Question: How do you find bliss?

*Hint: You have a MUCH greater chance of winning if you upload a photo of yourself and fill out your profile!

Sivana means “oasis of enlightenment.” Sivana finds bliss by comfort in your journey discovering the ancient practice of yoga and your movement towards sustainable living. Tailoring to the yogic lifestyle, they offer a variety of Indian imports, jewellery, clothing, incense and more.

My Yoga Online loves the OM Bliss necklace, just one of many jewellery pieces offered with the OM symbol. This 16 inch necklace is made using sterling silver beads and Fancy Jasper, the stone of gentleness and relaxation. This stone aids serenity and helps eliminate stress, worry and depression.  This necklace can help to free the mind of the wearer, helping them to think more clearly.  The sterling silver OM charm helps put us in touch with our true soul nature.

Sivana has an extensive selection of OM jewellery, malas and anything else you may need to add an extra element of bliss to your yoga practice. Their Home & Lifestyle section also offers some great statues to create a zen-like space in your home or yoga studio.

 

Win your own OM Bliss necklace!

Sivana is giving away one OM Bliss necklace, valued at $88, to one lucky My Yoga Online member.

How to Enter: Just add your answer to the following question to the comments section below: How do you find bliss?

P.S. Show us your fantastic face! To be considered to win, please upload your picture to your My Yoga Online profile before you add your comment.

With apologies to our international friends, this prize giveaway is only available within North America (USA and Canada). Contest runs until the end of Tuesday, May 15, 2012 11:59 PST.

Enter on Facebook, too! Join your My Yoga Online community on Facebook and enter to win there, too.

Share the love. Tell your friends about this great giveaway. Just click ‘SHARE’ at the top of this post.

The fine print: Click here to read the official contest rules. By submitting a comment on this blog or commenting on or ‘liking’ the Facebook post, you agree to the official contest rules.

Question: Why would you like to attend Hanuman Festival 2012?

Hint: You have a MUCH greater chance of winning if you upload a photo of yourself and fill out your profile!

We are excited about the upcoming Hanuman Festival in Boulder, CO, June 8-10th.  And we're excited to offer you a chance to win a FREE 3-day pass to this year's festival!

If you are an inspiration junkie and crave community that supports heartfelt experiences, you won't want to miss this yoga and music festival.  Join Richard Freeman, Kathryn Budig, Amy Ippoliti, Beryl Bender Birtch, Noah Maze, Suzanne Sterling, the Desert Dwellers, DJ Drez, Durga Das and over 30 other teachers and musicians.

Immerse yourself in body, mind and heart as you relax and rejuvenate, dance and devote, connect and expand, have fun, and just be.

Begin to raise your vibration by watching this fun video.

Win your own 3-day pass to Hanuman Festival 2012!

Hanuman is giving away one 3-day all access pass to the 2012 Hanuman Festival in Boulder, CO, valued at $379, to one lucky My Yoga Online member.

How to Enter: Just add your answer to the following question to the comments section below: Why would you like to attend Hanuman Festival 2012?

P.S. Show us your fantastic face! To be considered to win, please upload your picture to your My Yoga Online profile before you add your comment.

With apologies to our international friends, this prize giveaway is only available within North America (USA and Canada). Contest runs until the end of Tuesday, May 8, 2012 11:59 PST. 

Enter on Facebook, too! Join your My Yoga Online community on Facebook and enter to win there, too.

Share the love. Tell your friends about this great giveaway. Just click ‘SHARE’ at the top of this post.

The fine print: Click here to read the official contest rules. By submitting a comment on this blog or commenting on or ‘liking’ the Facebook post, you agree to the official contest rules.

Question: Why do you practice yoga?

We practice yoga for a variety of reasons, but in addition to the health benefits, we at My Yoga Online practice yoga to attract the energy we desire.  Namati offers a wide selection of mat bags in colours that can help to accentuate those energies.   Our favourite mat bag colour is Vaizrambhaka, which helps to awaken confidence. Namati invites their customers to read up on how colour affects us and choose the colour that represents the energy they want to express.

Namati bags are handcrafted and made in Canada. The lacy, knit pattern allows the mat to breathe when not in use and leaves room for it to stretch over almost any size mat.  In addition to bright vibrantly coloured bags, Namati also offers a mat wash that is all natural and void of any chemicals.  The Namati mat wash comes in four fabulous scents, including Kirakira, Chiseul Orange, Raspberry Kimaru and our favourite here at My Yoga Online, Paula Lime & Green Tea. 

