Yoga is a school of Hindu philosophy advocating and prescribing a course of physical and mental disciplines for attaining liberation from the material world and union of the self with the Supreme Being or ultimate principle.[1] The human body (as well as all bodies, objects, etc) is an energy system with close interplay between heartbeat, breathing, and brain function. Yoga is a very powerful system of maintenance for this interlinked energy as well as a way for this energy system to become closer and one with the true Universal Source of all energy. Working from the premise that “Life is breath, breath is life,” yoga places large amounts of emphasis on making the breathing deep, rhythmic and effective. The principle here is that essential thoughts and messages are delivered more effectively when the body is relaxed and the brain is well-oxygenated, helping the body and mind to work more successfully while feeling less tired and less stressed. When the body is less stressed and more awake, the body through ones mind becomes more “awake” to the God Mind within. This is common sense stuff. For example, when you are three or four days into a vacation where you leave the phone, tv, computer, radio, etc at home and you are truly away on a vacation, your body relaxes and your mind relaxes. Within my own personal experiences and with those of others who this has been discussed with, everyone agrees. You are able to see life for what it is on the surface. All the dramas and emotions associated with life are whisked away. You are able to look in on “situations” and realize they are simply created and made up and not really there. You are then able to know much more simple the answer.

When my wife and I went on our honeymoon for a week; after a few days the

stresses of everyday life began to life themselves. We were both able to think more clearly. Work, money, our house, family and friends simply melted away and we both were in a state of blissfulness. It was refreshing and relaxing. Once back we were able to keep this feeling for a couple days until we unfortunately let others into our new little bubble and disrupted our newfound energy. Had we practiced yoga more at this time, we would have been able to keep that feeling and if it did slip away, obtain it back quickly.

On a physical side, yoga breathing lowers blood pressure and brings intense relaxation[2]. Of course, shallow breathing does not always cause unclear thinking or low spirits, but it has been medically linked with attacks of depression, mood swings and other various disorders. This is most likely due to the fact that one is not allowing life energy (prana) to flow through the body, thus causing distance from the Source and physically faltering. Furthermore, improved appearance through better posture, muscle and skin-tone, follows the dedicated practice of yoga as new life energy clears impurities from the physical system. Bones are strengthened and joints become more flexible. In just a few sessions, one can be on the way to a much higher and more positive outlook in and on life. To prove this idea of yoga being able to benefit an individuals human body, there was s study done by the Department of Physiology at Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) Pondicherry. The study was done on modulation of cardiovascular response to exercise by yoga training. The results of this study are found below:

Abstract: This study reports the effects of yoga training on cardiovascular response to exercise and the time course of recovery after the exercise. Cardiovascular response to exercise was determined by Harvard step test using a platform of 45 cm height. The subjects were asked to step up and down the platform at a rate of 30/min for a total duration of 5 min or until fatigue, whichever was earlier. Heart rate (HR) and blood pressure response to exercise were measured in supine position before exercise and at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 10 minutes after the exercise. Rate-pressure product [RPP = (HR × SP)/100] and double product (Do P = HR × MP), which are indices of work done by the heart were also calculated. Exercise produced a significant increase in HR, systolic pressure, RPP & DoP and a significant decrease in diastolic pressure. After two months of yoga training, exercise induced changes in these parameters were significantly reduced. It is concluded that after yoga training a given level of exercise leads to a milder cardiovascular response, suggesting better exercise tolerance.

Yogic techniques are known to improve one’s overall performance and work capacity. Following the study of Bhattacharya & Krishnaswami (1) in which they observed that yoga exercises do not produce marked effect on physical and physiological performance, there have been several reports on the beneficial effects of yoga training on physiological functions. Muralidhara & Ranganathan (2) have reported an improvement in cardiac recovery index after 10 week yoga training programme. Raju et al (3) have found a significant increase in maximal work output and a significant increase in oxygen consumption per unit work after yoga training. Bera & Rajapurkar (4) have reported a significant improvement in cardiovascular endurance and anaerobic power as a result of yoga training. However,Balasubramanian & Pansare (5) have reported that yoga training produces a significant decrease in anaerobic power. Exercise stress testing is a valuable tool for evaluating physical fitness and cardiorespiratory status. The effect of physical training on exercise tolerance is well known. However, there are limited studies on the effect of yoga training on cardiovascular response to stress. Moreover, there is paucity of information on the effect of yoga training on the time course of the cardiovascular response following exercise. In view of this, the present study was planned with the objective of determining the effect of yoga training on the cardiovascular response to step test and its time course after the exercise in normal young volunteers.

