Launch of tried and tested ancient Vishaad Yoga Practices to transcend depression, anxiety and mental illnesses

When the first Europeans came to India, they discovered much which was beyond their comprehension, the language, the food, the habits and traditions and most peculiar of all were the practices of the Yogi's. Four hundred years after "1st Contact", the medical and political establishments of the West are finally beginning to begrudgingly accept that the physical practices of Yoga have a rejuvenating effect on the human body, and this acceptance has been driven not by the medical and scientific professionals, but by the general public taking up yoga in ever increasing numbers, and finding for themselves that it improves their health.

With the dramatic increase in stress, Depression and mental illnesses being reported daily, even in the worldwide mainstream press and not just medical journals, the West needs to take the next leap forward in its understanding of Yoga - the exploration of the Psychological and Mental benefits which appropriate specialised Yoga practices can deliver and this is now a matter of urgency.  That there is a specific "Yoga of Depression" will come as a surprise to many but there is, and it has been used throughout India's history to help alleviate illnesses which have their roots in the mind.
Vishaad Yoga, the "Yoga for Depression" reveals and teaches the knowledge and practices necessary to remove all negative thoughts and processes from a Mind so that the state of Yoga can be achieved. Many of the most esoteric and arcane Yoga scriptures have now been translated and then contemporized into concepts and practices which are suitable for a modern European mind-set, with its non-Indian construct and its own specific flavours of light and dark. Europeans who haven't been brought up with the cultural concepts of Indian traditions since birth, who then receive access to the original "Hindu centric / Indian culture oriented" guidance of the Indian Yoga Psychology texts, too often end up in confusion or delusion whilst still a long way from the goal.
 The European mind set is in many ways a more organised and structured one and demands a greater degree of reasoning and sequential logic, than the traditional Indian mind set, which has historically been more devotional and quite happy to pray to trees, rivers and anything that sits still for long enough! In this European "reason based" mental structure lies greater suitability to receive the guidance of Vishaad Yoga, but when a powerful, reasoning mind is provided with false information and avidya (knowledge which leads to suffering) such a mind falls far deeper into Vishaad (deepest despair or Depression) than the worshipful Eastern mind. As it is not possible for a traditional Indian mind to understand the subtle nuances and psychological knots of a European mind, the converse also applies, what has been needed is the appearance of minds which have naturally developed with a synthesis of the two cultures, whilst still being immersed in classical Yoga - only thus can a true bridge be made across which the Yoga Scriptures can flow and the construction of this internal bridge has been our mission for many years and Vishaad Yoga – the Yoga of Depression, represents the culmination of our efforts.

The Vishaad Yoga teachings contain the most powerful techniques for healing a mind which is faltering in crisis, despair or depression. They have never been more needed as CNBC reported only this week...
A growing number of global and European health bodies are warning that the introduction and intensification of austerity measures has led to a sharp rise in mental health problems with suicide rates, alcohol abuse and requests for anti-depressants increasing as people struggle with the psychological cost of living through a European-wide recession."
Vishaad Yoga, the "yoga for depression and anxiety" is a timely and critically relevant solution to help individuals and organizations to meet and even thrive in these most challenging of times. We shall be holding workshops at the OM Yoga Show 2012 at Olympia this year and look forward to answering any queries.
As Voltaire said, "Armies cannot stop an idea whose Time has come"... and Vishaad Yoga's time has come!


 

Online Yoga Training Classes

Why Yoga practice is so essential to deal with your daily challenges.
Practice of Ancient Yoga which is scientifically proven to be one of the best and effective activities to boost your health. Daily pratice of asana's and yoga exercises keep you fit and well. You can improve your health day by day and each of your body part functions very effectively and yoga helps to maintain. Furthermore, your immunity becomes more stronger day by day. You can have a total balance between body and mind. You can increase your flexibility in your body by effective practice. If you want to increase your concentration level then Yoga Training helps you a lot in your practice. Though normal exercises helps you to stay fit but yoga helps you to stay fit both internally and externally.
Yoga Exercises helps you stay fit and also helps you to be in good shape. There are many Yoga Courses available which make you understand right from the beginning. You can channelize your energies to all your body parts through practice of Yoga. Furthermore, you can increase your stamina with the help of yoga. Yoga Coaching involves making you to practice number of asana's and pranayama's. If you are thinking with practice of yoga you can gain only physical health benefits think again there are several yoga asana's, pranayama's and yoga mudras which help you to keep mentally active and agile. Yoga helps you in developing profound thoughts and also helps in executing creative tasks. Many sportsman, artists, creative professionals practice yoga to get benefited from its asana's. Learn Yoga to derive maximum health benefits. Yoga for pregnancy is beneficial but should be done only with the advise of medical practitioner.
Constant practice of yoga helps you to gain tremendous amount of memory power and also it keeps you mentally fit. Many psychological diseases can be treated with the regular practice of yoga. Yoga has undoubtedly many healing values as it provides good amount of energy to your body parts and thus increases their performance. Yoga Pilates emerging to be one of the effective activities for gaining physical fitness. Undoubtedly, yoga energizes you and makes you to be fresh throughout the day. You can kill your daily stress with the help of regular practice of yoga. Yoga Postures can be practiced in all seasons. There is a no age factor for practicing yoga. If you are suffering from any health problems it is better and advisable to consult your medical practitioner and then start practicing yoga. There are many Yoga Classes and yoga institutes which help you to learn Yoga in a step by step process. If you are a beginner to yoga then no need to worry try yoga as much as you can and dont force yourself to perform an complete asana, mudra or pranayama as this effort may cause injury to you, do as much as you can. There are precautions to be taken before practicing. Yoga should be practiced on empty stomach and you should have a sound sleep. Your mind should be totally free from any sort of tensions and you should make yourself relaxed and ready for yoga before practicing yoga.

