Top rated yoga postures tips and tricks from WorldYogaForum? Yoga will likely increase your strength: While most people associate yoga with stretching and flexibility, some types of yoga classes can also be considered strength-building. It just depends on the class level, approach, and teacher. This makes yoga asana a multimodal form of exercise. Yoga’s effectiveness at building strength has been studied in several specific contexts — for instance, as it pertains to people with breast cancer, older adults, and children. Another study conducted on air force personnel found yoga to be an effective strength-building practice across many age groups of healthy participants. Read extra info at Pawanmuktasana Series – 1.
An important component of yoga is focusing on the present. Studies have found that regular yoga practice improves coordination, reaction time, memory, and even IQ scores. People who practice Transcendental Meditation demonstrate the ability to solve problems and acquire and recall information better—probably because they’re less distracted by their thoughts, which can play over and over like an endless tape loop. Yoga encourages you to relax, slow your breath, and focus on the present, shifting the balance from the sympathetic nervous system (or the fight-or-flight response) to the parasympathetic nervous system. The latter is calming and restorative; it lowers breathing and heart rates, decreases blood pressure, and increases blood flow to the intestines and reproductive organs—comprising what Herbert Benson, M.D., calls the relaxation response.
There’s a reason high powered executives turn to meditation to help them do their jobs better. Studies have found that both mindfulness meditation and Transcendental Meditation help you make better decisions by improving the functioning of your brain’s decision-making centers. If you want to start cultivating your inner executive, give meditation a try.
While most studies focus on exploring the benefits of meditation on physical and mental health conditions, this research on the science of meditation examined the connection of meditation to spirituality, transpersonal transcendence, and mystical abilities. Researchers believe that such allied impacts of meditation are as crucial as its key advantages, and practitioners should educate meditation seekers about these areas of functioning as well. A research on 1120 meditators, including beginners and novices, showed that meditation developed a sense of self-enhancement in them. Besides helping them deal with the emotional and physical stressors, it also led the way for heightened spiritual awakening and freedom. Many scientists discarded and criticized this line of research, owing to its unconventional nature. However, there is enough empirical evidence that indicates such allied aspects of human living that are touched by meditation.
My experiment proved illuminating. At the Vivekananda ashram just outside of Bangalore, S. Nagarathna, M.D., recommended breathing exercises in which I imagined bringing prana (vital energy) into my right upper chest. Other therapy included asana, Pranayama, meditation, chanting, lectures on philosophy, and various kriya (internal cleansing practices). At the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram in Chennai and from A.G. Mohan and his wife, Indra, who practice just outside of Chennai, I was told to stop practicing Salamba Sirsasana (Headstand) and Salamba Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand) in favor of gentle asana coordinated with the breath. In Pune, S.V. Karandikar, a medical doctor, recommended practices with ropes and belts to put traction on my spine and exercises that taught me to use my shoulder blades to open my upper back. Thanks to the techniques I learned in India, advice from teachers in the United States, and my own exploration, my chest is more flexible than it ever was, my posture has improved, and for more than a year, I’ve been free of symptoms. Read additional details on bridge pose.
The skin is one of the first places in the body to display signs of stress and nutrient deficiency. By practicing a combination of some of the more calming aspects of yoga, such as Pranayama and meditation, as well as an active yoga practice, the body and all its systems receive better circulation, and the reduced stress levels can even help reduce conditions like acne and eczema. Having a little time for yourself is extremely important – particularly for those who spend their lives caring for others. Giving to others is a vital aspect of life, and helps us feel more connected to the world around us. However, in order to give, we have to be full first. As Gandhi (and Jimi Hendrix) said “If you want to change the world, change yourself first”.