 

Win your own Namati mat bag and mat wash!

Namati is giving away one mat bag and one mat wash, valued at $55, to five lucky My Yoga Online members.

 

How to Enter: Just add your answer to the following question to the comments section below: Why do you practice yoga?

P.S. Show us your fantastic face! To be considered to win, please upload your picture to your My Yoga Online profile before you add your comment.

With apologies to our international friends, this prize giveaway is only available within North America (USA and Canada). Contest runs until the end of Tuesday, May 1, 2012 11:59 PST.

 

Enter on Facebook, too! Join your My Yoga Online community on Facebook and enter to win there, too.

Share the love. Tell your friends about this great giveaway. Just click ‘SHARE’ at the top of this post.

The fine print: Click here to read the official contest rules. By submitting a comment on this blog or commenting on or ‘liking’ the Facebook post, you agree to the official contest rules.

For Blue Canoe, treating the skin means covering it in lush organic cotton and bamboo fabrics. Blue Canoe offers a wide range of active wear, casual wear and lingerie, so that you can treat your body from head to toe. They ensure that all of the fabrics used are chosen from farms that use ethical practices with social responsibility. These fabrics are not only good for the body, but also good for the environment.

Some of the My Yoga Online staff had the luxury of trying on some of this clothing, and the fabric is so soft that it feels like a treat for the skin. As far as comfort goes, Blue Canoe has come out on top. The simple designs of their clothing are figure-flattering, and could be worn during a yoga class or out with friends. They also offer colours that stand out without being too bold.

Cotton farming is known as one of agriculture’s most environmentally destructive activities, so it is important to choose positive alternatives for apparel with organically grown cotton.

 

Win your own Blue Canoe Asymmetrical Top!

Blue Canoe is giving away one asymmetrical top, valued at $61.95, to one lucky My Yoga Online member.

 

How to Enter: Just add your answer to the following question to the comments section below: How do you treat your skin? 

P.S. Show us your fantastic face! To be considered to win, please upload your picture to your My Yoga Online profile before you add your comment.

With apologies to our international friends, this prize giveaway is only available within North America (USA and Canada). Contest runs until the end of Tuesday, April 24, 2012 11:59 PST.

 

Enter on Facebook, too! Join your My Yoga Online community on Facebook and enter to win there, too.

 

Share the love. Tell your friends about this great giveaway. Just click ‘SHARE’ at the top of this post.

The fine print: Click here to read the official contest rules. By submitting a comment on this blog or commenting on or ‘liking’ the Facebook post, you agree to the official contest rules.

Connection is vital. Yoga is translated as ‘to yoke together’ or ‘to unite’. Through yoga, we find unity, within ourselves, between strangers, and with the universe.

The 1^st Annual Montreal Yoga Music Festival, July 14-15, is about celebrating life, connecting with your divine self, and uniting with other people. MyYogaOnline is proud to support this rich cultural and social experience –not just about music and yoga, it’s about the human experience and how we interact.

Festival organizers describe the experience this way:
“Chanting together, experiencing the pure joy of being alive and being part of a gathering of like-minded evolved spirits—that is what the Montreal Yoga Music Fest is.”

Musicians will inspire with new and diverse kirtan-style music. Kirtan, aka the “yoga of sound” is reputed to be a musical expression of the soul. For many people, participating in kirtan leads us to a joyously peaceful and meditative state.

At the Event
- Meet members of the Montreal Kirtan and World Yoga community and participate in yoga classes, kirtans, workshops, and spiritual discourses.

- Experience and discover music that will help you transcend the day-to-day challenges.

- Let loose and dance to wash away the stress of life.

- Meet the exhibitors, presenters and everyone else who aligns with the intention of the festival.

Lea Longo of Sweet Life Music, one of the festival producers, has this to say:

“Our vision is to build the Montreal Kirtan community and make this experience accessible to everyone. The versatility and diversity of the musicians from all walks of life sharing their talents and passion for world yoga music will bring this vision to a reality.”

For more visit www.montrealyogamusicfestival.com

Kundalini Chakras and Energy

In today's guest post, Richard, who is a meditation teacher and author, shares his insights about Kundalini Awakening and Energizing Chakra Centers with us. Richard is a meditation teacher and author, and you will find more information on the courses he offers on his website Shaktipat-meditation.org.

If you would like to be a guest author on Mastery of Meditation and Yoga, please email me at anmol@anmolmehta.com.

