Health Yoga: A Look Inside

Health Yoga is probably the best exercise you can do for yourself. In addition to that, it helps to strengthen your immune system, allowing you to fight off disease, illness, lethargy, deterioration from the natural aging process and a host of other benefits.

There are so many diseases and medications in our day and age that it’s only normal for people who care about their body to search for natural ways to improve their health. With health yoga, we are able to heal our body in a physical, emotional and spiritual way that actually works. Living in the Western world, we are offered various treatments for the illnesses, some of which have horrific side effects. So it is always a good idea to look towards nature and within our own body to cure ailments.

Stress and trauma are the top causes of various health conditions involving the heart and body. For instance, stress can cause soft tissue in the body to contract and become hard to help protect the body. But when too much stress is placed on the body or the individual is traumatized from physical or mental injury, the body will try to limit its movement to prevent further damage. Over time this then causes the individual to become more rigid, stiff and less agile.

In other cases, trauma and stress can cause problems for your mental well-being as well. Emotional stress can create problems for the mind, body and soul, causing them to narrow and compress. Over time, this compressing begins to constrict the emotional and physical state. So those of you who are feeling heartache and a “pain in your side” or feeling uneasy, it could be due to stress or trauma.

To make more sense, when your mind, body and soul are restricted, you become slower and your health goes downhill. Your body won’t be able to process nutrients, oxygen or even calmness. Now, your body and mind have to overwork, causing you to become ill, fatigued or even depressed and angry.

With health yoga, you are able to relieve your mind, body and soul of its torment from stress and trauma. By practicing postures, or in yoga terms, Asanas and pranayamas (your control of subtle life forces through breathing techniques), you will be able to protect your mind, body and soul’s health and endurance. Health yoga can help to reestablish your emotional, physical and spiritual self back to its normal state and balance. Being in sync with all aspects of yourself allows you to become a better person overall. Other techniques I find useful are mudras, which are hand gestures and positions, as well as bandhas, which are yoga locks that hold in pranayama (the life force).

So all in all, if you’re looking to try to better your mind, body, soul and health, try health yoga. Research these terms on the internet and follow through by practicing the movements and getting in sync with your better self.

Irwin Myers is the president of Wellness Engine, a company that is dedicated to teaching wellness through multimedia. Our first production is Psychic Smarts. Visit us at our website at http://psychicsmarts.com and our blog at http://psychicsmarts.com/blog

Learn About Yoga Breathing — Abdominal Breathing: The Best of the Three Types

When a beginner wants to learn about yoga breathing he must first be aware of the three types of basic breathing before moving on to yoga breathing itself. There is clavicular or shoulder breathing, thoracic or chest breathing, and abdominal breathing.

Among the types of breathing, abdominal breathing is perhaps the closest to yoga breathing.

Abdominal Breathing
Abdominal breathing is, simply put, breathing with your belly. It rises with each inhaling breath and falls with each exhaling breath, which makes it one of the better types of breathing next to yoga breathing itself.

Some people breathe naturally by using their belly, but others find it quite difficult to do so. For first time abdominal breathers, all you need to do is to sort of “push” your belly outward as you inhale and “pull” your belly inwards as you exhale. The end result is that only your chest and belly move, with your shoulders staying almost stationary throughout the breathing process. You will end up drawing your breath deeper and more thoroughly in the lungs with your diaphragm, unlike your shoulders that draw in little breaths at a time.

This is a basic step for a beginner to learn about yoga breathing, as abdominal breathing is one of the deeper breaths that a person can take. If you will take the time to notice your body’s condition when you breathe through your belly, you will feel a lot less muscle tension and stress placed on your shoulders and chest. Breathing is done primarily by your diaphragm, supported by abdominal muscles that contract and relax more easily than shoulder and chest muscles.

The 57 Seconds Exercise
It would be a dream to get the so called “6 pack” with a 57 second yoga breathing exercise; the bad news is that you won’t! However, the good news is that – when done consistently several times a day, it will energize your mind and provide clarity and calmness to your thoughts.

The beauty of this simple exercise is that it can be done anywhere — sitting down or standing up, even while waiting for a traffic light to change! Repeat this every hour on the hour: close your eyes, put your hand on your belly, and breathe in for a count of 5 making sure your belly fills up. Hold your breath for a count of 7 with the air still in your belly, not in your chest. Finally, let the air out very slowly for a count of 7 and start opening your eyes. Do this three times consecutively, for a total of 57 seconds.

You can actually use abdominal breathing as a type of breathing for meditation. The breath is deep and heavy, and slowing down that breath can do wonders to help a person relax and feel more energetic. Abdominal breathing, however, is still inferior to yoga breathing.

To truly appreciate yoga breathing, an individual must be able to harness the power of all three types of breathing. Learn how to use the shoulders, chest and abdomen correctly, and you will learn about yoga breathing to eliminate stress, boost the immune system and maximize one’s inner energy reserves.

Analia Kerner is an avid researcher in the practice of Yoga. Visit her website to claim your FREE report and to discover how you can dramatically improve your health using 5 minutes a day or less through Yoga Breathing. Click on this link now http://www.yoga-fitness-wellness.com/FreeReport.htm

The Yoga Cure: How to Rid Yourself of Stress, Pounds, Toxins, Cholesterol and Cravings

Yoga curbs stress, sheds pounds, eliminates toxins, lowers cholesterol and reduces cravings.

Yoga is one of the most holistic exercises there is, focusing on the trinity of mind, body, and spirit. Countless benefits include easing anxiety, improving coordination, strength, and posture, and aids in weight-loss because it combines deep breathing, relaxing meditation, and limbering poses.

