Posts Tagged ‘physical Yoga’

Hatha and Vinyasa Yoga for Improving the Endocrine System

Monday, July 4th, 2011

yoga certificationBy Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

Most individuals, who practice Yoga, are seeking some type of improvement – be it spiritual, mental, emotional, physical, or a combination of all four. That is the beauty of Yoga: one simple practice balances all of the body’s systems in a synergistic manner. The individual is healthy, calm, and pain is released or reduced.

Hatha Yoga is commonly just referred to as “Yoga” outside of India, despite the fact that there are several different varieties of Yoga worldwide. Hatha is a gentle type of physical Yoga, which focuses primarily on stretching and gentle movements into Yoga postures (asanas). Other movement-based Vinyasa varieties of Yoga can be fast paced and focus on breath control and flow.

Each movement-based style of Yoga has its benefits, and all are known to have a profound impact on the endocrine system, in particular. In order to understand how beneficial this is, it helps to have an understanding of just how vast the endocrine system truly is.

If asked which system in the human body is most important – many people would respond with the nervous system. No system is able to exist in a vacuum, and in that respect, all systems are of equal importance because they are equally valuable parts of the body as a whole. With that said, the endocrine system is a huge factor in overall health.

To put it simply, the endocrine system is, for the most part, a bunch of glands throughout the body. Initially, this seems a little underwhelming, until one realizes that those glands influence every other organ and system through the gland’s ability to release hormones. Many different chemical hormones are secreted by the endocrine system, and they are able to communicate their unique message to cells hours after their initial release. The endocrine system can easily be compromised by stress, fluid, and oxygen levels in the blood, and infection.

The nervous system is strongly influenced by the endocrine system, because when hormones are released into the bloodstream, the entire body is impacted. That’s where the healing power of Hatha or Vinyasa Yoga comes in.

Hatha and Vinyasa Yoga were developed over thousands of years by many enlightened masters, who crafted each asana with careful wisdom, that modern science is just now beginning to understand. The poses of physical Yoga styles actually massage and stroke the glands that make up the endocrine system, which cleanses and purifies the body. When done properly, Yoga is a powerful preventative medicine that keeps the endocrine system balanced and healthy, which, in turn, impacts the nervous system indirectly, but in a powerful way.

In addition to experiencing more radiant health and vitality, practitioners also report heightened emotional well being, due to the regulating effects of Yoga on the baseline hormonal levels within the human body.

Therapeutic Hatha and Restorative Yoga are gentle and slow – very suitable for most individuals of all ages. It makes a wonderful addition to anyone’s daily routine, especially when practiced under the careful supervision of a competent Yoga teacher.

© Copyright 2011 – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

To see our complete selection of Yoga teacher training courses, please feel free to visit the following link.

http://www.aurawellnesscenter.com/store/Teacher-Courses/

FREE Yoga Report. FREE Yoga Newsletter. FREE Yoga Videos. Free Podcasts. Bonus: Free Yoga e-Book, “Yoga in Practice.”

FREE CONTENT: If you are a Yoga Teacher, Yoga studio, blogger, e-zine, or website publisher, and are in need of quality content, please feel free to use my blog entries (articles). Please be sure to reprint each article, as is, including the resource box above. Namaste!

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Posted in Yoga for Health, Yoga for Physical Health | 2 Comments »

Yoga For Professional Athletes

Tuesday, May 17th, 2011

yoga certificationBy Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

When an athlete advances in progression to the level of professional within the particular sport that they play, it becomes much more of a challenge to sustain a state of healthy wellbeing. Professional athletes have rigorous training and competition schedules.

The level of competition, tight schedules, and playing through injuries may, in turn, may hinder them from a taking care of their holistic needs. Unless they are on an “off-season” schedule, they have to push for any time to fit it into their schedule.

Just as it is very important for non-athletic or sedentary individuals, to maintain a healthy mind, body, and emotional state, it is just as important for the professional athletes to practice a healthy lifestyle, to avoid any injury, and to live in a stress reduced environment, as much as possible. By practicing Yoga, and incorporating it into one’s training regimen, it will greatly benefit an athlete through a season.

