Practicing Yoga clears my body and mind of all "waste" which accumulates over days. In addition, my back and joints continue to feel more relaxed, yet stronger. The joy, strength, and benefits I retain from Yoga do not allow me to stop. - Gwenn Jones, An ACE-certified fitness trainer since 1989. The Power of Yoga
Apr. 15, 2001 - By RICHARD CORLISS - Stars do it. Sports do it. Judges in the highest courts do it. Let's do it: that yoga thing. A path to enlightenment that winds back 5,000 years in its native India, yoga has suddenly become so hot, so cool, so very this minute. It's the exercise cum meditation for the new millennium, one that doesn't so much pump you up as bliss you out. Yoga now straddles the continent — from Hollywood, where $20 million-a-picture actors queue for a session with their guru du jour, to Washington, where, in the gym of the Supreme Court, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and 15 others faithfully take their class each Tuesday morning.
Everywhere else, Americans rush from their high-pressure jobs and tune in to the authoritatively mellow voice of an instructor, gently urging them to solder a union (the literal translation of the Sanskrit word yoga) between mind and body. These Type A strivers want to become Type B seekers, to lose their blues in an asana (pose), to graduate from distress to de-stress. Fifteen million Americans include some form of yoga in their fitness regimen — twice as many as did five years ago; 75% of all U.S. health clubs offer yoga classes. Many in those classes are looking not inward but behind. As supermodel Christy Turlington, a serious practitioner, says, "Some of my friends simply want to have a yoga butt." But others come to the discipline in hopes of restoring their troubled bodies. Yoga makes me feel better, they say. Maybe it can cure what ails me. [photo right: Christy Turlington - RUVEN AFANADOR FOR TIME] Oprah Winfrey, arbiter of moral and literary betterment for millions of American women, devoted a whole show to the benefits of yoga earlier this month, with guest appearances by Turlington and stud-muffin guru Rodney Yee. Testimonials from everyday yogis and yoginis clogged the hour: I lost weight; I quit smoking; I conquered my fear of flying; I can sleep again; it saved my marriage; it improved my daughter's grades and attitude. "We are more centered as a team," declared the El Monte Firefighters of Los Altos Hills, Calif. Sounds great. Namaste, as your instructor says at the end of a session: the divine in me bows to the divine in you. But let's up the ante a bit. Is yoga more than the power of positive breathing? Can it, say, cure cancer? Fend off heart attacks? Rejuvenate post-menopausal women? Just as important for yoga's application by mainstream doctors, can its presumed benefits be measured by conventional medical standards? Is yoga, in other words, a science? By even asking the question, we provoke a clash of two powerful cultures, two very different ways of looking at the world. The Indian tradition develops metaphors and ways of describing the body (life forces, energy centers) as it is experienced, from the inside out. The Western tradition looks at the body from the outside in, peeling it back one layer at a time, believing only what it can see, measure and prove in randomized, double-blind tests. The East treats the person; the West treats the disease. "Our system of medicine is very fragmented," says Dr. Carrie Demers, who runs the Center for Health and Healing at the Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy of the USA in Honesdale, Pa. "We send you to different specialists to look at different parts of you. Yoga is more holistic; it's interested in the integration of body, breath and mind." The few controlled studies that have been done offer cause for hope. A 1990 study of patients who had coronary heart disease indicated that a regimen of aerobic exercise and stress reduction, including yoga, combined with a low-fat vegetarian diet, stabilized and in some cases reversed arterial blockage. The author Dr. Dean Ornish is in the midst of a study involving men with prostate cancer. Can diet, yoga and meditation affect the progress of this disease? So far, Ornish will say only that the data are encouraging. To the skeptic, all evidence is anecdotal. But some anecdotes are more than encouraging; they are inspiring. Consider Sue Cohen, 54, an accountant, breast-cancer survivor and five-year yoga student at the Unity Woods studio in Bethesda, Md. "After my cancer surgery," Cohen says, "I thought I might never lift my arm again. Then here I am one day, standing on my head, leaning most of my 125-lb. body weight on that arm I thought I'd never be able to use again. Chemotherapy, surgery and some medications can rob you of mental acuity, but yoga helps compensate for the loss. It impels you to do things you never thought you were capable of doing." A series of exercises as old as the Sphinx could prove to be the medical miracle of tomorrow — or just wishful thinking from the millions who have embraced yoga in a bit more