Awakening Kundalini

By

Richard Crown

The Sacred Sound comes, vibrating red Mooladhara chakra (base or root). It spins and expands ecstatically. Kundalini energy, liquid and golden, pours into the spinning, vibrating vortex.

The lovely Kundalini mixes with the bright red chakra energy already present. Cool Earthly energy is drawn up from below by the increased spinning and vibrations caused by chanting the Sacred Sound, bringing unlimited power. All the energies join together in blissful, empowering union.

The Sacred Sound comes again. And again. And again?

Each time the sound comes, the energies become more powerful, growing, cleansing and expanding the chakra.

?Om Kundalini, Kundalini, Kundalini??

The chant changes. The now golden chakra, packed full, expanded to its limit, clean and happy, begins to settle and cool ?becoming stable but energized. Oh, so energized.

The Sacred Sound for Swadishtana chakra begins. As the chakra starts vibrating, lovely liquid gold Kundalini pours into it, mixing with the orange already there and with the strong Earth power coming up from below.

When the chakra is full, happy and stabilized by chanting Om Kundallini, the whole process moves up to yellow Manipura chakra above the navel. Then up to green Anahata at the heart. Then blue Vishuddi at the base of the throat and on to indigo Ajneya, the Third Eye.

Finally, it breaks the seals in violet Sahasrara, the crown chakra in the center of the skull?s top. An ecstatic burst of golden energy appears, formed by the energies from below meeting the Celestial, or Heavenly, power coming down from above.

Liquid gold flows down over the body, covering the skin with a protective, empowering layer. Golden mist fills the entire aura, cleansing, strengthening and granting it the power to dissolve incoming negative energies.

Tears of joy run down her face. ?Thank you, thank you, thank you??

Her gratitude is for the life force filling every fiber of her being. Before, she was only half alive ?or half dead. Now she feels complete. Completely normal for the very first time in her life. Super energized, but completely normal.

Different Kundalini Experiences

Other people laugh uncontrollably, have highly Spiritual visions, reunite with lost loved ones, go into muscle spasms or are rendered silent. Everyone reacts differently to a Kundalini Awakening.

A few are incapable of experiencing anything at all. They desperately want the experience, search for it, will pay anything to get it, but can?t have it. They go from teacher to teacher, blaming the teachers, searching, searching, always searching.

Sadly, their systems are still too blocked with cravings, suppressed emotions, concepts and karma. They?re not ready yet. They need more basic Spiritual healing work on themselves before being able to move up.

The Kundalini Energy Path

After the initial Kundalini awakening, the necessity of a personal, daily practice to maintain the beautiful experience appears. No practice and, sadly, the lovely experience soon fades into being just a lovely memory.

With regular practice, the entire energy system grows and expands. Psychic abilities begin to come and grow. Deeper and deeper states of meditation appear effortlessly. The life purpose becomes clear.

And the issues begin rearing their ugly heads to be healed. The increased light pouring in exposes the inner demons present in all of us. They are concepts, beliefs, suppressed emotions, chronic habit and behavior patterns, past life karmas, cravings, etc. They must all be healed as they arise.

Changes come in outer life as well. Careers, partners and homes all may change. Anything that?s not in accord with your Spiritual path to Enlightenment will go. Because that?s where dedicated Kundalini practice takes you. All the way to Realization.

If these changes are embraced with gratitude and understanding, they can be joyful and empowering. If they are resisted by trying to hang on to the old lifestyle while moving forward into the light, life can become quite painful.

The Right Teacher is Necessary

This is where the continued guidance and support of a self Realized teacher becomes invaluable. She will be kind, compassionate, supportive and available for you whenever the releasing issues become overwhelming.

She will know how to identify and heal each different situation because she?s already been through it herself and has guided other students. She?ll smooth and accelerate your healing process and your growth.

Kundalini Awakening is only the beautiful beginning of the Kundalini experience. Dedicated practice inevitably brings far greater rewards. As the Kundalini expands and grows your chakras, your consciousness grows and expands until you realize that you are an Enlightened, eternal being of pure light.

Shaman Remedia and Richard Crown have been doing energy work together for fifteen years. They awaken Kundalini for others using Shaktipat and Sacred Sounds via Skype at shaktipat-meditation.org/kundalini. They also provide ongoing support and live, personal guided meditations one on one via Skype.

You can try Shaktipat and a guided meditation free and download free Ebooks by taking a 7 day free trial.

