Nourishing Yoga: Body, Mind and Spirit

The Reasons we do Yoga

Why do you practice yoga? Or why don’t you, if you’re one of our few readers who need convincing to begin? When I started to give up my vices, with every endeavor, with every new habit I’ve picked up and incorporated into my lifestyle, I posed the question ‘why?’

I started doing yoga as it embodies holistic living, and for me it was adopting a lifelong practice that took care of the whole of me, not just the blood and bones. Yoga means union in Sanskrit and helps you get in touch with yourself, and your true unconscious self. It is body, mind and soul food. Yoga does not discriminate either – you can adopt it into your lifestyle as a child or in old age, male or female, fit or fat, sick or well. If you’ve done yoga and kept at it, chances are you don’t need to read on. However if you’d like a little inspiration.

Body

Like many at first, I considered yoga just for the physical advantages. Because there are a multitude of body benefits to practicing yoga.

For one, it improves circulation, which makes the digestive and endocrine systems much more effective and it strengthens the immune system. Yoga practitioners have a much greater sense of vitality. Respiration is improved and the increase in muscle tone also helps fire up the metabolism.

From a aesthetic and health point of view, it lowers fat and improves muscle tone greatly, yogis and yoginis tend to be lean and poised, and look younger than their real age. And most definitely feel it. Physical energy is increased dramatically.

It also increases flexibility and strength not to mention stamina. Holding those poses requires endurance and it translates the same into daily life, making everyday tasks seem much easier.

Even those who are generally active sports persons claim that yoga provides them with a different physical training than their own activity. Yoga improves athletic performance. Many top athletes are devout yogis.

It is also a great pain reliever. Yoga can quickly rehabilitate the bodies of those who have suffered injury or undergone any type of surgery.

Mind

Yoga also teaches you to quiet the mind and remove distractions particularly helpful when trying to accomplish a task or attain a goal. Just like your body, your mind feels energized by yoga as opposed to tired. It will help you be more alert and focus your energy on where you want it to go. It improves concentration tenfold.

Yoga encourages clear, positive thoughts. It provides practitioners with clarity when dealing with difficult situations. It reduces stress by helping one relax and alleviating tension.

It also unlocks the mind and increases creativity. Yoga helps one surrender their ego which is vital to the creative process, and allows the mind to relax and ideas to flow from within.

Spirit

Yoga helps you get in touch with the emotional being, nourishing and soothing the spirit by creating a sense of well being and calm. Gives a sense of union, or oneness as its meaning implies by building awareness of your body, your feelings, the world around you, the needs of others.

Yoga also plays a big role in boosting self esteem and encourages self acceptance.

Practitioners feel more centered and balanced even when facing external distress be it everyday ordeals, life changing events or hormonal changes.

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Photo credits: lululemon athletica, Brenda-Starr, alicepopkorn on flickr

Yoga For Your Little Ones

The Benefits of Yoga for Kids

I’m often asked whether it’s okay for kids to do yoga, or be a part of a parent’s yoga routine and my answer is always yes. It’s wonderful if you can get your children involved in yoga from a young age.

Yoga is not merely a fitness routine or a series of postures, but a way of life. Children can derive great benefits from making yoga a ritual. I’ve seen yoga help young ones in developing better body awareness, self-control and coordination, not to mention improve their concentration dramatically as well as help them relax. Physically, they build strength and flexibility. Kids today can lead stressful lives – homework, extra curricular activities, sports, packed schedules, competing against peers; and yoga can help take that edge off.

There are many children’s yoga classes these days starting as young as preschoolers. But if you’re looking to get your children on board at home, simple breathing exercises and meditation are a great start. Encourage deep breathing from the belly to help them relax. Let them try chanting. Even the very simple OM can be very effective. I remember OM as a child and loving the challenge of how long I could chant on a single deep breath. Balasana or ‘childs pose’ is a fantastic yoga posture to teach them which will normalise circulation and relax the body and mind. Great for when a child is feeling overwhelmed or moody. It curbs tantrums even in adults so I know it works for kids.

Next help them learn simple Hatha poses like tree pose, warrior pose, lion pose. Try to get them to focus on the meaning of the postures, to reenact them if you will, and take on their qualities which might require some storytelling on your part – sturdy and grounded like a tree, strong and confident like a warrior, fierce like a lion. This engagement will help develop an intimate relationship between the young practitioner and nature. Surya Namaskar or ‘sun salutations’ are another fantastic and dynamic series of poses that can be introduced to them.

Encourage relaxation through meditation using guided visualization techniques as many children can have trouble closing their eyes and tuning out the world. Weaving an imaginative but calming story – ‘Imagine you are lying in a field of green grass with the sun shining. There is nothing around you except trees with beautiful flowers. Now imagine a butterfly floating past you. Look at its bright wings. Take a deep breath and smell the fresh air’ can help them find their balance and connect more deeply with their inner self.

