Major Health Benefits of Yoga Exercise

Yoga has been around for over 3,000 years, and still remains one of the most popular forms of exercise in the world. In fact, yoga popularity has increased tremendously over the past few years, and is rapidly becoming one of the most popular forms of exercise among young people.

Yoga exercise can be used to strengthen the mind, body and spirit by people of all ages and levels of physical health. It doesnt matter if you are in good shape or not, you can reap huge benefits from practicing yoga. There are actually several types of yoga, ranging from the high speed and high intensity level to a gentle, free flowing style of yoga and everything in between.

Regardless of which form or style of yoga exercise that you choose, there are some major benefits that you can expect to achieve from yoga.

The first benefit that comes to mind is increased flexibility. Many exercise programs focus on building up muscles through weight training. There is nothing wrong with building stronger muscles, but if all you do is bulk up, without looking to flexibility you are doing yourself a disservice. Bulked up muscles tend to be more susceptible to strain and tears then muscles that are more flexible. Many professional athletes have their careers cut short as a result of muscle strains and tears.

Another major benefit of yoga exercise is stress relief. Yoga helps you unwind after a stressful day. By focusing on obtaining the perfect pose, it helps your mind release any negative thoughts, because your active mind cannot focus on two things at the same time.

Yoga exercise also increases your energy level. By continually exercising and building up strength, your body is able to increase its stamina and endurance. This in turns allows you to have more energy.

Most people do not think of yoga as increasing muscle strength. It doesnt bulk up your muscles, but it definitely increases their strength by obtaining and maintaining the various yoga poses. Your muscle groups are straining to maintain your position, which increases your strength. As a side benefit, yoga will also improve your posture, which in turn decreases muscle aches and strains.

Yoga will also improve your general health. By twisting and turning, you will massage your internal organs, which helps them release toxins. This will improve your general health, and will help you ward off other illnesses such as colds and the flu.

Yoga exercise will help anyone improve their health, regardless of what level of physical fitness you currently are at. By utilizing yoga, you can improve your flexibility, relive stress, increase your strength and improve your general health. Yes, yoga really is good for your health in many ways.

Sydney Heiden is a practitioner of yoga and founder of Yoga and Meditation for Beginners. For more yoga tips and information, go to her website, www.Yoga.Cool-Home-Stuff.com.

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Yoga Can Get Your Diet on the Right Track

The ancient Indian sages were involved in intensive study and research into the nutritional value of food and one of the upshots of this was that they divided food into three categories which became known as Sattvic, Rajasic and Tamasic.

Tamasic food can be said to be in the lowest category as far as its food value is concerned and it is classed as being without quality prana (life energy).

Rajasic food is stimulating, possesses considerable prana and forms a significant percentage of the average persons diet.

Sattvic food however, is the only category that fulfills the ideal food of the Vedic teachings. It comprises foods that are fresh and natural, and contain a high pranic or life content. Some examples are fresh fruits, nuts and vegetables.

The teachings encourage an adherence, in the main, to the Sattvic foods, balanced by a percentage of the Rajasic class, but an abstinence from foods that are classed as Tamasic; in that have little or no prana.

These ancient principles are still adhered to today and it has been amply demonstrated by contemporary food scientists at the Yogic Umachal Hospital in India that the ancient teachings are, in fact, quite valid.

Although modified to some extent, a simple parallel can be seen in the conclusions of Western nutritionists who recommend that people:

• avoid lowest grade foods; those that are commercially produced using artificial flavorings, colorings and that contain chemical preservatives and additives
• eat limited quantities of rich, highly spiced, highly processed and cooked food, as well as butter, cheese, eggs, chocolate, confectionery and other foods containing high levels of processed cane and beet sugar, and
• ensure that a high percentage of the diet should consist of fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs, nuts and grains

The important difference is that modern diets still include great quantities of meats of all kinds. These are totally excluded in the Yoga diet for several reasons.

1. The traditional Yogic rule of nutrition excludes them as being devoid of life energy or pranathey are in fact classed as dead foods
2. Meats in quantity cause acidity and leave deposits of toxins in the blood that can cause arthritis and other diseases, depending upon the health of the animal whose flesh was consumed, and
3. Yoga adherents believe firmly that no one who loves animals would wish to kill them and eat them or even to foster their exploitation for human consumption

It is the over-riding altruistic reverence for all life that influences a tradition that precludes killing animals for food. The Yogis diet is therefore vegetarian.

This as well as other Yoga teachings and disciplines are incorporated into personal Sadhana according to the individuals choice and understanding of health and spiritual matters.

Sally Janssen is one of the best known Yoga teachers in Australia, and is a former President of the International Yoga Teachers Association. She runs an informational website that deals with the very spirit of traditional Yoga. To benefit from her extensive knowledge be sure to visit her site at http://www.classical-yoga.com

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