Ten Minute Yoga Plan to Pep Up and Some of the Lesser Known Yoga Videos | Yoga For Anxiety Flexibility
What is Yoga
Yoga, which means discipline, was developed in the year 300 by an Indian Hindu named Patanjali. Its purpose is to stretch the muscles, strengthen the body and increase concentration. It can also help you relax, if you have trouble doing that.
No wonder this ancient discipline has become popular among modern entertainers and athletes. Depending on who practices it, yoga can be simply a set of exercises or a total way of life.
Some who practice yoga, called yogis, try to use the discipline to reach a high level of consciousness. They respect certain abstentions (things not to do), such as not lying, stealing, being greedy or harming other people. They also practice certain observances (things to do), such as being clean, content, self-controlled, studious and devoted.
Physical control is also important in yoga. Yogis train themselves to take full, deep breaths. They consider breathing a life force, counting a lifespan not in years but in the number of breaths taken.
Unlike exercises that work only on strength, yoga also helps the body become flexible. As a result, some yoga exercises (called asanas) look a little strange, and you may think you need to be a human pretzel to do them. Not so. You just have to relax.
In yoga, you ease into stretches, never forcing yourself. The saying no pain--no gain simply does not apply. You do only the best you can at the moment, and at some later moment you will do more.
All yoga poses demand balance. And since you can't balance if you're thinking about last night's TV show, yoga also demands concentration. Learn to concentrate in yoga, and you will be better able to concentrate in baseball, tennis or even school.
Yoga exercises copy nature. Many yoga poses can be traced to the shapes of creatures, such as the cobra, cat, dog, tortoise, crab and eagle.
In the cobra pose, for example, you ask yourself, What would it feel like to be a cobra. You lie on your stomach with your forehead to the floor. As you inhale, you slowly roll your head back, supporting yourself with your hands. You hold that pose, then come down slowly, trying to move as a snake would move.
All yoga exercises promote strength and calmness. Each move's effects on a muscle, a gland or a nerve center are carefully thought out.
You can choose certain exercises to rid yourself of particular pains, such as back pain from back-packing or leg pain from jogging. Yoga can help condition you for skiing or help you control feelings of depression or fear.
Any good book on yoga will describe various asanas and tell how each works. You may even have done yoga exercises already. Ever done a handstand, or the wheel. Many exercise programs borrow from yoga.
Ten Minute Yoga Plan to Pep Up
Whether you might be staying home with a new baby or working too many hours at the office, anytime is a good time for yoga. You can do yoga stretches and postures in bed or even while driving to work.
Hundreds of fitness seekers use their lunch hour to squeeze in exercise and take off extra pounds.
I occasionally use my lunch hour for Yoga, said John Ray White, 35, who works at the Arkansas attorney general's office. Downward facing dog and sun salutation are two of the postures she practices every day.
Practicing yoga in the middle of day some people think is the break that they need to face the afternoon, said Ray.
Lunch-hour fitness routines become more popular in warm weather.
Kick Back Log-on Pose
Interlace your fingers behind your head. Relax your elbows and shoulders. Smile, breathe and stretch your elbows back. Let the tightness release slowly.
E-mail Meditation
While reading your e-mail, remember to breathe slowly and focus your attention on your breath. Make the out-breath two times longer than the in-breath. This will immediately calm you.
Photocopier Stretch
Place your hands on the edge of the copier. Stand back with feet apart. Drop your head and chest. Breathe and relax your shoulders.
Close-the-deal Warrior Pose
Raise your arms to the side with fingers pointed. Take a big step to the side, with your right foot out and knee bent, your left foot planted, left leg straight. Keep the upper body straight and strong, shoulders relaxed. Relax into the stretch -- don't hold your breath. Return to a standing position, switch sides and repeat.
Some of the Lesser Known Yoga Videos
With more than 100 yoga videos on the market, you can imagine the diversity among them - everything from nude yoga to postnatal yoga.
Healing Yoga for Common Conditions
This video promises to improve circulation, promote weight loss and manage the symptoms of diabetes and high cholesterol. Without a medical study it's hard to say if it can really deliver, but the hosts, Lisa and Charles Matkin, come with good credentials.
They have taught therapeutic yoga programs at Beth Israel Hospital in New York and New York Presbyterian Medical Center, working with physicians in using yoga to help people with chronic injuries and illnesses.
The 35-minute video is designed to help you increase your metabolism, according to the Matkins. The couple begin the workout with Lisa demonstrating the moves next to a pool with an ocean in the background while Charles does the voice-over, then they switch, then switch again. Both have soothing voices and good form.
The workout is divided into three sections. The first deals with learning to control your breath. It's a pretty basic segment, teaching you breathing techniques and stretching out the body.
The second is for strength, and involves poses that are a bit more difficult, such as the warrior and downward-facing dog poses.
In the third section, you work on releasing tension and relaxation.
This is a good video for all fitness levels. The moves are explained well, as are the benefits and purposes of yoga. None of the poses is very difficult, and the instructors give you modifications to make the moves easier.
Power Strength Yoga for Beginners
Though the title says for beginners, don't believe a word of it. This video takes you through a vigorous set of poses collectively called the Sun Salutation (which you learn in another video, Power Yoga Stamina for Beginners).
Then, with the mountains of Maui as a backdrop, instructor Rodney Yee takes you through a series of very difficult poses including the pendulum, where you balance your entire body off the floor with the strength of your arms, and others that require a good deal of upper-body strength.
The workout takes only 20 minutes, but you work hard in those 20 minutes. It's the only yoga video of those reviewed here in which your heart rate gets close to an aerobic rate.
Yee has a great, soothing voice and perfect form, but he never really offers an explanation of the poses or an easier way to do them. Nor does he offer any help in how to build up to them. That said, if you have the upper-body strength, this is an amazing - and fast - way to get in a strength workout without having to go to the gym.