Yoga rewards for your health

November 26, 2008 by  
Filed under Yoga and Health

Yoga is one of the many tool you can use in life to assist your mind to work in harmony with your body. Just because agitation in our mind put great pressure on us, it is a very common situation for a lot of people not to be able to complete their daily activities in an acceptable way. Stress is the single most important factor that affects every part of our emotional and physical system, so it is without a doubt very important to control it in an effective way. Yoga is the key to many of these problems and issues. There are many rewards to yoga and more people would do yoga if they knew everything yoga could bring them. So, let’s have a look at some of them.

Flexibility is one of the reward to yoga. Most yoga postures require a good level of flexibility so this is absolutely no surprise.

The lubrication of tendons, ligament and joints. It is certainly not something you hear very often, but it is maximized by the practice of yoga on a regular basis.

The organs of the body get a massage. Yoga is probably the single greatest exercise that can make a big difference on your internal organs.

Yoga is also very healthful to many body parts. The organs are stimulated and this can lead to diseases staying away and giving you a warning of possible problems

Yoga can detoxify your body.  Practicing yoga on a regular basis will ensure that all the required blood supply be delivered throughout the body. It is extremely important because this will ensure the toxins are cleared from every single part of your body. Not only it will clean your body, but it will also provide nutrition up to the last point. So, you will notice an important gain in energy, feel younger and also delayed aging.

These are all great rewards, but the best reward you will get from practicing yoga on a daily basis is you will feel your mind a lot more synchronized with the body and this can only bring you benefits. Take Olympic athletes, it is known that the state of mind can help them perform better and achieve great things. You might not be an olympic athlete, but yoga can help you achieve great things and perform better at your own level.

Yoga for your physical health

November 26, 2008 by  
Filed under Yoga and Health

As far as yoga is concerned, there is no distinction between the body and the mind. Yoga is a process that will help you release blocked tension and energy in the body. This process will ultimately lead to helping make the muscles, joints, ligaments, tendons and other body components to work to their full potential.

A Yoga belief is that human beings are designed to be flexible and agile and that it is only the lack of mobility that will eventually lead to stiffness. Basically, stiffness is associated with unhealthy body.

It is for good reasons that more and more people are embracing Yoga and getting into yoga classes. Some people prefer to just buy a book or some DVDs to get started, but whatever the way you decide to start, yoga has great benefits for you!

Some of the proven benefits of yoga are:

  • Flexibility and range of motion
  • Reduced pain in joints and muscles
  • Immune system will get stronger
  • Higher quality respiration
  • Increased metabolism which eventually lead to weight loss
  • Sleep quality greatly improved

As you see, while yoga is very often referred to as a mental approach, it is very effective on your body and offers a lot of benefits. Your flexibility will be greatly improved and yoga will also helps in lubricating the joints and ligaments.

Finally, if you are looking to lose weight or simply to reduce back pain, yoga is a very good option to consider. It is also a very good way to manage your stress and it is particularly important in today’s way of life.

Yoga Asanas for beginners

November 25, 2008 by  
Filed under Yoga for beginners, Yoga Tips

What does asana mean? It is a strange word and it is easy to get confuse with all the names when starting yoga. It is fairly simple: asana simply mean various yoga postures. There are good chances that you recently started yoga if you are reading this article, so it will be of great interest for you. The asanas presented in this article are in no way “expert asanas” are are meant to get you accustomed to yoga practices by gaining increased flexibility.

Asana happens to be one of the pillar of yoga practices and it is for a reason: through asanas, you will learn balance, patience, tolerance and perseverance.

How to perform asanas

Asanas can be performed in a lot of different positions: seated, standing, turning and twisting posture, balancing posture and supine. There are multiple levels in asanas depending on the level of complexity. These levels are pretty simple and are: beginner, middle and comple.

Which asana for what.

Depending on what you are looking to improve, there are different asanas you will want to consider. For example, if you’d like to make your back or hips stronger, you will have to look into sitting asanas.  For your mental condition, balance postures will be your best bet. To enhance your flexibility you can use twisting and turning asanas and if you are just looking for tranquility and peace then relaxation is for yo.

