Tuesday, September 23, 2008

YOGA FOCUS ON WOMEN HEALTH


YOGA FOCUS ON WOMEN HEALTH
Yoga does not promote post-menopausal convalescence because this phase in a woman's life is not considered an illness, just a very normal part of an aging woman's existence. During menopause, different women will experience unique symptoms for varied amounts of time and severity, and yoga is not tangible the way medicinal treatments are. Drugs work precisely to regulate the body's hormones and minimize or eliminate a woman's discomfort. Peri-menopause cannot be remedied by yoga alone and, although there is not a specific set of postures for a woman to do for the symptoms, yoga performed with combined postures is beneficial to the body.
Yoga enables a person to relax and achieve a positive mind set as well as a steady body during the practice, which often carries into the rest of a yogi's life. As people are told to "watch their thoughts" during meditation, women can visualize this internal change that is occurring to better accept this difficult part of life.
All yoga should begin in a class so an instructor can demonstrate to you the correct way to pose, explain the way in which these very specific postures are beneficial to the body, and help you with your breathing and meditation which are essential to yoga if you wish to see maximum benefits. Books and DVDs are a great way to learn more about yoga, but instruction is important for beginners. You may find yourself in a compromising position - literally - if you begin difficult poses before you are ready.
A few yoga facts about asanas, or poses in yoga, can help women to know which ones to do to improve some of their symptoms. For example, to gain energy and lift one's spirits, the back bend is recommended; for stress and anxiety, a forward bend. There are quite a few of these bends present in yoga. There are postures that prepare the body for other postures, and there are counter postures that balance the body. Each type of posture is important to the body as they help prevent it from becoming damaged during yoga and after yoga.
Book advice for menopausal women is different than the advice a yoga instructor will give you, but keep in mind the fact that many female instructors will or have been through the same stage in life. Writings suggest that women should not push their bodies and use soothing poses instead; the yogi will tell you differently. Slower, softer poses have increased the rate of weight gain and mood swings in some women, therefore yoga has taken this idea in the opposite direction.
As mentioned earlier, individual women feel symptoms that are unique to their bodies. If fatigue and body ache are not soothed by active poses, restorative poses may better suit these types. Symptoms of menopause are ever changing with the changing levels of hormones, so each type of posture may be beneficial.
For women who prefer more rigorous asanas, there are many others available. The shoulder stand, headstand, and forward bends that require one to stand and double over, as well as other inversion poses, help the body a great deal. Other postures in which one is required to stand, including the extended side angle, triangle, and half moon poses, relax the body especially when it is tense.
The
female menstrual cycle is an occurrence of the female anatomy that no man could ever fully understand. The first period a young woman experiences signifies her body's physical maturity so she can begin to reproduce, and the last period a woman has means she may no longer bear children. Each individual woman feels a certain way before, during, and after this week due to the hormonal changes in her body.
Mood swings, abdominal cramping, fatigue, and bloating are common yet uncomfortable symptoms women must tend to. Luckily, there are treatments such as medicines and heating pads that help with these issues, but this week is still difficult to endure.
There are specific types of foods (no, I don't mean chocolate, ladies!) that a woman can eat to keep her body in balance before and after she menstruates. Foods that are high in fiber should be consumed before the period begins so the body can continue to cleanse its system. A teaspoon of sesame seed oil should be taken daily before, during and after the period so the body feels strong during this time of blood loss. During the days of menstruation, it is advised that women eat lightly so food can enter and exit the body with ease. The week after the period, women should eat as they did before this time - a diet high in fibrous foods.A simple tea can be concocted by any woman to lessen the effects of PMS. One cup of water and a teaspoon of basil and ground cinnamon mixed in and boiled for 20 minutes or so is all that PMS Tea consists of. This tea should be consumed at specific times: upon waking, noon, 4PM, and 8PM for maximum effectiveness. If your symptoms seem to subside, drinking this tea twice daily is enough. Natural cures are the best option to treat menstrual pains and symptoms because man-made drugs can cause side effects that would only add to those already present. YOGA FOCUS ON WOMEN HEALTH