There are many different types of Yoga for athletic and for sedentary individuals. There are many types of Yoga for beginners. For people who are just starting to change their lifestyle, there are many gentle styles for beginners. At the same time, athletes of all levels may want more of a physical challenge.

Yet, not all athletes need to jump into an advanced Yoga class. What if a professional athlete is making a comeback from a pre-existing or a season ending injury? In such a case, any form of physical Yoga would be therapeutic in nature. Therefore, the needs of each individual are not the same.

For athletes who have already been practicing challenging Yoga, and are in peak health, there are styles to meet their needs. Physical Yoga can be designed to be progressively challenging in its nature. Power, Vinyasa, Prasara, and Hot Yoga are primary examples of physical Yogic methods, which progressively challenge athletes for maximum performance and potential.

Keep in mind that any form of Yoga can be perfectly tailored toward the needs of an athlete. There are already athletes in the NBA, WNBA, Track & Field, NFL, and Major League Baseball, who practice Yoga as a daily regimen. Athletes, such as Lebron James, Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Garnett, Carl Lewis, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and the Philadelphia Eagles, have made it a point to practice Yoga for strength, flexibility, endurance, mental focus, and complete awareness.

If you look at a Yogic athletic body – it is defined, strong, flexible, energetic, and agile. This may not translate into size, but for those who want bulk, there is always progressive weight resistance. One example of needing size is on the defensive or offensive lines in the NFL.

Many of the football players on the lines in the NFL weigh more than 300 pounds (136.077 kg.) with an average height of 6 feet five inches (1.9558 meters). Luckily, they can also benefit from Yoga, by progressively gaining agility, energy, strength, and defined lean muscle mass.

The unique needs of athletes, at the pro level, are diversified. Yoga is a great alternative path to incorporate while athletes are stretching between sets, recovering from an injury, or training. By practicing Yoga, and eating well-balanced meals on a daily basis, athletes will definitely achieve optimal performance.

© Copyright 2011 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

To see our complete selection of Yoga teacher training courses, please feel free to visit the following link.

http://www.aurawellnesscenter.com/store/Teacher-Courses/

FREE Yoga Report. FREE Yoga Newsletter. FREE Yoga Videos. Free Podcasts. Bonus: Free Yoga e-Book, “Yoga in Practice.”

FREE CONTENT: If you are a Yoga Teacher, Yoga studio, blogger, e-zine, or website publisher, and are in need of quality content, please feel free to use my blog entries (articles). Please be sure to reprint each article, as is, including the resource box above. Namaste, Paul

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Posted in Yoga for Athletes | No Comments »

The Origin Of Vinyasa Yoga

Sunday, March 20th, 2011

vinyasa yoga teacher certificationBy Clyde Granger

Yoga presents itself as a complete lifestyle, and while most people in the west associate Yoga with a physical discipline involving a series of poses, the entire concept involves an eight pronged approach to realizing your best self, each component coming together helping individuals achieve what some refer to as a state of enlightenment.

While Hatha Yoga is physical Yoga in its most pure form, physical Yoga has grown to incorporate more of the aerobic and strengthening aspects that are associated with physical fitness. Vinyasa Yoga, which stresses the use of breath as the impetus to move from one pose to the next, has emerged as one of the most popular ways to tailor the practice to fit your needs.

As the popularity of Vinyasa grew, more and more teachers began to adapt the style to fit both the needs of their students and their growing knowledge of the discipline, resulting in a number of varieties including Vinyasa Flow and Power Yoga.

The origins of Vinyasa Yoga can be traced back to 200 B.C. when Patanjali began constructing his ashta-ang, or eight limbed discipline that involves meditation, mental, and physical conditioning. Since then followers like Sri K. Pattabhi Jois from Mysore, India have committed themselves to refining the techniques of Patanjali to use more movement with breath as opposed to remaining in poses, or asanas, while breathing.

In 1964 Andre van Lysebeth visited Jois and studied with him for two months, after returning to Belgium he wrote a book entitled “Pranayama,” that included Jois’ photo and address. As a result, mostly European westerners began seeking out Jois, and gradually the practice of Vinayasa began to spread. Later in 1973, Norman Allen attended a seminar taught by Jois and became the first American to be exposed to, and consequently spread, the theories of Vinyasa in the United States.

