How Yoga Helps Reduce Stress

Stress is bad for your heart and immune system, but there are ways you can reduce stress to live a happier and healthier life. Yoga is a great way to reduce stress by relaxing the central nervous system. Here’s how you can use yoga to cope with anxiety and reduce the stress in your life.

Attend a Yoga Class

If you’ve never done yoga before, it’s a good idea to attend a few yoga classes. Yoga books and DVDs are valuable tools that you can use to help you remember the poses and breathing exercises when you practice at home, but a yoga class is essential for absolute beginners. Attempting to learn the poses without the guidance of a qualified, professional yoga teacher could result in serious injury.

At the beginning of your first yoga class, tell your teacher about any injuries, new or old, that you may have sustained. Even if you’re currently injured, you may be able to perform some of the poses or breathing exercises with a teacher’s supervision. Be sure to tell your teacher about any chronic health problems you may have as well, so that she can adjust the practice according to your needs. There are many dozens of yoga poses and breathing exercises, and you may not be able to safely perform many of them, but that’s okay; no matter your age, state of health or fitness level, yoga can benefit you.

Establish a Home Practice

Once you’ve attended a few yoga classes, you’re ready to establish a home practice. Many students of yoga find it’s satisfying to continue attending classes once every week or two, even after they begin a daily home practice. It’s a good idea to keep taking yoga classes with a qualified professional teacher; you’ll continue to learn new things and you’ll be less likely to hurt yourself when practicing yoga at home.

For your home yoga practice, you’ll need a quiet area where you can practice undisturbed. Your yoga space will need to be big enough to allow you to move freely. You may feel that your home yoga session needs to be as long as your yoga class (most yoga classes are 60 to 90 minutes in length), but this isn’t true. Just twenty minutes of yoga each day can significantly reduce your stress.

Stick to It

Practicing yoga for stress relief requires as much dedication as any other exercise program. The more frequently you practice yoga, the more benefits you’ll feel. Don’t berate yourself, however, if you can’t find time to practice yoga every single day. Just do yoga as often as you can.

The more often you do yoga, the more adept you’ll become and the more enjoyable the experience will be. As yoga becomes a part of your daily life, you’ll find it becomes more and more easy to find the motivation to practice, and you’ll suffer less and less from the effects of stress.

Yoga: A Natural Energy Boost

If an energy boost is what you’re after, yoga just might do the trick. Practicing yoga is a natural way to increase your energy level. With a regular yoga practice, you may even find yourself resorting less and less to energy drinks and sugary snacks that add excess calories to your diet.

Deep Breathing in Yoga

One of the simplest ways that yoga boosts your energy is through deep breathing. Yoga breathing exercises reduce your stress and free your mind. Deeply inhaling and exhaling alone will go a long way in calming you and stimulating your nervous system to generate greater energy.

One of the things some people realize when doing a deep breathing exercise is just how often they hold their breath when stressed, or how short and shallow their breathing is in daily life. Making a conscious effort to breathe deeply in a yoga breathing exercise will oxygenate your entire body.

Oxygenation and Toxin Release

In ashtanga yoga and other yoga practices, you engage in warm up practices that generate heat throughout your body. When your muscles heat up and you begin to sweat, your body releases toxins and impurities. It is believed that deep breathing and toxin release work together to bring oxygen to your cells, and activate and release the energy that is lying dormant in your body.

Combining the Breath and Movement

Kundalini is one type of yoga that will really wake you up and give you an energy boost. It is different from other types of yoga in that it can require a great deal of continuous motion. In many yoga practices, you undergo a series of poses and 

postures that may feel stagnant. However, in kundalini yoga, you combine vigorous movements with a concentrated focus on the breath.

One example of an energizing kundalini movement is sitting on the floor with legs crossed in front of you, upper arms out to the side parallel to the floor and lower arms bent perpendicular to the floor. You are making an L-shape with the arms. You then move your torso to one side while inhaling and to the opposite side while exhaling. Continue to do this repeatedly at a fast pace for several minutes. This movement will stimulate your nervous system and wake up your entire upper body.

If you are going to start a yoga practice to boost your energy level, choose a teacher whose class is geared toward this goal specifically. You will want a class that combines the use of the breath with enough movement for you to feel truly energized.

Hydrate to Energize

Another important thing for those who practice yoga is to hydrate properly. Be sure to drink water before and after your class. In strenuous classes, you will also want to drink water throughout the class. This will ensure that you get an energy boost and do not suffer from the fatigue that often accompanies dehydration.

