly these retreats concentrate their attention on the matters of teaching the yoga postures, pranayam, and meditation. Living comfortably is also a part of yoga theory. So in such retreats you would find the living comfortable.

Indian Yoga Retreats

India is founder of the yoga system. From the days of ancient universities of Nalanda and Taxila (Taxshila), the knowledge about yoga and meditation are imparted here with authenticate spiritual dedication. It is said that the silence is the language of God. In a well-managed yoga centre, you would be able to hear that language, sitting in the atmosphere of peace and quietness enabling you to submerge into yourself.

In modern day India, too, the teaching of yoga is continued with same dedication with which it was done in ancient time of Aryan saints and medieval yoga gurus. Many of the retreats emphasize the lifestyle of ashram during the sessions of yoga teaching. The persons working in such institutes or facilities are mostly well-trained in the field of yoga poses and meditation.

How the Retreats Help Learning Yoga

Yoga is known as the journey for knowing the self; it is like a trip to discover the person living within ourselves. For travelling inside of us, we need an exclusive corner of peace and tranquillity. The yoga retreats situated either on the hills of Himalayas or on the tranquil beaches of India would provide you the space you need. You would find a nice place around Hrishikesh in north India or Goa near Bombay. The retreats situated in Kerala offer the peaceful stay at palm groove beaches. These places open up the possibilities of experiencing the real peace we can have by doing yoga and meditation.

What They Provide in Yoga Retreats

Depending upon the situation and the place of the retreat and the tariffs they charge, the facilities offered to the yoga parishioners could be varied. In most of the retreats, especially near Haridwar and Hrishikesh, the charges would be very economical. Most of the places provide the facilities of food and beverages at cost prices. They charge some fees for the services of trained yoga teacher.

Other Facilities in Yoga Retreats

There are various places catering to the different needs of the person. It includes the services of providing Ayurvedic spa and massaging. Those who want special huts near seashore or under a palm tree will be required to pay extra for the same. These resorts provide all types of yoga accessories like yoga mat, yoga balls. You would find a good gym, too, in some of the resorts. (Image courtesy By MyA [CC-BY-SA-3.0 or GFDL], from Wikimedia Commons) (Image of Ramjhula, Hrishikesh courtesy By Asis K. Chatterjee [CC-BY-SA-2.0], from Wikimedia Commons)

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Hatha Yoga : Postures With Meditation and Pranayam

Yoga is a traditional wisdom originated in India. But it has nothing to do with any religion or faith. Practicing yoga, coupled with meditation, is an age-old system of human efforts to feel the oneness of body and the soul.

WHAT IS HATHA YOGA

While Hatha yoga combines physical postures, it upholds the importance of moral attitudes, too. It is a holistic approach reducing mental stress and increases the overall well-being of human body and mind. In short it tries making our body a temple for living the sacred soul. Awakening of Kundalini and making each of its chakras activated is part of hatha yoga.

The objective of Hatha Yoga is to maintain a fine balance between body and the mind. This task is done by giving specific postures known as Yoga Asana or Yoga poses. This system of yoga is believed to be devised in India before fifteenth century. The other yoga systems known as Astang yoga, Kundalini yoga and power yoga are based on the basic concepts of Hatha Yoga. All the systems of yoga have one line agenda: they try to pacify the mind by keeping the flow of physical energy regularized state. Followings are some of the yoga poses devised under Hatha Yoga system.

INVERTED HATHA YOGA POSES

Plough Pose is an important posture in system of Hatha Yoga. It is one of the three poses, which are recommended to activate the ‘Manipur Chakra’ of Kundalini. Regular practice of this would result in general health of body and mind.

Raja Sarvangasana (Shoulder Stand): This is much practiced posture of Hatha Yoga. As it helps creating increased flow of blood into brain, it is much useful for increasing the power of remembering, too. For the beginners, this pose might be a little bit difficult. But you would like to do it, as you can do other difficult posture like' Halasana, the Plow Posture' from the shoulder Stand pose. The beginners should not remain for more time in this pose, as it may cause neck problem for them.[Image courtesy By Marcocarvalho [CC-BY-3.0],from Wikimedia Commons]

BACK-BEND HATHA YOGA POSES

Dhanur-asana, Bow Pose is one of the Hatha Yoga Poses that helps keeping the flexibility of spine in order. It also helps in reducing the back pain, both lower and upper. If practiced regularly, this Bow Pose would make our neck tension free and the thig muscles get extensively stretched.

Camel Pose, Ustrasana: The posture known as Camel Pose is one of the difficult poses, and has several benefits. If done regularly, it helps in diseases of certain muscles and back pain. You would not find it much difficult after one or two weeks. The yoga posture of Bow Pose is similar to this pose. But that is done by positioning our body differently. Here the step by step instructions are given.

BALANCING HATHA YOGA POSES

Peacock Pose, Mayurasana: As this is one of the difficult type of asanas, we should have prior knowledge about other easy asana. We can sit in Vajrasana and after getting comfortable with doing the difficult poses, we can start doing Mayurasana. For the beginners it is advisable not to remain for more time in this pose. Whenever you feel paining, just stop and relax for a while.

Scorpion pose involves the strength of almost all the muscles of your body; thus if you practice it regularly you would find yourself more energetic. This posture is called the Ardha-Vrischikasana, meaning Half Scorpion pose. In the beginning, the practitioner of this pose would face some difficulty in doing this asana. But it would not take more than a week to know it completely.

If one practices these poses regularly, he or she would feel less stressed and full of energy during the day. In addition to toning of the internal organs of our body, these postures help in curing the ailments like hypertension and arthritis. It could help in keeping diabetes in control, too. However the proportion of the benefit arrived might be different from individual to individual depending upon the age and general health of the person.

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