than a generation. Yoga was little known in the U.S. — perhaps only as an enthusiasm of Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and other icons of the Beat Generation — when the Beatles and Mia Farrow journeyed to India to sit at the feet of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1968. Since then, yoga has endured more evolutions of popular consciousness than a morphing movie monster. First it signaled spiritual cleansing and rebirth, a nontoxic way to get high. Then it was seen as a kind of preventive medicine that helped manage and reduce stress. "The third wave was the fitness wave," says Richard Faulds, president of the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Lenox, Mass. "And that's about strength and flexibility and endurance."  At each stage, the most persuasive advocates were movie idols and rock stars — salesmen, by example, of countless beguiling or corrosive fashions. If they could make cocaine and tattoos fashionable, perhaps they could goad the masses toward physical and spiritual enlightenment. Today yoga is practiced by so many stars with whom audiences are on a first-name basis — Madonna, Julia, Meg, Ricky, Michelle, Gwyneth, Sting — that it would be shorter work to list the actors who don't assume the asana. (James Gandolfini? We're just guessing.)
- Article courtesy of: TIME Magazine url: www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,106356,00.html Progressive Power Yoga A major benefit of yoga is physical. Yoga improves your flexibility • Yoga helps improve your balance Yoga can help reduce pain • It tones your muscles It helps to increase your level of energy • Yoga helps promote a sense of relaxation Another benefit of yoga is mental. Yoga clears your mind and helps you focus your attention. Yoga helps reduces stress • Yoga can help release stuck emotions Also, as you take your body past the limits of where it has been, you start to feel that you can move past other limitations in your life as well. You gain a sense of peace and tranquility... - by Della Menechella: A yoga and fitness enthusiast who has been involved in fitness for over thirty years. Yoga for Beginners
NaturalFamilyOnline - January 6, 2007 - Most people have heard of yoga, but many aren’t aware of its great benefits. Yoga is a method of posing and deep breathing that can improve strength, flexibility, stamina, and relieve stress. If you’ve ever thought about trying yoga, now is a great time to start.
The first thing you need to do is figure out what type of yoga you want to try. This may seem simple, but there are 40 different types of yoga to choose from. Each one has its own benefits, strengths, and requirements. Which one is best for you will depend on your current physical fitness level, what you’re looking to accomplish in yoga, and your own personal preferences. If you plan to take classes, you should check to see what types are available in your area before you choose. While you can find tapes and books that teach you various yoga poses and techniques, you will get the most benefit from attending a class. A qualified instructor will be able to tell you if you’re doing everything properly; doing the poses correctly will give you the biggest benefit. One thing you should be aware of that many people may be uncomfortable with, is touching. Your instructor may move you around if you’re posing incorrectly, or massage you for further relaxation. If this is a big problem for you, then you may want to learn through a different method. When you go to a class, you should be prepared. Remember to wear loose clothing that you can move around in. If you’re unsure of what will go on in a class, look up your type of yoga online or ask someone who has been to a class before. When you show up, be sure to inform the instructor that you’re new so they can provide you with extra help, and don’t be afraid to ask questions during the class. If you find you like the techniques used in the class, you should make it a point to come regularly to experience the full benefit. While you may want to try yoga as a physical fitness regime, you may also be interested in its other aspects. Yoga is more than just posing and deep breathing; it is a belief system that involves all aspects of life. If you find your classes beneficial, you should do more research into this fascinating subject. - Article courtesy of: www.NaturalFamilyOnline.com Progressive Power Yoga The Benefits of YogaSherry Roberts - Babies are born yogis. Once we were all able to pull our toes up by our ears and laugh about it. Then we aged, got injured, began carrying stress in our shoulders and back.In short, we lost our balance. Yoga is an ancient practice that helps create a sense of union in body, mind, and spirit. It brings us balance. I was seriously out of balance when I started practicing yoga in 1999. I had plantar fascitiis in both feet, and my doctor had put the kibosh on all the things I loved to do: walking, hiking, and playing tennis. I was desperate for exercise. Yoga became my salvation and even enhanced my other fitness activities.