How Kundalini Yoga Relieves Stress

Kundalini yoga is a powerful type of yoga that’s quickly gaining recognition as a way to align your physical fitness with your mental strength. An important benefit it offers is short-term and long-term stress relief. If the stresses of everyday life are taking over, you may want to take a look into Kundalini yoga and all it has to offer.

Physical Relief of Stress

The asana (yoga poses) of Kundalini yoga are a great way to improve your balance and slow your body down. When you’re concentrating on breathing slowly and purposefully, it’s hard to also be thinking about whether or not you sent out the bills. Kundalini yoga is also excellent for assisting with the physical side effects of stress.

Stress can cause headaches, migraines, joint and muscle pain or tightness, and back pain. This type of yoga relaxes your mind and deepens your breathing, providing relief from headaches and migraines. The yoga poses used stretch your muscles, allowing them to loosen and get rid of the pain that muscle tightness causes. The emphasis on elongating your spine can strengthen your core and your spine, which alleviates back pain. Since the same types of poses are used on a regular basis, you’ll experience both temporary back pain relief and long-term relief. Ridding yourself of the physical symptoms of stress can help end the vicious cycle of stress. Your stress causes pain, the pain makes your stress worse, and so on. By ending the pain part of the cycle, you can more effectively deal with the mental side of stress relief.

Mental Stress Relief

A big emphasis is placed on slowing down in Kundalini yoga. People spend a lot of time rushing from task to task, and mentally, they’re always three or four steps ahead of themselves. Kundalini yoga teaches that you are a part of the universal life force and it uses mantras and meditation to tap into that. Feeling as if you are part of something larger than yourself is very calming and can make stressful everyday problems seem minor.

Concentrating so much on yourself and your role within the universe can clear your mind of anxieties and worries. This provides a clean slate for better emotional and thought management. Taking a break from your stress to exercise allows you to return to your problems refreshed. Looking at those same problems with a clear mind may open you up to solutions that you previously hadn’t considered.

As you work in your yoga routine to strengthen both the tie between your mind and body and the link between yourself and the universe, you may notice that you feel more capable and confident. This is another way that Kundalini yoga helps stress—if you feel more able to deal with the problems that stress you out, you are more likely to deal with those problems and rid yourself of the source of your stress.

How Kundalini Yoga Promotes Anti-Aging

Yoga is one of the world’s oldest and most well-known forms of exercise, and Kundalini yoga is a type that’s rapidly gaining popularity. It’s based on the idea of a spiritual energy that sits at the base of the spine. It works in three ways: universal energy that exists around us, energy that binds our mind and body together, and an energy that ties together the universal energy and the mind-body energy. Because of some of the unique beliefs and rituals of Kundalini yoga, it has big benefits for those who are trying to stay young or minimize the process of aging in their life.

Differences from Other Types of Yoga

Kundalini yoga is similar to other types of yoga in how it’s done physically. The same emphasis is placed on proper posture, deep breathing and yoga poses. However, it differs from other types of yoga in how it affects you mentally. A big goal of Kundalini yoga is waking up your inner self, particularly your creative side. Another aim is to mentally open you up enough to permit universal energy to enter you. There’s a greater importance placed on meditation and mantras. Kundalini yoga has always been a type of yoga that was intended for regular people, not monks, leaders or other privileged groups.

Anti-Aging Benefits

There are many anti-aging benefits associated with Kundalini yoga. It is an entire lifestyle, not just a physical exercise. The physical exercise is an important part, but the meditations that calm and relieve you improve your overall well-being. The poses and mantras have been shown to help in certain age-related ailments, such as Alzheimer’s disease, chronic pain and chronic stress.

The poses of Kundalini yoga are very good for your spine, which suffers as you age. Back pain is a common complaint of middle-aged or older people, and Kundalini yoga can help by strengthening the spine and providing support for your core. Just that simple benefit can help relieve back pain, strengthen bones and avoid the back hunch that can come with old age.

The mantras and meditation that are so important in Kundalini yoga can offset many of the mental losses that come with aging. These important routines help clear your mind and maintain clarity of thought; furthermore, they can reveal your sense of self and strengthen your tie to your family and the world around you. Such mental exercise and strength can ward off dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Kundalini yoga helps energize you. As the body slows down as you age, you may notice sinking energy levels. Perpetually low energy levels lead to fatigue, a lack of exercise and a sedentary lifestyle. All of these side effects can worsen the effects of aging by encouraging weight gain and a loss of overall fitness.

