If you are looking to shed a little weight and get in touch with your mind, body, and soul then you should definitely consider taking a Yoga course. Not only will you feel great but it could even become a hobby or even a way of living.

Yoga exercise courses are ideal for cleaning your body. It elevates the blood flow to your entire body to a point that it may alleviate itself of its toxic compounds. On top of that, yoga and fitness also shapes your body and mind in ways you have not considered. Once you are finished with the yoga exercises you will certainly experience an improvement in your body.

Yoga is much more than a series of poses and postures. It is meditation in motion. Yoga is a complete science to bring out your best by balancing your mind, body and emotions. To that end, let me give the six simple yoga tips to help you extract maximum benefit from this profound and timeless spiritual art.

1. Yoga Should Be Done Without Excessive Strain

This simple tip comes straight from the Buddha: Try to walk the middle path when you do yoga. Not letting it be too easy, but even more important is never overdoing it or over straining. This guideline applies to both beginning yoga practitioners as well as advanced yogis. Yoga is a journey. It is to be enjoyed and the sights and sounds taken in.  It is not a competition or race.

If you are just beginning your Practice, you need to give yourself time to gauge your capacity and limits. Learn to listen to your body. As you start to better understand your body and energy, you can start to push your limits further and increase the challenge you take on. That being said, even as your yoga mastery develops, never forget this important tip. Excessive straining is undoubtedly the number one cause of yoga injuries.

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2. Practice Yoga with Full Awareness

This is the number one requirement of doing yoga, regardless of whether you are just a beginner yogi or a yoga master. Try to be as aware as possible of every posture and movement you are making during your practice. This is actually more than just a tip, it is an essential part of yoga practice.

So watch your mind, body, breath, and feeling with as much awareness as you can muster right through your session. Then your yoga practice will actually become meditation in motion. This is why when people watch masters do yoga, they say that it is like there is no personality, only the yoga motions. So aspire for that level of awareness, where it is so complete that you lose all other competing thoughts and you only think of your body, posture, and movement. This is then real yoga. This is Unity.

3. Eating Correctly

Don’t eat a big meal at least 2-3 hours before your yoga practice. The stomach should be empty when you practice yoga. This is also true when you do yoga breathing exercises. The body should be done digesting the food so that it’s energy can then be used for doing your practice.

4. Breath is Key to Yoga

Breathing consciously is an essential part of doing yoga. This tip will help you take your practice to the next level. Poses and exercises done with proper breathing are much more effective in bestowing their benefits than if done without proper emphasis on breathing.

5. Wear Proper Clothing

You must wear comfortable clothing when doing yoga. This will help you sit in the cross legged posture which many techniques require and will also not obstruct your movement during practice.

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6. When to Practice Yoga

The best time to practice yoga is early in the morning. This is when there is maximum prana (cosmic energy) in the air and when the air is freshest. At this time your mind is also empty and fresh, allowing you to follow the advice from tip number two above, and doing your practice with greater awareness.

Summary of Simple Tips for Yoga Practice

Yoga is a complete science for personal and spiritual development.  Learning and practicing it well will go a long way to helping you reach your highest potential in this life. The tips above come from years of experience with teaching and practicing yoga and I hope you find them useful and beneficial.

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