Archive for May, 2009

Health Benefits of Yoga for Dudes

Yoga for dudes can help men relax, reduce stress, and increase flexibility along with improving their overall fitness. Yoga can also help decrease the chances of developing heart disease, depression, and high blood pressure.

Perform Daily Chores Minus The Stress

Yoga for guys helps in improving the strength of the body and makes it more flexible and it has a very calming effect on the mind as well, which is much appreciated by men, who somehow must find time to practice yoga even despite hectic work schedules. In fact, many have experienced such a greater sense of calm and center after practicing yoga for men, they aren’t bothered by the little things that would have stressed them out before. They are able to let little things go.

Reducing stress through yoga for men doesn’t just have mental and emotional benefits. It can actually help protect you from illnesses caused by stress. In fact, yoga for men combines meditation as well as breathing which makes the participant synchronize his mind with the body and also downplays whatever stress is being felt which leads to lesser chance of developing heart diseases and other similar ailments.

Ignoring the signs that you have too much stress in your life can lead to more complicated symptoms like shortness of breath, headaches, and high blood pressure. If it were not for yoga for men, it would be hard to imagine a way out for them, and there are also other changes that are often noticed in men besides physical ones and these are the behavioral changes that come about because of stress.

You’ll find yourself putting old habits like drinking, smoking, eating junk food, and being a couch potato behind you. A mere twenty to forty minutes of yoga for men each day in which they can sit and be silent and then do some gentle stretching and also breathe deeply will do wonders for them and stress will no longer be a problem.

Women Yoga Basics

Many women are looking to learn yoga for stress relief. Since yoga for women has been shown to increase health benefits, and decrease anxiety and worry, women would be well-advised to begin each day with simple breath yoga.

Upon arising from bed in the morning, get on a mat and pull your knees up to your chest.  Next raise your legs in the air and maintain this position until you feel clarity.  Then bend over and place your forehead on your lower legs until you feel prepared to get up and get ready to face the day.

Many women, like men, place stress on their bodies through the unhealthy practices of smoking, drinking coffee and not getting enough exercise, or not getting any at all.  Some exercise is excessive in that the demands are very rigorous, like running on a hard surface or performing 50 pushups.

True fitness to enhance well-being should be gentler and more passive which will take into consideration the proper pace for your own body.  You can move more slowly and consciously and not be hard on yourself.

Proper yoga postures should be taught by a certified yoga trainer to develop a routine that works.  Breath yoga is most effective in combination with yoga stretches.

There can be a rigorous workout from yoga for women, but it should never be painful – just enough to feel the results.  Yoga can help the process of healing from an injury if done properly.  Muscle definition and flexibility will benefit greatly from doing regular strengthening yoga exercises.  An hour of breath yoga for five days in the week should be sufficient.

Basic yoga creates more balance and improved health.  But it’s important to push the weaker areas a little more and not just do the easier stretches.  Focus your mind away from the outside distractions and pay attention to the internal cues you get regarding any particular needs – mentally, physically, spiritually or mentally – on that day.

Yoga for women can be done in the early morning or evening, and should be done an hour after eating or three or four hours after a big meal. Another practice in addition to yoga is meditation. One may consider looking at the beginners guide to meditation in an effort to gain even more centeredness.

Jivamukti Yoga Information

Created by David Life and Sharon Gannon, Jivamukti yoga is a yoga style that combines physical, spiritual and philosophical aspects of traditional yoga. The Jivamukti method of yoga is one of the nine internationally recognized styles of Hatha yoga, the other eight being Ashtanga, Iyengar, Viniyoga, Sivananda, Integral, Bikram, Kripalu, and Kundalini. In the west the rather physical part of yoga is mainly emphasized. More and more people start taking yoga classes in order to make their bodies firmer and fitter.

Yet, lots of practitioners come to realize that what may seem a very strenuous physical workout is in fact a way to the inner self that opens one towards spirituality. David Life and Sharon Gannon became teachers because they felt the need to share the fact that yoga is more than just a system of exercises, but a path to enlightenment and a spiritual practice. Jivamukti yoga thus becomes a relevant translation of the Indian system of yoga for the approach of the westerner mind so that it can be easier to grasp. Among the elements emphasized by Jivamukti yoga there are meditation, devotional chanting or the study of the ancient texts.

The meaning of the word Jivamukti (pronounced Jee-va-mook-tee) can be translated as follows: Jiva means individual soul and mukti means liberation. The word is derived from the Sanskrit jivanmuktih, which translates liberation in this life. The name Jivamukti yoga reflects the fact that it is possible to have a beneficial and fulfilling life in the world but also progress spiritually, perhaps even touching the liberation state.

There are five tenets of Jivamukti yoga which must be considered before taking into account the practice of it. The first one is the study of the ancient yoga teaching including Sanskirt chanting. The second one is the acknowledgment that universal consciousness is the goal of all yoga practices, known under the name of Bhakti. The third tenet is Ahimsa, that is a non-violent, compassionate life-style, which stresses the importance of ethical vegetarianism. The forth one is the Nada, as the development of a sound mind in a sound both through deep listening. The last tenet of Jivamukti yoga, but not the least, is meditation, the connection with the unchanging reality within. Another fact to be considered before taking on Jivamukti yoga is the fact that the classes tend to be quite physically intense. Although it may seem difficult, the great fame of Jivamukti yoga in the United States cannot pass unnoticed; there is a Jivamukti yoga School in New York, and there are experienced instructors teaching it all over the country.

