The Yoga Site. This useful site is packed
with information: articles about yoga and health; directories of teachers,
organizations, and training; yoga products, books, and videos for shoppers; and
step-by-step yoga postures and meditations. The beginner will get a heady taste
of yoga here dished up in a concise and easy-to-understand style. There is a
delightful down-to-earth air about this site.
Yoga
Jillian. Jillian Pransky is a teacher at New York's Yoga Zone as well
as founder of several yoga programs including Yoga at Work. She is also a
guest instructor for Self magazine. This well-designed site is
crafted in warm welcoming colors and is easy to navigate. You'll find
information about Jillian's classes and retreats as well as articles on
meditation and asanas. Be sure to check out her Yogalicious newsletter
(current issue and archives). The September 2001 issue, for example,
offers ideas for healing, coping, and rebuilding after the September 11
tragedy.
Sivananda Yoga Om Page. Sivananda is
one of the world’s largest schools of yoga. Go to the “Teachings” section
of this site. You’ll find good definitions of the four paths of yoga as well
as information on the five principles of yoga: proper exercise, proper
breathing, proper relaxation, proper diet, and meditation. Twelve postures or
asanas are detailed on the exercise page. Vegetarian recipes ranging from baked
tofu to Sivananda oatmeal cookies are available.
Santosha.com. This site has some
of the best posture displays that we’ve seen on the Net. Postures are
catalogued in a helpful index and offer step-by-step instructions, animated
illustrations, difficulty level, and buttons to print out the posture or e-mail
it to a friend. This inviting site also features essays on meditation and random
sutras (wisdom, knowledge, and spiritual insights from both the East and West)
for quote lovers.
Yoga
Journal. Yoga Journal magazine has been spreading the word about yoga since
1975, and at its new site, you can tap into that massive amount of yoga
information. We were particularly impressed with its poses section,
where you can search for dozens of poses by name, the part of the anatomy
you want to focus on, or specific
health problems. It also contains in-depth information on yoga history and
philosophy; the latest medical research on how yoga affects health and
healing; interviews with well-known teachers and celebrity practitioners; a
travel section, with details on where to study yoga in the United States and
abroad; and a food section, complete with recipes, on how eating wisely can
enhance your health as well as your yoga practice. The site is difficult to use,
however. Tiny type on shaded backgrounds makes it difficult to read and
links are tough to locate.
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 Meditation Station. This is
the official site of the Meditation Society of America, headquartered in
Philadelphia. The philosophy of this site is that no one meditation technique is
right for everyone, so it is dedicated to sharing meditation techniques and
concepts from all traditions. Eventually, you will
find detailed, step-by-step explanations of 108 meditation techniques listed
here. Not all are online yet, but there are a sufficient number to get you
started. Check out “This Week’s Meditation” and the beginner's section,
where you will find an illustrated article on “What Is Meditation?”. You can
download a free issue of the society’s newsletter, add to your inventory of meditation
techniques, or ponder a few “Words of Wisdom” at this way station on your
inner journey.
Do Yoga. The home page of this site is a
bit scary — it opens with yoga teacher Doug Keller performing some Houdini
contortionist pose. Do not be afraid. That is not your typical yoga stuff. In
fact, Keller includes at his site detailed descriptions of poses (including refinements if you feel pain while performing them). He
also offers articles on hatha yoga, meditation, and breathing. Keller is based
in Washington, DC, but he also provides a directory to “find a teacher” in
your location. There’s a page on inspirational quotes as well. Keller
describes yoga “as a high expression of the very best in your heart.”
A World of Yoga. A World of Yoga is
based on yoga and meditation teacher Graham Ledgerwood’s book, Keys to
Higher Consciousness. You will find here discussions of various types of
yoga meditation and techniques. The site has a Hallmark card/hippy happy feel
with photos of flowers and sunsets illustrating the text. The small page text
format is a pain to navigate, but the information might inspire you to give
meditation a try.
 Yoga
& Meditation Center. This easy-to-use site provides a good directory of
asanas in its Teaching Notes section. It also offers information on Primordial
Sound Meditation, a mantra meditation technique revived by Deepak Chopra, M.D.,
and David Simon, M.D.
Self-Realization Fellowship. This
site is your direct route to the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda, considered
one of the greatest spiritual figures of the 20th century by authorities in
various religions. Yogananda founded the
society in 1920 to spread the principles of kriya yoga. Here you can find
information about SRF and its retreats and centers around the world, a calendar
of lecture tours and retreat programs, and news about SRF’s international
work. Yogananda’s teachings, including his yoga methods, are available in
books and home-study lessons. Two of our favorite spots on this site are
“Insights and Inspirations” and “Worldwide Prayer Circle,” where you
will find step-by-step meditation techniques for healing. Whenever you read
anything by Yogananda, you will find he has the gift to make complex concepts
quite understandable. We recommend Yogananda’s Autobiography of a Yogi
because it offers great insight into the world of meditation. (We’re
still working on The
Bhagavad Gita: God Talks with Arjuna, Yogananda’s two-volume
interpretation of The Bhagavad Gita.)
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