Popular asanas

  • Shvasana: This asana requires you to lie on your back in a completely rested state. This is why this asana is called the corpse pose
  • Padmasana: This asanas will test your tolerance level because it is a sitting posture with errected back and with legs on opposite thighs
  • Navasana: To perform this asana correctly, you will be required, by being in a sitting posture, to lift your legs with a 45 degrees angle from the surface of the floor.
  • Utkatasna: This one is hard and will require endurance. This is because this pose requires you to be in a sitting position without any chair. While in this position, you will have to raise your handes towards sky.
  • Dhanurasana: This is a hard one and you will have to lie with the help of your stomach and thighs. Then, what you want to ahieve is a “bow” posture by simply taking hold of your legs with your hands.

Being aware of you level of skills is important when practicing yoga. If you are a beginner, concentrate on beginner’s asanas and slowly move to more complex ones.

Beginners Guide to Yoga

November 25, 2008 by  
Filed under featured, Yoga for beginners

Yoga has gained a lot of popularity over the past couple of years and will continue to get more in the years to come. You might have already started yoga classes yourself and if you have done so, you are on the right path and it is a great decision you have made. Yoga will not only keep you in good shape, but it will also prevent various complications and improve your mental health.

To practice yoga, you might want to consider subscribing yourself to yoga classes in your area because it is definitely one of the best way to start. In beginner’s classes, you will be taught all of the basics of yoga including postures. If you are willing and interested in learning yoga by yourself, please know that there are some good books and e-books on the subject. There are even beginner’s yoga videos available to assist  you and get you started.  It is important to get the basics right at first when doing yoga, so if you decide to go and learn by yourself you must not go into complex yoga practices at first.

Saluting sun and moon is one of the first thing that will learn as a beginner in yoga.  After that, you will want to learn relaxation exercises and also some interesting and important breathing techniques. Breathing is extremely important in yoga.

You will eventually start learning asanas that can be performed easily and you will also learn yoga postures of crouching and stooping.

You will notice when starting yoga and doing it for the first time that the first movements you will learn have the only goal of enhancing body flexibility. Then, more complex and difficult yoga practices will come as you acquire the required flexibility and tolerance.  It is also important to know the basic body balance postures when doing yoga, so it is also part of the various other basic positions you will learn in beginner’s yoga sessions.

Beginner’s yoga is basically just for people to get comfortable with yoga. Once you feel comfortable enough, you can go ahead with more complex genres of yoga and take classes according to that. It is normal to feel discomfort when doing yoga at first, but don’t let that discourage you. Keep going and you will soon notice all the benefits.

Benefits of Yoga for health

November 25, 2008 by  
Filed under Yoga and Health

Practicing Yoga will provide you with physical and mental benefits and will also help you fight the aging process. The aging process, while a natural process can be accelerated by auto intoxication or self-poisoning so practicing Yoga can be part of your best strategy to look healthy and young. You can greatly reduce the catatonic process of cell deterioration by keeping your body flexible and well lubricated. Yoga, in combination with yogasana, pranayama and meditation will help you achieve that.

The secret to looking young isn’t plastic surgery, it is to stay fit and by practicing yoga. While Yoga won’t stop the aging process, it will definitely slow it down by cleaning your body.

Yoga isn’t just about looking young, it is also about alleviating the symptoms of diabetes, high blood pressure, digestive disorders, arthritis, fatigue, asthma and even heart conditions. It has been scientifically proven that people practicing yoga have an increased ability to control their body temperature, blood pressure or heart rate. Yoga can be also very useful for people suffering with sciatica because it’ll help them alleviate the pain.

By practicing Yoga on a regular basis, you will notice long term benefits. You will not only have a more beautiful, agile and flexible body, but also can get rid of fat and obesity. Yoga is one of the most powerful and simple practice that can be done to help you with your every day life moder-days problems.

Strechting and strengthening the major muscle groups as well as the deeper postural muscles will provide you with great physical benefits as well. Yoga is ideal for alternative pain management and to increase your overall health. You overal health may not only be improved my an increased flexibility, but also by proper functioning of internet organs.

