Apply their tips to your next workout, whether it’s a killer strength session, a spin class, or a day on the slopes, and you’ll get a new appreciation for what your hardworking body can do–and a killer performance boost to go with it.

Fueling Up

4:45 a.m. It’s two hours before the race starts. I force down two slices of whole-wheat toast with a thin layer of peanut butter and a sliced banana on top.

What’s going on
Eating is the last thing I want to do, but I have to nosh now because my stomach needs time–two hours, to be exact–to digest complex carbs. Once I’m in motion, digestion will all but stop, so my belly will get no love from my body’s oxygen-rich blood, which it needs for digestion. “The nervous system directs blood to where it’s needed most,” says Carol L. Otis, M.D., co-author of The Athletic Woman’s Survival Guide. During a hard physical effort, the muscles that move my body crave oxygen and demand nearly 85 percent of my blood flow. The O2 combines with glycogen (a byproduct of carbs) to produce adenosine triphosphate, aka ATP. That’s the fuel that makes the body go.

Knowledge is power At least 80 percent of your pre-workout meal should be carbs. Try cereal with milk and a banana, or an English muffin with almond butter and honey. Prone to stomach issues? “Drink a carb-rich sports drink like Gatorade or a smoothie made with fruit and low-fat yogurt–they’re easier to digest,” says Ilana Katz, M.S., R.D., a sports nutritionist in Atlanta.

Revving and (Sorta) Willing

6:35 a.m. The starting gun goes off in 10 minutes. Even though prerace jitters make me want to hurl, I suck down an energy gel, sip some water, and wade into the lake for a quick warmup.

What’s going on
The blood can hold about 100 calories’ worth of easy-to-access glycogen, and I want my tank at full capacity. Eating a simple carb, like a banana or an energy gel, within 30 minutes of a tough workout tops it off. As for that pukey feeling: Anticipation has my heart beating fast–my nervous system is primed for action. “It’s like waving a leash in front of a dog,” says Matt Fitzgerald, author of Brain Training for Runners. “The dog knows it’s going for a walk and gets excited.”

A 10-minute warmup gets blood flowing to my muscles and away from other organs, revs my heart rate, starts working my lungs, lubes my joints, and reacquaints my nervous system with how my muscles fire. In a race, skipping a warmup means a breathless, achy start.

Knowledge is power To make a tough workout seem easier before you even start, “break it into manageable parts: Warm up, then set an easy goal: five minutes, one mile, or something similarly doable,” says Abby Ruby, Ph.D., a senior coach at Carmichael Training Systems in Colorado Springs. “Don’t worry about minute 45 at minute 10.”

High Gear

6:45 a.m. The starting gun fires. I dive in for the 1,500-meter swim. Breathing is a struggle, and my arms and legs protest.

What’s going on
As picky as a diesel-powered Jetta, my body runs on only one fuel: ATP. At the beginning of a hard effort, the body makes this muscle food using creatine, an acid it produces naturally. “This ATP is created in a flash,” Katz says, “and is gone just as quickly.” At the start of a workout, my cells have just under 10 seconds’ worth of this fuel. Then a process called anaerobic glycolysis kicks in. For the next one to three minutes, I can produce ATP without oxygen (right now I’m using all I’ve got to breathe). The trade-off: I cringe as my muscles start to burn.

Now my system switches to the lowest-maintenance way of making ATP: aerobic glycolysis. Here, a combo of oxygen, glycogen (from my breakfast and last night’s linguine), lactic acid, and fat stores feed my muscles. The body can run this way for hours; in fact, it uses this form of ATP for 99 percent of all activity.

Meanwhile, my adrenal glands release epinephrine (aka adrenaline), raising my heart rate and lowering my perception of pain. “Epinephrine is the cavalry swooping in for a fight, which is how your body sees this race,” says Tommy Boone, Ph.D., an exercise physiologist at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minnesota. My nervous system doesn’t know if I’m being chased by competitors or a great white shark. Either way, its message is the same: Go fast and hard.

