Fortunately, today was the first time I happened to jump into this forum. I am delighted to see members offering suggestions and sharing their experience. To introduce myself, I am a man of 38 years old(yesterday-Oct.07 was my b’day) and a father of a 18 months old child and living with a very affectionate and devoted wife. I am very much disturbed(depressed) in my life. I know couple of asanas and practice it occasionally. Whenever, I practice that like shoulder stand, I feel reassured and looks like I have gained physical and moral strength. I feel fatigue off late frequently. Can someone offer me the right asanas on web site which I could follow and make my life more meaningful. I liked the quote -"Body is like a diary and your everyday experience reflects in the diary"
Thanks & namasthe.
newcomer.
Hi & happy birthday.
I’ve been doing yoga for just a little while too, I used to study karate but i got to feeling too old at 40 years old for it, so i went for a new direction & I found yoga.
I think the best thing is to join a local yoga class if you can, as you learn more & can ask questions and also you get to know new people like that.
but having said that I’ve found this site pretty good for learning.
http://www.banyanbotanicals.com/yoga/
My own trouble is I’m not that flexible & I see people holding perfectly positioned asanas in some of theses website pictures & I start to feel frustrated by my own limitations…
Namaste Newcomer,
First off, belated congratulations and welcome to the Forum, hope you will find what you are seeking here.
Second, I find it difficult to understand why you are depressed, having it seems to me a lot of blessings such as a beautiful and healthy child, a loving and devoted wife and I gather a pretty good life in general, I think perhaps you should practice gratitude. Be grateful every monting for one thing in your life, keep that gratitude the whole day and spread it to others around you and watch what will happen in good time.
A bigger part of yoga is to “change or mind” on how we think about things. Even depression is seated eventually in desire, recognise your desires and ask yourself if they have any relevance in your life to cause you your depression and then let go of them. Add regular pranayama as the breath will help you to relax and change your mind as well.
Good luck, yoga has the beautiful ability to cease desire and to change your mind, allow the transformation and persist in your practice.
Thank you for your greetings and suggestions-SaturdaySun and Pandara. I will look into the link you have mentioned.
Depression could be bcause I am not totally involved in what I am doing-software programming. I am into this profession to survive in the country. Is there a way that I could change my profession or do what that will best suit me? I am working on it.
As far as desires are concerned, Sometimes, I feel what is the purpose of life? I am not a person after money,money…nor I would say that people after money by good means is bad. In other words, I am ashamed to say I am aimless.
I am unable to find answers to these questions.
As you beleive Pandara, Yoga means change. I would like to start practising breathing exercise(Pranayama) and see whether it would bring some change.
Excuse me Yogis, if I have bored or wasted your time with my thoughts and feelings.
Pandara, I like the quote of Swami Sivananda. Thank you for your valuable time for giving serious thoughts on others feelings to initiate a starting point not only to me and many other members of this forum. May god bless your holy heart.
Namasthe
newcomer.
What have we brought in to take back
Dear Newcomer,
I too am new at this forum but in the little amount of time I have participated, I learned quite a lot. I would like to recommend BKS Iyengar’s book “Light On Life”. It can help in working with the thought process that goes on in your head & give direction & meaning to shifting those thoughts. He integrates the use of yoga, all eight limbs, to facilitate the journey inward to discovering your Self. Seven years ago I too was facing the struggles of life in USA while cuddling my newborn daughter. My husband worked at a job he once loved then it turned against his moral values. He continued to work this job because we were a new family starting out, didn’t own a home & I was a stay-at-home mom. After three years of grulling pain & suffering on his part he finally took the leap of faith & quit his job… just 1 year after purchasing our first house. I fully supported him knowing that to stay at this job “just for the money” was killing him. We started our own eco-friendly painting business & are now fully self employed & HAPPY! What I’m saying here is that it takes FAITH in TRUSTING that whatever you do the universe will provide as long as you are moving FROM YOUR HEART. This is something that yoga is very efficient at teaching… always, always, always move from your heart. Good luck & may you find happiness within your heart.
With Great Respect and Love,
Cindy Lu
Newcomer,
welcome to the forum.
Without a more thorough description of your current practice, AND a more revealing look at your life (health, diet, living) it is challenging to direct you.
Generally speaking, for depression an asana practice of backbends and twists are very helpful. Of course it is not so in every single person. For now I would reduce or eliminate forward bending poses in favor of backbends.
More from you will equal more from me.
My sincere thanks to Cindu Lu and IA. Cindy-its motivating and its nice of you to share your experience. I have heard of BKS and how he battled to win over his illness since his child hood by practising yoga. I would love to read his book “Light on Life”.FAITH in TRUSTING that whatever you do the universe will provide as long as you are moving FROM YOUR HEART. These words adds more meaning, I’ll strive to abide by this. Thanks again.
IA: My physical problems are fatigue, unable to concentrate, frequent urination, IBS,bloating and physically feeling weak to mention a few(?). I have tried back bending. It has definitely helped me out. But I have to admit that I haven’t caught up with a routine. I am a non-vegetarian, but not very strict. Is there any regular diet that one should follow to maintain the physique or to practice yoga efficiently. FYI: I weigh 178lbs(would like to reduce my weight as well) standing 5’8"and 38 years old.
I think I have told enough about me to get something equal from you :-
Thanks again.
Namasthe
-newcomer
There is nothing, or nearly nothing about the body or physique that has anything to do with yoga at all, other than the fact we are in one while doing the practice.
Asana is not yoga. Though there is asana in yoga. Regardless of the body, Yoga is equally available to any somatotype.
More to the point, it seems you have a lot of things going on with your body and while there’s no particular body for Yoga (or asana for that matter) it would be incredibly helpful to maintain a healthy diet (for you).
It would be prudent to work closely with a well trained teacher who has some therapeutic training in her/his background.
After 2 weeks, I am really happy to be part of this forum. I could see some positive change in myself both physically and mentally. I visit this site almost daily and able to discover something new. I would rather recommend many of our guests to enroll as members to share your experience or seek help as it could turn out to be a mutual.
Once again, thank you Yogis for sharing your wisdom and experience for bringing in some positive change in me and last but not the least the forum convener, should be proud of this forum. Hats off, to you-Sir.
Namasthe,
newcomer
Newcomer, this is really lovely to hear; thank you for taking the time to share your experience and for encouraging others to join YogaForums.com as members. The more the merrier 
Namaste,
I would suggest reading the book, 8 limbs of yoga by yogani. If you are going to do “yoga” incorperating all the limbs would be my suggestion, but I dont know if I can say it is “MY” suggestion when I have been influenced by the people I have learned from. While it may be best to have a teacher, yogani has inplemented what seems to be across the board practices from all over and has shown a way to have a rounded routine.
Eight Limbs of Yoga - The Structure and Pacing of Self-Directed Spiritual Practice (Adobe Reader) eBook edition
by Yogani,
From my observation, it seems sometimes we are too heavy on certain aspects and too light on others and this maynot lead to balance.
good luck
we are one,
brother neil