As you can see, Yoga has a lot of interesting benefits on your mental and physical health.

Yoga breathing to beat the stress

November 24, 2008 by  
Filed under featured, Yoga Tips

In today’s world, we all have a lot on our minds and we often feel overwhelmed by what’s going on around us. Whatever your reasons are to feel this way, fear and anxiety eventually leads to stress and it’s hard to be at your best under constant stress and pressure. Stress plays a big role in your general health, so it is extremely important to relax. By knowing this, why not learn today how to recognize and manage your stress levels so that you can go ahead in life and achieve your goals?

One way of doing so, is by the proactive of Yogic breathing exercises. These exercises offer you a way to manage your anxieties and live a more balanced live. A lot of Yoga students report the benefits of using the yoga breathing exercises when they feel overwhelmed or stress. This can be particularly useful for them in extreme stress situations like an exam. This can also be useful to you in your everyday life, before a supervision by your team manager or a meeting with new people.

You breath really is the essence of yoga as it’s your connection to life. This is an essential step into establishing control and balance over your emotions so you can get more out of your life.

The core of yoga is built on breathing practices called pranayama. If you want to reduce your stress levels, it is important you learn how to breath correctly and yoga can help you achieve that. The following yoga breathing exercises are among the most effective one and should bring you maximum benefit in releasing stress and tension. You don’t need any particular skill to practice them, they are fairly simple and can be practiced at any time of the day.

Diaphragmatic Breathing

This one can be practiced by lying down on your back(comfortable surface of course), sitting on a chair or even standing up and that’s why it makes that method easy to practice at any time. First, place one hand on your upper chest and the other hand on your belly. It is important to relax your belly and chest and keep your mouth closed for this technique to work properly so that you breathe in through the nose and feel your belly rising up, then the ribcage and finally the upper chest.  It is advised to practice around five to seven rounds of this exercise before opening your eyes. Then, be still for a few moments and then you’re ready to re-engage with your day!

Watch The Breath

While sitting comfortably, close your eyes and become aware of how you are breathing. It is important not to change the way or the speed at which you breathe, but to just be aware of the movement of air going through your nose. Then, allow your breath stabilize and continue to listen to your breath breath for a couple of minutes

It is more than natural to lose concentration with this exercise. It is totally normal, so simply start over again when this happen.

Lion Roar

To perform that one, you are free to either sit or stand, but scrunch your face up. Open your eyes, open your mouth, look upwards, stretch out your tongue and finalloy just roar like a lion! We don’t recommend this one at work, but repeat until you feel powerful, calm and under control.

The different types of yoga

November 22, 2008 by  
Filed under Yoga for beginners, Yoga Tips

Today, there are different types of yoga being taught and practiced. For that reason, it is imperative to choose the right type of yoga for you. Each yoga type has its own way of thinking and methods. You will find out that some styles or yoga are much more physical and based on flexibility or poses while some other styles are more meditative.

Here are presented the different types of yoga for you to make a better choice and decide which yoga style is best for you.

Hatha Yoga

This one does involves physical postures and breathing techniques. This style offer good benefits for your health in a physical way, but also in a spiritual way. You won’t necessary achieve a fit body with this technique, but you will definitely be balancing and strengthening your nervous system.

Jnana Yoga

This style of yoga does not focus on physical benefits, but more on knowledge. This is because this technique involves seven stages: involving study, selft-realization, desire, protection of the mind, developing non-attachment to material objects, letting the world appear like a dream, non attachment to the world and finally knowledge of the truth.

Bikram Yoga

If you are looking for body fitness, this is the kind of yoga that will let you achieve it. It will let you develop all components of fitness and that is muscular endurance, strength, flexibility and weight loos.

Ashtanga

This technique is often referred as power yoga. That technique is a very intense workout and it is aimed at building strength and endurance. Again, this is for you if you are up to the challenge of a very intense workout!

Viniyoga

This one is used more as a therapeutic measure. It is often used by people who have suffered injuries or are recovering from a surgery.

Vinyasa

This last type of Yoga will focus on your breath and coordination. It is a form of yoga that will require you to be physically active.