Knowledge is power Here’s a cardio workout that will reduce muscle burn caused by lactic acid: Warm up for 10 minutes (however you choose). Then up the intensity to at least an 8 on a scale of 1 (no prob) to 10 (big prob). “Choose an effort you can hold for 10 minutes,” Ruby says. Start with one or two 10-minute intervals separated by five minutes’ recovery. Each week thereafter, increase the number of intervals by one, or their length by two to five minutes, until you can hold an intensity of 8 for 30 minutes straight.

Cruise Control 6:57 a.m. My arms and legs stop hurting and I no longer feel like I’m about to hyperventilate.

What’s going on
My muscles are now using about 20 times as much energy as they would were I watching a race on TV. My heart rate rises to around 160 beats per minute (compared with about 70 at rest) and increases the amount of blood it pumps per beat. That blood swooshes through the thousands of adrenaline-widened capillaries in my muscles.

Because I’ve been an endurance athlete for most of my life, my heart, like any muscle, has gotten stronger through regular sweat sessions. My left ventricle, the piston that pushes blood through my body, is larger than an untrained female’s, so it can distribute a steady stream of blood over long physical efforts. My lungs, however, will never change size. Their job is to suck oxygen from the air; they’re programmed to keep up with my body’s O2 demand and with how fast my heart shuttles the oxygen-spiked blood to my muscles.

Knowledge is power This sprint workout (using your cardio of choice) fires up your heart and lungs: Warm up for 10 to 15 minutes, then go all out for two minutes, then recover for two. Depending on your fitness level, start with two to five sprints. Increase by one per week until you reach seven, then increase the interval length to three minutes. “Recover for at least 48 hours between workouts,” says Ruby, who recommends an easy jog or spin on off days to expedite recovery.

Feeling The Heat

7:53 a.m. I’ve conquered the swim and now, halfway through the 26-mile bike portion of the race, the relentless sun gets to me. I’m thirsty, sweating , and need energy–but the heat has killed my appetite. I grab a sports drink at an aid station.

What’s going on
As I gulp, the electrolyte-filled liquid flows through my stomach and into my small intestine, which converts the sugars into glucose to be deposited into the bloodstream. The process takes roughly 20 minutes. Had I forced down a protein bar, I likely would have paid for it: “During exercise, muscular demand is greater than digestive demand, so any food in your stomach just sits there,” Otis says. That’s why your belly protests if you munch right before or during a tough workout. As for the buckets of sweat pouring off my skin: That’s my bod keeping me cool. Those wide-open capillaries in my muscles are transferring warm blood to sweat glands in my skin. Like itty-bitty air conditioners, these glands siphon off water and chemicals like sodium and potassium from the blood and spit it out through my pores. The sweat evaporates; I cool down. The more I sweat, the longer my body temperature stays low, and the harder and longer I can go–provided I replenish my fluids. If I don’t, then dehydration sets in: If that happens, my blood will thicken, my heart rate will rise, and every motion will become harder.

I’m sweating profusely. But when I dismount my bike, I see that I’ve finished only about a third of a 24-ounce bottle of Gatorade. Uh-oh.

Knowledge is power For workouts and races longer than 90 minutes, aim for one gram of carbs per 2.2 pounds of body weight every hour. I weigh 175 pounds, so I need nearly 80 grams of carbs per hour.

Running On Empty9:20 a.m. I’m about two miles into the 10-K run and my legs are officially made of lead. Negative thoughts flood my mind: It’s too hot, I’m too slow, I didn’t train enough. I don’t have the physical energy or the mental discipline to slog through, so I settle into a run/walk pattern that I keep up through the rest of the race.

What’s going on
Physically, I’m toast. If the swim, bike, and run weren’t enough to accelerate muscle mutiny, suffering in 90-degree-plus temps are. My brain doesn’t recruit muscles to work as effectively as it does in cooler weather. It switches to overprotective mode. “Your brain’s primary job during exercise is to prevent you from harming yourself,” Fitzgerald says. When your core temp goes up, your brain makes you feel like crap to slow you down.

