Healthy Weight Loss

Yoga originated in ancient India. In its original meaning, it was allied with mental and physical disciplines, but in modern times in the west has come to be mainly associated with its physical aspect, known by the Sanskrit word as Asana. Asana is a body position which is associated with the restoration and maintenance of the wellbeing of the individual who practices the art. Asana is only one of a number of aspects of yoga, the majority of which are associated with the spiritual and mental aspects.

The advantage that yoga enjoys over many other popular physical disciplines is the fact that it does not involve the body in stressful high-impact exercise. It is also performed in a non-competitive context so that the individual ego doesn’t get much of a chance to intrude into proceedings.

There are a number of postures or poses involved in yoga that are designed to increase the practitioner’s strength and flexibility over time. No matter how inflexible you may be, there is always room for improvement, and your own individual progression is the only path that you need to be pursuing. Breath control and meditation may be included in yoga classes, depending on whether or not the individual teacher likes to involve some of the spiritual aspects of yoga with the physical aspects.

There are many different styles of yoga classes available. They are all involved with the same basic postures, but each style emphasizes different aspect of the exercise, such as Vinyasa, which involves the breath being in concert with the physical movements, or Ashtanga, which is a faster style and is also referred to as “Power Yoga”. Iyengar is concerned with the alignment of the body during the exercises. Another style with a strong emphasis on the breath is Kundalini, the purpose of which is the upper movement of energy within the body. Some of the other yoga styles are Sivananda, Kripalu, Anusara, and Jivamukti.

The basic postures include:
• Sukhasana or sit/easy position, which creates an awareness of breathing and strengthens the lower back and opens the hips and groin
• Dog and Cat, which makes the spine more flexible.
• Tadasana or Mountain position which is a standing position which is designed to improve balance and posture.
• Trikonasana or Triangle, which is a spine stretching exercise.
• Bhujangasana or the Cobra, which also stretches the spine, strengthening the back and the arms, and opening the chest and heart.
• Virabhadrasana or Warrior, which is an arm and leg strengthening exercise as well being an aide to improving balance.
• Uttanasana or Forward Bend and Extension which stretches the spine and legs, and gives the neck and the heart a rest and is relaxing for the body and mind.
• Savasana or The Corpse, which relieves stress and is relaxing for both mind and body.
• Sethu Bandhasa or The Bridge, which is designed to improve flexibility and to make the abdominal muscles and lower back stronger.
• Janu Shirshasana or Head to Knee, which increases flexibility while stretching the hamstrings and the back.
• Adho Mukha Svanasana or Downward Facing Dog, which improves flexibility and strength while stretching the hamstrings and spine and resting the heart.
• Ardha Sarvangasana or Half Shoulder stand which is good for improving the circulation of the blood, while stretching the upper back region and strengthening the abdominal muscles. It also helps to promote improved function of the thyroid gland.

So if you feel that you wish to pursue some path to fitness and wellbeing, and the thought of pounding the pavements and putting up with sweaty gyms does not appeal to you, then the gentle art of yoga may be just what your inner doctor ordered.

One of the inescapable facts of life is that to maintain optimum health, we need to not only eat a sensible and varied diet. We also need to get enough exercise. For those of you who immediately balk at the thought of sweaty bodies and heavy weights, never fear. It is not necessary to become a gym junkie to be healthy. There are many ways to get exercise that are good for you and are enjoyable as well.

The most obvious way is walking. If you think your lifestyle is too busy to fit in a regular walk, then perhaps you need to make a few adjustments. How about walking to work? If this is not an option because you live an hour’s drive or a two hour train ride from your place of work, then why not just leave a little earlier and park the car a few blocks from your place of employment, or get off the train one stop earlier and walk the rest of the way. A good brisk walk in the morning will get your blood flowing and you will not drag yourself into work feeling like you just got out of bed.

If you can’t abide the notion of getting up earlier to enable this strategy then perhaps you could spend part of your lunch break walking around the block, or better still, the nearest park. You could take your lunch with you, have an enjoyable brisk walk, and sit down on a park bench and eat lunch having really worked up an appetite.

Another pleasant and relaxing form of exercise is bicycle riding. You don’t need to feel that you are in training for the Tour de France. If you can access a bike track or if the roads near your home are not too dangerous, this can be a very meditative form of exercise. If you live in the countryside, then all the better. It is a joy to ride along a quiet country road on a nice day, with a cooling breeze in your face.

One of the very best low impact forms of exercise is swimming. Your body does not have to endure the pounding which it experiences when jogging. Professional swimmers do have their injuries, but I suspect that they are considerably less than in most comparable sports, so if you have access to a swimming pool or live near the beach, a regular swim would be a wonderful way to enhance your fitness and overall health.

You can combine your hobbies or pastimes with exercise. Why not take up dancing? This is certainly an activity which has become very popular in the last few years with the advent of reality TV dancing shows. It is the ideal activity for a couple to take up together. It is always more enjoyable to share an activity and dancing lends itself to this.

If you feel that you need more incentive than the prospect of improved health and wellbeing to keep going with whatever regime you undertake, it may an idea to keep regular notes on your progress. If you are walking one and a half miles a day, for example, keep a diary and add up the mileage at regular intervals. You will feel a sense of pride knowing that you have walked half a marathon in two weeks. That would be nearly 550 miles in a year. That would have a lot of health benefits and it is achieved in achievable portions. Do the same if you are swimming laps, and you will soon find them adding up to impressive figures.

Keep your goals in mind, and don’t make exercise too much of a chore. If you are doing enough to be enjoyable but not so much that it is something that you dread doing, then you are on the right path.