Connect w/ Anmol

1. Jiddu Krishnamurti Ponders His Enlightenment & Kundalini Awakening
2. Awakening of Kundalini | 4 Powerful Meditations
3. Kundalini Awakening Raja Yoga Set: Free Book of Kundalini Yoga Poses & Kriyas
4. Kundalini Awakening Symptoms
5. Om Mantra and Om Chanting

Meditation is the answer to suffering and is the ultimate purpose of human birth, but besides these Highest "goals" of meditation, there are a great many other benefits and applications to meditation as well. In today's guest article, David, who is the founder of http://www.blisslotus.com/, reveals how meditation helps children who suffer from ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), by helping them develop calmness, presence, focus and control over their reactions to external stimuli.

If you would like to be a guest author on Mastery of Meditation and Yoga, please email me at anmol@anmolmehta.com.

Meditation Helps Children with ADD

Frustrated parents and educators have long sought alternatives to medication when helping children deal with Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Who knew that ancient Buddhists have long held a valuable tool in reaching that goal? Only recently are we realizing the tremendous benefits that Meditation can bring as a very viable course of action in aiding the over 5.2 million children diagnosed in America with ADD or ADHD, according to the Center for Disease Control. The art of Mindfulness, or focusing the thoughts, has been a practiced meditation technique for thousands of years. Scientists and medical professionals are now discovering that meditation can be a huge factor in teaching ADD/ADHD children to increase focus, improve overall memory, reduce anxiety levels and calm a hyperactive mind and body.

?One recent study found evidence that the daily practice of meditation thickened the parts of the brain's cerebral cortex responsible for decision making, attention and memory?, claims a study from Mass General Hospital. According to a study published in Time Magazine, scientists discovered that those who meditated just 40 few minutes a day reaped huge benefits for many aspects of the brain development.

Teaching children how to meditate in school can increase student?s ability to successfully perform as it heightens awareness and increases attention sustainability. Additionally, schools specializing in educating learning disabled students are incorporating meditation into their school-wide curriculum and noticing a huge increase in the ability of ADHD students to perform.

Teaching a child to meditate at home, when ADD/ADHD children are now able to ?let off the steam? built up in trying to focus at school, gives kids an additional outlet to take a few moments of calm and center themselves to handle homework or retain calm for their other activities after school. Parents have reported happier homes once they incorporated daily meditation into their routines.

Sara, a mother of 4, reported that her son Gabe has been dealing with ADHD since the age of 5. His hyperactivity really reduced the amount of play dates he was offered as he was not able to understand boundaries and he often overwhelmed the other children in school. When Sara first discovered Meditation for her herself, she realized the soothing affect it had on her entire day. She decided to teach Gabe some of the techniques she had learned during her sessions. Within days, she realized that Gabe was generally less anxious and overall easier to handle at home. Three years later, daily meditations have taught Gabe to focus and calm the mind and better hyperactivity management. Meditation has been a life-changer for their family and Gabe?s functioning both in school and at home.

Meditation practice teaches children how to learn to control their thoughts and in turn their reactions, to outside distractions. One of the main components that ADD/ADHD children struggle with is the inability to control themselves, their thoughts and their reaction to stimuli. Through practice of Meditation children can learn to calm the mind, focus on the purpose of restructuring the thoughts back to the deliberate and intentional spot or focal point. Meditation can also provide a much needed break in routine that allows children dealing with attention disorders to come back and refocus on the task refreshed and renewed.

Parents, educators and Medical Professionals have been looking to incorporate alternative methods for years. Meditation practice is a proven effective, healthy and holistic way to improve the overall anxiety levels, focus levels and functioning levels of the over 8.4 % of children dealing with ADD/ADHD all over the country.

For more information on Meditation Benefits and how to meditate please visit www.blisslotus.com.

Connect w/ Anmol

1. How to Improve Your Memory and Mind
2. How to Raise Enlightened Children
3. Meditation Helps Cure Cancer Naturally – True Story
4. Yoga Helps With Meditation | Video
5. 6 Great Tips for Teaching Yoga to Children

How to Be Happy

What makes life a joy for some, while a sad and frustration filled journey for others? It is karma? It is luck? Is it disposition? Is it fate? I don't think so. I think you are supposed to be happy. You are supposed to be full of joy and wonder, yet somehow, somewhere on this journey, things got out of control and you spiraled into the tedium of everyday life and found your life filled with conflict, suffering and the never ending pursuit of happiness.

How do you get out of this rut now? How do you find your way back to joy and peace? Here are 5 tips which I think you will find useful on the journey to reclaim your birthright - fundamental happiness.

