Yoga is a broad term referring to the physical and mental disciplines that originated in India. The most common religions in India, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, have their own meditative practices, which resulted in the many types of yoga we see today. Some of the first records of the practice have been found from the Indus Valley civilization, dating from 3300 to 1700 BC, and depict figures in poses resembling the positions in modern yoga. Since then, yoga has become a daily tradition. Even our orphans enjoy sukhasana in the morning!

Bikram Yoga, while not a historical strain of the custom, originated at the Yoga College of India, where Bikram Chodhury synthesized the traditional techniques to facilitate deeper stretches and injury prevention and maximize the relief of stress and tension. It is a 90 minute session of forming asanas, or poses, aimed at delivering fresh oxygen to your body, combined with concentrating on breathing and stretching your muscles, even the ones you didn’t know you had! All of this is done in 105° heat and 40% humidity.

Barbara, our travel coordinator, embarked on a 66 day Bikram yoga experience to raise money for TMF. With only one week left to go, Barbara has already raised $810 and attended 52 classes. Just as the instructors warned, the process has been one of mental and physical exploration for Barbara. She says she has learned how to extend the focus she creates in class to all parts of her daily life.

Interested in starting your own yoga challenge? Barbara cannot say enough good things about the team at BYD Downtown, so you might consider them to be your challenge platform! The link to their website is posted below.

http://www.bydaustin.com/

Posted on March 5th, 2010 by TMF
Filed under: Uncategorized