Posts Tagged ‘Stretches’

Here's How The 5 Tenets Of Yoga Promote Healing Through Positive Thinking

There is scientific evidence that shows that optimists tend to live longer than pessimists? This is because positive thinking helps promote a physiological environment that is optimal for healing. The five tenets of yoga can help enhancing positive thinking. Here’s how.

1. Exercise. With exercise, feel-good hormones called endorphins are released, making you feel fresher and happier.. thereby replacing negative thoughts with positive ones. But more importantly, yoga helps unblock energy pathways, thus allowing energy healing to work.

2. Breathing. Most of us don't realize it - but we're actually not breathing right. Yoga emphasizes the usage of proper breathing techniques that increase oxygen intake which then enhances the circulation of both blood and energy in our bodies. As such, oxins of our bodies and the mind, are dispelled more efficiently and can be replaced by positive thoughts.

3. Relaxation. Yoga is a calming and rhythmic exercise, involving a lot of stretches and breathing. Through practicing the asanas and various yoga poses, tension is drained from our muscles – promoting relaxation of the body. This relief increases your happiness levels and general well-being, encouraging the development of positive thoughts.

4. Diet. Yoga promotes holistic healing and practices, and therefore encourages wholesome eating as well. It recommends eating mainly fresh foods with lots of fruits and vegetables. What we eat has an effect on both our bodies and our minds and food with high oil and preservative content introduces an endless list of toxins to our bodies, thus disrupting our energy flow. Eating habits prescribed by yoga encourages not only happiness and optimism, but higher energy levels!

5. Meditation. Lastly, meditation is a crucial element in the practice of yoga and energy healing. While the asanas and breathing techniques help to calm our minds, meditation allows us to take the time to contemplate our thoughts. It is through deep introspection  that the active release and dispelment of negative and hurtful emotions from our minds occur. Now, these negative emotions can be replaced with more serene and positive thoughts.

The advantages of Power Yoga

Together, Power Yoga is a truly exhilarating experience. Here we exercise our bodies and minds leaving us feeling energized and refreshed! Power Yoga is the translation from the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit, meaning”Asthanga Yoga” – meaning power Yoga. Power yoga is practiced by almost every age of person and almost every physical ability. While performing Power Yoga remember to think of uniting all the elements of your being– uniting your body, your mind and your breathing. It helps to strengthen not only the person’s body, but also his mind and overall well-being. Yoga student have seen the benefits of the all round workout that this style of yoga can give and this has made Power Yoga very popular in this country. Power yoga is taught in a variety of different yoga studios as well as traditional gyms that are quickly adding these studios to their list of available classes.heres some of the benefits of Power Yoga

Health benefits of Power Yoga

Increasing the Body’s flexibility with Power YogaThere are many different health benefits to practicing power yoga on a regular basis. Power Yoga is the translation from Sanskrit of “Asthanga Yoga” – meaning power Yoga. It comes from the yogic belief that Mind, Body and Breathing can help govern and reach well being. In addition to strength, however, there are other health benefits for not just the body but the mind as well. The body becomes more flexible when practicing power yoga since the poses require many different stretches and contortions when holding them. This enables the body to gain strength and flexibility at the same time, opening passageways that may have been bound up for years, constricting blood flow and holding in toxins. Increased blood flow is an additional benefit to practicing this type of yoga, as well as balance and coordination, since these are also needed to perform the poses correctly and to hold them.–  flexibility and control. Although the workout often appears to be easy since it is so smooth and flowing, looks are deceiving since all the Power Yoga poses require that the individual hold his own body weight throughout the series of five or more deep breaths that he needs to take before the pose is over. This requires strength from the muscles that the respective asana concentrates on. Power yoga consists of a series of poses that individuals perform in a very controlled manner, smoothly flowing from one to another. This requires a high level of concentration and body control that has to be mastered and gives the students a great workout as well.

Developing Strength with Power Yoga

Developing your strength is an additional benefit of power yoga. The first is obvious from the previous paragraph

Breathing & Mental Discipline and uniting your mind and body with Power Yoga

Yogis belief is that Pranayasana i.e. controlled breathing, combined with yoga poses can help reach mind and body harmony. Power Yoga requires discipline and concentration. Mental health is bolstered through the breathing techniques that are used in the poses of power yoga. Even when its difficult, a constant level of breathing is maintained throughout the Power Yoga class. Since Power Yoga requires a very high level of discipline and concentration, it provides a high level of concentration and relaxation to the person participating in the yoga class which he can carry over into his work life. The breathing is always deep and slow, being pulled in and out through the nose, rather than through the mouth. It is always pulled through the diaphragm so that it is deep and provides the necessary oxygen to the body. While performing Power Yoga remember to think of uniting all the elements of your being– uniting your body, your mind and your breathing

Positions For Yoga Beginners

Most yoga poses can be practiced by people at any level, so yoga positions for beginners are not really so different from any other yoga poses. What you will find if you go to a beginners class is that there will be much more explanation of each pose and where all the parts of your body should be every time. The yoga teacher will also spend more time explaining the principles of yoga and making sure that you know how to practice safely.

In a beginners yoga class you will be told the English name for each position by the instructor.g. Downward Facing Dog) and not just the Indian name (Adho Mukha Svanasana). This is especially important if you are joining a power yoga class where students move quickly from one pose to another. You could be completely lost in an advanced class because the instructor may only say the indian names!

It is best to buy a beginners yoga DVD or video and watch it closely all through the first time before starting to practice along with it if you you are a yoga beginners or without an instructor.

Sun Salutation (Surya Namaskara)

The sun salutation is a series of positions that flow well in a sequence and give your body some well balanced stretches. Many yoga students each morning and evening perform sun salutations. This is a shortened version which forms a very basic series of yoga poses for beginners.

It is very important to go through the series in time with your breathing. You should have slow and relaxed breathing. You can strain your breathing by streching so much.

1. Tadasana – Standing Pose

Begin standing with the outer edges of your feet parallel and big toes together. Hands by your sides. Back straight, neck long, head well back on the shoulders. Practice by a mirror or against a wall at first to be sure you are straight.

2. Inhale – Urdhva Hastasana – Raised Hands Pose

Bring the arms straight out to the sides with palms up, sweeping up until they meet above your head and slightly forward. Look up at your thumbs but keep the back straight. Keep the shoulders down – do not stretch the arms up too high.

3. Exhale – Uttanasana – Forward Bend

Sweep the hands out and down, hinge at the hips keeping the head and back straight as you go forward in a swan dive. At the end of your dive, let the head hang and the back bend so that you flop forward. If you need to, bend slightly at the knees then touch the floor either side of your feet. Place hands flat on the floor if you can do this easily. Relax into this pose. Make sure you relax your head completely.

4. Inhale – Flat Back

Roll the spine up to come up to a flat back at right angles to your legs, chin up looking forward, fingertips touching the floor or just above it. Make sure the back is not hollow or bent.

5. Exhale – Return to Uttanansana – Forward Bend

6. Inhale – Return to Urdhva Hastasana – Raised Hands Pose

Reverse the swan dive of #3: roll the spine up to a flat back with arms out to the sides and continuing on up with a flat back, hingeing at the hips, to stand straight with the hands meeting above your head in the Raised Hands Pose.

7. Exhale – Return to Tadasana – Standing Pose

These yoga positions for beginners can be the first step in your yoga practice.

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