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[Mariolee]

Definitely piqued my interest. I've never been a very spiritual person, even though I consider myself a pretty strong Christian, and hopefully this thread will be the key to unlocking my inner soul.

 

[SquiddyCracker]

Definitely piqued my interest. I've never been a very spiritual person, even though I consider myself a pretty strong Christian, and hopefully this thread will be the key to unlocking my inner soul.

I'd be more than happy to help you do precisely that.
I'll even write up a guide on prayers if I can't find a willing contributor for that (which I hope I do, as theology isn't exactly my strong forte)

 

[SquiddyCracker]

Yoga - Novice

Level: Novice
Est. daily time: 15 minutes
Est. completion time: 4 weeks to 3 months.
Benefits: Stress relief, improved balance, improved spiritual and mental well-being

What most people refer to as Yoga is actually a path of Yoga called Hatha Yoga, and it is what we shall be focusing on in this and future guides:

Hatha Yoga: The physical path

Hatha Yoga (ha="sun" tha="moon") attains the union of mind-body-spirit though a practice of asanas (yoga postures), pranayama (yoga breathing), mudra (body gestures) and shatkarma (internal cleansing). We shall in this series of guides go through a couple of basic asanas to start of your Yoga journey. It is advisable to start each yoga session with some meditation, so be sure to check out the Zen meditation guide for an idea of how to do that.

When practicing the following poses, you must never push your body in a position that you are uncomfortable with - remember that these poses are the end-goal and it might take several weeks before you're capable of perfectly assuming them.

Practice each pose starting with a few seconds in the beginning and gradually increase the period to several minutes as you continue to practice yoga, and you will experience increased stability, endurance, and joint mobility.

As you follow these steps, remember once again to not exert force or do it suddenly. Each movement should be slow, continuous and without jerks. You probably won't fully complete a pose at first but have patience and try to gradually complete these steps as your body gets gradually more flexible over time of practicing.

Tadasana - The mountain pose

1. Stand straight with legs together and hands hanging on both sides.
2. Look in front.
3. Inhale and raise both your hands.
4. Fold them at the elbow and bring the palms towards the chest.
5. Join both the palms.
6. Exhale.
7. Inhale slowly and raise your hands above the head with the palms joined together.
8. The fingers should be pointing upward.
9. Raise your heel and stand on your toes. Stretch your arms as far up as possible.
10. To return to the starting position first put the heels down.
11. Exhale and slowly lower your hands.

Tadasana is usually the starting position for all the standing poses. But it's useful to practice Tadasana as a pose in itself. Stay in the pose for 30 seconds to 1 minute, breathing easily.

Vriksasana - The tree pose

• In Tadasana, focus on a point somewhere in front of you.
• Slowly and smoothly, shift your body weight onto the right leg and begin to pull your left knee up toward your chest. Find the balance on your right foot front to back. Be sure not to let the left side of your hip drop down.
• Keep your right hip pressing back; it should almost feel as if you are overcompensating.
• Keep your pelvis square while you bring the left knees out to the left side. Feel the front of your right hip and the inside of your left knee reaching away from each other.
• As you extend your tailbone down toward the floor place the sole of your left foot on the inside of your right leg anywhere that you feel you are comfortably, yet challenging, balanced. Press firmly.
• Moving slowly, place your hands in namaskara (greeting position) with your palms pressed together at the level of your heart.
• Continue to focus on your breath.
• As you breathe in, raise your arms overhead and feel your chest and ribs lift higher away from your hips. Remain here for two to three more breaths.
• Slowly release your arms and legs and loosen up the joints of your right legs. Come back to Tadasana to prepare for the other side.

Padahastasana - The hands-to-feet pose

1. Start with the Mountain Pose.
2. As you inhale, raise your arms above your head.
3. Bend forward until your hands touch your feet.
4. Slowly bend further so that your belly is touching your upper legs. Grasp your toes and breathe deeply in the pose.

When you have grabbed your ankles or toes, use a slight stretching force to lengthen the body. With the pull from the hands, move your belly to your upper legs and prevent your chest to sink and lose the supportive power of the lower back during the exercise.

Remember once again to not force yourself into this position! You perform this forward bend through relaxation and not through brute force by pulling your feet with too much physical strength. Gradually bend forward and never beyond what is comfortable for you and you will over time get closer to the complete pose.

Prasarita Padottanasana - Wide-legged forward bend pose

1. Start with the Mountain Pose.
2. Jump so that your feet are around four feet apart. Slightly turn your heels outward while you look forward.
3. Bend forward until the upper body stands halfway parallel to the ground. Place your hands right under your shoulders on the ground and see to it that your lower back is straight and still supports your position.
4. Push, as it were, your pelvis upward, look to the ground and stretch from the neck towards the ground.
5. If you can do this easily, you can grab the outsides of your feet and slightly pull at them so that the front part of your body feels long and you can stretch even further.
6. The stretching should be the result of relaxation, letting loose, gravitation and the stretching motion itself and not the result of pulling your hands with force.

In addition to these standing poses, you should practice some non-standing ones:

Bhujangasana - The snake pose

1. Lie down on the carpet on your stomach, face down.
2. Relax all your muscles.
3. Place the palms of the hand on the floor in line with the shoulders, each palm facing down and about 1 inch away from the tip of the shoulder.
4. Keep your feet together with the toes touching the ground.
5. Now slowly raise the head off the ground and take it up gradually so that the spine curves backwards.
6. Raise the spine little by little so that each vertebrate is gradually loosened.
7. Keep the body from the naval downwards touching the ground.
8. Retain the pose for a few seconds.
9. Gradually bring down the back to the original position of lying flat on your stomach.
10. Repeat the asana 6 times.

Once you've learned the procedure of pose step-by-step, practice doing it while breathing as follows:

1. Exhale completely when lying flat.
2. Inhale slowly as you gradually raise the head and spine to form the hood.
3. Retain the breath so long as you remain in the pose.
4. Exhale slowly as you come down to your original position.

Balasana - The child pose

1. Kneel and sit on your feet with your heels pointing outward. Your knees should be separated, about the width of your hips.
2. Place your forehead on the floor, then swing your arms forward.
3. Rest your forehead on the floor, then bring your arms around and to your sides, palms facing upward.

Extended reading:
http://www.abc-of-yoga.com/
http://www.yogajournal.com/poses


Next guide:
TBA

 

[SquiddyCracker]

Alright, I'll create a weight loss and exercize program with the help of the weight-loss and fitness threads and leave it at that.
That'll cover plenty of bases, for other guides I'll probably just link to them instead of trying to create one in GAF-post form.

What I could use is fancy banners for the OP, such as the following:

Introduction
Guides
Self improvement program
Guides
(sub headings) Body
(sub headings) Mind
(sub headings) Spirit
FAQ

But it's fine if I can't get those, I'll go ahead and create the thread on the 1st of August.
I'm expecting it to die but I might as well create it