Knowledge is power Your brain can be the difference between a mediocre performance and a great one. “Recreational athletes have much farther to go before they bonk than they think they do,” Fitzgerald says. Build mental toughness by repeating a mantra (I forgot to repeat mine: “I can handle this for now”) or picking somebody to pass. After a hard workout or race, evaluate: Did you go as hard as you could have? What would you change? Use the answers as ammo for next time.

Afterburn

9:42 a.m. Two hours, 56 minutes, and 30 seconds after I dove into the water, I kick it across the finish line, awash in sweat and endorphins. After catching my breath, I beeline for the postrace spread of bananas and burritos.

What’s going on
The race may be over, but my body is still busy replacing its glycogen stores, removing lactic acid, lowering my heart and breathing rates, and shutting down the capillaries to my muscles as the ones to my stomach reopen. Mentally, I’m flying. “Exercise produces an opium-like substance in the brain that gives you a natural high,” Ruby says.

Knowledge is power Mitigate the damage you’ve done by eating and drinking ASAP. “Your body is depleted, and nutrition is the biggest recovery factor you can control,” Fitzgerald says. Aim to eat half a gram of carbs for every 2.2 pounds of body weight and take in protein at a four-to-one ratio. So I’d want 40 grams of carbs and about 10 grams of protein, like a whole-wheat bagel with peanut butter (déjà vu), a protein smoothie, or a chicken sandwich on whole-wheat bread.

Over And Ouch!

Working my engine at a greater intensity than usual makes my muscles decidedly annoyed with me the following day.

What’s going on
Although no one’s sure about the exact cause of delayed-onset muscle syndrome, or DOMS, the breakdown of muscles is likely to blame. In fact, the number of white blood cells, which aid ailing muscles, increases after strenuous activity. Mine are in serious overdrive. And surprisingly, research shows that ibuprofen and massage don’t soothe them that much. Sitting in an ice bath, however, for eight to 15 minutes within a few hours of a tough workout does slow damage. Elite marathoners including Deena Kastor and Paula Radcliffe swear by it.

A few days later, once the postrace sufferfest has passed, all I remember is the endorphin-fueled high at the finish. Sign me up for more! With everything I know now, next time I’ll be more badass than ever.

Knowledge is power As much as you want to sit on your butt, a low-key workout–a 20-minute jog, a spin on the bike, an easy swim–will get healing blood to your muscles faster than watching Project Runway.

This Is Your Body On Strength Training

The Move

Lunge
Before you take a step, your brain sends a message to your muscles–We’re about to lunge, folks!–via nerve fibers that run down your spinal cord.

Muscles are made of bundles of fibers that contain two types of proteins. When given the green light, the proteins slide across each other, causing the fibers to contract. This motion moves the bones attached to the muscle, and you bob across the gym floor.

The lunge causes microscopic tears to the muscle fibers involved. To repair them, your body rushes healing white blood cells, protein, and other fix-its to the scene. This increases the size of the muscle fibers and strengthens them. Ta da!–next time at the gym, you can add two lunges to your set.

Get Stronger

To get the most from your strength training, integrate cardio three times a week. A 2008 study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that, compared with women whose strength workouts stuck strictly to weights, those who ran on a treadmill for 30 to 60 seconds before each set gained 6 percent more muscle strength, added 9 percent more muscular endurance, and shed 6 percent more body fat over 11 weeks.

This Is Your Body On Yoga

The Move

Downward Dog
As you bend into this pose, your arm and shoulder muscles contract to support the upper body while your quads kick in and your hamstrings lengthen.

If your hammies start screaming when you press your heels into the floor, you can thank your proprioceptors. These cells monitor muscule length and tension to prevent injury. In this move, the proprioceptors in your tendons go on high alert and try to stop the muscle from lengthening.

As you inhale, your nervous system sends the blood that’s rushed to your head back to the heart. Exhaling activates the relaxation portion of your nervous system. Ah, sweet bliss.

