We need to provide more value to our health and the treatment of diseases. A huge number of medications deal with only the signs of the illness, and not the base cause. As a matter of reality, the reason for a lot of chronic conditions is still being researched. It’s here that Yoga therapy comes to our help.

Yoga Basics

In Sanskrit, the language of ancient India where yoga began, implies yoga “Union”. We might consider it the union taking place in between the body, spirit, and mind. Yoga is the workout of physical postures or presents.

Lots of individuals think that yoga is just stretching. While stretching is certainly involved, yoga is truly about producing balance in the body. This balance is achieved by developing both strength and flexibleness.

Commonly, a yoga class at a gymnasium will be more centered on the strictly physical benefits of yoga. A yoga center, on the other hand, might dig more into the spiritual side.

Some people discover that the physical practice of yoga gets to be a gateway into a spiritual expedition. Other individuals merely enjoy a fantastic low-impact workout that makes them feel awesome.

Whatever your personality, you’ll be able to find a yoga class that accommodates your style.

Practicing yoga has plenty of advantages

It betters the flexibility of the body, one’s strength grows and it is a great method of dealing with tension. Stretching your body in new ways will help it to end up being more flexible, bestowing a higher series of motility to muscles and joints. Yoga postures require you to support the weight of your own body in unique ways. This improves both your physical strength and muscle tone.

Exercise is terrific for eliminating stress, and this is particularly real for yoga. Since of the concentration required, your everyday inconveniences, both small and large, appear to melt away during the time you’re doing yoga.

Yoga is separated into 8 areas understood as the 8 “limbs” of yoga. Every limb connects to an element of accomplishing a healthy and satisfying life, and each builds on the one before it. You might be surprised to hear that only one of the limbs affects the performance of yoga postures

The Breathing

Breathing is the basis of life, without it, death is inevitable. As it is one of the most important parts of life’s results of being alive, there is a need to learn proper breathing techniques.

Yoga promotes this proper breathing as vital to bring oxygen to the blood and to the brain as do science. These breathing techniques bring about the highest form of purification and self-discipline covering both the mind and body.

The primary intention of practicing yoga breathing is to prepare the individual both in body and mind for the meditation phase.

Generally, most people don’t know the importance of breathing properly. Most people breathe in very shallow breaths.  This does not carry enough oxygen to the entire body which in turn causes various negative medical conditions.

Yogic breathing is the act of taking deep breaths to fill up almost the entire lung and then to exhale slowly, while all the time concentrating on the process.

Here are some simple steps to yoga breathing:

• Choosing a quiet and dimly lit area or naturally lit area
• Use a comfortable yoga mat
• Sit on the mat crossed leg but pulled towards the chest
• Keep the back straight and hold the arms in a relaxed and comfortable position on the thighs.
• Touch thumbs and index fingers together with palms facing downwards.
• Inhale deeply while focusing on the breath taken. Do this a few times until totally relaxed
• Concentrate on trying to breathe from the abdominal area and not just the chest. Focus on ensuring this
• Once the level is reached alternate between cheat breathing and abdominal breathing

Touching the index and middle fingers to the thumb with the ring and pinky finger sticking out. Press on one nostril and breathe deeply and exhale. Alternate this with the other nostril too.

as well The Poses 

Each yoga pose represents a different aspect to be addressed in the healing and enhancement of the general health of the individual. By strengthening each body part including abdominal muscles and the area around and near the spinal cord better health is assured.

Any yoga pose teaches the body to bear its own weight in that area rather than rely on other muscles to share or take on the weight. It also helps to enhance inner self-power and self-assurance.

The mountain pose is one of the easiest and most commonly used sets of poses. It is purported to be so easy that it can be learned straight from books, though this is not the recommended way to start yoga.  This pose works as a good remedy for self-healing and relaxation.

The bird of paradise pose contributes to the strengthening of the leg muscles. It also improves the balance by ensuring the focus stays on the intended muscles and not dependant on any others. It helps to improve balance while loosening the groins and hamstrings.

The bridge pose takes a little getting used to but it works wonders for the spinal area. Besides the main aim of strengthening the spine, it opens the chest and improves spinal flexibility, and stimulates the thyroid.

The cobra pose is another pose that focuses on the spinal area. It increases the flexibility of the spine and it great for relieving back pains.

The dolphin pose is similar to the dog pose and is used to enhance the blood flow and is particularly useful for those with wrist problems commonly associated with pianists, computer users, and writers.

The dragonfly pose or also known as the hummingbird pose is quite difficult and requires a lot of practice but once achieved it contributes to strengthening the arms and the ability to arm balance.

There are many more poses and it’s never-ending if one wants to explore further. However, in order to be effective, it is recommended that only a few poses should be picked and used at any given time

Heat it up with Hot Yoga

This form of yoga is predominantly practiced in hot and humid surroundings that have this constant temperature atmosphere.

Apparently, there are other effects that can occur with this particular feature incorporated into the sessions of yoga. It is interesting to note that though yoga is a very gentle and slow-moving art form, the individual can complete the session not only feeling rejuvenated but also a little sweaty.

