Ulrica Norberg - Power yoga : an individualized approach to strength, grace, and inner peace

Yoga is a fantastic system thatif you train seriouslycan lead to a healthier and happier life. To me, yoga is an essential part of everyday life, a bond that grows stronger in me since I was introduced to it in 1994. It helps me in my job, when doing other kinds of physical training, and has turned me into a vital person. When I look back on my development, I can tell that yoga, as well as the study of Zen Buddhism, has taught me to be aware of the small things in life, to appreciate each and every moment. Im more present in the moment than I used to be. Yoga training over many years has also caused better results during other kinds of training. It has given me more stamina and increased my mobility and flexibility. I havent made drastic changes in my life, but have instead learned how to adjust and control my power in order to reach a more harmonious balance in life. Today, I work with my body, soul, and thoughts instead of working against them like I used to. I have found inner peace and gained a strong intuition through reflection, relaxation, and meditation. I have achieved a strong self-confidence after handling the physical and psychological hurdles that yoga has challenged me with.

As a result of working with a lot of people in my classes, I believe it is important to adjust the poses so they fit the individual, not the other way around. This is especially important in the beginning. My experience as a teacher has shown me that if you try to fit the individual to the various poses, misinterpretations happen and injuries occur more frequently. We cant blame the poses for that. This is our own fault. We sometimes tend to push ourselves too hard when we exercise and dont always pay attention to the signals that our body, mind, and soul send us. We need to learn how to listen before we can act in a careful way. Asanas and focusing on our breath can help us in this. It is also important to take one step at a time. I believe there is a lot to gain from gradually learning a pose instead of rushing through too many sequences. Rushing will only wear you out.

When I was asked to write this book, a lot of thoughts and emotions went through me before I agreed. I have so much respect for the yoga tradition, and there are many teachers out there who have so much more experience in this field than I do, but the ray of light landed on me for a reason, probably because I work both as a writer and a yoga teacher. It has been my ambition to find a balance between being true to the yoga system and trying to write a friendly and accessible book on yoga and Power Yoga. Looking back, it has been an honor to try and describe this wonderful type of yoga that today positively changes and evolves human beings to such a great extent. I hope you as a reader have found this book inspiring and that after reading it you feel motivated to start your own yoga quest.

I wish to thank some of the fantastic people that surround me. First and foremost I want to thank you, Magnus, my life friend, for the enormous love and support you show me. I wouldnt be the person I am or do what I do without my wonderful parents, my sisters, and my amazing grandmother. THANKS for being there and for all your support!

Furthermore, I want to express my gratitude towards the following people: Andreas Lundberg and Alexandra Frank for your enormous creativity and strong belief in this project!

Annika Legath and Gran Sunehag for your trust.

Gunilla Kuylenstierna because you made me find my inner child.

Clas von Sydowyou are an amazing human being! Thanks for all the things youve given me, for the knowledge, and for being my friend and mentor.

Andr Silvierafor your professional skills.

Jonas Sandstrm because you believed in me, for all the energy and goodwill you have shown us all, and because you believed in your dreams.

I also want to thank Linda Brown, Catarina Falklind-Breschi, Michael Kollberg-Breschi, Mariancila Kim, Yvonne Lin, Anatoli Grigorenko, Kristin Kaspersen, Ann-Sophie Fjelde, Monika Bjrn, Bryan and Jan, Sofia Akremi, Sofia Hkonsson, Maria Jacobsson, Alexander Spasojevic, Ari Abromowitz, Jerome Polansky, Mark Polansky, Madeleine Bondesson, Anna Lundin, Susanna Cedric, Jeff Kovatch, the Andersson Family, Carina Bostrm, Annika Kjellman, Daniel Erneborn, Karin Jensing, Renee Nyberg, Wictoria Hhn, John Sjberg, Sati Bacchus, and Marianne Zigismond.

Finally a big thank you to Ylab Wellness, Skulpturens hus, Sportguiden, Workouten, Njoy trning och hlse, Aftonbladet, KTH-hallen, and NK Sport och Fritid.

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Web sites:

www.poweryoga.com

www.power-yoga.com

www.yrec.com

www.baronbaptiste.com

www.yogajournal.com

What is Yoga?

People generally used to believe yoga consisted solely of stretching exercises, mantra repetition, and breathing techniques. Today we know this isnt entirely true. The development of yoga over the last 5,000 years has aimed to help you cope with all of the physical, psychological, and spiritual trials in the surrounding world. You can achieve perfect health only if all the areas of your life are balanced. If you exercise with yoga, you can learn to create a balance between body, mind, and soul. Yoga gives you a calm, focused mind and a strong and flexible body. It also gives you a sense of unity, harmony, satisfaction, and peace of mind.