Breathe Deeply, Burn Fat
When you breathe deeply and consciously – instead of taking short, shallow breaths – you not only feel more relaxed, you burn more calories. Studies have shown that regular deep breathing burns up to 140% more calories than riding a stationary bike!

To lose the unwanted pounds quickly, try Bikram yoga, which is a mix of low-key twisting poses and cardio exercises performed in a room where the temperature has been raised higher than 100 degrees, making you sweat out those harmful toxins; or Ashtanga Yoga, which combines complex yoga poses with deep breathing techniques.

These twisting poses stimulate your internal organs, which in turn boosts your metabolism, helping you to lose weight. And since Bikram yoga is practiced in such high temperatures, when your body sweats out toxins you then lose weight. Yoga also reduces stress hormones and increases insulin sensitivity, so your body kicks into fat-burning mode and burns food as fuel rather than storing it as fat.

Doing even one session of yoga will help tighten your muscles and improve your posture, making you look and feel five pounds leaner. The more often you practice yoga, the more patience and self control you learn. As you become more disciplined, you become better able to ignore cravings for unhealthy food, which is a key component of any effective weight loss program.

Inverted Yoga-Decreased Cholesterol
You can control your cholesterol and blood pressure by doing yoga and eating plant-based foods. When you practice inverted yoga poses, including the the crane pose, the plough pose, and the headstand, your legs and abdomen are higher than your heart, which allows blood to flow throughout your body and increases your circulation. Inverted yoga poses not only improve your cardiovascular health, they stimulate your brain and glandular system, and relieve pressure on your abdominal organs.

Another type of yoga, known as integrative yoga therapy, is sometimes used to alleviate certain medical conditions, including asthma, clinical depression, insomnia, back pain, arthritis and multiple sclerosis.

Karmic Benefits of Yoga
While yoga has many amazing physical benefits, it can also be good for your soul. One of the main tenants of yoga is ahimsa, a Sanskrit term meaning to do no harm to any living being. At the end of each yoga practice the partipant bow to each other and say “Namaste,” which means “The light within me honors the light within you.”

There’s virtually no limit to what yoga can do for your body and your spirit. You are never too out of shape to take up yoga. As Bikram Choudhury, the founder of Bikram yoga says “Never too late, never too old, never too bad and never too sick to do this yoga and start from scratch again.” . If you’ve been struggling to lose weight, eat healthily, and improve your strength, posture, and flexibility, fitting yoga into your lifestyle is a wise and healthy choice.

Melody Biggar is a writer for Holistic Voice- your online guide to living a natural, organic and healthy lifestyle.

For more health and beauty tips go to http://www.holisticvoice.org

To get a free holistic weight-loss e-course visit http://www.naturalsexyskinny.com.

Learn About Yoga Breathing — A Simple Exercise For Beginners

We are all born knowing how to breathe correctly –it is not something that needs to be taught. Our very first instinct upon entering this world is to fill our lungs with life-sustaining air and let it flow through our body. Unfortunately, as we grow we learn to stoop our shoulders and contract our chest. This leads to improper and potentially dangerous methods of breathing. Our posture and the way we carry our bodies day after day inhibits our natural, correct way of taking in breath. You can remedy this situation once you learn about yoga breathing.

Authorities on the practice of yoga breathing tell us that if we would only return to breathing correctly –the way we were designed to do –it would be the rare person that contracted illness and disease. That’s because the deep breathing that is fundamental to yoga helps sustain our physical health. But it goes even deeper than that. Our happiness, mental sharpness, self- control and even spirituality are tremendously enhanced once we understand the “Science of Breath”.

Pranayama — The Science of Breath Control
To fully learn about yoga breathing, it’s important to have an understanding of the four stages of Pranayma. Pranayma is yoga breathing exercises that help our body maintain optimum health. There are four stages to this method of breath control.

Arambha is the stage where one first becomes aware of the desire and need for Pranayma.
The second stage is Ghata and occurs when causal, gross, and subtle sariras meet the soul.
Parichay is the stage where one begins to understand the knowledge and power of Pranayama.
The final stage is Nispatti, which is a union with the Supreme.

Why learn about yoga breathing? The benefits of Pranayama
Though the benefits are numerous, here are 6 fundamental reasons to learn about yoga breathing.

1. You learn to breathe properly — slow and deep breathing that increases lung capacity.
2. Proper breathing improves digestion and metabolism
3. Pranayama is a natural de-stressor — it leads to relaxation and harmony
4. Correct breathing rids the body of harmful toxins that build up inside our bodies.
5. Because Pranayama requires focus and concentration, our willpower and self-discipline improves.
6. Pranayama allows for a more satisfying spiritual experience.

Learn about yoga breathing with Kapalabhati
Kapalanhati refers to cleansing breath. One benefit of Kapalanhati exercise is the removal of mucus from our airways.

It begins with breathing normally two times. As you inhale and exhale, pull in the abdominal muscles. Try to maintain a consistent rhythm as you go through 20 repetitions. The emphasis should be on exhaling after holding your breath for as long as possible.

This technique is one of the more basic exercises. You can learn about yoga breathing on a more advanced level as well but practice the advanced techniques only after adequate review or supervision. It’s possible to injure yourself if you attempt to try them on your own.

After mastering just the basic exercises, you’ll quickly realize the benefits and want to learn more about yoga breathing for your spiritual, mental,and physical health.

Analia Kerner is an avid researcher in the practice of Yoga. Visit her website to claim your FREE report and to discover how you can dramatically improve your health using 5 minutes a day or less through Yoga Breathing. Click on this link now http://www.yoga-fitness-wellness.com/FreeReport.htm


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