Yoga does not promote post-menopausal convalescence because this phase in a woman's life is not considered an illness, just a very normal part of an aging woman's existence. During menopause, different women will experience unique symptoms for varied amounts of time and severity, and yoga is not tangible the way medicinal treatments are. Drugs work precisely to regulate the body's hormones and minimize or eliminate a woman's discomfort. Peri-menopause cannot be remedied by yoga alone and, although there is not a specific set of postures for a woman to do for the symptoms, yoga performed with combined postures is beneficial to the body.
Yoga enables a person to relax and achieve a positive mind set as well as a steady body during the practice, which often carries into the rest of a yogi's life. As people are told to "watch their thoughts" during meditation, women can visualize this internal change that is occurring to better accept this difficult part of life.
All yoga should begin in a class so an instructor can demonstrate to you the correct way to pose, explain the way in which these very specific postures are beneficial to the body, and help you with your breathing and meditation which are essential to yoga if you wish to see maximum benefits. Books and DVDs are a great way to learn more about yoga, but instruction is important for beginners. You may find yourself in a compromising position - literally - if you begin difficult poses before you are ready.
A few yoga facts about asanas, or poses in yoga, can help women to know which ones to do to improve some of their symptoms. For example, to gain energy and lift one's spirits, the back bend is recommended; for stress and anxiety, a forward bend. There are quite a few of these bends present in yoga. There are postures that prepare the body for other postures, and there are counter postures that balance the body. Each type of posture is important to the body as they help prevent it from becoming damaged during yoga and after yoga.
Book advice for menopausal women is different than the advice a yoga instructor will give you, but keep in mind the fact that many female instructors will or have been through the same stage in life. Writings suggest that women should not push their bodies and use soothing poses instead; the yogi will tell you differently. Slower, softer poses have increased the rate of weight gain and mood swings in some women, therefore yoga has taken this idea in the opposite direction.
As mentioned earlier, individual women feel symptoms that are unique to their bodies. If fatigue and body ache are not soothed by active poses, restorative poses may better suit these types. Symptoms of menopause are ever changing with the changing levels of hormones, so each type of posture may be beneficial.
For women who prefer more rigorous asanas, there are many others available. The shoulder stand, headstand, and forward bends that require one to stand and double over, as well as other inversion poses, help the body a great deal. Other postures in which one is required to stand, including the extended side angle, triangle, and half moon poses, relax the body especially when it is tense.
The
female menstrual cycle is an occurrence of the female anatomy that no man could ever fully understand. The first period a young woman experiences signifies her body's physical maturity so she can begin to reproduce, and the last period a woman has means she may no longer bear children. Each individual woman feels a certain way before, during, and after this week due to the hormonal changes in her body.
Mood swings, abdominal cramping, fatigue, and bloating are common yet uncomfortable symptoms women must tend to. Luckily, there are treatments such as medicines and heating pads that help with these issues, but this week is still difficult to endure.
There are specific types of foods (no, I don't mean chocolate, ladies!) that a woman can eat to keep her body in balance before and after she menstruates. Foods that are high in fiber should be consumed before the period begins so the body can continue to cleanse its system. A teaspoon of sesame seed oil should be taken daily before, during and after the period so the body feels strong during this time of blood loss. During the days of menstruation, it is advised that women eat lightly so food can enter and exit the body with ease. The week after the period, women should eat as they did before this time - a diet high in fibrous foods.A simple tea can be concocted by any woman to lessen the effects of PMS. One cup of water and a teaspoon of basil and ground cinnamon mixed in and boiled for 20 minutes or so is all that PMS Tea consists of. This tea should be consumed at specific times: upon waking, noon, 4PM, and 8PM for maximum effectiveness. If your symptoms seem to subside, drinking this tea twice daily is enough. Natural cures are the best option to treat menstrual pains and symptoms because man-made drugs can cause side effects that would only add to those already present. YOGA FOCUS ON WOMEN HEALTH
