When Enlightment Goes Wireless: Yoga and Technology Play Nice

There was a time when the term Yoga brought up images of enlightened yogi's in complicated asanas that looked like odd and perhaps even dangerous contortions to the layman. But recent years and the embrace of the ancient practice by mainstream culture has transformed visions of aging yogis into shapely young yoga instructors leading class fulls of equally fit students through a regimen of poses delivering less enlightenment and more strength training. How did it happen? How did a 5000 year old discipline become so trendy and well, watered down? Now a new wave of business' are taking advantage of the Yoga craze, and bringing it to the next level of mass culture by launching the ancient practice to the edge of modern technology - using new platforms to deliver ancient wisdom.

Just today it was announced that Vodafone is offering a package wherein the user can download unlimited Yoga videos featuring Indian celebrity Shilpa Shetty in one hour. The pack also contains a step-by-step procedure for each Asana right on your little handy. Not quite sure how one is suppose to really get into a pose and "tune inward" to experience to benefit of the posture, while keeping pace with your handheld. But mobile operators in India seem to believe in the idea signing on in rapid order.

Then there is "Let's YOGA!" (Konami, $20), for you Nintendo DS handheld game console. The "wellness game" offer a virtually unlimited number of Yoga workouts that can be taken on the go. The game feature a rather uninspiring animated yogi model (that they sell you on by telling you can you dress the animated model how you want) who is suppose to jump start your yoga practice. I remain skeptical.

For those of you less on the go, and more tied to your keyboard, there is My Yoga Online.com, an online destination that offers a wide array of video taking you from individual postures to entire yoga classes. The video are actually pretty good. Granted nothing can replace doing a practice with a great instructor (unless you are confident enough to go solo), the site is a nice resource to simply introduce you to certain poses that then you can integrate into your practice.

Who knows how much technology is actually inspiring folks to get down on their mat, reconnect, get centered and embrace a yoga practice in their life? Perhaps these new "wellness content plays" are more impactful in terms of marketing the idea of yoga and inspiring an interest in the discipline. Eventually to truly understand the benefits of yoga, one must completely "unplug" and tune in - not simply get wired up or wireless. At some point the only content that one should focus on in Yoga, is the content of one's inner self.

Asana practice - Yoga Poses and Positions

"Hatha Yoga is not the ultimate goal. Hatha Yoga makes us aware that the body with its inestimable qualities is everything that we have in life; for we enter this world naked and leave this world naked. For that reason we must get the best out of our body. The more we strive to unfold the perfection's of the body, the more quickly our mental capacities unfold: power of concentration, memory, will-power and resolution. The blessing of Hatha Yoga is threefold; health, well-being and long life."

Selvarajan Yesudian.

The physical techniques of Yoga are the stepping stones to meditation. According to Patanjali, Yoga is the cessation of the modifications of the mind.

In the beginning the primary prerequisite to peace of mind is posture. yoga poses are practiced to gain steady posture, health and lightness in the body. All yoga poses are intended to directly or indirectly quiet the mind. The majority of Asana have been devised to build up different parts of the body and to develop the strength required by the more advanced physical disciplines. The purpose of the yoga poses is to recondition the system, both mind and body, and to develop the nervous and glandular systems.

Yoga is a method that aims to achieve the maximum results with the minimum expenditure of energy. The different yoga poses have been devised to bring a rich supply of blood to the brain and to the various parts of the spinal column. The yoga asana work by stretching, bending and twisting the spinal column in different directions to promote the health of the nerves.

When the body is purified, Prana (vital energy) can be conserved and the individual becomes healthy and conscious.

Endurance is of the utmost importance in all of the Asana work.

All excess moisture needs to be eliminated from the body, especially from the joints. The less moisture present, the easier the postures become and the body is subjected to less pain.

Regularity in yoga asana practice is an absolute necessity if one wishes to realise the full potential of the Yoga process. If the foundations of a building are not correctly laid, the superstructure will fall down. So too, if a student of Yoga has not gained a certain degree of mastery over the yoga poses he/she can not successfully proceed to the advanced disciplines.

Yoga is a direct experience of the vast interrelatedness of all life and of all things. You will feel at peace at the end of a yoga asana class because there is a natural realignment of your body which leads to a natural realignment of your perception of life and of who you are.

Hand to Toe

Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana--literally, "extended hand to the big toe pose"--is a great way for practitioners of all levels to explore "the perfection of imperfection." This deceptively straightforward posture requires a challenging combination of balance, strength, and flexibility. If you're a beginner, just getting into a rough approximation of the pose can be daunting. If you're a continuing student, you'll find that as soon as you've mastered one form of the pose, another more demanding variation awaits you.

To begin your practice, stand with your weight evenly balanced on both feet and the crown of your head floating toward the ceiling. (If you think your balance might be shaky, you may want to stand with your left shoulder a foot or so from a wall, so you can reach out and steady yourself with your left hand if necessary.) [Figure 1] Take a moment to explore your balance in this simple standing pose. Is your weight evenly distributed between the right and left foot? Between the ball of the foot and the heel? Spread the toes and actively draw the kneecaps upward to firm the legs.

On an exhalation, keeping the spine long, bend the right knee toward your chest and hook the right big toe with the first two fingers of your right hand. Rest the left hand on your left hip and balance on one leg for five to 10 long breaths. [Figure 2] Going this far might be challenge enough! Rest your eyes softly but steadily on a single point to help establish and maintain your balance.
If you want to go further, slowly begin to straighten the right leg, keeping hold of the big toe with your fingers. [Figure 3] Let the pose unfold from your core, unfurling your leg like a flower blossoming out of your belly. Keep the left leg strong and straight. Resist the impulse to hunch forward over the lifted leg. Instead, keep the spine reaching toward the sky. Continue to drop the right hip down so the hips remain square and level with each other.

Stay in this pose for five more breaths. Let your brain relax. Tensing your muscles, holding your breath, and tightening your jaw and belly will only make things more difficult.

For Beginners: Balasana

More than a rest stop, Child's Pose requires you to surrender to gravity and a state of nondoing.

By Peter Sterios

In his classic book Mastery, American aikido expert George Leonard details the beginner's approach on the journey to mastery: Start with something simple. Try touching your forehead with your hand. Ah, that's easy, automatic. Nothing to it. But there was a time when you were as far removed from the mastery of that simple skill as someone who doesn't play piano is from playing a Beethoven sonata.

For most students, this simple example is analogous to how you begin a yoga practice. If you're lucky, it's in an introductory class in a room full of similarly inexperienced students. The teacher's first instruction sounds like a foreign language, and although you consider yourself relatively healthy and intelligent, dyslexia attacks: You forget where the left hand is, or the right foot, and look around the room, suddenly frightfully aware of your limited faculties of perception.

Having taught an "Intro to Yoga" class for years, I know this is a familiar scenario. So familiar, in fact, that I have simplified the initial instructions I give in class to vocabulary and movements that are recognizable to most beginners. But even after you are not a beginner anymore, going back to basics—doing less, but with more awareness—allows you to find the essence of the most fundamental poses and touch "beginner's mind."