Travel, Recreation and Sports

Yoga breathing exercises could help sufferers of mild asthma and may help reduce their use of low-dose drug inhalers in wheezing attacks. Researchers from the Respiratory Medicine Unit, City University, Nottingham, call for more studies of ways of improving breathing control which they say have been largely ignored by Western medicine. While yoga practitioners have long believed in the benefits of pranayama breathing exercises for asthmatics, this has been hard to study formally. But, using a Pink City lung – a device that imposes slow breathing on the user and can mimic pranayama breathing exercises – it was possible to measure the effects of controlled breathing in a hospital trial. Two simulated pranayama exercises were tested: slow deep breathing and …

Core power yoga is an energetic yoga exercise that physically and mentally challenges to help connect to inner power without stopping and accompanied by a heated, climate controlled Vinyasa. It heals, detoxifies and stimulates the body and mind through balance and intention. Power yoga has created a dynamic, challenging program that combines strength, sweat and spirituality. It recognizes power in different levels; first is the physical power which develops the body’s strength and improve health; second is the mental power or the will to concentrate on the practice; and last the spiritual power which is the power behind the physical and mental power. Core power yoga is the Western version of the Indian Ashtanga Yoga. The term was was given …

The following are questions that Yoga teachers still need to answer, despite overwhelming evidence that Yoga is “the mother of all health maintenance systems.” Mainstream thought is finally catching up, with the progress Yoga is making, but it has taken 5,000 years for us to get this far. Seriously, How Can Yoga Make You Lose Weight? Finally, some of the “Yoga and Weight Loss” studies have come in, and even, a little bit of Yoga is much better, than none, for weight control, but there are a number of reasons why. Yoga is a lifestyle change that includes a safe diet; exercise, adjusting posture, breathing, and a whole lot more. Most of the Yoga practitioners, I know, consume more water, …

Yoga is a very popular form of exercising and spiritual balancing, but it is also very often understood by a lot of people. This is almost inevitable when you consider the incredible popularity of Yoga as a discipline and the many different strands that Yoga has. Quite often people have experience with one type of Yoga but not another, and as such they will base their overall impression of Yoga on what they have seen. It is like people basing their impression on Germans on the most famous German they know – Adolf Hitler, or more recently the portrayal of George Bush internationally as the only example of an American anyone knows. The truth is that Yoga can be very …

What is the difference between common yoga and the not so common yoga, nothing only one is practiced on a wider scale than the other. It is up to each individual and their preferences to what form of exercise they choose to practise. Some common types of yoga are performed by people for health reasons. If starting out to practice yoga for the first time then be sure to find out what is best suited to your requiremnts. Important factors that have to be addressed before any exercise is executed are your fitness levels. Some of the most common types of yoga are Iyenga. This yoga is solely based on alignment and accurate movements.When working out the Iyengar way props …

There is an interesting article in the September 5th issue of Time magazine. This particular article covers a spectrum of opinions about mixing Christianity with Yoga. Even, if you don’t agree with a single opinion, it’s a good read, as long as you remain objective. Over the course of time, I have been lucky enough to teach, or practice, with someone from every known religious denomination; so the statement by a Professor Tiwari at the Hindu University of America, where he states that, ”Yoga is Hinduism,” is surprising, coming from a scholar. Possibly, this statement was taken out of context, but fundamentalism exists, to a degree, in every form of religion. If some Christians want to practice Yoga to make …

Christian yoga is a spiritual practice of Christians most common in Eastern and Western Countries. It is a discipline that one practices to be much closer to God. Taking the path of Christian yoga can lead to healing of the mind and body. But perhaps even more important than that, it can lead to the discovery of what at the moment is only a potential within you. Many of classes in the U.S teach the practice of yoga, the physical discipline that focuses on postures or asana, and employ no religious teaching at all. Other yoga teachers have training in yoga schools. Practitioners say that Christian yoga fills a need for believers who want the health benefits of yoga but …

What is Christian Yoga? It is a fact that “Yoga” itself originates and is based from Hinduism, and many people see conflict in using yoga the Christian way as Hinduism is deemed un-extractable from yoga. However, although yoga is said to have begun from Hinduism religion, the practice and the goal that it tries to achieve is a union of oneself with the Supreme Being; as such, a number of Christians have been performing “Christian yoga” as their means of making a closer connection with God. Even though the freedom of practicing Christian Yoga lies in every Christian practitioner, these practices have been met with a lot of criticisms from Hindus, purists, and some Christians themselves, and a silent “holy …

