Men can benefit a lot from yoga because what most other exercises lack is the promotion of flexibility. Flexibility is essential for all humans to protect their muscles and joints, promote great range and ease of motion. Mixed classes have a great dynamic and it is great to see some of the body builders realize how difficult some poses can be and the ultimate importance of having flexibility and STRENGTH.
Many people are shocked when they first start doing yoga at how inflexible they are in some aspect of their body’s movement, we sometimes if we have done exercise in the past imagine that we can still touch our toes or do the splits, if we did them in the past. It is a bit like finding that your car that did do 60 miles an hour can now only do 30, it makes you think, I need to take more care of my body so that my body will continue to take care of me. Yoga to me is a way to check in with my body and get feedback, how are my arms and hips doing today, I am more aware and that is a good thing.
Like a car we can start taking our body for granted and instead of a big illness being a wake up call I would rather have had a warning sooner. Although it is great to get positive feedback from your body, everything is great today as we relax into our favorite and more challenging postures.
Donna Houston
]]>Although yoga is a great exercise for all over fitness you can concentrate on certain areas with specific poses and stretches. For example if like me you get very tight and tense across the neck and shoulders because of lots of typing and computer work. It is so hard to get a desk and chair to prevent this tension developing. There are a few yoga positions that I love which helps me a lot for neck and shoulder tension.
The first is the standing forward fold or Uttanasana, this is a great posture to relax the muscles of your neck, it is a very calming pose and it is one of my favorite yoga poses which is deceptively simple. You will know this pose from your class or DVD, remember to warm up before any exercise and do not attempt any yoga straight after eating, especially this pose.
First stand in Mountain pose with your feet slightly apart about hip width or two fists apart. As one of my yoga teachers pointed out to her class it is not about the circumference of your hips but more about having your feet below your hip bones, which are usually about two fists apart in distance. Check it out but remember to bend your knees and protect your back.
So from mountain pose, slowly slide your hands down the front of your legs and fold forward from your hips, not your waist. From there you can either clasp your elbows in opposite hands or behind your legs. Relax your body into the pose, I love it here and when I do home practice stay it this for a while. Remember to bend the knees slightly do not lock them. Relax and breathe, if you can not get down far at the moment brace your hands against your legs or bend your knees more but if possible just dangle and relax. I find that if I stay in a pose for longer the body will relax more into it and go further but not forcing any stretch.
Another addition to the pose is to stand on the palms of the hand with the large toe pressing lightly into the fleshy base of the thumb. To do this place your hand in front of the feet, knuckle side to the mat (do use a mat as carpets and hard surfaces hurt), fingers pointing to the feet, step the feet forward on to the hands. I find this extremely relaxing, another variation is to clasp the hands behind your back and bring them over your head whilst in the forward bend, if you are flexible in the shoulders then you can get your clasped hands parallel to the floor, if like me you have very tense shoulders this is quite a challenging variation.
Donna Houston
]]>For a one hour class or twenty minutes in your living room you are totally focused on the quiet of your breath and the serenity of your practice. You are not thinking of the long list of things you need to do, I usually arrive at yoga breathless and in a rush but as soon as I roll out my mat this is me in this moment. A lot of times in the day we are focus on what we have to do in the future, work, shopping or thinking of things we wish we had done differently we are rarely focused on the now moment, the present.
As my yoga teacher is fond of saying, for this practice your thoughts should only be focused on what is happening on your mat not on the person next to you or what your are going to cook for dinner. The focus is on the breath and on your yoga.
It was really only when I started yoga regularly that I noticed now busy and noisy life is, if you live in a town or city, moments of quiet are rare unless you go to the park early in the morning and even then traffic starts up early as people go to work. I believe that if you incorporate regular periods of quiet in your life you very quickly become a calmer and more relaxed person who deals well with times of stress; this is what happened to me. It is as if the body and minds neutral point is set at a lower calmer level due to relaxation practice so that it takes longer to become stressed and also the level that the body and mind registers stress is higher. Since starting yoga and relaxation daily, people have commented on my much calmer nature, things like traffic jams and other daily irritations just don’t seem important enough to get excited about; I just go with the flow.
The reason that I know that it was yoga that caused this calm, is that when I was unable to go to classes because of other commitments and I skipped my home practice, I was much quicker to get irritated about daily ups and downs. I quickly pulled myself up about this and got my yoga mat out and sorted myself out with a calming bout of yoga.
Donna Houston
]]>There are many ways to help you to get into a home practice, you can get video, DVD or even an audio track of instructions, go to the library, charity shop or borrow from a friend, so you can try before you buy. In fact I sometimes prefer older yoga videos or DVDs that are not fronted by “famous” actresses but proper yoga instructors.
When you are just starting out in a home practice of exercise you need to have a comfortable and safe place to start usually a bedroom or living room, ideally a space were you do not need to move any or too much furniture. Try and have a dedicated space and always check that if you stumble in a balance you will be safe, move that glass coffee table or lamp stand.
I have done my yoga practice in cramped hotel rooms with no problem I just do a simpler routine, with lots of seated postures and sun salutations. Although when I need to do a headstand in a strange place, a folded towel to protect your head from the floor, is in my opinion just as good as a mat.
The best way to get into a home practice routine is to practice a number of short yoga routines so that you have a routine for every occasion and time slot.
Donna Houston
]]>Having a home practice improves your self discipline and your yoga practice as you see improvement very quickly in your strength and flexibility. This is not to say that you discontinue your yoga classes, it is important to keep attending classes so that you do not get into bad or sloppy habits.