1. Understand the Problem:

The first thing you need to do is understand the root cause for your angst. Why are you so restless and discontented? Why is your default state not happiness? To understand this, inspect this very moment of your life and study the situation honestly and openly. The root cause you will discover is time. You think in terms of time and time welcomes in the issue of "becoming" into your psyche. To put in another way, you are unhappy and bored with your life, because you have believed in an ideal or goal, which if you think you will achieve then you will be happy. This thirst for the ideal - seeking, destroys the beauty of your life just the way it is in the here and now. It kills the wonder of the moment.

So drop all your ideals and just attend to your life just the way it is. This is the pathway to joy.

2. Live Your Passion:

As I explained in the article, Stop the Madness of Self-Discipline, one of the most important things to do in order to live a happy life, is the discover and live your passion. If you can do this, you will be free from the clutches of society, for you will be doing what you love to do without a care in the world.

You will not be result oriented, as the doing itself will be the reward, and you will have something that no one can take away from you, as it is something that comes from within.

This is also one of the most important lessons for parents to learn. One of your biggest responsibilities is to help the child discover what it is that he or she loves to do and then help them to do that without concern for survival or success. Living your passion is one of the most essential aspects for living a happy and meaningful life.

3. Have Trust:

Our faith and trust in life is constantly challenged and over time eroded by all the endless failures and problems we are forced to endure. This loss of trust then leads to a life filled with worry and anxiety. We become obsessed with self-security and become completely immersed in our pursuit of happiness. So instead of living in trust and going with the flow, we become machines of fear and worry and have no peace within.

This peace and ability to live spontaneously comes with just being able to trust. Not trust someone or some belief, but simply just have trust in life. This then translates into not worrying and carrying the burden of self-interest constantly, which bring with it great freedom and joy.

4. End Isolation and Endless Self-Interest:

All of our endless thinking about ourselves and endless selfish activity isolates us more and more from the whole. It keeps on putting more and more walls around ourselves and eventually we find ourselves utterly alone and lonely, cutoff from the world, miserable and unhappy. So you need to change this approach, if you indeed what to live a happy life. You have to simply drop endless self interest and instead live in a connected way.

Connect with all aspects of life, be a part of the great play of life, connect with nature and others, connect with awareness and intelligence, this will bring you to happiness. Thinking about yourself, isolates you more, so just stop doing that.

5. Mediate:

All of the above tips I have given for being happy, are really a part of meditation. It is living a mediate life. Mediation is the process which start in time and then transcends it. So if you really want to be happy, want to be at peace, meditation is the way.

If you are new to mediation you can sign up for the free online learn meditation classes that are offered here on Mastery of Meditation and Yoga. If you are looking to deepen your practice, you can try the free online advanced meditation program.

If you have more tips for being happy that have worked for you, please do share them with us in the comments section below. Also, if you like this or any other article on the website, please share with your friends and family or Facebook, Twitter, etc. I appreciate your support.

Connect w/ Anmol

1. 10 Things You Should Do Everyday For a Happy, Meaningful & Good Life (Combined)
2. Happy Buddha Meditation Video
3. 10 Things You Should Do Everyday for a Happy, Meaningful & Good Life – Part 1
4. 10 Things You Should Do Everyday for a Happy, Meaningful & Good Life – Part 2
5. The Key to Happiness in Life

Recently we have been getting some great feedback on our Mastery of Meditation and Yoga Facebook Fan Page and one of the aspects which the readers have really been enjoying are the inspirational quotes that we have been posting on a daily basis.

These simple quotes are great pointers of the deeper Truths of life and enlightened living and can inspire one to live at a higher level. So, below are 4 such sayings which I thought would be worth sharing with you on the blog as well. I am sure you will find them uplifting as have others.

If you have quotes that you find specially uplifting and insightful please do share them with us in the comments section below. Also, feel free to leave your thoughts and feedback, we would love to hear what you think of these sayings.

[caption id="attachment_1868" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption=" Be The Lion "][/caption]

Spirituality is rebellion; religiousness is orthodoxy. Spirituality is individuality; religiousness is just remaining part of the crowd psychology. Religiousness keeps you a sheep, and spirituality is a lion's roar. - OSHO -

 

 

[caption id="attachment_1869" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption=" Insight "][/caption]

Jesus said: the mote that is in thy brother?s eye thou seest, but the beam that is in thine eye thou seest not.

