The Benefits of Different Types of Yoga Pose
May 11, 2009 by Gail Grannum
Filed under Yoga Poses Beginner
The practice of yoga is aimed at developing a harmonious relationship between mind, body, and spirit through different types of yoga poses or asanas. A combination of different types of yoga poses in one session helps the individual attain flexible joints, toned muscles, and increased strength. Here are the different types of yoga poses and their benefits. 
Standing Yoga Poses
Some yoga poses are done in the standing position. These standing yoga poses such as the triangular pose or trikonasana help in promoting the strength and flexibility of the body and in its proper alignment. Since they promote the strength and endurance of the body, they work wonderfully for improving posture and thus help build the confidence of the individual.
Sitting Yoga Poses
Some sitting yoga poses are used for the practice of breathing exercises (pranayama) and for practicing meditation. However, sitting poses such as the lotus pose or the padmasana are not only good for meditation, but they also strengthen your legs, ankles, and hips. They help in elongating the spine and strengthening it. This promotes a good sitting posture.
Twisting Yoga Poses
The half-spinal twist or the Ardha Matsyendrasana is an example of the twisting yoga poses. These poses exercise the spine a little differently than the other asanas. They gently stretch the back and thereby strengthen it. And this is not the only benefit that you can expect from these asanas. They also gently massage the abdominal organs and improve digestion. They relieve the tension in the muscles and joints. These poses require special attention and the movements should be slow and fluid in order to avoid injuries.
Inverted Yoga Poses
Any kind of inverted yoga pose does wonders for your facial skin, your hair, and your brain. The upside down position of poses such as the headstand or Shirsasana promotes circulation of blood throughout the body and helps detoxify it. A fresh supply of oxygen to the brain reduces lethargy and depression and improves concentration and memory.
Relaxation Yoga Poses
Yoga poses such as the corpse position or Shavasana are not just aimed at relaxing the body, but also at relaxing the mind. It relieves stress and anxiety. It calms the body and the mind. When the body and mind are calm, the immunity of an individual is strengthened and it prevents the frequent occurrence of illnesses.
Bending Yoga Poses
These yoga poses can either be forward bending or backward bending. Forward bending poses help promote the flexibility of the back and relieve tension and stiffness. Backward bending poses are often used to counterbalance the forward bending yoga poses. They are good for the nervous system and prevent hunching which is common with age.
It is believed that there are around 84,000 yoga poses know to man. For a yoga beginner, it is essential that the right kind of yoga poses are learnt from a qualified instructor and practiced daily at a regular time. A complete yoga session should ideally include the different types of yoga poses. This will help an individual reap the numerous benefits of yoga for a healthy body, mind, and spirit. Click Here to take survey
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The Different Types of Yoga Styles
May 11, 2009 by Gail Grannum
Filed under Yoga Poses Beginner
If you are planning on including yoga in your daily exercise routine, you need to know that there are actually different types of yoga styles that are being taught and practiced during this modern day and age. Although the yoga poses or asanas are similar in most of these yoga styles, the way they are practiced might vary. Here is a brief description of the various types of yoga styles that are quite popular these days.
Hatha Yoga
This type of yoga style is a combination of the positive current (“ha” or the sun) and the negative current (“tha” or the moon). Hatha yoga includes physical yoga asanas, breathing exercises, meditation, mudras, and purification procedures. It is gentle and slow-paced and a good yoga style to choose for a beginner.
Vinyasa Yoga
This yoga style is more vigorous than Hatha yoga. It involves a series of yoga poses called Surya Namaskar or Sun Salutations. Each movement in this series is matched to the breath and each pose is balanced with a counter pose. This type of yoga works wonderfully well for warming up and is an ideal preparation for more intense stretching.
Ashtanga Yoga
Popularly known as power yoga, this type of yoga style is fast-paced and intense. It is a physically demanding type of yoga with a focus on building strength and stamina. The yoga poses are more difficult and the individual has to quickly move from one pose to the other in a constant flow. It is not ideal for yoga beginners. However, those who are looking at building their athletic abilities, Ashtanga yoga poses are quite suitable.
Iyengar Yoga
The Iyengar yoga style focuses on body alignment and inner awareness. It emphasizes holding yoga poses for long periods of time and meditating in these postures. This type of yoga also encourages the use of props. It is ideal for beginners and for those who have never exercised.
Kundalini Yoga
This type of yoga style combines breath control, chanting, meditation, hand and finger gestures, and guided relaxation. Kundalini refers to the vital energy which lies at the base of the spine and this yoga style is aimed at freeing this energy for the purification of the mind, body, and emotions.
Bikram Yoga
Bikram Yoga is performed in a room with a temperature as high as 95-100 Fahrenheit. This loosens the tight muscles and leads to extreme sweating. This sweating is believed to be cleansing for the body. This yoga style is very intense and demanding and is only ideal for extremely fit individuals.