Yoga does not promote post-menopausal convalescence because this phase in a woman's life is not considered an illness, just a very normal part of an aging woman's existence. During menopause, different women will experience unique symptoms for varied amounts of time and severity, and yoga is not tangible the way medicinal treatments are. Drugs work precisely to regulate the body's hormones and minimize or eliminate a woman's discomfort. Peri-menopause cannot be remedied by yoga alone and, although there is not a specific set of postures for a woman to do for the symptoms, yoga performed with combined postures is beneficial to the body.
Yoga enables a person to relax and achieve a positive mind set as well as a steady body during the practice, which often carries into the rest of a yogi's life. As people are told to "watch their thoughts" during meditation, women can visualize this internal change that is occurring to better accept this difficult part of life.
All yoga should begin in a class so an instructor can demonstrate to you the correct way to pose, explain the way in which these very specific postures are beneficial to the body, and help you with your breathing and meditation which are essential to yoga if you wish to see maximum benefits. Books and DVDs are a great way to learn more about yoga, but instruction is important for beginners. You may find yourself in a compromising position - literally - if you begin difficult poses before you are ready.
A few yoga facts about asanas, or poses in yoga, can help women to know which ones to do to improve some of their symptoms. For example, to gain energy and lift one's spirits, the back bend is recommended; for stress and anxiety, a forward bend. There are quite a few of these bends present in yoga. There are postures that prepare the body for other postures, and there are counter postures that balance the body. Each type of posture is important to the body as they help prevent it from becoming damaged during yoga and after yoga.
Book advice for menopausal women is different than the advice a yoga instructor will give you, but keep in mind the fact that many female instructors will or have been through the same stage in life. Writings suggest that women should not push their bodies and use soothing poses instead; the yogi will tell you differently. Slower, softer poses have increased the rate of weight gain and mood swings in some women, therefore yoga has taken this idea in the opposite direction.
As mentioned earlier, individual women feel symptoms that are unique to their bodies. If fatigue and body ache are not soothed by active poses, restorative poses may better suit these types. Symptoms of menopause are ever changing with the changing levels of hormones, so each type of posture may be beneficial.
For women who prefer more rigorous asanas, there are many others available. The shoulder stand, headstand, and forward bends that require one to stand and double over, as well as other inversion poses, help the body a great deal. Other postures in which one is required to stand, including the extended side angle, triangle, and half moon poses, relax the body especially when it is tense.
The
female menstrual cycle is an occurrence of the female anatomy that no man could ever fully understand. The first period a young woman experiences signifies her body's physical maturity so she can begin to reproduce, and the last period a woman has means she may no longer bear children. Each individual woman feels a certain way before, during, and after this week due to the hormonal changes in her body.
Mood swings, abdominal cramping, fatigue, and bloating are common yet uncomfortable symptoms women must tend to. Luckily, there are treatments such as medicines and heating pads that help with these issues, but this week is still difficult to endure.
There are specific types of foods (no, I don't mean chocolate, ladies!) that a woman can eat to keep her body in balance before and after she menstruates. Foods that are high in fiber should be consumed before the period begins so the body can continue to cleanse its system. A teaspoon of sesame seed oil should be taken daily before, during and after the period so the body feels strong during this time of blood loss. During the days of menstruation, it is advised that women eat lightly so food can enter and exit the body with ease. The week after the period, women should eat as they did before this time - a diet high in fibrous foods.A simple tea can be concocted by any woman to lessen the effects of PMS. One cup of water and a teaspoon of basil and ground cinnamon mixed in and boiled for 20 minutes or so is all that PMS Tea consists of. This tea should be consumed at specific times: upon waking, noon, 4PM, and 8PM for maximum effectiveness. If your symptoms seem to subside, drinking this tea twice daily is enough. Natural cures are the best option to treat menstrual pains and symptoms because man-made drugs can cause side effects that would only add to those already present. YOGA FOCUS ON WOMEN HEALTH