Get More Flexible
A study at the University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse, found that people’s flexibility increased by up to 13 percent when they practiced yoga three times a week for eight weeks.

Women’s Health Magazine

Integral Yoga, as its name implies, is a system of yoga that aims to integrate body, mind, and spirit. The system of Integral Yoga was brought to the West from India by Sri Swami Satchidananda. This system emphasizes the practices of hatha yoga, pranayama, and meditation as the way to develop physical and mental stillness in order to unlock inner truth. Integral Yoga is practiced and taught at the Integral Yoga Institute, which was founded by Sri Swami Satchidananda and has branches throughout the United States and the rest of the world. Integral Yoga hatha classes are offered by individual teachers, by the Integral Yoga Institutes and Integral Yoga Teaching Centers, as well as at Integral Yoga headquarters at Satchidananda Ashram-Yogaville, which is located in Buckingham, near Charlottesville, Virginia.

The Origins of Integral Yoga
The founding and inspirational force behind Integral Yoga is Sri Swami Satchidananda. Born in South India, Sri Swami Satchidananda studied yoga under the guidance of several of the most renowned teachers of yoga in the 20th century, including Sri Ramana Maharashi, Sri Aurobindo, and, most especially, Sri Swami Sivananda. Sri Swami Sivananda of the city of Rishikesh in the Himalayas, who taught a synthesis of many different types of yoga, was

Sri Swami Satchidananda’s spiritual master. Sri Swami Sivananda was one of the most influential teachers of yoga in the 20th century. He counted among his students Sri Swami Satchidananda, as well as Sri Swami Chidananda, Sri Swami Jyotirmayananda, and Sri Swami Vishnu-devananda, who is responsible for the development of Sivananda Yoga.

Sri Swami Satchidananda traveled and taught extensively throughout Southeast Asia and Europe, and there are now yoga teachers and centers devoted to him throughout the world. He was invited to visit the West by an American devotee in 1966. A planned two-day visit turned into a five-month teaching tour. He quickly gained prominence as a teacher of yoga. Many Baby Boomers may remember him as the spiritual mentor of the 1969 Woodstock music festival. His 1970 guide to the practice of hatha yoga, Integral Yoga Hatha, introduced countless Westerners to yoga. It

Integral Yoga is an integrative approach to yoga that is both systematic and practical. It was developed by Sri Swami Satchidananda, a student of Sri Swami Sivananda, whose teachings also contributed to the development of Sivananda Yoga. Born in South India, Sri Swami Satchidananda came to the United States in the 1960s. He gained popular recognition as the spiritual mentor of the 1969 Woodstock Music and Art Fair. Through its headquarters in Buckingham, Virginia, and branches and centers throughout the rest of the United States and the world, Integral Yoga offers classes and workshops that emphasize the accessibility and practicality of yoga. It uses hatha yoga to serve people seeking relief from stress and fatigue as a doorway to yoga practice. Formal classes are generally 75 to 90 minutes in length. Integral Yoga emphasizes ease and comfort in the performance of asanas. Pranayama and meditation receive equal weighting with asana practice within the Integral Yoga system.

Sri Swami Satchidananda founded the Integral Yoga Institute as the vehicle to teach his particular approach to yoga. Satchidananda Ashram-Yogaville, located in Buckingham, Virginia, is the international headquarters of Integral Yoga, and there are Integral Yoga branches and centers throughout the world. Integral Yoga remains one of the premier yoga organizations in the world today. It is one of the leading centers for the training of yoga teachers with more than 15 teacher training programs conducted at Yogaville each year. In addition, the New York, New Jersey, and San Francisco centers also conduct training. Teacher training programs in Gibraltar and Portugal conduct training for European teachers.

One of the most influential and widely read texts on hatha yoga is the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, written in the 14th century C.E. In this seminal manual, the author describes 16 physical postures as well as a variety of cleansing and breathing practices and what are known as locks and seals to control the flow of energy within the body.