Children are naturally curious and you’ll find most quite enthusiastic if you make it interesting for them. Allow them (and even your toddlers) to watch you in your practice. Most kids you’ll find want nothing more than to do what mummy and daddy are doing.

Added benefits to practicing yoga with your children will be the increased bond between you and them and an opportunity to share family time and wisdom. It may require a bit of patience at first but stick with it, as you’re laying the foundation of a lifelong practice.

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Photo credits: Axel Bührmann, takeslongwalks, theloushe on flickr

Utkatasana: The Imaginary Chair

Often called the Chair Pose, Utkatasana literally translated from Sanskrit means powerful pose. To the eye it looks like somebody sitting in an invisible chair and although a task that gets easier over time, is not difficult to learn and is an effective addition to any yoga routine.

A deep squat, Utkatasana is a yoga pose or asana that demands poise and concentration and will reward the yogi with many benefits as it engages the strength of your lower body and provides a stretch for the upper. Utkatasana can help reshape your body as well as it tones the butt and quadriceps, stretches the calves, strengthens the core and exploits the hidden power within the body. Plus it stimulates the organs and heart, opens the diaphragm, strengthens and stretches shoulders, boosts stamina, and works at improving the immune system as well as the various joints.

Sometimes also called the fierce pose, Utkatasana generates heat within the body and employs the seat of power so you can literally ‘feel the burn’ which can be very satisfying. Over time however, the sitting position can easily be attained for longer without support, providing more and more of the numerable advantages listed above. Sparking the fire within the pelvis, that you will feel in your belly will aid you in radiating this energy out through the limbs as you perform this asana.

How to perform Utkatasana:

• Stand with your feet and arms in Tadasana or basic mountain pose
• Inhale deeply, moving your arms forward and overhead, palms facing inwards and on exhalation, squat as if you’re sitting on an imaginary chair, keeping your heels firmly grounded.
• Try keeping your thighs as parallel to the ground as possible, but you should be able to see your toes, so your knees should be bent just slightly forward of the ankles.
• Draw in the navel which should help support the spine and aid in dispersing the inner power you have tapped into. Tuck your tailbone in and gaze upwards slightly but do not strain the neck and jaw.
• As much as possible, keep the spine, head and raised arms in line. Make sure the arms are at the same level as the ears.
• Hold the position for four to eight slow and steady breaths. And on exiting the pose, inhale as you straighten the legs and exhale when returning the arms to the sides as in Tadasana. It’s important to remember to breathe through this asana and find your balance. Repeat.

Variations – to make them easier or more challenging can include keeping the feet at shoulder width to start with, optionally using a block between the thighs and squeeze to engage the abductors, keeping the arms perpendicular to the floor, performing the pose on tiptoes, keeping the chin level, etc.

Cautions – Avoid lower back pain by maintaining the natural lumbar curve of the back, avoid straining the shoulders and neck as this can cause sprains or dizziness.

But performed both traditionally and unconventionally, practicing Utkatasana as part of your daily yoga will prove extremely beneficial as over time this asana will strengthen the core and pelvis, which will enable you to hold the sitting position for longer and longer.

For  special Yoga Apparel, yoga inspired clothing comfort clothing clothing designed according to theColors of the Chakras and the best trendy, high quality and comfortable  Fitness Apparel do visit YogacaraShop.com

*Photo credits: Photo by tarnalberry, myyogaonline on flickr

Engaging The Heart, Mind and Body Of Young Ones Through Yoga

Yoga For Kids

We’ve all heard of the benefits of Yoga for adults, for people with back problems, high blood pressure, respiratory problems, cancer patients in recovery and moms to be, but did you know that children who are thought yoga at a young age reap a host of benefits too?

Just like for adults, Yoga helps kids find balance in their lives, enabling them to cope with situations better. It’s a great tool for channeling  kids energy and teaches them to be more relaxed and calm. Yoga for kids promotes the philosophy that active bodies support healthy, active minds. It also develop better body awareness, self-control, flexibility and coordination early on which they will carry with them through life. Plus, one of best influences that yoga has on children is it teaches them to handle stress and conflicts as well as to deal with emotions in a positive manner.

Yoga has also been shown to help children with ADD/ADHD, hyperactivity, anxiety and other behavior disorders. Yoga poses that instill calm, confidence and balance help them channel their impulses that crave a stimulus. Yoga is thought to kids through visualization of the poses, like for example in the mountain pose with their feet firmly on the ground and heads raised to the sky, they imagine themselves strong as a mountain or in the tree pose imaging themselves tall, trying to reach the sky with their branches. This helps kids build focus, release physical and emotional energy and improve physical fitness. Relaxation is another aspect of yoga beneficial for children to relieve stress. How much stress can a child have to relieve you may ask? But, believe it or not quite a bit. Many kids go through their parents separation or divorce, the pressure of school work, competition and even just fitting in socially can cause quite a bit of stress. Yoga breathing exercises help them stay centered and calmer through these difficult situations and times.

