Guest writer, Brett Larkin, Founder & CEO of Uplifted Yoga, believes that yoga should be a way of life. She says that “You’ll be surprised at how it can foster your health and well-being and improve the quality of your life.”
She continues, "I've been practicing and teaching yoga for 15 years. I can attest how yoga has touched hundreds of thousands of our clients.”
Read on for her answers to frequently asked questions about yoga.
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There must be some good reasons many yogis or yoginis have been practicing yoga since time immemorial. This workout is more than just rolling out a mat and performing poses on it. It’s a combination of physical and mental exercises good for overall health and well-being.
Yoga isn’t just for yoga practitioners or enthusiasts; it’s for everyone. While performing poses and doing exercises look intimidating to some, anyone can commit to this form of exercise. Whether men or women, young or old and fit or fat, everyone can practice yoga and harness the power of its health benefits.
If you’re looking to jumpstart yoga, here are some basic questions you ought to know:
What is yoga, and how does it work?
The idea of yoga appears to be complex, as its practice worldwide has a variety. However, it’s a form of exercise that involves the mind and the body. Yoga entails a series of poses that include breathing and meditation.
It started as a spiritual practice derived from the Indian philosophy meant to foster physical health and well-being. Through time, it has evolved into what it is today.
Yoga primarily focuses on postures (asanas), breathing (pranayama), and meditation (dhyana) in the United States. In China, it’s considered a meditative movement, along with other practices like tai chi and qi gong.
As per yoga experts, there are eight limbs of yoga, not only asana, pranayama, and dhyana. Other parts of the practice include yamas (social ethics), niyamas (personal), dharana (concentration), pratyahara (turning inward), and samadhi (pure bliss).
What are some types of yoga poses?
As mentioned, yoga has a variety of exercises. Aside from breathing and meditation, it boils down to doing certain poses. If you’ve done planking once in your life, know that you’ve already done yoga.
But before you take the plunge, prepare your props like your yoga mat, blankets, straps, and even chairs. Once done, consider some of the basic poses as follows:
● Child's pose
It’s a default pause position that involves stretching your back, from your neck and shoulder to your spine to your hips and thighs to your knees and ankles. Use this to rest before you proceed to the next pose.
● Plank pose
It’s the most common exercise designed to strengthen your core, including shoulders, arms, and legs. While it's hard to last this pose, try your best to increase your seconds or minutes of planking.
● Cobra pose
It’s a back-bending pose designed to strengthen the back and improve spinal flexibility. It also stretches the chest, shoulders, and abdomen.
● Corpse pose
It includes lying on your back for an extended period as if you’re lifeless. While it looks easy, this end pose can be a bit challenging.
● Tree pose
It’s a balancing pose designed to improve balance and strengthen the core, ankles, calves, thighs, and spine. It’s considered the most popular yoga form.
What are some breathing techniques used in yoga and meditation?
In yoga, breathing must be a vital part of the overall equation. For one, it helps you focus and concentrate on your poses. Two, it helps reduce stress and relax your muscles. Finally, it helps calm your mind, which is best for meditation.
Below are some breathing techniques you can incorporate into your yoga and meditation:
● Abdominal breathing
It’s a form of belly breathing considered the most common technique. It’s as simple as inflating your abdomen by inhaling and emptying it by exhaling.
● Ujjayi breathing
It’s a form of deep breathing. This technique enables you to slow and smooth the flow of your breath. All it takes is to breathe in and out of your mouth while closed.
● Interval breathing
As the name suggests, it involves pausing and holding your breath for a few seconds during inhalation and exhalation. It helps you control your breath in the process.
● Alternate nostril breathing
This breathing technique allows the flow of your breath through each nostril, performed alternately. It’s best practiced a few minutes before meditation.
Here at The Art of Living Retreat Center, we follow a particular alternate nostril breathing technique. Start by placing the left hand on the knee, with the palm open to the sky and the index finger and thumb in contact. Then, put the right hand on your forehead, with the index and middle finger between the eyebrows. The little finger and the ring finger should be resting lightly on the left nostril, with the thumb pressed on the right nostril. Now, breathe out through the left nostril. Breathe in on the left, close the left side and open the right side as you exhale. Reverse the process to complete one cycle. Make sure that you take long, deep breaths with your eyes closed.
Let's know how to perform Bhujangasana or Cobra Pose step by step.
Here, the different steps have been explained with the correct technique of Bhujangasana.
Cobra pose benefits the digestive system, elevates mood, improves blood circulation, It also strengthens muscles of the chest.Lie down on mat which is above the floor with your face downward.Keep your palms on the mat beside your chest.Rest your forehead on the floor.Inhale slowly – slowly and raise your hand and your trunk.Stay in this posture for some seconds and breathe normally.Try to exhale slowly and then return to a position before you began.
Many people swear by yoga for losing weight and getting into a better shape.
Here are 10 yoga asanas which would help you in getting a flat tummy and getting closer to your weight goals:
For this, you need to lay with your face down.
Your toes and pubis need to make a straight line while touching the floor.
This is one of the simplest yoga asanas.
Eka Pada Adho Mukha Svanasana: The Downward Facing One-Legged Dog Pose
The American action comedy-drama web series, Cobra Kai, has recently drawn a lot of attention.
It is based on The Karate Kid film and introduces its audience to the world of Karate in an episodic format.
Season 1 of the show was released in 2018, which was followed by season 2 in 2019.There is no doubt anymore about the effect of Netflix on the entertainment industry.
Netflix saw the show’s potential and ended up buying the entire series instead of just buying streaming rights.
The company rebranded the show and is planning to release season 3 in 2021.The cast of Cobra Kai has been retained, and the show has stars like William Zabka and Ralph Macchio.
The show was about to be canceled on FOX when the company acquired it, and it became a massive hit on the platform.
Congratulations to you for bringing a new life into this word!
It is a natural exercise that will act like meditation and control your mood swings.
The natural science of yoga asanas will alleviate your health issues in the following way:Yoga keeps your body supple and relieves tension around your cervix by opening your pelvic region.
This helps in normal delivery and reduces the labor pain during delivery of child.Yoga asanas help pregnant ladies recover faster after delivery.It alleviates the symptoms of leg cramps, swollen ankles, diarrhea and constipation.The breathing process purifies the impurities of your body.It helps the baby in your womb grow comfortably.It reduces the lower back pain of the ladies.5 Remedial Yoga Asanas for Pregnant LadiesPhysical activity like yoga is natural and stress-free, so it helps the pregnant ladies delivering their child easily without any stress.
Moreover, Triangle Pose reduces your back pain and stress.Steps:Keep your legs about 3-4 feet distance apart from each other.Raise your arms straight out to both sides in a line with your shoulders.Face your palms downward-facing your palms down.Move the right foot to the outward direction.Turn your left foot slightly inward.Now bend your trunk completely and keep your hand close to the right ankle by touching your fingers slightly to the floor.Keep your right palm on the floor.Now stretch your left arm vertically.Look straight my moving your head in an upward direction.Try to hold the position for a minute.Lift the arms and slowly move your trunk back to the upright position, and relax.4.
Moreover, Warrior Pose increases stamina.Steps:Stand straight in mountain pose.Start breathing deeply and step your legs 4-5 feet apart.Raise your arms in an upward direction and join both the palms over your head.Exhale and turn your right foot outwards to a 90-degree right angle.Now, slightly turn your left foot inwards to 45-60 degrees on the right side.Place your right heel aligned to the arch of the left heel.Rotate your torso towards the right side by keeping your arms straight.Stretch your left leg by tightening your knees.Repeat the same step for your left leg.5.