In its emphasis on physical postures, or asanas, hatha yoga is often considered one of the steps on the eight-limbed path of yoga, which forms an important part of classical, or raja, yoga. However, it is important to bear in mind that emphasis is placed on making the body as whole and complete as possible in order to achieve the ultimate goal of liberation. Practitioners of hatha yoga believe that in order to achieve the fullest unfoldment of our minds and spirits, we must do our utmost to have a body that is at ease and free of disease. Hatha yoga is thus a way of balancing or harmonizing body and mind. This intent is highlighted in the esoteric interpretation sometimes accorded to the word hatha. According to some practitioners, the word hatha is comprised of two syllables that stand for the sun (ha) and the moon (tha), implying a deep union of the body and the mind and of the masculine and feminine energies within each individual – man and woman alike. Thus, the word hatha reminds us that at heart, yoga is a search for underlying unity and wholeness.

Hatha yoga practitioners see the body as a wonderful vehicle for self-realization. For without a body, we would not be alive today, and thus incapable of seeking the path of transformation. Hatha yoga urges a man to respect his body as a temple of the divine spirit of the universe. The practice of hatha yoga is thus an opportunity of honoring your own inner divinity.

Hatha yoga has become so popular, particularly in the last few decades, that there are now many styles for practicing it. Surprisingly, however, most of the styles of hatha yoga that are practiced today trace their roots to a handful of yoga teachers, who traveled from India to the West in the 1960s and 1970s to train practitioners here in their particular approach to yoga; or to a small number of Westerners who traveled to India during the same time period to train as teachers with a few celebrated masters.

The teachers of the 60s and 70s differed in their approach to presenting yoga from the gurus who had preceded them. The earliest teachers of yoga who traveled to the West in the late 19th and early 20th centuries emphasized the traditional sacred texts and metaphysical aspects of yoga. The newer generation of teachers, while revering all aspects of the yoga tradition, also incorporated much more of the physical exercise aspect of yoga into their teaching. Their approaches to yoga appealed to Western practitioners, and, consequently, much of the yoga that has developed in the United States has focused on the physical postures of hatha yoga.

The following chapters will introduce you to the main approaches to hatha yoga that have helped to define hatha practice in the West. Because there are now so many styles of yoga available, the choice of a practice can seem overwhelming. These chapters will introduce you to the main styles of hatha yoga so that you can be better informed as you undertake your own practice of yoga.

Each of the main styles of hatha yoga is generally named after the individual who first introduced or was influential in the teachings of that style, such as Iyengar Yoga and Sivananda Yoga; the institute that was founded based on their teachings, such as yoga taught at the Himalayan Institute and Integral Yoga; or for a prominent element or focal point of the approach, such as Ashtanga Yoga and kundalini yoga.

Nearly all the various styles of hatha yoga have as their base a common repertoire of physical postures and practices, which have evolved over the centuries. The emphasis on how to perform these practices can differ widely from one style of yoga to another, however. Understanding the differences among these styles can help you choose the style of hatha yoga that is right for you. The following chapters describe the major styles of hatha yoga that you are likely to encounter in your exploration of yoga today. As you read these chapters, please bear in mind that the approaches to yoga presented are grouped together under hatha yoga for convenience. In addition to instruction in the physical postures of yoga, most of these approaches can also help you incorporate a full range of yogic practices into your life.

1. Yama. Yama means “self-restraint” or “self-control” in Sanskrit. The yamas are a set of ethical practices, somewhat like the commandments of the Old Testament, which form the basis for spiritual development. In order to be liberated, the yoga aspirant first must abstain from engaging in behavior that will be detrimental to his well-being and that of others. Patanjali prescribes five yamas that are to be observed: nonviolence (ahimsa); not telling lies, or being truthful (satya); not stealing (asteya); not wasting one’s sexual energy, or literally, demonstrating “brahmic conduct” (brahmacarya); and not being greedy (aparigraha). By practicing these five yamas, one develops the self-control necessary for the pursuit of the highest goals of yoga.

