...yoga is a 5,000 year old exercise system that works to improve your overall health and well-being. If you talk to any yoga instructor, you will hear the phrase, be in harmony with yourself and your environment. yoga enforces the use of your total being; mind, body, and spirit. Through yoga exercises, you learn to stimulate the organs within your abdomen, improve the circulation throughout your body, and apply pressure upon the glandular areas of the body. All of this coupled with specific breathing and meditation techniques, gives you the ability to focus on your surroundings and feelings.

There are many aspects of yoga, but one of the good things is that yoga is an exercise regimen that anyone can practice. It does not matter how old you are, or young and it certainly does not matter if you are male, female, rich, poor, homemaker, or professional athlete. yoga is an ancient practice that benefits every age and body. For women, practicing yoga can help in weight loss, muscle building, and toning. One excellent benefit of yoga is that ...more

10 Best Reasons Older Adults Need to Practice yoga and the Soft Martial Arts

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1. Strengthen Muscles and Bones yoga especially builds muscle strength and bone mass. The vital weight-bearing postures of yoga stimulate the bones to retain calcium. In yoga, both the upper and lower body receive the benefits of bearing weight, unlike walking or running.

2. Improved Heart and Respiratory Health Chi Gung and the soft martial arts have been shown in studies to improve circulation, heart health, and respiratory function. yoga breathing exercises are very powerful tools to increase respiratory function, breath capacity and physical energy. Both increase vitality and sense of well-being.

3. Increased Flexibility yoga and Chi Gung both increase overall flexibility, contributing to improved everyday functioning and mobility, and protection from falls. Despite popular notions, you do not need to be flexible to practice yoga. The idea is to practice at your current level with patience and compassion, gently becoming more pliable.

4. Better Posture Good posture calls upon our new strength and flexibility to keep our spine healthy and strong. Healthy body posture supports digestive and respiratory functions as well. Poor posture in combination with osteoporosis leads to stress fractures.

5. Improved Balance Balance gives older adults the confidence to move freely and to engage in physical activities. One of the ...more

Foundations of Yoga: Yama and Niyama, Part 1

...Prerequisites for yoga

"Knowledge (Jnana) does not come about from practice of yoga methods alone. Perfection in knowledge is in fact only for those who begin by practice of virtue (dharma). Yet, without yoga as a means, knowledge does not come about. The practice of yogic methods is not the means by itself, yet it is only out of that practice of yoga that the perfection in knowledge comes about. And so it is said by the teachers: 'Yoga is for the purpose of knowledge of truth'" Thus wrote Shankara.

All things rest upon something else-that is, all things are supported by another. This is because a foundation is needed for anything to exist. Being Himself the Ultimate Support of all things, God alone is free from this necessity. Yoga, then, also requires support. As Trevor Leggett says in his introduction to Shankara's commentary on the Yoga Sutras: "This is yoga presented for the man of the world, who must first clear, and then steady, his mind against the fury of illusory passions, and free his life fr...more

Yoga A Timeless Culture For A Healthy Lifestyle

... is a vacant space with flat floor surface large enough to stretch out on, a mat or towel, enough overhead space to fully raise the arms and loose and appropriate clothing. Yoga should be done with an empty stomach, preferably three or more hours after meal. And there's nothing more important than mental and spiritual readiness.

Yoga is such a powerful exercise, that proper precautions are prerequisites to its use. Hence, noted are the following: people with disabilities severe, acute or chronic health conditions should first consult their medical practitioner and yoga instructor to keep away from any dangers that might arise. Although there is no age requirement, certain poses and techniques vary according to the abilities of the practitioner, thus, it is better to consult a qualified yoga trainer for advice.more

Picture Of Advanced Yoga Positions