Is Yoga For You



Yoga for Health and Fitness

Yoga has something to offer for people of all fitness levels. There is something for everyone – if you’re an energetic kid, twenty and fit, fifty and stiff, a senior and slowing down, or recuperating from an accident or illness yoga can help you stay in good shape. Yoga keeps us looking and feeling better regardless of our life stage/circumstances.

 The benefits to the body are far-ranging, and include:

  • Improved joint flexibility
  • Greater muscular strength and tone
  • Improved health of internal organs
  • Balancing glandular secretions
  • More energy and endurance
  • Improved cardiovascular and digestive functioning
  • Better posture
  • Healthy condition of the back and spine
  • Improved immune system functioning
  • Decrease in back pain
  • Lowering of high blood pressure
  • Increased bone density


Yoga for Psychological Well-Being

Along with the wonderful benefits to the physical body, yoga goes a long way towards sharpening our mind and creating a pleasant disposition. Here are some of its mental/emotional benefits:

  • Improved concentration and memory
  • Increase in self-acceptance and self-esteem
  • Improved mood and sense of well-being
  • Quieter mind
  • Feeling more centered
  • Decrease in negative emotions, such as fear, anger, anxiety and worry
  • Increase in compassion for others
  • Improved sense of humor
  • Greater enjoyment of life


Yoga for Stress Management

According to Yoga psychology, stress is a result of our perception of events, not a result of the events themselves. If looked at this way, we have the potential to reduce our stress level by changing our perception and response to events in our lives. The science of yoga includes an array of techniques to reduce stress and help change our outlook. Breathing is the method that most immediately changes our take on things and balances our emotions. Breath is the connecting link between the body and the mind. Proper breathing instantly affects the nervous system, which then helps change our thinking and feeling. Simple techniques like breath awareness, diaphragmatic breathing and even breathing go a long way and can be practiced anywhere, at any time of the day. Using breathing, relaxation, inner dialogue, meditation and other yoga practices, we can enjoy the following stress-management benefits:

  • Greater locus of control
  • Positive use of emotions
  • Aid creativity and problem-solving ability
  • Greater ability to communicate with others
  • Reduced sense of time pressure
  • Reduction in psychosomatic symptoms, as high blood pressure and digestive disorders
  • Greater ability to cope with challenging work and life situations

Yoga for Age/Body Type

Yoga has something for everyone but the art of practicing this vast science is to find what works for you. People of different ages and fitness levels need different types of practices. In addition Ayurveda, the sister science of yoga, recommends that our yoga practice be based on our constitutional type. There are three basic types (plus combinations of the three) including:

  • Vata: thin, wiry people who are active and have a lot of mental energy
  • Pitta: medium build people with a lot of endurance, drive, and a keen intellect
  • Kapha: larger-boned people who are slow, steady, and have a good long-term memory
Each of these types has different strengths and weaknesses and therefore needs a different emphasis in practice. Developing your practice according to your age is crucial. Many young people can endure a more vigorous, physically challenging set of postures than older people. As we advance in years, it is wise to respect the shifting energy of the body and work a bit more gently and slowly. In addition, life events may have left us with injuries, limitations, and weak areas that we need to attend to more carefully. Seniors generally need an even gentler approach – even simple stretching done sitting in a chair can help keep the body agile and mind alert.

Whatever your age, restrictions, and constitutional type are, these guidelines work across the board for getting the most out of your practice with the least risk of injury:
  • Move within your comfortable capacity
  • Pay attention to body signals
  • Coordinate movement with breath
  • Practice systematically


Yoga While Pregnant

For most women it is safe to practice yoga during pregnancy, and can greatly aid your health and well-being during this time. With regular practice, your sense of well-being during your pregnancy will be enhanced. Labor and delivery can take place more comfortably. Your yoga practice will help you develop the mental, relaxation, and breathing capacities needed to skillfully move through the birth process.
It is best to start practicing yoga before you become pregnant, but with your doctor’s okay you can also start when you become pregnant. In fact, it might be easier to become pregnant if you practice yoga in preparation for conception. Yoga promotes hormonal balance, menstrual regularity, and organ tone, thereby increasing the odds of conceiving.
Pregnancy presents its limitations and being mindful of what you practice during this time is important. Some asanas (stretches) and breathing practices can be potentially harmful. These include vigorous breathing, strenuous leg lifts and other abdominal work, extreme backbends/inversions and anything that compresses or overstretches the abdomen. Doing postures which strengthen the back and pelvic floor, relaxation techniques, and inner-focusing exercises will help strengthen the body and mind.


Yoga for Kids

In today’s troubled times, children perhaps more than anyone need the help that yoga can provide. Yoga helps our youth in a multitude of ways and here are some:

  • Make the body more supple
  • Improve strength, endurance
  • Develop grace and coordination
  • Develop good posture
  • Improve self-esteem
  • Decrease negative self-talks
  • Increase mental focus (therefore helps with ADD and ADHD)
  • Aid creativity and problem-solving ability