It is incredible what yoga does for skiing – people can ski all day long and improve their flexibility.

Conditioning before hitting the slopes can increase the safety and enjoyment of the sport. Most ski injuries occur early in the day when muscles are tight and enthusiasm is high, and late in the day when muscles are weakened and technique becomes poor.

A simple yoga exercise called the awkward pose, can increase your strength, balance and concentration, which will make the ski season more rewarding.

It consists of three variations, which are done sequentially.

To begin, stand with the feet apart, about shoulder width, an even distance (approximately six inches) between your heels and toes. Extend the arms out in front of you parallel to the floor with the shoulders pressed down and away from the head. Keep the upper body strong and firm in this position.

Bend your knees and shift the weight back into the heels, pushing the buttocks out behind you. When the top of the thighs are parallel to the floor and arms, hold your pose. The feet should be held parallel and the knees should only be shoulder width apart.

One good way to think of getting into this pose is to imagine that you are sitting in an invisible chair leaning back to bring the spine and shoulders against the back of the chair. The arm muscles are contracted, the abdomen is held tight and your breathing should be normal. Hold the pose for 20 seconds. Stand up.

The second part of this series is similar to the first. Keep your upper body same as before and stand straight up onto the balls of the feet, standing as high as possible with the arches pressed forward. To keep the ankles strong and straight, press down with each big toe. Now, bend the knees again keeping the spine straight and stop when the quadriceps are parallel to the floor. Hold this pose for 20 seconds. Stand up. You will find this second pose a bit more difficult.

Third, assume the same basic pose with upper body firm and strong. Again, slowly bend the knees and this time sit all the way down lightly onto the heels. Now press the knees together and hold the body still. The quadriceps are again level with the floor and the spine is straight. Hold again for 20 seconds. Stand up out of the pose slowly, bring the heels down and relax. Don’t forget to do a second set of all three poses.

Tennis requires cat-like reflexes with short bursts of strength. These short movements do not allow the muscles to extend to their full length. When muscles are strenuously worked, they become tight and can lose their elasticity unless properly stretched. Yoga exercises can increase the body’s range of motion. The lack of movement because of inflexibility binds the joints. Without the elasticity of the muscles, an athlete can be a prisoner within his own body.

Using yoga techniques makes it possible to retrain the muscles. Most tennis athletes play in a constant state of muscle tension. Yoga trains the body to relax muscle tension. Learning to begin your game in a relaxed state could mean gaining an extra step on the ball.

When in a ready position muscles are contracted and ready for action. To move, muscles must be relaxed and then contracted again to spring in any direction. By retraining the muscles you begin from a relaxed position, having a shorter reaction time.

Yoga breathing exercises can help improve endurance and stamina. In sports or exercise we often hold the breath as a way to create strength. Yoga trains the body to create strength through breathing control. Holding the breath at points of exertion takes a great deal of energy that could be used during long sets or matches.

Learning the correct way to breathe while doing a yoga pose is simple. Inhale during the execution of a pose until you feel the muscles’ full length of stretch (maximum resistance. Breathe normally and listen to the body. Hold for 30 seconds, then release the pose slowly. By constant practice of yoga poses you’ll soon apply breathing techniques in everyday routines.

A simple spine twist is excellent for rotational sports. It can help increase needed flexibility of the shoulders and back and hips. Remember to apply the breathing technique to this pose.

Begin the spine twist by sitting on the floor with both legs straight out in front of you. Keeping the spine straight, bend the left leg placing the left foot on the outside of the right knee. Now, place the left hand on the floor behind you with your arm straight and the right elbow bent. Positioned on the outside of the left thigh place the right hand on the left hip.

Turn the head and upper body to the left, looking over the left shoulder. Pressure from the right arm should keep the left leg stationary while pressure from the left arm and torso gives you the twist. Stronger use of both arms increases the twist. Hold this pose for 30 seconds and repeat twist on the opposite side.

A total body conditioning and flexibility routine is essential for the avid tennis player. Yoga techniques could be the edge you need in developing your game.

