yoga in the news

[Guest guest]

Yoga for a Healthy Heart

 

Researchers now know that including Yoga with other lifestyle changes

can prevent or correct heart problems, including hypertension and

atherosclerosis. Yoga practice teaches you how to integrate Yoga

exercise, breathing, and meditation techniques into your day so that

you can make these important lifestyle changes. Yoga practice can

make a real difference in the health of your heart by strengthening

your body, teaching you how to relax mentally and physically, and

showing you how to better manage stress reactions.

 

Common stress reactions include muscle tension (most commonly in the

face, stomach, neck, shoulders, and breath), rapid heartrate,

constricted breathing, and anxiety. The fastest and most effective

way to reduce reaction to stress is to change your breath, and an

immediate way to improve your breathing is to improve your posture.

In Yoga, you learn to strengthen your back and stomach muscles so

that you can sit and stand straighter; this releases pressure on your

heart and lungs and allows you to breathe easier.

 

Yoga breathing exercises teach you how to breathe more deeply and

rhythmically; this has many effects, both physiological and mental.

Physiologically, you will strengthen your respiratory muscles and

develop a more efficient exchange of gases. Breathing exercises cause

more oxygen to be pushed through the walls of the lungs. Mentally,

you will notice more concentration, willpower, and steadiness.

 

Yoga exercise improves the health of the entire circulatory system,

beginning with the production of blood, which takes place in the

marrow of the long bones in the thighs. Improving circulation in the

legs by means of daily Yoga stretching exercises helps to rejuvenate

the blood. Yoga exercises stretch the body's major blood vessels,

keeping them free-flowing and elastic; Yoga oxygenates the blood and

pushes fresh nutrients to all peripheral vessels and capillaries.

Improved circulation means that your brain will receive more oxygen,

improving alertness, memory, and mood; vital organs receive a steady

supply of the nutrients they need for optimal functioning.

 

Yoga relaxation training teaches you how to relax at will, allowing

your body to release muscle tension almost as it occurs. Meditation

training shows you how to access your inner source of strength and

personal power, creating a support system that builds confidence and

self-esteem, fosters present-moment awareness, and increases self-

knowledge.

 

The choice to practice Yoga will protect your heart as it contributes

to greater general health and well-being.

______

At the same site, they had information on all the following:

 

Yoga Health Index:

Addiction and Yoga

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Yoga

Depression and Yoga

Fibromyalgia and Yoga

Headaches andYoga

A Healthy Back and Neck and Yoga

A Healthy Heart and Yoga

High Blood Pressure and Yoga

HIV/AIDS and Yoga

Pain Management and Yoga

Stress and Yoga

Weight Management and Yoga

______

http://www.wgcltv.com/