YOGA 4 YOU

(NaturalNews) Yoga is an effective way to enhance both physical and mental well-being. While yoga is becoming more popular in recent years, it is actually an ancient activity that focuses on connecting the mind, the body, and the spirit by performing specific poses, breathing, and meditation. The practice of yoga has many health benefits that can improve everyone's health. In fact, yoga is an inexpensive and effective way to improve all areas of one's life.

Some of the physical benefits include:

-Improved flexibility
-Improved joint mobility
-Muscle building, toning, and strengthening
-Posture correction
-Spine strengthening
-Lessening back pain
-Improving muscular-skeletal conditions
-Increasing strength and stamina
-Improving balance
-Stimulating the endocrine system
-Improving digestion and elimination
-Increasing circulation
-Improving heart conditions
-Improving breathing disorders
-Boosting the immune system
-Decreasing cholesterol and glucose levels
-Facilitating weight loss

Some mental benefits include:

-Increasing body awareness
-Relieving stress
-Relaxing the body by relieving muscle strain
-Sharpening concentration
-Freeing the spirit

Recent studies have shown that yoga can also be instrumental in relieving symptoms connected to:

-Arthritis
-Arteriosclerosis
-Chronic fatigue
-Diabetes
-AIDS
-Asthma
-Obesity
-Accelerated aging

Yoga has been touted as a nearly perfect fitness routine that is effective for almost anyone of any age and fitness level. Even children can benefit from learning yoga. If children learn yoga while they are young it will enable them to retain their natural flexibility as they age. Older people can greatly benefit from yoga exercises because it can enable them to increase their mobility and it may also help alleviate symptoms associated with arthritis and poor circulation.

Yoga helps develop balance and coordination. It is an invigorating activity that stretches and tones muscles and joints and directs blood and oxygen to internal organs, glands, and nerves. Learning yoga develops self-discipline and will improve concentration and memory. Yoga is different from conventional forms of exercise because the focus is on quality of movement instead of quantity.

Consistent yoga will quiet the mind, refresh the body and enable overall peace and happiness. Yoga involves motion without incurring strain or imbalances within the body. When yoga is done correctly there are no negative effects whatsoever and it can be quite demanding and strenuous. It is not an aerobic exercise but it involves almost every muscle and challenges the body very effectively.

Limbs act as free weights and resistance is created by moving the body's center of gravity. This strength building activity creates endurance when the yoga poses are able to be held for longer periods of time as one progresses in skill and strength.

Yoga is also a good exercise choice during pregnancy. Yoga is beneficial for both the expectant mother and the unborn baby. Yoga can help with common pregnancy discomforts like backaches and yoga has also been shown to make labor shorter and easier.

Yoga is a good addition to other sports activities because most sports are contingent upon muscle strength and stamina. Yoga is effective for helping one's body and mind to function better together. A flexible body will be less prone to being injured. Yoga postures are the different positions that are held while coordinating breathing with stretching and strengthening.

Practicing yoga will complement and enhance other activities such as running, bicycling, and strength training in particular because the postures involved in yoga work all of the major muscle groups. Not only does yoga improve all of the major and minor muscle groups, but it also helps to send oxygen to all of the cells in the body because of the conscious deep breathing and sustained stretching and contraction of the various muscle groups.

With a little time and effort, the positive effects of yoga will not only improve one's health, but also every area of one's life will become evident and abundant. Yoga works by making one feel good, strong, and peaceful.

(NaturalNews)When the mind is bogged down by depression, it makes it difficult to muster the energy to accomplish even simple tasks. Many are in search of alternative remedies for treating depression, since medications are rarely a permanent solution - and can even make symptoms worse over time. Yoga provides a simple solution for reawakening vitality lost to depression by energizing you from the inside out.

Modern studies verify what faithful yogis have always known: yoga improves the state of the mind and body. A study from the University of Toronto showed that patients using stress reduction and relaxation therapy in addition to medication were less likely to relapse into depression compared to those who only received medication. Various studies from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience in India have shown great results in depression patients who consistently practice deep breathing exercises.

Deep breathing techniques are a foundational principle of yoga. Learning to take slow, deep breaths maximizes the amount of oxygen your muscles and organs receive. Deep exhalation promotes purity in the body by ridding it of toxins which can accumulate during bouts of depression. Concentrating on proper breathing also helps focus the mind, a quality that can prove very useful in dealing with depression.