Yoga sessions for children include lot of storytelling and mental imagery to develop the imagination. Social emotional games played during yoga classes help as counseling tools to develop trust, compassion, communication, teamwork and leadership skills. As yoga teaches us through it’s practices to activate the present by coming to a stillness, kids tend to open up a lot more when they achieve this stillness. It is then the best time for them to open up their hearts and cultivate their own compassion and sensitivity to emotions, for us parents it is to learn about the inherent goodness in our children, to cultivate, nurture, protect and develop that goodness.

For this and more, Yoga is a great way for engaging the heart, mind and body of young ones!

*Photo credits: Photos by Axel Bührmann, Scott Ableman on flickr

For  special Yoga Apparel, yoga inspired clothing comfort clothing clothing designed according to the Colors of the Chakras and the best trendy, high quality and comfortable  Fitness Apparel do visit YogacaraShop.com

The Health Benefits of Yoga

Lead a Healthier Lifestyle by Practicing Yoga Daily

Everyone knows physical benefits of regularly practicing yoga, the increase in flexibility, improvement in muscle tone and strength as well as overall better posture. But, this 5,000 year old practice  is more than just a trendy workout as it has been called. Its millions of followers are enjoying a host of health benefits. The balance Yoga brings the mind, body and spirit through body poses, controlled breathing and more importantly meditation is associated with a number of health benefits which are medically and scientifically recognized the world over.

Here’s a look at some of the Health Benefits associated with Yoga:

Circulation
Through the practice of yoga poses along with breathing exercises, Yoga improves blood circulation. By improving circulation, nutrients and oxygen are better transported throughout your body resulting in healthier organs, skin and brain.

Respiratory System
Like the circulatory system, a lower respiratory rate indicates that the lungs are working more efficiently. Yoga helps decrease the respiratory rate through a combination of controlled breathing exercises and better fitness. By learning how to control breathing during exercise, it maximizes the absorption of oxygen-rich air for your body which in turn helps reduce respiratory related health problems like asthma, bronchitis and clear the nasal passage and sinuses.

Relieves Stress
Stress is an increasing health issue nowadays. Stress causes your muscles to tense, the heart beat faster, a change in breathing patterns and the secretion of more hormones that increasing blood sugar levels as well as raising blood pressure. The concentration required during yoga practice tends to focus your attention on the matter at hand, thereby reducing the emphasis you may have been putting on the stress in your life. Consistent yoga practice decreases blood pressure through better circulation and oxygenation of the body.

Heart Disease
Several trials have found that yoga can lower blood pressure, cholesterol, resting heart rates and help slow the progression of atherosclerosis—all risk factors for heart disease. A combination of lowering heart rate and improving oxygenation to the body, both these benefits of yoga help in reducing the risk of heart diseases.

Cancer
Research has shown that patients fighting or recovering from cancer who do yoga benefit from a number of advantages. The results of a study in which women with metastatic breast cancer, attended eight weekly yoga sessions and the doctors found that the women had much less pain and felt more energetic and relaxed than others who hadn’t done any yoga. Cancer patients who practice yoga are said to gain strength, raise red blood cells, experience less nausea during chemotherapy and have a better overall well-being.

Back Pain and Arthritis
Yoga involves doing yoga poses in a slow, deliberate manner. It helps reduce spinal compression and improves the overall body alignment which reduce back pain. However, if the poses are incorrectly practiced it can make back pain worse. During a pose gentle pressure exerted on the joints which is an excellent form of exercise to relieve arthritis symptoms. Yoga physically helps loosen all the bodies muscles and therapeutic to the joints.

Menopause
Studies have shown that women who took yoga classes which use props to support the postures, reported a 30 percent decrease in hot flashes, one of the side effects of menopause. Women who took Yoga classes for longer plus reported less physical and sexual discomfort as well as reduced stress and anxiety.

Apart from these health benefits that yoga has shown to help, there are other emotional perks to be gained from a consistent yoga practice as yoga aims at achieving a balance between ones body and mind. Yoga elevates overall mood and well being of a person and is said to help battle depression and anxiety. It is also said to improve concentration, memory and through meditation techniques makes a person more calm and composed with a positive outlook on life.

*Photo credits: Photos by Mahesh Khanna, pikimota, Andreas D., Dave77459 on flickr

For  special Yoga Apparel, yoga inspired clothing comfort clothing clothing designed according to the Colors of the Chakras and the best trendy, high quality and comfortable  Fitness Apparel do visit YogacaraShop.com