Preparing to Practice

IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH NOW!
with
NORMAN POPOVSKY

and

Successful Living Yoga

Stress Management + Yoga Therapy + Heath Improvement + Successful Living

Home

BLOG

Health Q&A

Classes

Preparing to Practice

Private Sessions

Case Histories

SRF Devotees

DVDs & CDs New!

Site Map

H A T H A Y O G A

Preparing to Practice

     1. Choose a clean, quiet room where you will have some privacy and as little distraction as possible. Try to have a comfortable, even temperature that allows you to wear a minimum of clothing. See to it that the room has plenty of fresh air but no cold drafts along the floor.

     2. Let the clothing be loose enough to give you freedom of movement, yet warm. Since you want your skin to breathe and be healthy, wear clothes made of natural fibers. Unless your feet are very cold, do the session barefoot. Remove eye glasses and any jewelry or clothing which might irritate you or restrict your movements.

   3. See that the floor you use is level and even. Use a cotton towel over some sort of padding. Underneath the cotton towel a wool blanket folded enough times so that your bones do not hurt on the hard floor would be ideal. Wool tends to insulate you from the the downward pull of energy and is very beneficial for meditation as well as the practice of hatha yoga. Foam does not work as well. In addition to not providing the right kind of padding, foam may not give you a stable base, especially for the standing postures.

   4. Come to your session with an empty stomach. Some teachers suggest that you eat not less than two hours before the session. However, with time you will find that the sessions are much more enjoyable and that your concentration is much better when you come with an empty stomach. This is one of the reasons why the first thing in the morning before you eat is such a good time to practice yoga.

   5. Do not practice the poses in the hot, noonday sun or right after you have spent some time in the hot sun. This is very hard on your system and you will probably experience weakness. Outdoors in the open shade or indoors with good ventilation is best.

     6. It is best to bathe before doing the poses, but if you feel the need to bathe afterwards, try not to take the shower immediately after finishing the sessions so that you do not disturb the work of the hormones. Also, see that the water is not too hot or too cold for the same reason.

     7. If you do other exercise, it is best to do the exercise and hatha yoga at different times of the day. If this is not possible, do the other exercises first, rest as long as possible, then do your hatha yoga. If you do hatha yoga first, and then follow immediately with hard exercises, you will lose a lot of the benefit of the yoga.

     8. Try to have our session at the same time every day. In the beginning the easiest time is later in the day when you are more flexible before the evening meal. This is also a good time to relieve the stresses of your workday. As you progress, consider doing the session first thing in the morning when the mind is clear and the stomach is empty from the long night’s fast. Doing yoga at this time helps set a positive, peaceful, centered mood for the whole day. Also, the one who does yoga first in the morning is the one most apt to do it regularly. Later in the day it is easier to be occupied by other engagements, unexpected guests, or job and family demands.

     9. To the best of your ability, evacuate the bowels and bladder before your session. If you feel the urge during the session, stop and take care of your elimination and then return to your practice. The shoulderstand and headstand will sometimes trigger off the evacuation of the bowels.

    10. If you have trouble with elimination, and/or if you would like to cleanse your system, try this old yogic trick: Squeeze the juice of one lemon or lime into a glass of warm water and drink first thing in the morning. This will usually start the peristalitic aciton of the bowels as well as cleansing and disinfecting the intestinal tract, kidneys, bladder, and urinary tract. In fact, for centuries yogis have extolled the virtues of lemon and lime as a disinfectant of the internal organs and glands as well as a great cleanser. Mahatma Gandhi drank water with lemon and honey when he fasted.

    11. Keep a positive attitude and concentrate upon what you are doing. This will give you maximum benefits. You can increase tremendously the value of the practices if you will focus upon what you are doing and visualize the benefits as you do the poses. Some yogis say that the benefits can be increased 100% in this way. Also, when you concentrate, you do not experience boredom. If you are bored, it is far better to increase your concentration, than it is to try and divert your mind by listening to music or watching TV or talking to someone. Diverting the mind not only minimizes the benefits of the exercises, but also keeps you from listening to your own inner signals and wisdom, making it much more difficult to gauge the safety of your exercises. Is it possible that many of those who injured themselves or died of heart attacks while running or playing competetive sports could have prevented this if they had paid attention to their inner wisdom instead of diverting their minds and tuning out the distress calls?

    12. Enjoy what you are doing. This is a good way to determine if you are doing everything with the right attitude and touch. When you are trying to reestablish harmony in yourself, it is important that you realize that harmony goes hand in hand with pleasure. There can be no harmony when your muscles are crying out for rest, when your heart is strained, or when your mind is trying to force progress. Remember: Where there is strain, there is no yoga. Learn to do everything with peace, love, and joy. This way leads to harmony. And harmony leads to permanent success.

To the disgruntled does not belong discriminationn or meditation.
To the unmeditative there is no tranquility.
To the peaceless how is happiness possible?
--Bhagavad Gita II:66

Group Classes
at
Meditation Center of San Miguel
10 - 11:15am
3 days a week Monday - Wednesday - Friday

Callejon Blanco #4
3rd Door on the Left, Just off of Calle Quebrada
Between Calle Canal and Calle Insurgentes
A 5-8 minute walk from the Jardin Principal (Main downtown square)
On-street and pay-parking usually available on Calle Quebrada

Email
Norm@yoganorman.com

Tel: Direct Dial from USA
011-52-415-152-5912 or 152-1852

USA Mailing Address
NORMAN POPOVSKY
220 N ZAPATA HWY #11
LAREDO TX 78043

Norman Popovsky
Apartado Postal #429
San Miguel de Allende, Gto., 37700 Mexico

Stress Management + Yoga Therapy + Heath Improvement + Successful Living