Yoga does not promote post-menopausal convalescence because this phase in a woman's life is not considered an illness, just a very normal part of an aging woman's existence. During menopause, different women will experience unique symptoms for varied amounts of time and severity, and yoga is not tangible the way medicinal treatments are. Drugs work precisely to regulate the body's hormones and minimize or eliminate a woman's discomfort. Peri-menopause cannot be remedied by yoga alone and, although there is not a specific set of postures for a woman to do for the symptoms, yoga performed with combined postures is beneficial to the body.
Yoga enables a person to relax and achieve a positive mind set as well as a steady body during the practice, which often carries into the rest of a yogi's life. As people are told to "watch their thoughts" during meditation, women can visualize this internal change that is occurring to better accept this difficult part of life.
All yoga should begin in a class so an instructor can demonstrate to you the correct way to pose, explain the way in which these very specific postures are beneficial to the body, and help you with your breathing and meditation which are essential to yoga if you wish to see maximum benefits. Books and DVDs are a great way to learn more about yoga, but instruction is important for beginners. You may find yourself in a compromising position - literally - if you begin difficult poses before you are ready.
A few yoga facts about asanas, or poses in yoga, can help women to know which ones to do to improve some of their symptoms. For example, to gain energy and lift one's spirits, the back bend is recommended; for stress and anxiety, a forward bend. There are quite a few of these bends present in yoga. There are postures that prepare the body for other postures, and there are counter postures that balance the body. Each type of posture is important to the body as they help prevent it from becoming damaged during yoga and after yoga.
Book advice for menopausal women is different than the advice a yoga instructor will give you, but keep in mind the fact that many female instructors will or have been through the same stage in life. Writings suggest that women should not push their bodies and use soothing poses instead; the yogi will tell you differently. Slower, softer poses have increased the rate of weight gain and mood swings in some women, therefore yoga has taken this idea in the opposite direction.
As mentioned earlier, individual women feel symptoms that are unique to their bodies. If fatigue and body ache are not soothed by active poses, restorative poses may better suit these types. Symptoms of menopause are ever changing with the changing levels of hormones, so each type of posture may be beneficial.
For women who prefer more rigorous asanas, there are many others available. The shoulder stand, headstand, and forward bends that require one to stand and double over, as well as other inversion poses, help the body a great deal. Other postures in which one is required to stand, including the extended side angle, triangle, and half moon poses, relax the body especially when it is tense.
The
female menstrual cycle is an occurrence of the female anatomy that no man could ever fully understand. The first period a young woman experiences signifies her body's physical maturity so she can begin to reproduce, and the last period a woman has means she may no longer bear children. Each individual woman feels a certain way before, during, and after this week due to the hormonal changes in her body.
Mood swings, abdominal cramping, fatigue, and bloating are common yet uncomfortable symptoms women must tend to. Luckily, there are treatments such as medicines and heating pads that help with these issues, but this week is still difficult to endure.
There are specific types of foods (no, I don't mean chocolate, ladies!) that a woman can eat to keep her body in balance before and after she menstruates. Foods that are high in fiber should be consumed before the period begins so the body can continue to cleanse its system. A teaspoon of sesame seed oil should be taken daily before, during and after the period so the body feels strong during this time of blood loss. During the days of menstruation, it is advised that women eat lightly so food can enter and exit the body with ease. The week after the period, women should eat as they did before this time - a diet high in fibrous foods.A simple tea can be concocted by any woman to lessen the effects of PMS. One cup of water and a teaspoon of basil and ground cinnamon mixed in and boiled for 20 minutes or so is all that PMS Tea consists of. This tea should be consumed at specific times: upon waking, noon, 4PM, and 8PM for maximum effectiveness. If your symptoms seem to subside, drinking this tea twice daily is enough. Natural cures are the best option to treat menstrual pains and symptoms because man-made drugs can cause side effects that would only add to those already present.