I practice hatha yoga at least twice a week, but I consider yoga to be part of my daily life because after awhile you no longer just practice yoga — you live it. Stretching into a Fit Life Yoga becomes part of your physical life. Your body grows stronger, more toned, and more flexible as you move from one asana—or pose—to the other. I spent a week in Mexico at a yoga retreat, and it was the first vacation on which I lost weight. "Rather than building muscle, yoga builds muscle tone," says Shakta Kaur Khalsa, author of the K.I.S.S. Guide to Yoga. "Because yoga helps maintain a balanced metabolism, it also helps to regulate weight. Additionally, yoga stretches muscles lengthwise, causing fat to be eliminated around the cells, thus reducing cellulite." I do yoga poses throughout the day. After hours at my computer, I stretch my stiff shoulders and arms. When I need a boost of energy, I do energizing poses. When I am feeling exhausted at the end of the day, I do restorative poses. Yoga becomes part of your mental life. Yoga teaches you to focus on breathing while you hold the poses. This attention to breath is calming; it dissolves stress and anxiety. I use yogic breathing on the tennis courts, in the dentist’s chair, when I’m stuck in traffic. You should always leave a yoga practice feeling energized, not tired. If you feel tired after yoga, it means you spent the time "fighting" yourself, trying to force yourself into poses. In yoga, you "surrender" to the pose by letting go of the tension. Yoga becomes part of your spiritual life. Yoga is practiced by people from all religions; it is nondenominational. Yoga teaches "right" living in how we deal with ourselves and others. As I work on a difficult pose, I learn patience, forgiveness, and the value of gentleness. Yoga advocates proper eating, but you don’t have to be a vegetarian to practice yoga. There have been some medical studies on the positive effects of yoga. And a growing number of doctors are following the lead of cardiologist Dr. Dean Ornish and incorporating yoga into their patient recovery programs. But for the most part, the evidence of the benefits of yoga is anecdotal. They range from the simple “I can touch my toes again” to "it helped me handle my disease." A woman who was diagnosed with hepatitis C, for example, said: "Yoga has helped me immensely to deal with the hepatitis C treatment. I truly feel that the reason that I have had such a successful treatment so far is that my whole being was ready, calm, and accepting of what would be—and throughout the treatment the ability to focus, breathe, and stretch the limits of my body and mind has definitely kept me together." Getting Started Anyone can do yoga—no matter how young or old you are, whether you’re a couch potato or a professional athlete. Size and fitness level do not matter because there are modifications for every yoga pose. The idea is to explore your limits, not strive for some pretzel-like perfection. Start by going to a yoga class. Look for a teacher who challenges you but does not push, who offers modifications, and who works one-on-one with students. Wear comfortable clothing that allows you to move. Use a yoga mat for cushioning and to keep from slipping. If there is no yoga studio in your town, practice with a video and read books. Just remember one thing: “No pain, no gain” is NOT the yoga way. If it hurts, stop. Patience and feeling good about yourself and your world is the way of the yogi. - Article courtesy of Yoga Movement url: http://www.yogamovement.com - More Yoga articles at: http://www.yogamovement.com/resources.html Progressive Power Yoga A Taste of Yoga"You're convinced that yoga is not for you, right? You can't see yourself practicing a 5,000-year-old religion-based art form. Well, think again. Yoga is hot - and it's not just for willowy types who wear small spandex pants and tank tops. Today's yoga participants are young and old, flexible and inflexible, shapely and out of shape. They are everyday people just like you who want to treat their bodies well. And what better way than through a low-impact exercise that induces relaxation, lowers stress and relieves tension? Even better, yoga also helps tone and strengthen your muscles and loosen your joints." - Quote from Arthritis Today magazine May 2003 – Bay Bridge Fitness [FitGram 31] - Originally, centuries ago, yoga was practiced to spiritually enlighten one to encourage sound mind and body connection (an understatement as it is). Some termed it a religion, others a philosophy. But add a few centuries and go west a few countries and the art of yoga has radically updated and altered—and, so I hear, is “unrecognizable” to a traditional eastern practitioner. Interestingly, many teachers (and wanna-be’s) from California travel to India to learn. In turn, many practitioners from India come to California to modernize and teach. All in a wonderful effort to expand, develop and educate themselves and their students to an even truer, deeper sense of mind-body health. True, many start in yoga to get more fit, realizing later the positive affects the whole package produces.