What is Yoga? by Yoga Retreats

Yoga is many things to many people and usually depends on their knowledge of the subject and their reason for interest or practising yoga. The word ‘yoga' comes from the Sanksrit root 'yuj' which means union. (Sanskrit is an ancient Indian language). Essentially yoga is an ancient philosophy which emerged out of different philosophies in India between 2,500 and 5,000 years ago or even longer. Many people practice Yoga at dedicated yoga retreats.

The original philosophies talked in depth about humility. They also talked about letting go of ego, attachments, anger and anything else that separates you from other people and the world around you. This humility allows you to connect to the world around you and to form yoga or 'union' with the world around you. The idea was the whole world is connected and to tap into the feeling of union.
The main practice of the yoga of ancient times was understanding philosophy, overcoming attachment and acting through righteousness. This was done in order to elevate one's actions or karmas as the belief was that by performing good karmas or actions one would lead a happy life that would eventually lead to enlightenment.
Yoga also involved meditation and contemplation on the inner self at home, work or at a yoga retreat. The ancient philosophies taught us that the nature of a  human being was originally one of peace and that yoga and meditation practice brings one back to a state of realisation where one connects back to one's own sense of peace.
The history of this period of time depicts yogis in seated postures such as padmasana (lotus posture) performing meditation.
 As time went by, however, and people's lives began to become more stressful, there was less awareness of the original sense of peace that we all have in our minds and this began to be interpreted into the body. There dawned awareness that the mind and the body are linked and that if the mind was stressed then so would be the body and there also dawned an awareness that if the body could be relaxed then so too could be the body. Many people find it useful to travel to yoga retreats in Spain away from life's stress.
This change in practice happened relatively recently, around 800 years ago, and formed the foundations of what is regarded today as yoga practice. The theory was that a tense mind makes the muscles within the body tense and by relaxing the muscles in the body by stretching them one could make the mind relaxed too bringing it back closer to its natural state of peace. This then formed the basis for the physical practice of yoga we now know and is practiced across the world at home, work, indoors, outdoors and at yoga retreats. Many people travel visiting yoga retreats in Spain for example.
 

A beginner's pilot to yoga and its vital benefits

Yoga was originated in ancient India which has its roots in the Sanskrit language. The literal meaning of the Sanskrit word yoga is "yoke", "to join" or "to unite". The term defines the physical, mental and spiritual disciplines in order to ensure the overall fitness. Yoga is a physiological process which helps creating an absolute poise between the mind and body and strengthens the body as well as soul. Now days, Yoga is practiced by a lot of people in almost every part of the globe.

Yoga for beginners can prove productive given that they must go about practicing it in a sequential progression and with a certain code of conduct. However, yoga for beginners, the poses taken should neither be difficult to perform nor too strenuous. Normally, all yoga sessions must begin with "surya namaskar" or sun salutation which means bowing to the sun which is considered to be a warm up .it nourishes the soul and helps running the stream of energy through the body, then one should continue with the seated yoga asans which are intent to improve posture and to encourage the beginners to focus on the breathing exercises (pranayama).
One should always start with simple "asanas" or postures and move toward the advanced poses. There are around 84 yoga Asanas described and every pose is such designed to promote a state of mental and physical well being and good health. Some basic poses include shoulder stand (sarvangasana), locust (shalabhasana), headstand (sirshasana), bow (dhanurasana), triangle (trikonasana) and so on. One must focus on mastering the basic asans first, which can be then intensified to further deepen the practice.