2. Niyama. Niyama means restraint in the sense of “discipline” or “moral observance” in Sanskrit. The niyamas are a set of ethical principles by which the practitioner of yoga is advised to conduct his life. Patanjali details five niyamas that are to be practiced: purity (saucha), contentment (santohsa), asceticism (tapas), study (svadhyaya), and surrender to a higher power (Isvara-pranidhana). Taken together, the niyamas provide a prescription for right living.

3. Asana. Asana means “seat” or “posture” in Sanskrit. The asanas are a prescribed set of physical postures, or poses, that are meant to purify and steady both the body and mind. For many people, yoga is synonymous with these postures, which form the basis of what is known as hatha yoga, which is derived from the system of raja yoga. The asanas play such an important role in yoga that they have given rise to many approaches to practicing them. Much of the confusion as to what yoga is in the West is caused by these various approaches to executing the physical postures of yoga. Because of the importance that these poses play in yoga and the diversity of ways in which they can be practiced, the first few sections of Yoga for Men are devoted to a description of the various styles of yoga that have developed in response to the practice of raja and hatha yoga.

4. Pranayama. Pranayama means “control (or extension) of the breath” in Sanskrit. The breath (prana) is more than just the air we take in and exhale, however. Breath is also synonymous with vital energy, or the life force. Without breath there is no life. Practitioners of yoga believe that it is essential to learn to control the breath in order to still the mind. Consequently, detailed practices have been developed to enhance the flow of breath, or vital life force. These practices include various ways of inhaling, retaining, and expelling the breath.

5. Pratyahara. Pratyahara means “withdrawal” or “starving the senses” in Sanskrit. The practice of pratyahara entails withdrawing the senses from sensory objects, as in sleep.

6. Dharana. Dharana means “concentration” in Sanskrit. Once the practitioner of yoga has withdrawn the senses from external objects, he practices concentration, for instance, by focusing single-pointedly on an object of awareness, such as a mental image or a sound.

7. Dhyana. Dhyana means “meditation” in Sanskrit. As the practitioner’s concentration develops, it deepens into meditation.

8. Samadhi. Samadhi means “bliss” or “ecstasy” in Sanskrit. Once the aspirant has perfected the preceding steps on the ladder of yoga, he enters into a state sometimes referred to as superconsciousness, in which the individual self merges with the infinite consciousness of the universe. This state of bliss is the ultimate goal of raja yoga.

These eight practices comprise the eight-runged ladder referred to as ashtanga yoga. Taken together, they form a kind of guide to developing self-control. The first two sets of practices prescribe how to establish self-discipline over one’s conduct and behavior toward others through a system of do’s and don’ts of ethical behavior. The next two practices teach how to achieve self-discipline of the physical body. The last four practices provide detailed instruction on how to gain mastery of the senses and mind, leading to self-realization.

The Four Majör Branches of Yoga
As most commonly presented, the four major branches of yoga are bhakti yoga, jnana yoga, karma yoga, and raja yoga. Understanding the nature of each can help you incorporate yoga into your life in the most meaningful way.

Bhakti Yoga: The Yoga of Devotion
Bhakti literally means “devotion” in Sanskrit. Bhakti yoga is known as the yoga of devotion. Following the path of bhakti yoga requires one to surrender oneself completely to a force or power greater than oneself. That power might be a deity, saint, revered teacher, or a quality, such as love. Through the force of opening one’s heart with undivided love and devotion to this higher force, one enters the grace of self-realization. Faith, grace, and love are the hallmarks of bhakti yoga. Mahatama Ghandi and the Dalai Lama, with their open hearts and unswerving devotion to serve, are excellent examples of a bhakta, the term that describes a practitioner of bhakti yoga.