METHOD

Twenty one normal boys (age : 17-19 years) were recruited for the present study. Those having a history of active sports training or yoga practice, medical illness such as tuberculosis, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, bronchial asthma or major surgery in the recent past were excluded from the study. After explaining the design and purpose of the study, informed consent was obtained from them. Clearance was obtained from Institute Ethical Committee.

A few days before actual recording, the subjects were familiarized with the laboratory environment and experimental procedure. On the day of the test, the subjects reported at our laboratory in the morning, two hours after a light breakfast. The laboratory temperature was maintained at 27 ± 1°C. After 15 minutes of supine rest, heart rate (HR) and right brachial blood pressure (BP) was recorded with noninvasive semi-automatic blood pressure monitor using the oscillometric method (Press-Mate BP 8800, Colin Corporation, Japan). Pulse pressure (PP = SP – DP), mean pressure (MP = DP + PP/3) and rate pressure product [RPP = (HR × SP)/100] and double product (Do P = HR × MP) were calculated for each recording. Three BP recordings at one-minute intervals were taken and the lowest of these values was included for calculation. Cardiovascular response to exercise was determined by Harvard step test using a platform of 45 cm height (6). The subjects were asked to step up and down the platform at a rate of 30/ min for a total duration of 5 min or until fatigue, whichever was earlier. HR and BP response to exercise was measured in supine position before exercise and at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 10 minutes after the exercise.

The subjects were taught yogasans and pranayams for two weeks. Then they practiced the same under our direct supervision, daily for 45 minutes, for a total duration of 2 months. The yogasans and pranayams taught were: talasan, utkatasan, trikonasan, ardha-matsyendrasan, bakasan, pavanmuktasan, navasan, noukasan, matsyasan, pashchimottanasan, halasan, bhujangasan, shalabhasan, sarvangasan, shavasan, mukh-bhastrika, mahat-yoga pranayam, nadi shuddhi and savitri pranayam.

The cardiovascular response to exercise was measured before the training and again at the end of the 2 months of study period. The data was analyzed using Student’s paired ‘t’ test to compare the pre and post training values. A p value of less than 0.05 was accepted as indicating significant difference between the compared values.

RESULTS

Results are given in Table I. Yoga

training produced a significant reduction in basal HR, SP, DP, MP, RPP and Do P. Before yoga training, step test produced a marked and significant rise in all these parameters except DP which showed a significant decrease following the exercise. All these parameters showed subsequent progressive recovery throughout the ten minute study period. After 2 months of yoga training, the exercise-induced change in these parameters was significantly less as compared to their pre-training response. Before yoga training, only MP returned to pre-exercise basal value whereas other parameters continued to be significantly different from their basal values at the end of 10 min post-exercise period. After yoga training, in addition to MP, SP, DP and PP also returned to their pre-exercise basal values by the end of 10 min study period.

DISCUSSION

The purpose of this study was to determine if yoga training modulates the cardiovascular response to exercise and its time course after the exercise. Yoga training for two months resulted in a significant decrease in basal HR and BP. Calculated RPP and Do P also decreased significantly. Since RPP is an index of myocardial oxygen consumption and load on the heart (7), our results indicate that after yoga training, a given level of exercise is less taxing for the heart. A decrease in DP after yoga training has also been reported by Ray et al (8) who attributed this to a reduction in sympathetic activity. Exercise produced a marked and significant increase in the parameters measured except DP which showed a significant decrease in response to exercise stress. After yoga training, these exercise induced changes (i.e. decrease in DP and increase in other parameters) were significantly reduced. It is interesting to note that before yoga training only MP had returned to pre-exercise value at the end of 10 minutes study period. After yoga training, SP, DP and PP also returned to the pre-exercise basal values indicating faster recovery of cardiovascular parameters after yoga training. Our results are similar to the recent findings of O’ Sullivan and Bell (9) who have reported that physical training blunts the pressure, tachycardiac and vasodilator responses and attributed this to blunting of sympathetic vasodilator activation. Although Bhattacharya & Krishnaswami (1) concluded that yoga training does not produce any marked effect on the physiological parameters of the subjects, there are several reports of beneficial effects of yoga training on physiological functions. Bera & Rajapurkar (4) have reported that yoga training results in significant improvement in cardiovascular endurance and anaerobic threshold. This is consistent with the findings of Muralidhara & Ranganathan (2) that yoga training improves physical efficiency as indicated by significant increase in cardiac recovery index measured by Harvard step test. Our findings of lesser increase in BP, HR and RPP after yoga training are consistent with the findings of Ray et al (8, 10) that yoga training increases muscular endurance, delays onset of fatigue and enables one to perform work at lesser VO2 max. Palatini (11) has reported that in comparison to normotensives, the increase in DP in response to isometric exercise is substantially more in hypertensives. An exaggerated cardiovascular reactivity to the stressors is known to be a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases whereas reduced reactivity is an indicator of fitness. Therefore a reduction in exercise-induced stress on cardiovascular system by yoga training has physiological significance as well as clinical applications.