Yoga is a great disposition enhancer and it does it naturally. Any kind of exercise releases hormones that help ease the stress that often leads to the blahs, blues, or outright depression. Activity keeps your mind far from negative thoughts and allows you to gain insight on dilemmas in your life. People who are depressed or “down” often lack the stimulus to exercise. It doesn’t take near as much effort to do a Yoga routine as it does to work out to a video or drive to the gym. A word of warning; if you experience more than just the occasional bout of the blahs and feel down for more than two weeks at a time, you should seek professional …

Chakra is a Sanskrit word meaning spinning wheel. These are a system of seven energy centers located along the spine. Each chakra corresponds to an area of the body, a set of behavioral characteristics and stages of spiritual growth. Practicing yoga and focusing your energies during different postures can help you to align your chakras and get all the wheels spinning in the same direction and speed. Understanding how to fine tune and control your chakras through yoga and meditation can help bring balance and peace to your mind, body and spirit. There are seven chakras, each associated with a different part of the body along the spine from the perineum to the crown of your head. Each chakra is …

There are a lot of forms of yoga, and although Chair Yoga is not formally recognized as a yoga type, it is generally used to identify a milder yoga form which is performed through being seated in a chair or the use of a chair as support while standing. It is distinct from other yoga forms such as Ashtanga or Lyengar yoga; however, the asanas or poses of chair yoga are frequently adaptations of the poses from Hatha yoga. Chair Yoga is one of the most simple of yoga practices where the complicated maneuvers and inversions of most formal yoga classes are not necessary. Often, people who practice chair yoga are not able to participate in conventional yoga classes because …

Chair yoga has increasingly become popular among people who can’t really practice the complicated body postures of traditional yoga. These people include those with physical disabilities and senior citizens, who have become interested in doing yoga but want it the milder way. Chair yoga is actually not a formal type of yoga, but is a gentler form of yoga which is done through sitting in a chair or the use of a chair as support while standing and doing a series of less complicated yoga poses. Chair yoga classes can often be found in senior care centers, disabled rehabilitation centers, and some hospitals; it is also frequently recommended by some health professionals as a helpful tool for physical therapy. Chair …

Recently, much confusion has been put forward regarding the type of credentials required for teaching yoga; recent changes has been made within yoga certifying groups who train teachers for yoga and have brought about certain yoga regulations and credentials for those who want to practice as yoga teachers. The most common question asked about credentials is the needed certification for teaching yoga. In the majority of places, yoga teacher credentialing is considered a new significant occurrence; teachers of yoga generally had a small number of devoted students and was not considered a mainstream activity. This similar lack of certifying still happens in Tai Chi and a number of Chinese martial arts. The belief of several traditional yogis is that credentials …

Crime and Yoga are not often two words that are used together in the same sentence, and that is part of the reason that they are combined in this article. When you think of a stereotypical criminal, someone who does Yoga just doesn’t spring to mind. We think of criminals as being angry, or at least very active, while Yogi are seen as calm and sedentary. Really the two are so far apart that it’s hard to consider that someone who regularly undertakes Yoga classes could ever become a criminal. Perhaps Yoga should become compulsory to fight the crime rate? Here’s why: Yoga classes begin with a simple standing exercise – the exercise is this: Breathe. You can spend a …

I was at work the other day and a co-worker of mine who takes Yoga classes suddenly started pumping a 20 pound dumbbell he had nestled in his cubicle. Being that he does this rather frequently, I asked why and his response was “Oh, my yoga classes don’t do anything for my arms.” I looked at him puzzled and luckily for me, I had a draft of a book with photos of some yoga balancing poses and asked him if he had tried or even knew of them. Surprisingly, he said no and was now eager for me to demonstrate them to him. This made me wonder, just how many other yoga enthusiasts are of the mindset that Yoga may …

You don’t need to fall into the stress mode of life. You can use breath to relax, rather than stress, your mind and body. Yoga helps you to relearn that natural state that your body and mind want to be in: relaxation. Deep breathing is both calming and energizing. The energy you feel from a few minutes of careful breathe is not nervous or hyper, but that calm, steady energy we all need. Slow, steady, and quiet breathing gives a message to your nervous system: Be calm. Whole books have been written on yoga breathing. Here is one 5-minute Breath Break. (Read through the instructions several times before you try the practice.) 1. Sit with your spine as straight as …