There are numerous health benefits to yoga. Though true for many fitness regimes, the question here is do we even realize Yoga’s health benefits? Here are some to mull over: No matter a beginner or advanced student, yoga builds strength and body balance. Balance is an issue personal trainers and fitness instructors pester members about often, i.e., not incorporating enough balance training into a fitness regimen. Many athletes are adding yoga to their workout schedules to build balance and reduce risk of injury. Articles suggest those now adding yoga to their lives are golfers. Yoga postures increase overall muscle tone including strength of the spine because we are using and challenging all muscles of the body. Yoga also increases muscle and tendon flexibility—an essential part of physical fitness especially as we age. It is often a "suggested activity" for those with joint challenges such as arthritis as it increases and soothes joint range of motion. Still, on the physical side, those not in the know might never guess that Yoga's toning benefits actually improve our appearance—something most of us would embrace. When and where should one begin yoga? The answer is anytime! As with any fitness activity, one should consult their physician for approval. But younger, older, active, non-active, tall, short, in-shape, out-of-shape or just for the sake of variety—most everyone can be involved with yoga—thus the beauty of it. As for where, Yoga is popular everywhere. More are joining up each week, which forces more classes, which creates more availability, which produces more energy and exudes camaraderie, and so on. What kind of yoga should you check out? There are many styles of yoga. Some are relaxing, some more exuberant. It is best advised to view a few classes, hopefully test them out and then decide. If you are already an avid fitness participant, utilizing yoga as a cross-training tool is a perfect mix. How will you feel overall? After any workout the obvious physical goal is accomplished along with a sense of duty satisfied, combined with a little pride. But far beyond this, regular fitness-goers and professional trainers recognize the positive and peaceful feeling after a workout—that’s the broad explanation. More precisely, here is a deeper enlightenment for ALL of us to relate to. Literally, the entire stress of the day is gone (thus the term peaceful). It is not gone just for the ride home. It is gone for hours or for the night which is always a healthy thing. Some common examples of a high-stress day would be these: That earlier confrontation with a spouse or a boss; discovering our checking account balance is 73 dollars; the caterer who had the wrong day; the computer crashing and not backed up. It is absolutely accurate to summarize the feeling after any fitness workout to be a huge and gentle ahhhhh!! Stress, regardless of type or reason, often seems bottomless. But luckily this post-workout exhilaration and feeling of mental and emotional balance hits you every time. It helps us stay in the battle so-to-speak. (This alone is one solid reason most do not question the “passion” for fitness—it becomes part of the soul.) This writing touches only the fundamental benefits of yoga. Yoga can be a world in which you can: immerse yourself, read about all over the internet, study in books, learn about on videos, and of course, educate in mind and culture in other countries. Or not. And that’s OK. It’s all good. Watch a class or join in, and let me know what you think! Best of Health ... Gwenn - Article by Gwenn Jones, ACE Certified Group Fitness url: Bay Bridge Fitness Progressive Power Yoga |
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