Archive for category Yoga
Yoga for Pregnant Women Explained
Posted by in Yoga on September 30, 2011
Most of the pregnant women today are multi-tasking personalities who undergo a lot of physical stress and mental strain all of which finally culminates into a long and arduous process of childbirth causing a severe erosion of one’s strength and stamina. Under such circumstances, the practice of yoga for pregnant women not only leads to the discovery of personal pleasures of life through spirituality but also helps to undergo the associated strain with calmness and confidence.
Being a traditional form of exercise, yoga for pregnant women reduces the mental stress and physical agony associated with childbirth by helping the expecting mother to discover and build up her inherent strength and stamina gradually over a period of the entire pregnancy. Some of the yogic postures which should be performed on a daily basis as a part of the program of yoga for pregnant women are yoga ana, Varian, padmasana, sukhasana and shavasana. These are basic asanas which entail the minimum of stretching and form a part of beginner’s yoga for pregnant women since they are meant for being performed during the first 2-3 months. Regular practice of these asanas not only tend to relax the body but also prevent the stomach muscles from getting stretched thus protecting the baby from suffering any kind of physical damage.
The pranayama which fits well your pregnancy is the regular practice of breathing exercises in form of mild kapalabhatti, anulom-vilom and bhramari pranayama. While kapalabhatti is practiced through fast breathing, anulom and vilom are performed by inhaling through one nostril and exhaling through the other and the repeating the process vice versa. Bhramari pranayama entails deep inhalation and exhalation by making a buzzing sound resembling the flight of the beetle from whom this asana gets its name. Read the rest of this entry »
Yoga As Alternative Medicine
Posted by in Yoga on September 30, 2011
The yoga system is deemed as a healing practice. Coupled with breathing yoga exercises, meditation, and physical postures, yoga has been practiced and observed for more than 5,000 years. It is particularly valuable form of exercise for people with certain health conditions, including heart disease and hypertension, back and muscle problems, and asthma. It has been proven that the practice of yoga can counter ill effects that stress the physical, emotional, and mental states.
While yoga developed as a spiritual practice in various Hindu religions, a part of yoga, known as asana, has been all the rage in Western cultures as a pure form of physical exercise. Western cultures have adapted forms of yoga but have little or nothing to do with Hinduism or spirituality. Yoga is seen simply as a way to stay healthy and fit.
Swami Vivekananda introduced yoga in American society during the late 19th century. He is the founder of the Vedanta Society and alleged that India has a profusion of spiritual well-being and that yoga is a means that can help those who were too busy being tied by the materialistic views of capitalism to attain self-realization.
The introduction of yoga spawned an argument stating that it is drafting in an ancient spiritual philosophy in modernized cultures. Because yoga mirrors the ideals of health, harmony, and balance, it suits well in meeting the challenges of contemporary times. The adjustment of cultures in Europe and America in connection to yoga can be seen as a responsive celebration of multi-cultural reception. Yoga seeping through the Westernized stream promotes more tolerant and more open-minded cultural dispositions. Read the rest of this entry »