Yoga Your Way to a Stress Free Life

Yoga can be an appropriate exercise for people of all ages due to the combinations of movement and meditation. Yoga involves flexibility, balance, controlling of your breathing, strength, and physical posture.

There has been a debate on how long yoga has been around. Some say yoga has been around at least 5,000 years, while others say it is closer to 10,000 years. Yoga started gaining notoriety, in the 1960's, due to the Beatles association with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Over the past few years, more and more men on the east and west coasts have taken up yoga as a form of exercise and meditation.

There are many new variations of yoga that have sprung up over the years. You can now find fertility yoga, Thai yoga, prenatal yoga, bikrum yoga, power yoga, and fusion yoga that combines yoga with another form of exercising.

By practicing yoga, you will find that there are many benefits associated with it. You will find that you have more flexibility, which golfers and tennis players will find the greatest benefits from practicing yoga. You will also find that you will have a greater endurance for running and bicycling. For those that run or cycle in marathons, practicing yoga can greatly benefit you with this.

Yoga can also help increase your muscle strength and balance, which is a great attribute to consider as we age. For those that have high-stress jobs, yoga is a great way to relieve stress.

You can expect to sit on the floor on a mat for those of you who choose to take yoga classes. The mat is used as a personal area for you to be able to participate in the exercises in the class. Often classes start with gentle breathing exercises, gentle stretches or even short meditations. This will depend on the instructor.

You will be lead through a various group of poses and positions throughout the class. As the class proceeds, the exercises will become more vigorous. There are some poses and positions that can be too difficult for your body to maneuver, and you will not want to force your body into a position because you could injure yourself in the process. If you are unable to use any of the poses or positions in the class, your yoga teacher should help you modify the pose to accommodate you for the pose so you can get the most out of your yoga experience. You will be surprised in the ways that your body can actually move in ways that you did not think it could.

While yoga injuries are rare, there are instances where injuries have occurred during a yoga session. Most injuries are due to repetitive motions rather than more serious injuries. Most of these injuries often occur due to pushing too hard to keep up with the rest of the class. The most common yoga injuries are injuries to hip flexors, wrists, hamstrings, and shoulders. It is suggested that you do not use yoga exercise videos due to the fact that you could do a pose or position wrong, and you will have a higher risk of injury.

You can combine yoga with Pilates so that you can strengthen your whole body and reduce the risks of injury even further.

Yoga Class Etiquette

* You will not want to be late. By coming in late you will disturb the others because Yoga classes are done in a quiet serene setting.

*Do not leave early. By leaving early, you will miss the last pose of the class, the savasana. The savasana pose is the resting pose of yoga. By missing this pose you would be cheating yourself of the whole yoga experience.

* Go barefoot. Taking off your shoes during yoga classes keeps you from slipping around on the floor and your body becomes allowed to get the feedback from the ground.

* Dress comfortably. You will want to wear loose-fitting clothing so that you are comfortable while doing the poses in class.

* Consult your teacher. You should let your teacher know of any limitations of movement, injuries or any preexisting problems.

The Glossary of Yoga

* Asana is a pose used during a yoga exercise.

* Hatha Yoga is form of yoga that is gentle and slow-paced. Hatha Yoga may appear on class schedules as Yoga I, Restorative Yoga or Lite Yoga.

* Vinyasa yoga is defined as synchronized-breathing movement. Vinyasa yoga is a more vigorous style of yoga. Vinyasa yoga could be named Power Yoga or Challenge Yoga on class schedules.

* Ashtanga is a type of Vinyasa yoga that uses a succession of poses during yoga classes.
* Bikram yoga is a branded name of yoga that is done in a heated room that has a temperature of 95 to 100 degrees. The idea behind Bikram yoga is to promote sweating profusely to rid the body of toxins. Bikram yoga will be available at Genesis Health clubs in 2007 and Yoga Central offers Bikram Yoga Classes that uses the heat from the movements of the body rather than heat from a room.

* Thai Yoga Therapy is a one-on-one session that combines stretches with yoga positions that are applied to your body.

* Prenatal Yoga uses poses that are adapted for pregnant women.

* Fertility Yoga is based on a theory that yoga impacts the stress levels and general health of women. By using this theory, Fertility Yoga can help women become pregnant.

* Namaste roughly means The divine in me recognizes the divine in you. The word Namaste is a Hindu salutation that is very similar to the Hawaiian salutation Aloha.

By Karen Barnes