Combined with breathing techniques, yoga also involves positions that promote circulation in every part of the body. This improves the body's health in many ways, including better function in the immune and nervous systems. Digestion and joint movement are also improved with regular yoga practice. These benefits are vital if you are chronically depressed, because depression inhibits the proper function of many systems in the body. By reviving the body with yoga, you can start to undo some of the damage caused by depression. When the body starts to heal physically, mental obstacles are easier to overcome.

Perhaps one of the greatest benefits of yoga is how easily results can be achieved. Depression is marked by a patient's difficulty in participating in normal activities. Even just a few minutes of yoga each day can have a positive effect, sparking the motivation to make it a regular practice. As mental clarity and physical energy improve, it becomes easier to include longer sessions of yoga.

Depression makes it difficult for a person to come out of the downward spiral that feels unconquerable. Yoga provides a way to strengthen the body and mind; it shines a light at the end of a dark tunnel.

(NaturalNews) Yoga has long been known for having healing powers. Recently Yoga has begun to be used as a treatment to aid in healing those with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Practitioners of Yoga claim that it aids them in feeling grounded and in the present, gaining awareness of their bodies and the strength of their bodies, feeling calmer, and being in control of their thoughts. Bessel van der Kolk, a psychiatry professor at Boston University School of Medicine was involved in a recent study published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. This study showed that Yoga can aid in PTSD recovery. In this study a group of female patients suffering from PTSD were taught Hatha Yoga in eight sessions while another group of female patients underwent eight sessions of group therapy. Those who finished the Yoga training showed a substantial improvement in symptoms such as "the frequency of intrusive thoughts and the severity of jangled nerves" in comparison to those who underwent group therapy. Van der Kolk had the following to say about the relationship which Yoga can play on aiding PTSD suffers, "The memory of the trauma is imprinted on the human organism. I don't think you can overcome it unless you learn to have a friendly relationship with your body."

One of the benefits of Yoga practice is that it can aid in toning down maladaptive nervous system arousal which helps in reducing perceived stress. Because of this effect Yoga could be helpful especially in patients suffering from PTSD. One randomized study followed a group of disabled Australian Vietnam veterans who were diagnosed with severe PTSD. A group of patients underwent a five day course which taught them "breathing techniques, yoga asanas, education about stress reduction, and guided meditation" and a control group received no education. By six weeks into the study the group that had received the education on yoga had decreased from moderate to severe PTSD scores to mild to moderate PTSD scores while the control group scores remained the same. Recently the United States Army has committed to spend $4 million dollars in research to find ways to aid veterans suffering from PTSD. This research will including looking into such things as "spiritual ministry, transcendental meditation, [and] Yoga" and "bioenergies such as Qi gong, Reiki, [and] distant healing."

Yoga appears to be a natural and safe way for people suffering from PTSD and other stress and anxiety related disorders to help reduce symptoms allowing them to live more normal lives.

(NaturalNews) People have been proclaiming the many benefits of yoga for centuries. Some of the praises for this ancient discipline include greater flexibility and strength, improved energy levels and sleep, and a calmer, more contented mind. People love it because it is not only a powerful way to get into shape physically; it is also a fantastic way to feel more emotionally harmonious. It offers a holistic approach to coping with the challenges of daily life.

People are drawn to yoga these days for many reasons. Some people simply hope for increased health and fitness, or may be seeking relief for a specific physical condition. Others are seeking a way to manage stress. Yoga can also complement medical science and therapy for specific conditions such as depression and anxiety. Yoga has also become known as a good way to prepare for child birth. It helps less able-bodied people to get into shape.

While hearing how yoga has enhanced so many people's lives is enough of a reason to make this practice part of your weekly or even daily routine, a recent scientific study has further validated the benefits that have been talked about for years.

This study was published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. Nineteen individuals were assigned to either an hour yoga session of postures and conscious breathing, or a 1 hour reading session. It was important to the creators of the study to compare two activities that have been known to be relaxing and pleasurable in order to ascertain the true power of yoga.

The level of GABA (gamma aminobutyric acid) was tested before and after the session. All subjects were then assessed for brain levels of GABA both before and after the session. GABA is a brain chemical that has a generally calming, anti-anxiety effect within the brain.

Individuals who completed the yoga session had a 27 percent increase in GABA levels on average. However, those who read saw no change in the levels of this brain chemical.

This brilliant study explains some of the health benefits that are enjoyed and exclaimed by those who regularly practice yoga with an objective measurement. It certainly reinforces the claims that have been made by yogis and regular people alike, in a scientific way.