Kundalini yoga is a great tool to stave off the effects of aging. To get the most out of it, begin a regular Kundalini yoga routine early and maintain it throughout life.

10 Minute Yoga Workout for your Abs

One of the biggest "problem areas" of men and women alike is their stomach. Everyone is looking for a slim, trim tummy and waist, and it seems nearly every day we see a new commercial for a quick and easy workout designed to work the abdominal muscles in just minutes a day. And strengthening the abdominal muscles is important not just for aesthetic reasons, but also because it helps protect your lower back. The stronger your abdominal muscles are, the more they can be used for everyday lifting and straining, eliminating the need to strain the more delicate muscles of the lower back.
Yoga offers an alternative to sit ups and crunches. This ancient form of physical fitness contains many asanas which effectively work the abdominal muscles. The following are several poses designed to tighten that tummy.

The "V"

Begin by sitting comfortably on the floor, legs in front of you with your knees comfortably bent. Slowly lift one leg and then the other, straightening the legs but holding them off the floor at a 45% angle. At the same time, slowly lift your arms extending them in front of you, leaning slightly back. Your body will form the shape of the letter "V," with only your buttocks touching the floor. Use the strength of the abdominal muscles to hold this position for 20 - 30 seconds, or for as long as you are able. This is an advanced pose, and if you are unable to balance at first, there are two variations you can try until your abdominal strength is sufficient enough to maintain the full pose. The easiest way to practice and gain abdominal strength is to leave your hands on the floor as you lean back and lift the legs. This will incorporate mostly the lower abdominals, which you use to hold the legs upright. In another variation, you lift the arms, but hold on to the legs at the ankles to help maintain your balance. This variation has the added bonus of stretching your hamstring muscles. Complete this asana several times.

The Side Bend

Begin by lying on your side, the top foot slightly in front of the bottom foot. Supporting yourself on your elbow, lift up until your hips are off the floor, and your body forms a straight diaganal line from your shoulder to your toes. Place your other hand behind your head. Slowly bend from the waist, bringing the top elbow down to touch the floor, then lifting back up. Repeat this several times. Again, this posture is rather difficult at first. A variation you can do to build your strength is simply to hold your body in the upright position for as many seconds as you are able. This exercise particularly targets the oblique muscles, which form the sides of your waistline. Repeat this exercise several times to one side, and then to the other side.

Heat and Humidity Yoga

There are specific physiological reasons for adding the heat and humidity to our yoga practice.

Reasons for Heat and Humidity

·                  Enhances vasodilatation* so that more blood is delivered to the muscles

·                  Allows oxygen in the blood to detach from the hemoglobin more easily**

·                  Speeds up the breakdown of glucose and fatty acids

·                  Makes muscles more elastic, less susceptible to injury

·                  Improves coordination

·                  Reduces heart irregularities associated with sudden exercise

·                  Burns fat more easily.***

*The capillaries that weave around the muscles respond to heat by dilating.  This brings more oxygen to the muscles and helps in the removal of waste products such as carbon dioxide and lactic acid.

**When blood passes through warm muscles oxygen releases more easily from the hemoglobin.  Blood passing through cold muscles releases much less oxygen.

***Warmed muscles burn fat more easily than cold ones.  Fat is released during stress.  
The stress of intense exercise causes a deluge of fatty acids into the blood streams.  If you exercise with cold muscles they can't use the fatty acids, and they end up in places where they aren't wanted, such as the lining of your arteries.

Note:  Muscles aren't the only beneficiaries of heat.  Higher temperatures improve the function of the nervous system, meaning that messages are carried more rapidly to and from the brain or SPINAL CORD.  Warm muscles are more elastic and are less susceptible to injury.  Warmer temperatures produce a fluid like stretch that allows greater range of motion.  Cold muscles don't absorb shock or impact as well and aren't stretched as well so they get injured more readily.

Using Bikram Yoga to Detox

Using Bikram yoga to detox is by far one of the best ways you can rid your body of unwanted toxins. The human body contains the best systems for removing toxins, including through the liver, kidneys and skin. The body removes waste through the skin via sweat; this is where Hot Yoga comes into play. The exercises performed are in a room with temperatures reaching between 95 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit, making it the perfect environment for Bikram yoga to work its magic. Yoga by itself is a powerful, full body workout, but the added heat makes it one of the best workouts around.