Yoga on a daily basis improves your mood and promotes a relaxed start to the day; some people even start and end their day with yoga, splitting their practice into two parts or even doing extra. It is important to be in tune with your body and obviously not to exercise if you are ill.
Yoga is not only great for the body but the practice of regular meditation, balanced postures and breathing exercises are wonderful for the mind and spirit too. These practices promote a feeling of calm which you have with you always and can recall in times of stress.
A number of research studies have confirmed the benefits of regular meditation on the mind and body.
Donna Houston
]]>It costs no money, as you can get an older yoga DVD or video from the library or borrow one from a friend and although a mat is advisable, you can get away without one if you do not have a mat.
As for clothes any loose comfortable clothes will do, some do yoga naked (not at the gym obviously) and I’ve done yoga at the gym in my jeans, once when I forgot my stuff. I regularly start the day with a few sun salutations in my pajamas and do a couple of poses in the kitchen when I am waiting for the kettle to boil.
I love that there are people in there 80’s doing yoga as it encourages me to feel positive about my future health and the great possibilities for a healthy older age. There are all different types of yoga and restorative yoga for people who are ill or recovering from illness is great. They use cushions and blankets to support people in poses but most yoga teachers can help you adapt your yoga practice if you have any health problems.
In fact yoga has been proven in studies to help some conditions for example asthma and the regular relaxation at the end of yoga practice is great for people who suffer from stress or anxiety. In my personal experience yoga has helped my asthma, greatly reduced the amount of medication that I take and cut the amount and severity of asthma attacks. I know from visiting asthma forums that others have found the same benefits.
]]>I always feel better after a yoga class, calmer more relaxed, stronger and more able to tackle life and its challenges. I feel connection to the people in the class even though I may not know their names, we welcome newcomers and they become a part of the yoga family.
I have done many different types of exercise over the years with varied results, some were fun, some were hard most I did not stick to and I thought I was a failure when I gave up after only a few months. I enjoyed, to name a few, salsa, belly dancing, various martial arts, gymnastics, swimming, hill walking, running and the many classes at the gym, I always gave up and started something else. In my defense I have moved a lot, different regions and even countries but I always did some form of exercise even if it was only press ups and crunches in my bedroom.
I have always done meditation practice of some kind and yoga feels more like a physical representation of meditation than a form of exercise to me. The irony to me is that even though I fell in love with yoga in the last four years, my regret is that I did not find it sooner but I did and did not recognize that it was what I was looking for, when I was seventeen (I actually fell asleep in the class). I have found it now and I am prepared and eager to stick with it, I can see myself practicing yoga into my 90’s just like one member of our yoga group.
]]>By performing the asanas you work out all of the muscles in your body, but the effect is not only external. There is evidence that yoga allows for the more effective lubrication of the joints as well as of the ligaments and tendons. You will become more flexible, but most importantly you will be better protected from aging diseases such as osteoporosis. You will be able to move freely and without pain even at a very old age as long as you are serious about performing the various asanas. One of the main benefits of yoga is that it can effectively provide for the massaging of all body organs and glands. By providing for the more efficient work of these, you can be certain that you are protected from various types of diseases.
The regular or rather every day performance of the asanas will stimulate the blood flow in your body and more oxygen will reach all cells. This one of the benefits of yoga can efficiently protect you from the diseases of the cardiovascular system such as heart attacks and strokes. Also, your entire body is naturally purified through the battling of free radicals. In turn, you will feel more energetic and refreshed. Your looks will also be improved – your skin will be more radiant and softer while your hair will be shinier.
You should not underestimate the benefits of yoga to the mind and soul. If you practice meditation along with the asanas you will be able to battle stress efficiently. Most importantly, you will be able to achieve a peace of mind and find the harmony in your life that is the base for bliss and happiness. Yoga will make you more self confident and motivated, but will also teach you how to accept the misfortunes. When you are in harmony with yourself and the surrounding world and exercise your body and its organs you will live longer – there are many famous yoga practitioners that are over a hundred years old.
Donna Houston
]]>Through yoga meditation, you will attain a high sense of tranquility as you become more aware of yourself and your surroundings. Meditation also helps in the development of a stronger self will and better concentration. In addition, your mind will become clearer and you will gain more wisdom. Meditation has definite benefits both physically and mentally.
You need to be disciplined in order to learn proper meditation, as focusing the mind is more challenging than it appears. There are a number of things you need to bear in mind when you would like to meditate effectively.
Once you have mastered how to meditate properly, you will feel a great sense of calm. This is something that can only be experienced but not captured into words properly. Try it for yourself.
Donna Houston
]]>Although meditation can not, and should not, strictly be categorized, the practice can be viewed in three stages. These are beginning, intermediate, and advanced meditation. The broad categories are not intended to segregate people practicing different levels. Instead, they should help someone as he progresses through the exercise.
In the initial stages, you will be involved more in the search for methods than actually meditating. During the intermediate level of meditation, you will have a fairly good knowledge of the practice. You will be improving on the practices already learnt as you integrate them with new ones. In the final advanced stage, you will have a good grasp of the process of meditation, and you will realize the main objective of obtaining a self awareness.
The practice of meditation requires a general lifestyle that is disciplined and well balanced. You will exercise acceptance, love, and compassion while curbing passions of such things as food and sex from running wild. The practice of meditation blended with a balanced lifestyle creates a stable mindset. You need to set time for practicing meditation every day. As you progress, you have a calmer mind. This, however, should not be the end. This is really just the basic requirement for true meditation.
There are a number of things you will gain from meditation. Meditation will calm you and create a peaceful state of mind. You will have improved health and better relationships. You will also be able to get deep spiritual insights. In a nutshell, meditation will influence your whole being.
Donna Houston
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