The word Kundalini is a familiar one to all students of Yoga, as it is well known as the power, in the form of a coiled serpent, residing in Muladhara Chakra, the first of the seven Chakras, the other six being Svadhishthana, Manipuraka, Anahata, Visuddha, Ajna and Sahasrara, in order.

Less is historically known of the Agamas than the Vedas, because the latter provide descriptive poem-pictures of Vedic life. The original Agamas are twenty-eight in number. They are called Saiva Agamas as they focus on establishing a relationship with and ultimately realizing the Supreme Being Siva.

The Agamas are divided into four parts called padas, lessons. The first two padas – Chariya good conduct, and Kriya, external worship, include all the details of personal home life, house planning, town planning, personal worship in temples, the architectural plans for temples and sculpture as well as the intricacies of temple puja. The final two padas – Yoga, internalized worship and union, and Jnana, enlightened wisdom, vividly describe the processes and stages of kundalini yoga, and the Cod-like plateaus of consciousness reached when Sivahood is attained. In the actual texts, the padas are ordered with jnana first, yoga second, then kriya and chariya – unfurling from a God-state to a human state.

The Agamas contain tens of thousands of verses, much more prolific than the Vedas. Though the Vedas stayed strictly in Sanskrit, the Agamas proliferated across India and other countries through many languages. But they fared poorly over the millennia, particularly the Yoga and Jnana Padas – so high and powerful. The custodian Saiva priests neglected them. Many padas of entire Agamas were lost or destroyed.

Mr. La Forge (Yoga Trainer) suspects that because the mind-body exercises typically are easier to pursue, executives have a better chance of making a lifetime habit of them. To see if his opinion is correct, he launched a five-year study of 110 middle- and upper-level executives in companies in the US. He tracks their exercise habits to see if those incorporating mind-body techniques stick with the program longer.

Devotees say the mind-body exercise regimen has a payoff in the workplace, as well.

Barry Moltz, 36, founder and CEO of CHTech International, a mail-order distributor of computer hardware and software, started doing Yoga a year ago to balance the pressures of growing a business and starting a family. He still works out in a gym and commutes to work on his bicycle, but he also meditates in the half-lotus position for 15 or 20 minutes at night after his two young children have gone to sleep.

He says that many of his friends, also in their mid-30s, have been also getting interested in the mind-body connection and the ways it can improve their lives, both at work and at home.

”I think the toughest part about running a company is that there are so many demands on your time. When I meditate, it really allows me to relax and focus all my energies in one place,” he says. ”Now when I am involved in a meeting, I can be immersed in that meeting instead of thinking about 15 other things. And people really respond when you are totally focused on just them.”

The pressures of the job say you should not be satisfied where you are today. You can never feel like you have achieved anything because it is very elusive. Yoga and meditation allows you to be happier and more effective in what you are doing now.

Suresh Nigam, chairman of MetJet, one of the leading trainers of computer hardware engineers in India, not only practices yoga but also preaches it at his 35 centers. So what is it about yoga and why is Suresh doing it? At the heart of it is something, which translates as the stoppage of mind modification. For example, when we hear music we get distracted. We must stay aware and conscious but not get distracted from our goal.

How then does yoga, an ancient, essentially private practice, help in the work environment? Suresh believes that the collective is an entity, just as much as an individual is. If individuals are happy, calm and alert, then the collective consciousness is harmonious and dynamic and will produce better results. If people are tense and unhappy, it will reflect in their reduced productivity.

At MetJet all managers and employees are sent to the Yoga Institute at Santa Cruz (in Mumbai) which was founded in 1989. During the training, the managers are shown a path, how to be in control of your mind and not to run after sensual pleasures. You also learn not to run away from your responsibilities. The root cause of pain and suffering is generally ignorance which leads to a grandiose sense of self-importance and misunderstanding. We love and hate in extremes. By being aware, by getting up and finding out what is actually happening, we reduce stress. Once you are aware of what is going on, you have already won half the battle. And that is why some employers think it’s so important to make their staff aware of the yoga principles and harmony and have a work environment which promotes healthy employee morale.