Worldwide yoga travel guide: Where to yoga

While yoga is not an adventure sport it is associated with many extreme activities as a way to improve your performance. In the yoga travel guides below you'll find out where to yoga. There are yoga holidays, courses and experiences all around the world. Before we get into a full on definition of yoga it is worth exploring how it relates to adventure sports. Simply it is a form of ex... +While yoga is not an adventure sport it is associated with many extreme activities as a way to improve your performance. In the yoga travel guides below you'll find out where to yoga. There are yoga holidays, courses and experiences all around the world.

Before we get into a full on definition of yoga it is worth exploring how it relates to adventure sports. Simply it is a form of exercise that focuses on slow movements and breathing to improve flexibility, balance and strength. All very useful to both pro athletes and anyone who likes action sports.

The word Yoga originates from the Sanskrit word "Yuj" (literally, "to yoke") and is generally translated as "union" or "integration". According to Yoga experts, the union referred to by the name is that of the individual soul with the cosmos, or the Supreme.

Yoga has both a philosophical and a practical element. The philosophy ("union") deals with how the individual soul and cosmos are related. The practice of yoga is any activity that leads takes you closer to this mystical union - a state of self-realisation.

Over thousands of years, special practical yoga techniques have been developed by Yogis (male) and Yoginis (female). These techniques cover a broad range, encompassing physical, mental, and spiritual activities.

Traditionally, they have been classified into four categories or paths:

1. The path of meditation (Raja Yoga)
2. The path of devotion (Bhakti Yoga)
3. The path of selfless service to others (Karma Yoga)
4. The path of intellectual analysis or the discrimination of truth and reality (Jnana Yoga).

The most common form of yoga in the West is Hatha Yoga. Most people are aware of the various physical and breathing exercises a yoga session will take you through. However these are traditionally purification techniques that are a preparatory stage for Raja Yoga.

However, you don't have to buy into the spiritual or philosophical side of yoga to benefit from it. A once a week session will improve your flexibility, balance and strength in ways that benefit everything from surfing to snowboarding and mountaineering to mountain biking.

To use the yoga travel guide below to find inspiration of where to yoga. -