Yoga is a combination of a series of postures and controlled breathing exercises. It is considered a mind-body type of alternative medicine. It brings together both the physical and the mental aspects of the body to realize peacefulness and help your body relax.
Research has shown that yoga helps you manage or control anxiety and reduces stress and tension as well as helps reduce depression. It helps you draw your focus away from the stresses of life and makes you focus on your movements and your breathing. It gives you an overall sense of relaxation and well-being.
Yoga is also great for your body. It improves circulation, muscle tone and flexibility. It has also shown to lower blood pressure and help physical ailments such as carpal tunnel syndrome, back pain, multiple sclerosis, arthritis and even asthma and epilepsy.
The key to yoga is the movement along with the breathing. The postures, also called poses, are a series of movements that were created to increase your strength and flexibility. Many yoga poses have names taken from nature like the dolphin pose or the firefly pose. The poses range from simple and relaxing poses where you lie flat to more difficult poses that require you to bend and stretch your body. Do not be intimated by the poses. Anyone can practice yoga. There are many poses for beginners. There are also specific classes for children, pregnant women and the elderly.
The act of controlling your breathing is vital to practicing yoga correctly. If you can control your breathing you can control your body and quiet your mind. Your instructor, whether it be in a class or from a video will show you the proper way to breathe. It is important that you never hold your breath during any of the movements. You should always either be inhaling or exhaling. Our bodies eliminate almost half of our waste through breathing. Not breathing correctly will keep the toxins inside our bodies, which can cause illness.
It takes time to relearn how to breathe and to master the poses but your efforts will be rewarded. Your mind and your body will be stronger, you will stand a little taller and you will have calmness about you that you did not even know you could achieve.
Resources
http://www.yogasite.com/why.htm
http://www.yogajournal.com/basics/2321
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/yo…
Maryann Holden, CHHC AADP LPN has worked as a Nurse for over 25 years.
In Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities. After witnessing first-hand the results of poor choices throughout one’s life, she jumped on a path of learning how to create a lifestyle toward optimal health and wellness. Graduating from “The Institute for Integrative Nutrition” in NYC, she became certified as a Holistic Health Counselor, and Accredited by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners.
Her true passion now lies in “Empowering Wellness”; helping her clients prevent and reverse chronic lifestyle diseases, regain their health and well-being and reduce or eliminate their need for medications. She resides in The Villages where she enjoys teaching Yoga and facilitates group classes in Nutritional Cleansing and Replenishing.
This information is not meant to be medical advice. No action or inaction should be taken solely on the contents of this information. Instead, you should consult appropriate health professionals on any matter relating to your health and well-being.