Jnana Yoga: The Yoga of Knowledge
Jnana literally means “wisdom” or “knowledge” in Sanskrit. Jnana yoga is known as the yoga of wisdom. Of all the branches of yoga, this path requires the greatest concentration of mental activity. Jnanins (“knowers”), or practitioners of jnana yoga, seek enlightenment through the power of mental discrimination and inquiry – learning to differentiate the real from the unreal, and the limited personal self from the unlimited infinite self that is the source of all being. Meditation is the most powerful tool used in the practice of jnana yoga.

Karma Yoga: The Yoga of Action
Karma literally means “action” or “cause” in Sanskrit. Karma yoga is known as the yoga of action. Following the path of karma yoga involves seeking liberation through one’s actions in the world. Devoting selfless service to others and practicing one’s tasks in life – professional, familial, and otherwise – with perfect awareness and mindfulness without regard for success or failure permits the practitioner of karma yoga to achieve enlightenment and self-liberation. Through karma yoga, even simple and routine tasks such as driving a car or mowing the lawn can be acts of yoga practice if they are offered selflessly and to benefit others in an act of service. Many people associate yoga with asceticism and withdrawal from the external world and the company of others. Karma yoga offers those who are interested in pursuing its path a way of practicing yoga actively in the world.

Raja Yoga: The Royal Yoga
Raja means “royal” in Sanskrit. Raja yoga is known as the royal road to yoga, or the yoga of enlightenment. Of all the branches of yoga, raja yoga is probably the best-known approach to yoga in the West. The practitioner of raja yoga follows a carefully prescribed path composed of eight practices, or limbs, known as ashtanga (“eight limbs”), to achieve self-realization. These limbs include many of the best-known and most frequently engaged yoga practices, including physical postures, breath control, and concentration. (These practices will be described in much greater detail in the chapters that follow.) Raja yoga is sometimes referred to as classical yoga because the practices that comprise it are detailed in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, one of the earliest extant texts on the practice of yoga.

The four major branches of yoga form the overall umbrella under which all other yoga practices are subdivided. Each branch, however, need not be considered mutually exclusive. Some practices, such as meditation, are common to more than one branch of yoga. A follower of yoga can also engage in practices from more than one branch – a man can open the heart through bhakti yoga, engage the world mindfully and dutifully through karma yoga, seek mental discernment through jnana yoga, and engage in the liberating practices of raja yoga all at the same time. In fact, a devotee who follows the teachings of all the branches of yoga will find in yoga a nearly perfect system leading to right living, thinking, and self-realization.

Understanding that yoga has developed over a 5,000-year period and has extended its reach into many cultures and belief systems can help explain why there are so many approaches to yoga. It is important to realize, however, that as a tree, all the branches and limbs of yoga developed from one initial seed: the goal of liberating the self through the union of body, mind, and soul. Virtually each system of yoga represents a path of inquiry that unfolded from a single starting point: responding to the question, “Who am I?” Each of the systems of yoga represents a particular approach to realizing self-understanding and liberation. None of the systems is superior or inferior to any other. Each system or approach merely emphasizes certain aspects of yoga as the path to liberation. These systems do not have to be viewed as mutually exclusive. Each system offers valuable insight.

We have arrived at an exciting time in the development of yoga. As practiced in India for millennia, yoga has frequently entailed detailed study of a particular path of yoga under the tutelage of a venerated teacher, or guru. As the tree of yoga is becoming embraced in the West, it, in turn, is being influenced by and benefiting from the uniquely individual and creative input from the characteristically Western style of thinking. By understanding what each system of yoga teaches and emphasizes, each individual can decide for himself which elements are most appropriate to his needs. He can then create a uniquely personal practice by drawing selectively from the best elements of yoga. Those men who prefer a more methodical, organized approach are also free to follow the teachings of a particular school or teacher in the time-honored tradition of guru study. Your practice of yoga will be your own personal decision.

The following outline of the major branches and limbs of yoga will help demystify the many diverse names you may have heard for systems of yoga. It will help you to get a bird’seye view of the overall organizational system of yoga without becoming overwhelmed in the intricacies of the details of each. You can then choose, through the remaining chapters in this book, to learn more about a particular style of yoga or practice. Throughout this book, you will also find a wealth of resource information to help you learn more about a particular approach to yoga you might like to explore further.