Monday, September 22, 2008

FIREFLY POSE (TITTIBHASANA):


FIREFLY POSE (TITTIBHASANA):

Type of pose: Arm balance
Benefits: Strengthens the wrists, forearms and abdomen; stretches the hamstrings
Instructions:
1. Come in to a wide squat.
2. Bring your palms flat on the floor just under your feet.
3. Bend the elbows back as you would in
Chaturanga Dandasana.
4. Begin to shift your weight back to rest on your upper arms and bring the feet up off the floor.
5. Straighten the legs.
6. Begin to straighten the arms.
Beginners:

Like most arm balances, this is easier than it looks. For one thing, if you fall, you'll land on your butt instead of your head — as in some other poses! If you can lift the feet off of the floor but cannot straighten the legs, try crossing the feet at the ankles in front of you. Advanced: Work on straightening your arms and legs.

Friday, September 19, 2008

WHAT IS YIN YOGA:



WHAT IS YIN YOGA:

Yin Yoga contains the ancient, and some say original, form of asana practice. The sages who pioneered the path of yoga used asanas to strengthen the body, so that they could sit for long periods in contemplative meditation. If you have ever sat for a long time with legs crossed, you know the hips and lower back need to be strong and open. The sensations you felt were deep in the connective tissues and the joints. These are the deep yin tissues of the body, relative to the more superficial yang tissues of muscles and skin. Yin Yoga opens up these deep, dense, rarely touched areas. Recently Yin Yoga has been "re-discovered", and more and more students of yoga are adding this challenging form of practice to their regular sadhana. Years of a dedicated asana practice will make anyone healthier, stronger, and more flexible, but at some point the muscles will have reached their limit of flexibility. New depths in postures, deeper ranges of motion, or an increased flow of energy may only be achievable by focusing on the deeper tissues of the body. This is why so many students are finding Yin Yoga to be the perfect compliment and balance to their more active, yang practices. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika tells us"Success comes to him who is engaged in the practice. How can one get success without practice; for by merely reading books on yoga, one can never get success." [I-67].Swami Swatmarama, the fourteenth-century sage who wrote the Hatha Yoga Pradipika [1] might well add today 'or by reading a web page'. Still for many people a book or a web page may be their only means to learn a yoga practice. And so our journey down the Yin River reveals to us some guidance for the practice of Yin Yoga.We will begin by looking at how to practice Yin Yoga, and then proceed to describe the postures (also called "asanas" or poses) most commonly used in the practice. There are not nearly as many asanas required in the yin style of yoga as are found in the more active practices. There are perhaps three dozen postures at most (excluding variations). The yin areas of the body generally targeted in the practice are between the knees and navel, the lower body. Since the poses are held longer, there are fewer poses that one can even attempt in one session, compared to the yang styles of yoga where one pose may be held for as little as five breaths. We will discover the most common poses and see them in detail, including their variations, options, and some contraindications.
[2] After viewing the most common asanas we will discover several flows; a flow is simply a linking together of asanas in a logical sequence. These flows have been created with a central theme or purpose in mind. Just as the asanas presented will not exhaust the possible poses one can do in Yin Yoga, the flows will be even less exhaustive. [3] The last section on practice will concern the moving of energy. Suggestions will be offered on various movements, breathing patterns, and meditations designed to affect and stimulate the flow of energy (Chi or prana) in the body.
The Three Tattvas of Yin Yoga

PracticeA tattva is the reality of a thing, or its category or principal nature. Sarah Powers offers us three very simple and very effective principles for the yin practice.
Come into the pose to an appropriate depth
Resolve to remain still
Hold the pose for time
Remembering these three principles as you practice will simplify everything. We will look at each step of how to practice in more detail in a moment. Knowing when to practice is a different matter.
We could do our yin practice
When our muscles are cool (so they don't steal the stretch away from the deeper tissues)
To see a graphical demonstration of the difference between cold muscles and warm muscles visit this
page
Early in the morning (when the muscles are more likely to be cool)

Last thing at night (to calm the mind before sleep)
Before an active yang practice (again, before the muscles become too warmed up)
In the spring or summer (to balance a natural yang time of year)
When life has become very hectic (to balance the yang energies in our lives)
After a long trip (traveling is very yang, even if we are sitting down a lot during the trip)
During your moon cycle (to conserve energies)
Yin Yoga deliberately targets the deeper connective tissues. To be most effective we want the muscles to be relaxed. If the muscles are warm and active they will tend to absorb most of the tension of the stretch. When we do our Yin Yoga practice early in the morning, the muscles have not yet woken up; this is why we feel so stiff when we first wake up. In the same way, doing our yin practice before an active yang practice allows the stretching to settle deeper into our tissues. By the end of the day our muscles have been warmed up and are at their longest. The physical benefits of a yin practice will be fewer at this time; however, the psychological benefits may be greater. The daytime is yang. A yin practice, before going to sleep, may balance this energy. Similarly the spring and summer are yang times of year. When life is busy, when we spend many hours traveling, these are all yang times of our life. Balance is achieved when we cultivate yin energies. During a woman's menstrual period she may naturally find a yin practice beneficial.On the other side of the coin, a yin practice is not recommended when we have already been very placid. After sitting at a desk for eight hours in the dead of a dull winter's day, a more active practice may create balance much better than a yin practice. Listening to your inner guide may give you the best answer to the question: is this a time for yin or yang?