Therefore, when the hot yoga style is practiced there is also the aim in mind to really sweat out the unwanted negative elements of the body. None of those who use this style find excessive perspiration an unpleasant byproduct, in fact, most welcome it.

Hot yoga is a set series of yoga poses specifically designed to be carried out in a hot or heated room. In most cases, the temperature of the environment where the hot yoga is done is kept at about 95 – 100 degrees.

By mere virtue of the temperature alone, the level of perspiration is quite high. Coupled with the yoga exercises, the body is able to harness and emit a different level of warmth. This in turn is purported to make the individual’s body more supple and flexible.

The following are some of the benefits derived from the hot yoga style:

The body’s ability to burn fat is heightened

The fluidity of the joints, muscles, ligaments, and other supporting structures of the body are enhanced.

Tissues and muscles are more effectively oxygenated because the capillaries better dilate with the heated surroundings.

Peripheral circulation improves due to the enhancement of sweating.

The metabolism rate speeds up

The cardiovascular system gets a more strenuous work out though it is kept at a comfortable level

The sweating element provides the detoxification and elimination of toxins through the skin. This of course burns calories as well.

Standing Forward Bend

From the mountain pose, breathe out, swinging your arms sideways as you swan dive forward. bending from the hips, till fingertips or palms touch the ground on either side of your feet. Keep your fingers in line with your toes. (If your hamstrings or back are feeling overstretched, bend your knees.) Think of pulling the crown of your head down and the backs of your legs towards the sky.

Forward Bend, Flat Back

From the standing forward bend, keep your feet together and place fingertips on the ground near the outer edges of your feet, in line with your toes. Breathe in as you lift your trunk halfway up, keeping your back flat. Look forward, stretching your tailbone away from the top of your head. If you feel overstretched in your hamstrings or lower back or can’t touch the ground, bend your knees, and position your hands on your shins.

Downward Dog

From forward bend with a flat back, bend your knees, place your palms flat on the ground shoulder-width apart, and jump backward with both feet back, landing lightly in downward dog. Spread your fingers and make certain your feet are hip-width apart and parallel. Stretch your tailbone up and away from your hands and your heels towards the ground.

Reverse this series back to the beginning

 Bring your legs towards your hands and straighten your legs, returning to the forward bend with a flat back. Drop your head and return to the standing forward bend. Then to the mountain pose, sweeping the arms out to the sides and overhead to finish the main series.

Every time you finish this workout, add on a fresh challenge series till you’ve incorporated all the moves. Every full sequence will take about 15 minutes. 

Calorie Count

The total calories you burn in a common yoga session may deviate widely, depending on what form of yoga you decide to practice. As luck would have it, most gyms provide exciting regalia of yoga classes that will better your fitness and add assortment to your routine. Here are a few of the most popular forms, and the median amount of calories you might burn during a sixty-minute class: 

Hatha Yoga

Hatha yoga is the most known form of yoga for Westerners, and the sort commonly taught in beginner-level courses. Hatha yoga accents breath control and flowing poses. You are able to expect to burn one hundred seventy-five calories per hour. This is the same total of calories you would burn by walking two miles in 60 minutes.

Ashtanga Yoga

Ashtanga yoga is a bit more intense than Hatha yoga, however still places the accent on breath control and flowing poses. The common class has a series of six poses that increase in difficultness. A common Ashtanga class will burn three hundred calories in 60 minutes, or the same as walking four miles in 1 hour.

Power Yoga

Power yoga is a Westernized sort of Ashtanga yoga, which moves promptly between postures to increase your pulse rate. Because of this, many classes commonly last thirty to forty-five minutes, instead of sixty. The calories burned are more or less the same as a full sixty-minute Ashtanga class.

Vinyasa Yoga       

Vinyasa yoga is commonly combined with the Ashtanga form to produce one dynamic class. The accent is placed on flowing from one posture to the next, especially during the add ons. Vinyasa classes commonly burn 445 calories per 60 minutes or the same total as jogging at a slow pace for sixty minutes.

Bikram or Hot Yoga

Bikram yoga, a.k.a. “hot yoga,” is performed in a room heated up to 105 degrees and with a humidity of 40%. This assures that you will sweat a lot as you do the twenty-six postures in a common class. One session of Bikram yoga burns 630 calories per 60 minutes or the same as swimming the butterfly for 60 minutes. 

A lot of practitioners who utilize yoga as their principal form of cardio opt for the higher-intensity classes and aim for doing the class three times a week, for a ninety-minute session. If you wish to burn calories while doing yoga, go for the more intense classes and work at “growing” or stretching into every pose perpetually throughout the class.

Wrapping Up

 Studies demonstrate that individuals who find an exercise they love will stick with it and make it a part of their routines more readily than individuals who feel coerced into exercise they don’t love. If yoga is your preferred form of exercise, discover ways to step-up your calories burned, and then make it your principal cardio routine. You’ll reap the additional benefits of increased muscle tone, core stability, and lessened stress as well as a vigorous cardio workout.