Raj's Yoga Blog

What is the right order of practicing Asana, Pranayama, and Meditation, What should be performed first? Do you also have the similar questions like what should be practiced first Asana, Pranayama or Meditation? What is the right sequence or order to practise Asana, Pranayama, and Meditation? Hatha Yoga Pradipika commentary by Swami Muktibodhananada (Yoga Publications Trust, Munger, Bihar, India) explains these questions as below: After asanas, pranayama should be practised to purify the nadis. For this purpose nadi shodhana (nadi purification) pranayama is best. Then mudras should be performed to channelize the energy and create specific attitudes of mind, and bandhas to force the energy upward. In hatha yoga the sequence is - Asanas first, then Pranayama, Mudras and Bandhas. Lastly one should sit quietly in a meditative pose. In the systematic science of Hatha Yoga, you must firstly prepare the physical body because it is the grossest manifestation of prana. Activate the prana...

Article by Firoz Bakht Ahmed published on Times of India's site: I follow all the Islamic tenets in the right interpretation and spirit and so, I can say that there is no such thing as yoga being haram (disallowed) in Islam. Rather, I have found that Islamic yoga is a reality. It is possible to employ the skills of yoga to worship Allah better and to be a better Muslim. Issuing fatwa declaring yoga anti-Islamic by some Malaysian and Indonesian ulema is nothing but misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the fact that yoga and namaz are almost identical. Having practiced yoga during my school days, I found that it can easily be integrated with the Islamic life; in fact the two assist one another. Not only is there no conflict, but Islam and yoga together make a mutually beneficial holistic synergy. Both are agreed that, while the body is important as a vehicle on the way to spiritual realization and salvation, the human being’s primary identity is not with the body but with the e...

Yoga is beyond religion as explained below by SRI SWAMI CHIDANANDA I shall speak to you at some length upon the subject of 'Yoga and the Christian Religion' because most of you are from a Christian background, very pious and very religious. Some are only Christian because they are born Christian, but some are halfway going to the Church once in two months, but all are from a Christian background, may be some Roman Catholic, may be not, may be Protestant, may be Methodist, may be some other. Some of you are Jews. Whatever religion you belong to, when I speak about Yoga and the Christian religion, it could equally apply to Yoga and any other religion. So, what is the connection between Yoga and one's religion? One takes it for granted that Yoga is of the Hindu religion, and asks: 'What is the connection between, this Hindu thing and my religion?' Anyone belonging to another religion must wonder. So, it is worth-knowing how to relate Yoga to religion. Is it like other ...