Archive for May 3rd, 2008

Written By Zach Hunt

Yoga is a potent form of exercise that originated in India as a form of spiritual practice. Although, today’s version of Yoga has little to do with the Hindu practice, it can provide numerous benefits.

For those who are unaware of the Yoga way of exercise, it uses a combination of breathing exercises along with physical movement to free the body while the meditation aspect of Yoga assists in easing the mind and soul.

Benefits Of Yoga – There are many benefits to the Yoga exercise of. It is known that yoga also helps provide stress relief and health benefits. With the fast paced world of today, it is easy for an individual to become stressed out with the daily schedule and this type of stress and affect the body and mind.

By participating in Yoga, you will reduce the amount of stress that you have in your life. Some additional benefits of the Yoga lifestyle include the lowering of blood pressure, a better quality of sleep, and a heightened sense of awareness of your surroundings.

Yoga, can also benefit illnesses such as AIDS, cancer, and diabetes.

While Yoga appears to be the ideal way for a healthy life in , it is simply not efficient enough to allow most individuals to reach their ideal weight loss goals. In truth, yoga should be used mainly for the benefits it is known for.

With this being said, Yoga is a great starter exercise for those wishing to achieve their fitness goals but the Yoga exercise should not be the only form of exercise that a citizen uses to achieve a optimal level of fitness.

Yoga doesn’t do a whole lot to build lean toned muscle and burn fat, which is what most people want to do. The Yoga exercise will not allow you to gain the muscle necessary to enjoy the various outdoor attractions of but it will provide you with the an improved control over breathing that will help you journey through the various parks and trails in the area.

The practice of Yoga should be used as a way to free the mind and not as a way to gain the physical strength that will make you look good in a public environment.

Using Yoga In Your Fitness Plan – For those wishing to create a fitness plan, or improve the efficiency of their existing exercise schedule, Yoga is a great option. Since Yoga is not meant as the only source of exercise for those on a fitness plan, it makes a great partner for other forms of exercise such as Pilate’s and weight lifting.

Since Yoga will reduce the stress encountered from the rest of your exercise plan, it is a good idea to make Yoga a regular part of your healthy lifestyle.

For those who are already experiencing quality results with their exercise plan, the regular practice of Yoga will further increase the benefits and positive results of the workout.

Add Yoga To Your Life – Yoga is not right for everyone but it is an easy form of exercise that everyone should try at least once. If you are interested in adding Yoga to your daily life, it is recommended that you talk to your fitness trainer or Yoga instructor to get started on the right track.

Zach Hunt is a yoga Spokane expert, fitness coach and owner of Physzique, a fitness coaching service in Spokane, WA. Go here: Personal Trainer In Spokane WA for more fitness tips.

Written By Shirley Marotta

I titled this article Simply Yoga because I want to give you a down to earth, everyday view of yoga. You really don’t have to stand on your head, or tie yourself in knots to perform yoga and it’s great for your body, mind, and spirit. What I give you here is taken from my own personal experience with yoga.

Yoga Stretches

Whenever the subject of yoga comes up most people think you have to be flexible to do it. The beauty of simple yoga stretches is that you don’t have to be flexible to gain the benefits of it. For those of you that are out of shape and want to change that, yoga is a good way to start.

The advice that all yoga teachers pass on to their students is, do not push your body beyond its limits, it is not supposed to hurt. Start with simple stretches, when you feel a slight pull in your muscles, and I mean slight, that’s where you stop and hold the posture for a few seconds and slowly come out of the posture. Find the yoga postures that you feel most comfortable doing and with time you will discover improvement in your flexibility.

If getting up and down from the floor is difficult you can do Chair Yoga. This is especially good if you are recovering from an illness or injury.

Yoga and Health

Your body was designed for movement. Muscles need to be put to work and need to be kept reasonably flexible. Yoga can warm up the body before performing strenuous exercise or sports activities, this helps prevent injury.

Yoga is a wonderful stress reliever. Stress is the leading cause of most health issues these days. You have a stressful job, family situations, even just thinking about the world’s events can stress you out. Carrying all that stress day in and day out causes health issues, headaches, high blood pressure, insomnia, just to name a few. All these left unattended build into bigger health issues. Yoga can relieve stress, therefore, the issues that result from stress are relieved as well. Yes, it’s simply yoga and its simplicity is the key that makes it so easy to incorporate into your daily life.

Everyday Yoga

I know every day sounds like a time consuming task, but it really isn’t, trust me.

Did you know that the simple stretch you do each morning when you wake up can be considered a yoga move? That’s the best and easiest time to incorporate yoga into your day. You can do it while still in bed, there are many yoga postures that are traditionally done on the floor that can also be done on your bed, how comfy is that! When your feet hit the floor first thing in the morning you can also do a few standing yoga stretches.

I urge you to get a good book of yoga postures and try the ones you feel most comfortable doing once a day in the morning or evening (a great time to release those tensions of the day). Even better to do it both morning and evening it’s a wonderful start and end to your day.

You don’t have to perform an hour long routine every day, but just one, two, or three of your favorite yoga postures will get you going on the way to better health. Progress begins with one small step at a time, remember it’s simply yoga and its simplicity will produce wonderful benefits for your body, mind, and spirit.

I’ve always wanted to know “why” am I here what is the purpose of my being on this earth in this body. In the 70s, with the big “new age” movement going on, there were plenty of new resources to helped answer my questions, for me the philosophy made sense. Authors were writing books based on the new age thinking that body, mind, and spirit are connected. That hit home for me, so here I am writing and sharing.

I have always wanted to write and share my artwork with the world. Yes, I am an artist too, and I have to say truthfully if it wasn’t for all the books I’ve read, in my quest for self improvement, the art you see on my website would never have come to light.

So here I am writing and sharing my knowledge to help others. Dreams do come true.

For more about the Chair Yoga methods mentioned in this article and free instruction sheet, please visit: http://www.livingwordsofwisdom.com/chair-yoga.html

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