Posts Tagged ‘benefits of yoga’
Yoga for Guys
Yoga for real men is fast catching on and the result is that more and more men are taking to this form of exercise and there are many reasons behind this switch including helping to rid you of stress and making the body more flexible. In addition, yoga is known to lessen the chances of developing heart diseases, lowers the chance of being depressed and also keeps high blood pressure at bay.
Cut Back on Stress
Yoga for real men helps in improving the strength of the body and makes it more flexible and it has a very calming effect on the mind as well, which is much appreciated by men, who somehow must find time to practice yoga even despite hectic work schedules. Many men find that after getting hooked on yoga for men the little things that would have bugged them don’t seem to stress them out anymore. They are more centered and focused.
Stress doesn’t just take a mental and emotional toll. It can actually lead to physical illness, but you can prevent stress induced illness by practicing yoga for me regularly. In fact, yoga for men combines meditation as well as breathing which makes the participant synchronize his mind with the body and also downplays whatever stress is being felt which leads to lesser chance of developing heart diseases and other similar ailments.
This is very important for men, because unlike women, who can handle stress very well, they will tend to ignore signs of stress which will result in elevated heart rates, high blood pressure problems and even platelets become stickier. If it were not for yoga for men, it would be hard to imagine a way out for them, and there are also other changes that are often noticed in men besides physical ones and these are the behavioral changes that come about because of stress.
Men who get into yoga find that they have a new dedication to their health and happiness. They finally stop old habits like smoking and drinking and pick up new ones like eating healthy and exercising regularly. Taking just thirty minutes out of the day to practice yoga for men, stretch, breathe, and meditate will drastically reduce the amount of stress you feel and improve your health.
Discovering Yoga
Yoga has been around for ages. It is composed of age old principles that correlate with the connection between a person’s mind and body. The importance and benefits of practicing yoga exercises for health have now been researched and proved by modern medical sciences. Yoga is the short form of the word yogasana. It is an exercise that involves the body, mind and spirit of the practioner. People who practice it are called Yogis. To fully experience the benefits of yoga, one should have the firm belief that it will benefit him, as it is an exercise strongly connected to the human mind.
Practitioners believe that yoga is a therapeutic exercise that brings about peace of mind while it brings stability to the body. So, people practice yoga to feel fit and relax their minds of stress, depression and tension. Yoga involves postures and movements and the alignment of the body,. Most yoga postures can be practiced by people of all ages, however one should have the guidance of a qualified teacher when starting out.
Types of Yoga postures
There are many types of yoga postures. Some of the more well-known postures are discussed as follows:
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Sukhasana or Lotus is a sitting pose of yoga and is easy to perform. It is usually used as the starting pose. It opens the hips, lower back and groin area.
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Tadasana or Mountain pose is used to improve the balance of mind and posture of the body.
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Virabhadrasana or Warrior is a yoga pose that can be performed after Tadasana or mountain pose. It strengthens the bones, stretches the arms and legs, and improves balance.
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Uttanasana is a yoga posture in which the body is extended upwards and then bent in the forward position to touch the toes. It relaxes the mind and stretches the neck, back and legs,.
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Adho Mukha Svanasana or Downward Facing Dog is a yoga posture performed by putting and maintaining forehead on the floor in front of you. It helps in stretching and increasing the flexibility the back bone and hamstrings.
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Bhujangasana or The Cobra posture is performed by laying down flat on your stomach on the floor. It opens the area around the chest and heart as well as strengthens and stretches the spine, legs, and arms.
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Janu Shirshasana is head to knee pose of yoga exercises. This position is performed while sitting and touching the foot with the hand. Increases flexibility in the hamstrings, back, and arms.
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Trikonasana or the Triangle is a yoga pose in which the body is bent in the form of a triangle by separating the feet 3-4 feet and then touching one foot with one of your hands. It helps open the torso and brings flexibility to the spine.
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Ardha Sarvangasana or Half Shoulderstand is a yoga pose that is formed by lying down on your back with elbows and lower arms on the floor and rise you legs up in the air. It helps improve thyroid function as well as circulation. It also improves the strength of the abdominal muscles and organs, and stretches the upper back.
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Sethu Bandhasa or the Bridge is that yoga posture in which the body is laying down on the floor with arms resting at its sides while the body is risen such that the head, neck and feet are on the floor but the middle part of the body including tail, tail bone and spine is raised in the shape of an arc. It helps with the opening of the chest and low back and abdominal strength and flexibility.
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Hatha Yoga is the most difficult and demanding type of yoga postures as it requires very hard exercises and practices, immensely involving every muscles of the body.
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Pranayama is a yoga posture that involves breathing exercises.
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Dog and Cat posture helps in increasing the strength and flexibility of spinal cord.
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Savasana or the Corpse posture is performed at the end of yoga exercises session to relax the body and also provides a refreshing effect on the mind. This is consdered an easy pose to perform.
Benefits of practicing yoga
There are hundreds of benefits of yoga. Here are just some of them:
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Fortifies the immune system and increases the body’s natural healing ability.
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It enhances perception, improves concentration, and relaxes the mind.
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It improves the body’s overall flexibility.
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It improves memory and learning.
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It helps strengthen the heart.
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It helps provide stability to the nervous system.
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It decreases the pulse rate thus decreasing the blood pressure.
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It activates the somatic cells of the brain and helps people in increasing awareness.
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It helps in normalizing the gastrointestinal and endocrine glands’ functionality.
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It raises the body’s energy level and equilibrium.
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For some people it helps in controlling their weight.
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It improves balance.
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It helps to relax the mind therefore reducing tension, depression, and anxiety.
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Yoga helps to decrease the cholesterol level in blood.
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It helps in controlling diabetes.
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It tunes and tones the muscles.
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It proves as a treatment for arthritis, arteriosclerosis, chronic fatigue, asthma, hepatitis, insomnia and AIDS.
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Reduces the effects of aging.