Yoga is being merged with journal writing and talk therapy to access ever-deeper levels of the body/mind. It is being combined with dance and movement to enhance creativity, natural expression, and the sheer enjoyment of one’s own body in movement. Yoga is being shared with partners for a particularly nurturing practice.

Yoga for Men introduces you to all of these and many more ways in which you can incorporate yoga into your life. The most important aspect of yoga, though, is the actual experience of the practice itself. In this book, you will find all the information and inspiration you need to begin your practice of yoga if you are a novice, or take it to a higher level if you are already somewhat knowledgeable. It is up to you, however, to take the first step in putting that information into practice in your daily life. It is my hope that you will take that first step now: Discover for yourself the joy, peace, and harmony that are the gifts of yoga. They are your birthright.

Sanskrit terms are generally italicized upon their first occurrence in Yoga for Men, with an English translation provided in parentheses. Subsequent uses of the Sanskrit term in the text are not italicized. Because of the complexity of transliterating Sanskrit words into English, Sanskrit words often have variant spellings in English. Yoga for Men attempts to use the most frequently encountered spellings.

Several nouns and adjectives are used to describe yoga practitioners and practices that may be new to some readers. A male practitioner of yoga is frequently referred to as a yogin, while a female practitioner is referred to as a yogini. Alternatively, the word yogi refers to any practitioner, regardless of sex. The plural of yogi is yogis. The adjective yogic does not yet appear in all dictionaries, but is used with increasing frequency as a qualifier to denote that the noun to which it refers has a special yoga connotation. You will find these words used at various times throughout this book.

What seems to have done the most to bring yoga into popular awareness, however, has been a cross-fertilization of knowledge about India and its sacred traditions that began more recently when a number of master teachers, or gurus, came from India to the West with the professed aim of bringing the ancient teachings of India to Western nations. First among these was Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902), who gained prominence through his presence at the World’s Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in 1893. One of the most influential of the Indian gurus was Parmahansa Yogananda (1893–1952), who was sent by his revered master to bring the teachings of yoga to the West in 1920, when he attended a congress of world religions in Boston. In that same year, Parmahansa Yogananda founded the Self-Realization Fellowship, an organization through which he initiated thousands of Westerners into yoga. His Autobiography of a Yogi remains one of the most widely read books on yoga throughout the world today. Since these two pioneers, a number of other influential teachers have brought their particular focus on yoga to the West, including, most notably, B.K.S. Iyengar (founder of Iyengar Yoga), Swami Rama (the Himalayan Institute), Swami Satchidananda (Integral Yoga), and Swami Vishnu-devananda (Sivananda Yoga).

The transmission of knowledge of yoga is a two-way avenue, however. Because knowledge about yoga has become more widely available in the West, increasingly large numbers of Americans and Europeans are traveling to India to seek instruction firsthand in the ancient practices of yoga. Ram Dass was one of the first and best-known Westerners to forgo the creature comforts of the West to sit at the feet of a guru in India. He distilled the essence of what he learned in the title of his groundbreaking book Be Here Now. Since Ram Dass’s pilgrimage, countless other Americans have followed a similar path.

Yoga is often described as meaning “union” a union of the mind and body, and beyond that, of the mind, body, and spirit; union of the individual with all of creation; union of the individual with the life force itself; and unity with the divinity immanent in all of creation.

Yoga originated in India as one of the six classical schools of Hindu philosophy. It is a rich system of practices that aims to help the individual achieve union with the ultimate source of being. Yoga has been described as a therapy, an art, a science, a philosophy, and a discipline. The aim of yoga is no less daunting than to help us discover, through a rich variety of techniques and practices, who we truly are. Physical exercise can be an important tool on our path of self-discovery, for as yoga instructs us, in order for us to find true balance and understanding, it is necessary for us to be as at peace and at home in our bodies as possible.