If we wish to take a lead role in helping others develop their inner selves through yoga; there are a few methods which may be used. The one of utmost focus is creating ones own yoga studio. The purpose of this is to create a quiet, serene locale in which others may benefit and grow.

People first must accept “Jesus, God, Yaweh, Allah, Bob, etc.” in order to feel connected. There is no other way in life but to be connected to the Universal Energy Source in which we are all created and operate each day. By not being connected to this source, we are using EGO and moving in the opposite direction. This has been well noted in the books used by the University of Metaphysics as well as the services given each weekend. For more information on this, please contact the University at www.metaphysics.com

In the same way, the client must feel connected to you as their leader who will educate them and lead them to a stronger connection to “God”. Note that by saying one must accept an entity as a way to feel connected, I am not referring to the outward worship of a supreme being. I am however stating that through proper acceptance and release of self ego, they will be able to be connected with the Universal Life Force which flows through us all. By allowing ourselves to feel this and be this, we are now allowing “God” to operate through us. We at this point have allowed “God” into our lives and bodies.

We may become unattached at some point to this. This is normal at first. The more we practice yoga (prayer, meditation, etc) the longer we are connected until the ultimate goal is one day to become and stay connected for an infinite amount of time.

Yoga has come under attack as well and I would like to disseminate immediately any negativities on this wonderful activity. We are here to establish a top notch yoga studio and with any business, there are those who are negative toward ones idea for whatever reason. There will be those who wish for you to fail. This is normal and do not take offense. It has nothing to do with you.

One way one may be attacked by an outside source with their idea of establishing a yoga studio may be due to major religion which is becoming involved in this activity. On CNN, Headline Prime, there arose a debate on Yoga. Christians were stating that Yoga is a Hindu activity and therefore their religion and Christianity did not mix.

Fist and foremost I want to state how ridiculous this is. It appears those who are extremely devout have the blinders over their eyes most.

Yoga is defined in the dictionary as:

1. a school of Hindu philosophy advocating and prescribing a course of physical and mental disciplines for attaining liberation from the material world and union of the self with the Supreme Being or ultimate principle.
2. any of the methods or disciplines prescribed, esp. a series of postures and breathing exercises practiced to achieve control of the body and mind, tranquillity, etc.
3. union of the self with the Supreme Being or ultimate principle.

I am not a practicing Hindu. Christianity and Hindu philosophy have multiple contrary points of view and beliefs. The real question is can a Christian participate in the physical components of Yoga without crossover into the spiritual elements?

Of course they can. Is there not a supreme being in each religion? Is the goal not to be closer to this supreme being and do as God would do? Simply knowing and stating this over and over is one thing. Practical application is a whole new ball game.

Why do we always ask the wrong question? There are deeper questions that need to be addressed to determine the right response. Those deeper questions include the following:

• What is the nature of spiritual power, especially the realm of the demonic/satanic?
• Are Christians susceptible to spiritual forces by proximity?
• Are Christians susceptible to spiritual forces because they read a book, watch a movie, or participate in some physical posture or mechanism?
• Can people be overcome by a spiritual force outside of themselves? Can a Christian?
• What is the extent of Satan’s power, demonic power?
• Does the Holy Spirit (who resides in some way in the believer) submit himself to the presence of a demonic element if the believer (host) submits himself to that element?

The above questions presuppose the following:

• The existence of a being called Satan and the existence of the demonic realm.
• That Satan and demons have power

(though it has been proven Satan was not always an evil character and was made evil by Christianity as a way to instill fear and drive Christians towards the physical building and entity of the church.)

