Released on = August 31, 2007, 6:56 am

Press Release Author = TotalYogaPRactice.com

Industry = Healthcare

Press Release Summary = Based on ancient Indian philosophies and medicine, yoga
offers many and wide ranging health benefits - but only when practiced correctly.
High quality and frequent instruction are key to getting the greatest benefits to
body and mind. It\'s now possible to access that high quality instruction wherever
you live - it's just a mouse click away.

Press Release Body = More than 16 million people practice yoga and understand
firsthand its effectiveness at increasing fitness, weight loss, stress relief and
improved relaxation as well as improving general health and well being. For many,
attending scheduled yoga classes with the frequency required to achieve the health
benefits of yoga can be a significant challenge. To address this challenge Jez
Heath and TotalYogaPractice.com have launched an innovative service that helps even
casual yoga practitioners follow professional yoga instruction in their own home.
Through a library of online yoga videos streamed over the Internet it's possible to
follow a well-rounded yoga routine for any ability level.
The health benefits of yoga are many and wide reaching from increasing strength and
muscle tone to relieving back pain and treating serious medical conditions. To
achieve all the benefits for mind and body that yoga has to offer is not as simple
as doing a bit of stretching. To be most effective, yoga requires the practitioner
to follow a well-designed routine of poses and their counter-poses. That's why most
people go to classes and one of the obstacles to practicing yoga at home - unless
you're as experienced as a teacher - is knowing the right poses and the order to
practice them.
For very good reason, yoga videos or yoga DVDs are the most popular aides to
practicing yoga at home since they provide visual and audit instruction, making them
easy and effective to follow. However, the instruction aides are not without their
limitations, as Jez found.
"When I started practicing yoga at home I tried videos by some of the big names in
western yoga but I wasn't really satisfied with what I found. First the routine on
a DVD obviously doesn't change so as my abilities and curiosity developed I was
quickly outgrowing the yoga DVDs that I'd bought. That combined with the
repetition of always doing the same poses in the same order was causing my
motivation to drop - so I practiced less frequently. More fundamentally, when I
was able to get to class, I was attending lessons from one of Hong Kong's most
popular teachers - Varun Veer. Having tried other teachers, it was Varun's
teaching that really sparked my interest in yoga. Quite simply I didn't feel that
commercial yoga DVD were giving me the same effects that I got from Varun's yoga
practice. They didn't relax and energize my mind and body in the same way."
What Jez wanted was access to a wide range of high quality yoga routines so that he
got the benefits of a yoga class and the choice and variety to keep up his
motivation. The problem was that there was no such thing as a yoga video lending
library - until now.
"I saw a snippet of an aerobics video on the Internet and the pieces of the jigsaw
fell into place. By providing yoga instruction videos streamed over the internet,
I'd found my way to provide a library of yoga instruction videos to anyone looking
for a home instruction aide"
The importance of yoga as more than just exercises is emphasized at
TotalYogaPractice.com through their video instruction and articles on yoga. Through
their carefully constructed yoga routines of long deep stretches
TotalYogaPractice.com emphasize physical development, breathing, concentration and
regulation of internal organ function. This approach helps to develop and
strengthen the central nervous, cardiovascular, endocrine, digestive and other major
systems of the body in accordance with the traditional Indian teachings about yoga
asana.
"The fast flowing vinyasa, ashtanga or power yoga so popular in the west primarily
focuses on building cardiovascular and muscle strength which is very important."
explains Varun Veer, TotalYogaPractice.com's engaging native Indian guru or teacher.
"But what you really have are calisthenics exercises that use the yoga poses. Yoga
has so many more benefits to offer than just cardiovascular fitness, but only if you
follow a well-rounded practice of yoga poses. When you quickly move through the
poses you don't have the time that you need to really get into the pose and find the
right alignment to deepen your stretch so you can improve your suppleness, stamina
and muscle tone and strength. Only by holding the poses can you massage and tone
internal organs and glands as well as calm and relax your mind helping to receive
health and inner peace.
"Yoga is also very special in the way it helps to improve energy levels throughout
the practice. A yoga practice should work your body and fitness, but at the same
time a well-designed yoga practice should boost your energy levels so that you
actually feel better and more refreshed after yoga practice where other types or
physical exercise leave you fatigued.
"Most yoga teaching is only interested in developing the physical body's fitness and
occasionally the breathing. But true yoga requires attention to these areas as well
as internal organ health and mental health through concentration and focus.
Breathing should be long, slow and controlled and always through the nose for
efficient oxygen intake. The mind should be focused on your movements, alignment
and your stretching. Through this concentration, the increased oxygen intake and
changes to the body's chemical and hormone levels through organ massage, the mind
becomes calmer and more relaxed.
"Yoga has been developed over many hundreds of years and is very closely bound to
Ayurveda, the traditional Indian medical philosophies called. In the simplest terms
Ayurveda has 2 key concepts of Prana or life force and Nadis or energy channels.
Yoga is about learning to control Prana and clear Nadis for improved health.
"There are many layers to the benefits of yoga that people cannot experience by
learning from a book or by following less experienced teachers. My lifelong
devotion to my own yoga practice and learning has helped me to develop an
understanding of yoga and the experience needed to bring the benefits of yoga to my
students. This is what I bring though my yoga classes and what I bring through my
yoga videos"
Varun's traditional yoga teaching is now available exclusively through
www.TotalYogaPractice.com via their online yoga video library containing a large
selection of Varun's yoga videos.


Web Site = http://www.TotalYogaPractice.com

Contact Details = 1801 Wing On Central Building
26 Des Voeux Road
Central
Hong Kong