For more about Tibetan yoga schools and yoga instructors Monroe NY, check out our web site.

Understanding Chakra Balancing

Understanding Chakra Balancing – Modern science has done its best to obliterate from the minds of people the existence and importance of spiritual being within the physical being.

Hindu thinking on the nature of being is different and as a result the spiritual belief in the spiritual healing flame burns bright in spite of science and technology.

Our body is made up of 7 primary Chakras as well as thousands of secondary ones. the word Chakra, in fact, is a Sanskrit word meaning Wheel of Light, and these Chakras are in a constant state of rotation and vibration in a healthy body.

And so, an imbalance in the movement of these charkas results in imbalance of the overall healthy functioning of the body. Chakra Balancing then is the key to a healthy body, mind, and soul.

Chakras are called Entrance Gates of the Aura which includes and presents life-force energy through central points. Located along the central line of the body the seven primary Chakras go from the bases of the spine to the top of the head. They transmit energy to the universe, nature and other people as well as communicate energy from those same bodies.

Why do the chakras become distorted?

There can be a blockage in one or more of the Chakras causing energy to flow improperly resulting in an imbalance ultimately causing problems that manifest in the physical world.

The harmonious functioning of Chakras can be distorted due to a number of factors, like ill health, stress, unhealthy diet, exposure to toxicity, lack of exercise, inability to express emotions, beliefs incongruent with Truth, disconnection from a higher power, childhood traumas, cultural conditioning, emotional injuries, etc.

Chakra Healing leads to a better life

It is a very widely held but utopian belief that chakras always function completely in harmony. Therefore, humans have always tried to correct this erroneous belief and seek to strike a fine balance between the chakras. Chakra balancing loosely incorporates the idea of self-healing.

Our glandular processes, thoughts, physical ailments, body shape, and behavior can be controlled by the chakras very easily. By balancing the chakras, we ensure that these limitations work to give us healthy minds, souls and bodies.

Chakra balance can have very good effects:

* Happiness and the achievement of inner peace

* Physical health and vitality

* Consciousness and being in touch with ones body

* Sexually content life without getting influenced by lust

* Awareness of ones feelings at the ethereal level

* Enhanced capacity to attract and express love in ones life

* Having increased maturity and spiritual growth

* Being able to attain spiritual healing through higher patterns of acceptance, awareness and consciousness

* A compassionate and loving heart

* Achieving wonderful confidence levels without being overly confident

* The realization of one’s true self and purpose in the universe.

What do you need to be successful with a chakra balance?

With Chakra balance comes many new processes and thoughts. There are many ways in which to find balance of one’s Chakras including:

* Reiki and other medicinal therapies

* Yoga (including breathing exercises) and Meditation

* Physical exercise

* Using color or light therapy

* Use of crystals and gems

*Utilization of hands and pendulums in balance

* Aromatherapy

*Utilizing touch therapy

* Maintaining an optimistic outlook

* Binaural sound frequency therapy

* Practicing or using hypnosis and doing affirmations

Our bodies are comprised of energy, and in them, spent energy is disposed of and released by the bodily organs and then replenished with new energy supplies.

When we are in an optimized state, happiness and health come naturally to us.

When you’re optimized in this way, you have health, happiness and inner peace naturally. In balancing your chakras, you simply bring them back to their natural state of frequency and vibration.

Find Out 3 Effective Posture Improving Routines for Neck and Shoulders

You don’t hear much spoken about poor posture compared to other health ailments but it is not as harmless as it might appear to some people. It can easily lead to decrease in your height and also cause back ailments in the near future.

It can be easily improved, however, with the help of some posture exercises aimed at the neck and shoulder regions. 3 of these grow taller exercises to improve your neck and shoulder posture are described below.

Shoulder Release: Be comfortably seated on a chair with a straight back and feet flat on the ground. Your arms should be hanging by your sides, palms facing towards your body. Now inhale deeply, and as you do so, raise your shoulders up to the level of your ears. Hold this position, then exhale and release your shoulders back to their normal position.

This stretching exercise is very good for the shoulders and the region along the spine. You will immediately experience light and free along the spine as if a burden has been removed. Do this exercise for more than four times at one go.

Turkey Stretch: Like the previous exercise, sit on a chair with back erect and feet flat on the ground. Keep your eyes fixed beyond the tip of your nose, and hold a hand to your chin. Now breath in deeply, keeping the hand pressed firmly enough on your chin so that you don’t lose posture. You should feel yourself rising up as you fully inhale. This routine is also great for stretching out the back. Perform this a few times each sitting.

Turkey Stretch and Turn: This is another variant of the last one that helps the shoulders and back. Again, sitting straight up on a chair, tuck your chin down into your neck area without changing your back posture. Take a deep breath, and as you do so, turn your neck slowly to the right, maintaining the same shoulder and back posture.

Remain in that stance and breathe in deeply again. Now as you breathe out, bring the neck back to where you started. Do this again, now turning left and back to the center. Go over the procedure four times in total.

These exercises to increase height are wonderful de-stressing postures that free up your neck and shoulders. The spine too feels nice. You can do these exercises any time any place and very soon you will see the results.