This is an absolutely insane topic and those who created it I honestly believe know the power of yoga and wish to drive the weak away from God further. I am here trying to define and delineate something that is just silly. It is in the same category as Christians opposing Harry Potter, Halloween, Rock and Roll music etc. I was born and raised Catholic. I personally love Harry Potter books and films as they are very entertaining, used to dress up for Halloween, and believe AC/DC are one of the greatest bands of all time. I also feel yoga is a wonderful activity and form of meditation which should be practiced on a daily basis to become closer to God (Universal Energy, Cosmic Energy, etc). Those who claim something is evil and hide behind a religion are missing the point of that religion.

Just because something is proposed or practiced by non-Christians doesn’t mean it is necessarily evil, bad or objectionable. Just because something is practiced by Christians doesn’t mean it is good or worthy of praise. So with regard to Yoga, the spiritual principles and truth claims are obviously non-Christian. The physical stretches, positions and movements are not “necessarily” evil or off limits. Meditation and/or clearing the mind are good things.

For the most part, Yoga in America has nothing to do with Hinduism

No one has been harmed spiritually by participating in simple Yoga exercises.

People should be smart enough to distinguish between the destructive and innocuous, the false and the true. In fact, maybe more Christians should do Yoga, they certainly need to relax.

Structural religion is the biggest problem we face in the world today. With structure we have sources of power. With fear of something, these sources of power can drive the fear so deep that the masses will seek refuge in the power.

With all religion however, we have one prime source. There is always one head and supreme being. The goal is to always allow this being into one’s life and do as the being would do. Yoga is an essential tool to enable each and every one of us to be empowered by this supreme being.

Once one has the proper mind set to begin the fascinating and satisfying art of yoga they may wish to teach others this art. In this case one must have the proper mindset and skills required in business. The following pages show step by step on how to do this. One may however wish to contact a competent business attorney for advice or to hire them to handle all of your needs. Establishing a business however is quite simple once one knows how to do it. The forms are found on the internet for incorporation and as well as contracts and the legal forms to protect the business and business owners from any claims which are unforeseen but may arise.

There is a website which as of November 11, 2007 is current which lists links to each Secretary of State found throughout the United States. On each of these sites one may find the necessary incorporation paperwork they are seeking. The site is: http://www.coordinatedlegal.com/SecretaryOfState.html

Once one has their entity set up, they will need to find a proper location based upon their budget. Later on in this paper I address in detail a budget to use. This may be found via a realtor or via their real estate section in the news paper or a real estate publication in the area of choice. An example of the news paper may be for instance in the city of Tampa to pick up a St. Petersburg Times as this is a much more in depth publication than any other real estate publication in commercial space for rent.

Knowledge and education also play a vital key. One may have the best formation of a company known to man, have a “to the penny budget”, and have a wonderful commercial space, but if one does not know about the topic and the different types of yoga and the how’s and why’s, it is fruitless to begin on this journey. I would highly recommend studying from a yogi master for some months to years before embarking on this journey. One may be able to open a studio and teach and do quite well, but unless you really and truly know and understand the exact how’s and why’s, there is no point. I would never have a brain surgeon operate on my head simply because he knows how to cut me open and slice something out as he read it in a book. I would want him to know the precise how’s and why’s and alternate how’s and why’s and be able to tell me point by point of my brain and the functions of each point and ridge and how it relates to things I never even thought of.

An instructor of yoga should have a knowledge such as this as well. Some current yogi’s who teach are:

Shree Maa-5950 Highway 128, Napa, CA94555

RoyDavis-Center for Spiritual Awareness, Lake Rabun Road, Lakemont, Georgia

Pandit Tigunait- Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy, RR1, Box 400, Honesdale, PA18431

And many, many others.

Even those who have the highest knowledge may not be recognized due to a lack of official piece of paper stating they are certified to do what it is they do. One may be certified as a personal trainer or strength and conditioning coach. But to be truly honed in to yoga as a specialty, one should have a certification direct to yoga. While they are a dime a dozen, some may offer more practical use to each person. Each person is different and should make up their mind on which one works best for them.

Some choices include:

Yoga Alliance- www.yogaalliance.org

XPert Rating- www.expertrating.com

NESTA- www.nestacertified.com

Yandara- www.yandara.com

NETA- www.ndeita.com

White Lotus- www.whitelotus.org

And many more.

With all these pillars you have established, your studio cannot help but succeed.

[1] American Psychological Association (APA):

yoga. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved November 11, 2007, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/yoga

[2] Feureurstein, Gregory, Payne, Larry, Yoga For Dummies, New York (1999)