Besides these most popular types of yoga, there are a few other yoga styles which are practiced throughout the world. These include, but are not limited to:
Kripalu (spontaneous and meditation-oriented),
Sivananda (based on the 5 principles of proper exercise, breathing, relaxation, diet, and thinking),
Raja Yoga (attaining liberation through meditation),
Bhakti Yoga (devotional yoga), and
Mantra Yoga (liberation through repetition of sounds)
Choosing the right type of yoga style will depend on your specific needs and your own fitness ability. Whereas Hatha, Vinyasa, and Iyengar yoga styles can be safely practiced by anyone and are ideal for beginners, Bikram Yoga and Ashtanga Yoga are usually practiced by individuals who are yoga veterans. However, whatever the yoga style, you can expect to gain maximum benefits of yoga by a regular practice. Click Here to take survey
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Review: Yoga for Weight Loss for Beginners and Essential Yoga for Inflexible People
May 11, 2009 by Gail Grannum
Filed under Yoga Poses Beginner
“Yoga For Weight Loss for Beginners
Maggie Rhoades is a certified Yoga and Pilates instructor and her DVD “Yoga For Weight Loss for Beginners” (Amazon affiliate link)
Maggie Rhoades begins the DVD with an introduction to yoga and how it can help attain harmony and balance in your life. The video offers routines for yoga beginners. The viewer can choose a routine according to his/her interests and requirements. The basic poses are demonstrated in a step-by-step manner. The instructions clearly specify how each pose is to be done along with the benefits of each pose.
There are basically three sections in the DVD. And each section has multiple workout routines.
- The first section is specifically meant for yoga beginners. The poses in this section involve slow and continuous movements and flow from one to the other. Clear instructions about when to breathe in and out make it easier for a beginner to understand the importance of proper breathing in a yoga session. The pace of the workout is neither too slow nor too fast. The poses included work wonderfully well in shedding extra pounds and promoting flexibility, balance, and strength.
- The second section of the video gets more challenging. This section also includes poses that flow from one to the other, but they are of varying length and the focus also keeps shifting from one part of the body to the other. The workouts in this section are ideal to lose extra pounds and provide a good workout for the muscles.
- The third section gets more interesting. The workouts in this section combine yoga poses with the use of light weights and resistance band. It’s a unique approach to yoga and is ideal for more strength training. You get all the benefits of yoga with some extra toning for your muscles.
Clear instructions, poses that promote strength and flexibility, and routines designed to easily lose weight even for yoga beginners makes this DVD a worthy buy. Combined with the beautiful landscape and the relaxing sounds, the workout routines in the video not only promote weight loss and muscle toning, but also leave you more relaxed and more energetic at the end of it. So, if you are looking at losing weight with some yoga, this Maggie Rhoades DVD is highly recommended.
Another DVD by Maggie Rhoades which is highly recommended for yoga beginners who are really inflexible is “Essential Yoga For Inflexible People (Amazon affiliate link) “
If you have tried a few videos which claimed to use simple yoga poses, but found them to be too fast paced and too difficult, this DVD is just right for you. The years of yoga experience that Maggie Rhoades has can be seen in the clear instructions and her understanding about the body of highly inflexible individuals.
- It is, therefore, perfect for yoga beginners who have a low level of physical strength and endurance and who want to improve their flexibility.
- The video is slow paced and allows a yoga beginner to progress at his/her own pace. The pace of the video allows the viewer enough time to move slowly into the pose and get the proper alignment of the body.
- Maggie Rhoades provides clear instructions about how to perform a pose and also provides information about its purpose and benefits.
The video is divided into three sections and each section is more challenging than the previous one. Different routines are provided in the various sections.
- Some routines are as short as 6 minutes, whereas a full routine can be as long as 90 minutes. So, you can pick up a routine depending on the time available with you.
- The shorter routines often focus on one type of yoga poses (for example, sitting poses or standing poses) or one body part.
- The full routines provide a complete workout for each and every part of the body and include different types of yoga poses.
The instructor also uses props such as a chair and a blanket while performing the yoga poses. This makes it easier for an inflexible yoga beginner to move into a pose easily and at the same time aids in stability.
In summary, if you never tried yoga or gave up on it because you found it too difficult, this Maggie Rhoades DVD is perfect for you. The Yoga Poses Beginner workouts are slow-paced. Clear instructions make it easy to move in and out of the different yoga poses. You can pick a routine depending on how flexible you are and how much time you have available. Combined with beautiful scenery and the soothing voice of the instructor, the routines in this video will leave you relaxed and energetic. Click Here to take survey
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The Wonderful Benefits of Yoga
May 11, 2009 by Gail Grannum
Filed under Yoga Poses Beginner
Irrespective of religion, country, sex, and age, anyone and everyone can enjoy the benefits of yoga. Yoga is a Sanskrit word which means “union” and originated in ancient India. According to ancient Sanskrit texts, there are actually 8 limbs of yoga which relate to the different aspects of an individual’s life and are essential for leading a healthy and fulfilling life.
