Sunday, June 29, 2008
Building Stronger Arms Through Yoga
...I was at work the other day and a co-worker of mine who takes Yoga classes suddenly started pumping a 20 pound dumbbell he had nestled in his cubicle. Being that he does this rather frequently, I asked why and his response was Oh, my yoga classes dont do anything for my arms.
I looked at him puzzled and luckily for me, I had a draft of a book with photos of some yoga balancing poses and asked him if he had tried or even knew of them. Surprisingly, he said no and was now eager for me to demonstrate them to him.
This made me wonder, just how many other yoga enthusiasts are of the mindset that Yoga may be inadequate for building arm strength.
If you are such a person, nothing could be further from the truth.
Yoga is fantastic for building strength in the arms and although you may never see your biceps bulge through your T-shirt sleeves, I will say you will see an increase in arm strength and endurance that may not occur in perhaps other forms of exercise.
Moreover, some basic Calisthenics like Push-ups, the plank and the Dive-bombers do borrow heavily from Yoga.
In my opinion, i...more
For Depression Treatment, There is a Helping Hand in Yoga
...l, first of all, with Yoga and its gentle movements and poses, Alpha waves (relaxation) and Theta waves (unconscious memory, dreams and emotions) tend to increase significantly after its execution.
Moreover, after its use, alpha waves increases in the right temporal region of the brain as other studies have shown that people with depression tend to have more alpha activity in the left frontal-temporal region, while optimistic, extroverted people have more alpha activity on the right.
Perhaps a simpler illustration of how Yoga works effectively for depression treatment may be that it exercises the motor centers of the brain, making the blood flow away from the emotional activity center; consequently one becomes more receptive to positive thoughts.
Although this can be accomplished by ...more
Chair Yoga Vinyasa Flow
...very little movement. That was all they could realistically endure, due to the level of pain they constantly live with. The fact that they try gives them mental comfort.
Again, in the above case, most physicians do not recommend any kind of exercise; however, Pranayama and meditation were a big relief. Vinyasa, of any sort, was out of the question. So, lets concentrate now on the 99% of your Chair Yoga students who are looking for a little stimulation in the form of Vinyasa Yoga.
Your Chair Yoga students can hold a posture for one complete breath. That is one full inhale and one full exhale, while holding a posture. This will ...more
Yoga for Kids: Building Self-Image, Part 2
...these integrated classes, went home, did their homework, and slept better.
Eventually, we established a pure Kids Yoga class, and it was scheduled between two childrens martial arts classes. The children were enthusiastic and the parents were, and still are, very supportive. In the above-mentioned examples, different children gained different benefits from learning Yoga.
As children continue to learn Yoga, they should also be taught to refrain from comparing themselves to other children in the Yoga class. This is not easy for a Yoga teacher to do, but can be accomplished by teaching children to accept themselves as they are, and that trying their best is rea...more