How It Works

There are 26 poses performed during each session, along with two Pranayama or breathing exercises. During each pose, you will learn how to breathe and stretch your muscles into position without injury. The heat and 40 percent humidity makes this possible by softening the collagen around the joints, which allows faster circulation of oxygenated red blood to the muscles (thus burning extra fat).
Performed twice during each 90-minute class, the breathing exercises are an essential part of learning Bikram yoga, as this causes the maximum amount of oxygen possible to get into your bloodstream. Considered an excellent cardiovascular workout, hot yoga also uses your lungs to their full capacity, but still allow a short break to give your body the full benefit of each pose.

Health Benefits

Bikram yoga can prevent and cure certain health problems, as well as relieve symptoms of others. Some of the diseases that are curable include:

• High blood pressure
• Lyme disease
• Certain cancers

Some of the problems that are preventable include:

• Diabetes
• Irregular heartbeat
• Stress 
• Tension

 Some other benefits include:

• Detoxification through sweating
• Encourages flexibility
• Raises libido
• Enables weight loss
• Encourages deep breathing
• Improves posture

There are a few poses, which you can do at home if you have a mirror, a mat and a room you can keep between 95 and 100 degrees. These poses consist of the Awkward pose, the Full locust, the Rabbit pose and the half tortoise; each pose is designed to maximize blood flow. Most spas and health clubs today offer classes in Bikram yoga with trained instructors.
Each class lasts 90 minutes. Be sure you drink plenty of water before, during and after class. You should be aware that no exercise is able to change your psychological makeup and that there are certain diseases which are incurable. You should also be aware that Bikram yoga has also been referred to as “Hot” yoga, but not all “Hot” yoga follows Bikram Choudhury’s yoga methods.

Why Inversions Are Not Included in Bikram Yoga

Inverted poses are a staple of many studies of yoga. However, in the increasingly popular Birkam yoga, no inversions are to be found. Here we examine inversions, Birkham yoga, and why the two do not mix.

What Is Bikram Yoga?

Bikram yoga was developed by Bikram Choudhury. It is unique from other types of yoga for many reasons. Bikram yoga, or “hot yoga,” involves a 90 minute session of highly challenging yoga poses. The session is held under adverse environmental conditions. It is performed in a room kept at a high temperature, averaging 105 degrees farenheit, with 40 to 60 degree humidity. The reasons for these intense conditions include simulating the climate of India, where yoga originated, inspiring intense sweating, and allow muscles to be more flexible. Among the 26 specific, and often difficult, poses done in an average Bikram routine, you will find no inversions. This is rare in routine as challenging as bikram.

What Are Inversions?

An inversion pose in yoga is any pose that raises the feet above the head. Popular inverted poses include the shoulderstand, the headstand, and the half shoulderstand. Technically even lying on your back and raising your legs about the level of your head is considered an inverted pose, thought not a challenging one.
Inversions are used in yoga for many different reasons. They are believed to create a sense of “Viparita karani” or “opposite process” in the student. Allowing the student to see the world from an unfamiliar, opposite perspective. Some yoga instructors believe inverted poses help burn off impurities congealed in the lower abdomen, by pushing them toward the digestive fire of the upper abdomen. The more tangible health related benefits include increased circulation and sending more blood to the brain.

Not for Beginners

Inverted poses are attractive and dramatic. Talented beginning and intermediate yoga students can often achieve a rough copy of the poses. However, these poses are much more difficult to do correctly. Done by an expert, they can be held for near ten minutes, the time many professionals believe is necessary to reap the benefits of inversion. Done incorrectly by a beginner, the poses can be very dangerous with little benefit. They can result in long term damage to the neck, back and spine. The necessity to do the poses correctly is the reason Bikram does not include inversions in its routine.

Bikram Still Offers the Benefits

The purpose of Bikram yoga is to “to systematically stimulate and restore health to every muscle, joint and organ of the body.” The founder of Bikram did not believe inversions were necessary to accomplish these goals. Some of the benefits yoga practitioners believe are gained from inversions are stimulated in many standard Bikram poses. These benefits include blood flow to the brain, reduction of blood pressure, and compression of the thyroid gland. Bikram instructors have been known to invite advanced students, who have shown constant devotion to the practice of yoga, into advanced classes that include instruction in inversions. But for Bikram proper, inversions are not needed.
If you are fond of inversion in yoga, Bikram will not provide you with what you enjoy. However, if you are not a highly trained yoga practitioner, it might be better to build your skills before attempting the serious challenge of a proper inversion.