 

 

[caption id="attachment_1871" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption=" The Down Ward Dog Pose :)) "][/caption]

The True Person is detached and humble and to the world appears confusing. The people all strain their eyes and ears,yet the True Person remains childlike. - LAU TZU -

 

 

[caption id="attachment_1870" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Sleep - Samadhi"][/caption]

Patanjali says sleep is just next to samadhi. A good sleep, a deep sleep, and samadhi, are different only in one sense: samadhi has awareness, sleep has no awareness. - OSHO

 

Connect w/ Anmol

1. How to Make Spiritual Friends and Inspirational Spiritual Quotes
2. Inspiring Osho Quote on How to Live Courageously
3. Inspiring & Enlightening Spiritual & Personal Growth Articles – Carnival #31
4. Survey: How Many Times a Week Do You Meditate?
5. Inspiring Yoga & Pranayama Testimonials from Online Yogis

Beginner Yoga Exercises

If you are new to yoga and looking for good exercises and poses in order to start your practice, I certainly recommend the poses detailed in the following article - Basic Yoga Poses for Beginners. One of the great things about yoga is the wide range of exercises and positions that it offers, so in addition to the poses given in that article, there are many other great beginner's yoga exercises as well and in this guide I am going to detail one of my favorite for you.

This particular exercise is called Yoga Rowing and it is part of another great beginner's yoga set called the Morning Wake-Up Series | Yoga Poses for Beginners. In fact it is the first exercise of that set and it is very often the first exercise I begin my yoga routine with as well.

One of the great things about this exercise is that it is an easy motion which can be done by yogis of all levels and of all ages. In addition, this exercise is wonderful to warm-up with and it has the dual advantage of being a strengthening and stretching exercise. If you are a beginner or out of shape and looking to get back into fitness then Yoga Rowing is a perfect place to start.

As with all yoga exercises, breathing is a key component of this movement as well so be sure to pay special attention to that aspect. Also, as you might be doing this exercise first, be sure to start off gently and them extend the range of the movement as you feel you muscles starting to warm-up.

More Yoga Exercises and Poses:

In addition to the 2 beginner yoga sets I pointed out above, you will also will find plenty of yoga poses and exercises in the following 2 free online galleries. There you will find both, starter yoga exercises and poses, as well as more advanced one. Free Hatha Yoga Galleries and Free Kundalini Yoga Exercises.

For Yoga and Meditation Certification Program Students:

For teachers graduating from the Online Yoga Teacher's Training and Certification Program or Online Meditation Certification Program, Yoga Rowing is a great exercise to do early in your class and my students have always loved this exercise. Also, as this is a relatively easy movement to do, all students are generally able to participate. I use it in both my yoga classes and meditation classes as it really is a great way to get a stretch and get the energy moving.

Yoga Exercise for Beginners | Yoga Rowing

Below please find details of how to practice Beginner's Yoga Rowing, along with illustrations, step-by-step instructions, benefits and practice tips.

Yoga Rowing Illustrations

B. How Long To Do This For:

• Beginners might not be able to do more than 15 or 30 seconds and that is perfectly ok. Just take a break and start again. Try to build up to 1 minute and from there build up to 3 minutes. If you really love this exercise, feel free to keep going for even longer. There are no bad affects and it will just make you stronger and fitter :-).
  

C. Beginner Yoga Rowing Benefits:

• Good for stretching the hamstrings and calves.
• Builds core strength and helps tone and firm the stomach.
• Develops your shoulders and strengthens the deltoid muscle group.
• Helps stretch the lower back.
• Opens up the solar plexus and frees the body.
• Improves respiration and gets the energy going.

D. Practice Tips for Beginners:

• Often some parts of your body are not as strong as others, so if you find your shoulders tiring before your abs, you can lower your arms, while continuing to do the exercise. If the abs are tiring you can limit the motion and continue on.
  
• Once you finish the exercise a great addition is to reach forward and grab your toes while keeping your knees straight. If you can't reach your toes, grab your legs as far down as you can. Then inhale completely, hold your breath and apply root lock. Then exhale and inhale again and apply root lock. Do this 3 times. It is a great finish to this wonderful exercise.
  
• Don't forget to do the breathing along with the motion.

PS: If you enjoy this exercise or any other exercise on Mastery of Meditation and Yoga, please do share them with your friends. I appreciate your support.

Connect w/ Anmol

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2. Yoga Positions for Beginners | Basic Yoga Poses
3. Yoga Exercise to Tone Thighs and Buttocks
4. Excellent Office Yoga Exercise for Back Pain
5. Best Yoga Exercise to Get Firm Toned Abs