Greetings and welcome to the February 2014 Edition of the Mastery of Meditation and Yoga newsletter.
An In-depth Look at Tadasana
Tadasana is a basic standing posture that forms the foundation of many other postures - not just standing poses, but also seated postures. A deep understanding of Tadasana will inform your entire practice. You will find more information and variation of Mountain Pose on the website here.
While it sounds so simple - just stand there - there is a huge difference between an embodied Tadasana and merely an idea of Tadasana.
Here's how to embody your Tadasana:
Lift up your toes, and spread them wide, feeling all four corners of your feet engaging the ground. Feel your arches naturally lift.
Let your toes release onto the ground while maintaining the evenly grounded feet.
Line your ankles, knees and hips up so they stack one on top of the other.
Engage your quadriceps and feel them lifting up toward your pelvis.
Release your pelvis down toward the earth - not tucking under, but extending.
Extend your spine toward the sky and broaden your collarbones.
Relax and soften your shoulders, letting the shoulder blades slide down the back of your spine.
A strong, supple Tadasana is the perfect base posture to explore arm pranayamas. Each of these has a slightly different effect.
Maintain awareness of your torso and legs in stillness even as the arms are moving in tandem with the breath. Be aware of the grounding action through the pelvis, legs and feet, and the ascending, lifting action of the spine.
Arm Pranayama Variation #1
Arms start at your side.
Inhale and extend your arms out sideways bringing them all the way up until they meet above your head.
Keep your arms straight and be aware of a straight line of energy moving from the heart, through the shoulders, elbows and wrists.
As you exhale, press your palms together and bring your arms down the centre line of the body. Be aware of drawing energy into your body.
As the exhale ends, begin the inhale again, opening the arms wide.
There is a sense of opening to embrace the world and drawing the world's energy into the body.
Arm Pranayama Variation #2
Arms hang loose by your sides, palms facing up and elbows slightly bent.
On an inhale, lift your hands up towards the sky to about your armpits.
As you exhale, turn your palms over and press them down into the ground as if you were squashing the air.
Focus more attention on the exhale, releasing the exhale and excess energy into the earth.
Top 7 Yoga Weight-Loss Articles:
Often when people start yoga, it's because they want to lose weight, get fitter and become healthy. It's an excellent place to start!
Over time, and with practice, people begin to realise that yoga is about far more than the body - this is when the real benefits of the practice start to kick in. But we all have to start somewhere, and if you know someone who would like to lose weight or get fitter with yoga, you could recommend one of these articles to them. Who knows where it might take them over time?
You can absolutely lose weight with yoga and there are enormous advantages to using yoga for weight loss over other artificial means and methods. In this 3 part series I am going to first discuss why yoga is good for permanent and safe weight loss, and then, in the second part of the series, I am going to give you a great set of yoga exercises for burning fat and losing weight...
The eight yoga exercises that form this set come primarily from the schools of Kundalini Yoga & Hatha Yoga. They, like all yoga poses and movements, work on your being at many different levels. This potent set is designed to not only help you lose weight and burn fat effectively, but, also helps you significantly at an energetic and metabolic level...
http://anmolmehta.com/blog/2013/05/03/yoga-to-burn-calories/
There are countless weight loss success stories from those who have taken up a consistent and serious yoga practice. So there is little doubt that yoga is an effective weight loss solution and that yoga helps burn calories and reduce fat. The reason though that yoga is so good for helping you lose weight and keep it off, is not simply because of the physical workout that a yoga practice obviously provides...
http://anmolmehta.com/blog/2013/04/02/yoga-for-a-flat-stomach/
If you want to have a nice flat stomach and toned abs, there are a few important things that you must do. Besides the obvious of watching your diet, you need to develop an exercise routine that combines both, aerobic exercise along with stomach specific resistance exercises. Although there is evidence that resistance exercises help burn fat, aerobic routines are still the best way to help reduce belly fat and body fat in general.
http://anmolmehta.com/blog/2012/01/05/help-me-lose-weight/
Next time someone asks you, "Will yoga help me lose weight?" You can say, "Yes, it sure can!" And for proof you can go ahead send them this article link :-). In fact, as you will see below, you don't even need a full fledged yoga workout in order to lose weight, you can do it by simply practicing Yogic Breathing!
http://anmolmehta.com/blog/2011/01/31/yoga-for-weight-loss-free-yoga-weight-loss-programs/
"Please tell me how to join your free yoga weight loss programs?" That is one of the most common questions I get from the readers, so to help all of you who are interested in losing weight naturally with yoga, I have decided to put together this comprehensive information guide.
http://anmolmehta.com/blog/2009/06/22/yoga-for-full-body-fitness/
Yoga, as I have mentioned previously, is not just for stretching and flexibility, but is perfectly capable of giving you a complete full body workout. Thus, if you are looking for fitness, strength and muscle tone, along with the added benefits of mental and emotional balance, yoga is an excellent solution for you.
In this article today, I will combine for you several key exercises and sets, which when put together give you a complete fitness routine.
Also don't forget the free online yoga classes offered on the website. There are 2 complete Free Weight Loss Course there as well. 
Mastery of Meditation and Yoga 