Vinyasa itself is the series of movements that are done between each asana, so as a student moves from one pose to the next, they are said to have completed one “vinyasa.” Physically, the breath increases heat in the body and causes more sweating, which is meant to be purifying.

It is believed that the inspiration for these movements can be found in Vamana Rishi’s Yoga Korunta, and was later inspired by the training of Indian wrestlers and British gymnasts. Today, the practice of Vinayasa has been expanded to include styles suitable for adolescents, expecting mothers, and physically challenged individuals.

To see Aura Wellness Center’s Vinyasa Yoga teacher training  home study course, please visit the following link.

http://www.aurawellnesscenter.com/store/Vinyasa-Yoga-Teacher-Training-Course-Level-1.html

© Copyright 2011 – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

To see our selection of Online Yoga teacher certification courses, please visit the following link.

http://www.aurawellnesscenter.com/store/

FREE Yoga Report. FREE Yoga Newsletter. FREE Yoga Videos. Free Podcasts. Bonus: Free Yoga e-Book, “Yoga in Practice.”

FREE CONTENT: If you are a Yoga Teacher, Yoga studio, blogger, e-zine, or website publisher, and are in need of quality content, please feel free to use my blog entries (articles). Please be sure to reprint each article, as is, including the resource box above. Namaste!

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Posted in vinyasa yoga | No Comments »

Practicing Yoga Will Shape the Course of Your Life in Three Steps

Friday, December 25th, 2009

By Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

How can Yoga help anyone change the course of life? How many people say they would like to make a lifestyle change? How often do you hear someone say he or she would like to make a difference? Let’s look at each issue, and discover a formula for positive change, which will help you, and everyone you know.

How can Yoga help anyone change the course of life? Making a positive change in your life requires you to make a commitment. The root of our commitment is our decision making process and how serious we are about focusing on it. Any form of Yoga, teaches us how to focus our mind, and make positive changes around us.

Whether you practice alone, or under the guidance of a competent Yoga teacher, you begin to realize the unlimited potential that is within each of us. The biggest difference between people is that many have no direction. This lack of direction is a result of great social changes around us or the inability to focus in a particular direction.

However, great social changes have never stopped humanity from moving forward. There is always someone who is focused enough to lead a cause or a nation. A person who has chosen to lead has made a decision, reinforced it with commitment, and focuses on progress every day of his or her life.

How many people say they would like to make a lifestyle change? Most people would like to make a change, but they have not seen the three-step formula of: decision, commitment, and focus. It is not complicated, but each of us has to make an initial decision in order to shape our destiny.

How does Yoga help one learn to make a difference? At the heart of every cause is someone who has learned how to completely focus his or her mind. Consider M.K. Gandhi: He was a humble man. He could have sat back refused to act, and blamed the world for everything. Instead, he created a global philosophy of nonviolent resistance to social injustice and colonialism.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s decision to take part in India’s independence movement became a role model for other independence and social change movements around the world. We can learn from his example to this day. He may not have desired to change the world, but his example created awareness and changed the world view of social injustice.

From the outside, looking in, Yoga may seem quite ordinary. The physical Yoga styles move slowly, in comparison to other forms of exercise. The truth is – Yoga cannot be compared to exercises because the Yogic approach to life and health is holistic. To make decision, maintain a commitment, and remain focused, requires mental, spiritual, emotional, and physical fortitude; all of which can be revealed in Yoga practice.

© Copyright 2009 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

FREE Yoga Report. FREE Yoga Newsletter. FREE Yoga Videos. Free Podcasts. Bonus: Free Yoga e-Book, “Yoga in Practice.”

FREE CONTENT: If you are a Yoga Teacher, Yoga studio, blogger, e-zine, or website publisher, and are in need of quality content, please feel free to use my blog entries (articles). Please be sure to reprint each article, as is, including the resource box above. Namaste, Paul

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Posted in Yoga for Inspiration, Yoga Lifestyle | 1 Comment »

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