Its focus on the overall development of an individual is the reason why it has become so popular throughout the world. There are probably hundreds of benefits of yoga which are know to us at present and many might still be revealed in the future. But here are a few of the benefits that you can expect with a regular practice of yoga.
Benefits of Yoga for Your Body
Most people usually take to yoga for its numerous physiological benefits.
- Yoga poses or asanas are designed to stretch and strengthen your muscles, joints, ligaments, and tendons.
- Combined with the right breathing practice, they work to make you supple, flexible, and fit. Regular practice of yoga helps build immunity, improve the quality of your sleep, helps you lose or gain weight, and improves eye-hand coordination and dexterity skills. And that’s not all.
- Yoga stabilizes the different functions of you body. So, you can expect yoga to normalize your hormonal imbalances, your gastrointestinal and excretory functions, improve your respiratory and cardiovascular functions, and also stabilize your nervous system.
Benefits of Yoga for Your Beauty
A beautiful and ageless skin is one of the benefits of yoga which attracts people. The regular practice of the many inverted yoga poses reduces the wrinkles on the face. Better circulation to the face, calmness of the body and mind, and better sleep provides a natural glow to the complexion of an individual which can never be achieved with the various products available in the market. Yoga also does wonders for your hair. It increases the blood supply to your scalp and thus delays the graying of hair and helps you get thicker, shiny, and beautiful hair. And of course, the improved posture which results from the regular practice of yoga also adds to your beauty.
Benefits of Yoga for Your Mind
Although there are many physical benefits of yoga, it is considered to be one practice which provides more psychological benefits than any other form of exercising.
- The different yoga poses, breathing exercises, and regular meditative practices which are important parts of a regular yoga session improve concentration and memory, makes learning and retention easier, reduces depression and anxiety, improves mood, reduces tension, and promotes mind-body harmony.
Other Benefits of Yoga
Yoga also provides other benefits for an individual.
- The person becomes more self-aware. A positive self-esteem and a clarity of mind helps you deal with people and situations in a more effective and positive way. Calmness of mind and respect for yourself and others helps in better relationships. In this way, yoga provides benefits in each and every aspect of your life.
A yoga session involves many yoga poses and for a yoga beginner some of them may be instantly relaxing whereas some may take a few days to get used to. But there is one thing for sure. The above-mentioned benefits of yoga are not the only ones. Only when you practice yoga regularly will you be able to actually realize and experience the many wonderful benefits of yoga. Click Here to take survey
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After Losing Jobs People Report More Health Issues
May 9, 2009 by Gail Grannum
Filed under Blog
New research has found that the loss of a job can lead to financial difficulties and health problems, including diabetes, hypertension, stroke, heart disease and heart attack.
“In today’s economy, the loss of a job, can happen to anyone and there may be health consequences that cause negative effects.” Kate Strully conducted the research at the Harvard School of public health. The study appears in the May 8 issue of demographics.
Strully’s analysis of information on a wide range of occupations: professional, management, sales, office work and craft, operators of machines and job service offices.
When the job loss was the result of a closure, white or blue collar workers had a 54% probability of reporting fair or poor health. And the chances for a new health problems increased by 83% among those who had not already previously reported health problems. Differences between employers and employees dismissed or voluntarily leaving a job were unexplained.
- The loss of jobs more than doubled the likelihood of reporting fair or poor health among blue collar workers. Yet there was little or no impact on the health of white collar workers. Even if these workers find new jobs, the increased risk of stress associated with health problems, the investigation remained.
This research was supported by a historic Gallup Poll released during March. In fact, almost every day in 2008 and still ongoing, the study of 355,334 people is the longest and largest study, which shows how the emotional changes with the economic changes.
The study called Emotional Health Index (EHI) – a measure that weighs the negative, such as depression, stress and fear of positive emotions of a person with experience.
Among the highlights of the study:
- The condition of EUI in connection with the high level of deaths from diseases such as heart disease, explains the analyst Raksha Arora (Gallup). States with lots of space and sunshine – Hawaii, Alaska, and Wyoming – has some of the best emotional health, even if the economy has collapsed. Many poor in the rust states – West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky – were worse.
- There are hardly any differences of race, but the Hispanics, the largest and fastest minorities, had the poorest emotional health during the year.
The survey was a joint effort between Gallup and Healthways. “The results of the investigation are not surprising people in mental health care” said David Baron, chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia. “The recession has hit the people in almost all areas of life,” says Baron.
The relationship between the disease and of the EUI sense adds Stevan Hobfoll, Psychologist Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Depression increases smoking and drinking and discourage exercise, but also increases the risk of diseases of the heart. “he says.
- The investigation shows that people 30 to 55 years, may be the most affected with bad news on the economy, according to Gallup Arora.
- During times of stress, it is critical to find methods to maintain peace of mind, inner calm and good mental health. Psychiatrist Judith Orloff in her book, Emotional Freedom, suggests practical steps build healthy emotional habits, and manage difficult emotions.
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