YOGA????

well, only an opinion for some, but for me, it is the bomb. relaxing, breathing, stretching and a total awakedness, (is that a word?).

Hey there...I am a Yoga Instructor. There are many different kinds of Yoga. They all will lengthen and lean your muscles. This will help if you are doing other forms of work outs. If your are mostly looking to lean and stretch...Yoga basics are great. If you are looking to burn some serious calories...try a Vinyasa Flow. I also recommend taking a few actual classes and not just doing the DVDs. The DVDs are great, but a nice formal practice will get you going in the right direction. Most yoga teachers can move you through the postures and help you deepen in ways that will not hurt you. It gives you a good strong solid foundation for a nice home practice.
Local YMCA's..or even Town Rec will have classes...sometimes your local gym. I know studios can be expensive...so there is a Yoga class for every buget...

Namaste...
I hope you give yoga a chance....it is a wonderful way to condition your body as well as your mind...
mck

I love the classes at my gym, some of the poses take awhile but when you master them ....What a feeling! Your heart will pound and you will definatly get a great work out , and I don't know who doesn't love the relaxation at the end, you get to lay in one spot for 5 minutes and ...........:do nothing.:yawn: ( P.S I have actually woken myself up with a lil'snore!!:blushing: )

I don't go to the gym for yoga. I just crank up the heat and do it at home, I do a yoga AM PM for weightloss (approx 25mins for each one) and then at night I also so a Pilates Conditioning for weight loss.

I would suggest anything from Suezanne Deason (find her at Gaiam.com) she is great and her dvd's include alot of level teaching ( beginner, intermediate and advanced)

yoga makes me spaz. actually, ANY kind of meditation makes me spaz. i'm not kidding. it's as if my brain gets so calm that the rest of the world buzzes in :P

I actually prefer pilates (if you can get me to exercise) hehe.

good luck, though! but classes are so expensive. maybe just buy a dvd and see if you like it?

The regular practice of yoga (asanas) and breathing exercises (pranayama) makes for a stronger, healthier bodywork on every part of the body – heart, liver, nervous system, kidneys, etc. It can help as part of a slimming program by burning off calories in addition to toning your muscles and correcting bad postures. The day-to-day benefits of Yoga include improved physical fitness, enhanced flexibility, greater self-understanding, emotional balance, relaxation and general feeling of well being.

For health you need pure air, pure water, and a certain amount of light (light feeds the pituitary gland by going into the eyes). The enhancement of muscular activity, respiration, circulation and digestion has a marked psychological and cosmetic effect.

A good yoga class, regardless of the type you choose, should incorporate

POSTURES – repetition is fundamental to the learning process and progress depends upon regular practice, the shapes of the postures act like a lens bringing the mind into focus

BREATHING - respiration and blood circulation becomes more oxegyenated, bringing more fuel to nourish body cells (see note below).

RELAXATION – the yoga training method is designed to bring about total relaxation

MEDITATION – the practice of yoga stabilizes our nervous system and our minds. This stability spills into our lives providing calmness and clarity.

The breath (pranayama) used correctly in yoga, when held in postures (asanas) effects and stimulates the following glands:

Pineal (responds to light, needed for health in the body)
Pituitary (closely associated with the functioning of the sex glands, adrenals and thyroid)
Thyroid (associated with will power controlling creativity and communication)
Thymus (associated with love/compassion – directly linked to immune system)
Adrenals (kidneys – stress reaction, fight or flight mechanism)
Pancreas (receptive for feeling energy coming into body)
Gonads (located in sex glands, responsible for basic level of drive that a person has)

To keep the body in balance, every class/set of exercises should take you through a workout of the entire glandular system and the exercises chosen by your teacher should incorporate all glands.

Yoga exercises every muscles in the body, it tones and invigorates every organ, flushes and cleanses every blood vessel, pacifies, tones and harmonizes the nerves, body tissues, it enhances the skin, clears and relaxes the mind, focuses attention, generating heat and energy in our bodies. It brings about efficiency and harmony of all physical activity – its about the organic/natural activity of the vitals systems of the body, respiratory, circulatory, digestive, reproductive, immunological, nervous, etc.


Mags


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