Yoga: Natural Treatment for Arthritis Pain Relief

Yoga is AN ancient apply employing a system of postures and breath controls, that aim to attain the right union of body, mind, and spirit. Yoga may be bespoken to assist with a good vary of specific conditions as well as chronic pain conditions like inflammatory disease. this text shows why yoga may be an efficient inflammatory disease pain relief technique.

Living with inflammatory disease pain isn\'t one thing that anyone would love to happen to them. many of us suffer the aches and pains of broken or inflamed joints. Some square measure simply uncomfortable, and a few become halt as a results of a malady that has been recognized since prehistoric times however understood solely within the past few decades.
Arthritis affects the joints, specifically wherever the areas within the body wherever 2 or a lot of bones meet. There square measure many completely different components of the joint that will be plagued by inflammatory disease, like animal tissue, synovium, tendons, and muscles. The neighboring ends of bones that type the joints square measure coated by a soft, protecting material referred to as animal tissue that cushions the bones and keeps them from rubbing along. The joint is additionally basined during a capsule and lined with a tissue referred to as tissue layer.
The term inflammatory disease covers a gaggle of over one hundred diseases that involves inflammation of the joints and discomfort in connective tissues throughout the body. In several components of the globe, the malady is named rheumatism.
Arthritis could be a frequent spoken communication topic as a result of it affects such a lot of individuals. it\'s calculable that regarding one out of each seven individuals in America have inflammatory disease in some type and also the ought to realize inflammatory disease pain relief is on prime of most sufferers’ minds. It might mean taking a pill, playacting light exercises, stretching or attempting another suggests that to get relief like yoga.

Yoga is AN ancient apply employing a system of postures and breath controls, that aim to attain the right union of body, mind, and spirit. Yoga may be bespoken to assist with a good vary of specific conditions as well as chronic pain conditions like migraines, fibromyalgia, chronic pain and inflammatory disease.
Yoga for inflammatory disease pain relief doesn\'t essentially mean bending and contorting the body into weird and not possible positions simply to urge comfort from the pain. it\'s enough that someone plagued by inflammatory disease could apply respiration and cognisance, the core of yoga practices. whereas stretching is definitely concerned, yoga is absolutely regarding making balance within the body through developing each strength and suppleness. this is often done through the performance of poses or postures, every of that has specific physical advantages. The poses may be done quickly in succession, making heat within the body through movement (Vinyasa-style yoga) or a lot of slowly to extend stamina and ideal the alignment of the cause. The poses square measure a continuing, however the approach to them varies looking on the tradition within which the teacher has trained.
Yoga poses may be tailored for various joints. a standard unhealthy drawback is swelling of the fingers and knuckle joints. during this case, if the condition isn\'t too severe and also the person suffers delicate to moderate pain, a series of poses may be worked thereon lengthen and unfold the fingers. Hand stretches conjointly produce energy flow to the realm that eventually moves with the fingers. specialists say that the warmth is absolutely smart for the joints. As a therapeutic apply, yoga helps someone produce heat through deliberate respiration and movement

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Yoga: Most Effective Yoga Scoliosis Exercise Treatment

Scoliosis may be a condition that within which an individual has region spinal curves additionally to the conventional curves through which the lower portion of the human back curves inwards. the foremost effective remedy for such a condition is spinal curvature exercises. though several exercises facilitate in reducing the Scoliosis-related issues, yoga is taken into account the simplest spinal curvature exercise. Yoga postures are useful since they permit United States to stretch our body.

the foremost effective yoga exercises for the treatment of Scoliosis-related issues embrace the crocodilian reptile twist, the Supine knee chest twist, the passive back arch and therefore the one leg up-one leg out posture. These exercises are terribly useful in raising one’s down shoulder and reducing the rear pain. The Passive back arch spinal curvature exercise has been found to be useful in not solely reducing scoliosis-related pain, however conjointly the issues associated with the condition known as body part excavatum (sunken chest). body part excavatum is usually caused attributable to tight muscles across one’s chest and back and soft bones within the skeletal structure and spine. The One leg up and one leg out spinal curvature exercise are found to be terribly effective in reducing muscular tension within the legs.

 The seated  twist may be a smart remedy for the treatment of pectoral twist. This exercise conjointly helps to rectify the alignment of the body and is straightforward to perform. The Joint liberating series of spinal curvature exercises are significantly useful for individuals full of spinal curvature with tight shoulder muscles. the top to Knee create helps in maintaining the alignment of the body and straightening of the spine. The spinal and therefore the abdominal twists lead to the stretching of muscles within the shoulder.

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Yoga has a message for the human body "yoga online study"

               Swami Kuvalyanand once said: “Yoga includes a message for the physical structure, for the human mind and also the human spirit.” this can be a truth as a healthy body is that the prime requisite for achievement and happiness in life. individuals ar progressively being convinced that yoga makes permanently health, happiness associate degreed happiness in gift day nerve-racking life and isn't simply an exercise program. during this article we are going to discuss Anuloma-Viloma (alternate breathing) pranayama. Pranayama merely means that correct ‘management’ of the life force - prana. though the fundamental principle remains an equivalent, many various kinds of pranayama are devised, every with its own distinctive technique. Anuloma-Viloma or nadi shuddhi pranayama (nerve purifying pranayama) is one such kind and is taken into account one in every of the fundamental forms. The follow of Anuloma Viloma is somewhat just like the squad that regulates traffic on roads, takes care of their cleanliness, change of state, etc and keeps the traffic moving swimmingly and expeditiously. the strategy involves inhaling (pooraka) through one anterior naris and contrariwise. so this pranayama has the name anuloma viloma, i.e. alternate respiratory. To follow this, you've got to take a seat in any of the Hinduism sitting postures. to start with, keep it up traditional respiratory applying moola bandha (i.e. comfy anal contraction). Keeping a stable moola bandha, inspire and breathe utterly. make sure that the moola bandha isn't disentangled throughout the method. Pause for a short time between inhaling and expiration. inspire deeply through the left anterior naris and breathe through the correct; then inspire through the right and out through the left. Continue respiratory this manner, i.e. Alternately from left and right nostrils, for one to a few minutes. when reaching a comfort level during this manner, you'll move to successive stage. shut the correct anterior naris with the correct thumb keeping the opposite four fingers along. Now, slowly inspire through the left anterior naris at a homogenous speed. Repeat with the opposite anterior naris. whereas inhaling, raise the shoulders and expand the chest taking the ribs up. The lower abdominal region, however, should be control in. Benefits: The metabolism passage is clean and this prepares one well for the follow of alternative pranayamas. respiratory becomes straightforward and controlled. The mind becomes and heartbeat rhythm. additionally aids in enhancing concentration, memory and alternative mental schools. Contraindications: Severe pain in abdomen, swelling on account of inflammation, enlargement of liver, terribly delicate bowels or intestines, disorders of the lungs, severe throat infections, growth within the nose (polypus) or blockage of the nasal passage owing to cold, etc. Warning: The reader of this text ought to exercise all precautions before following any of the asanas from this text and also the web site. To avoid any issues whereas doing the asanas, it's suggested that you just consult a doctor and a yoga educator. The responsibility lies alone with the reader and not with the location or the author.

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Cure through Yoga

Yoga in a popular position Yoga, one of the world's oldest forms of exercise, is experiencing a rebirth in our stressful modern world. You wouldn't think that a 3000-year-old exercise could increase its popularity. But yoga is now being prescribed even by some medical practitioners for a range of health ailments and illnesses, as a stress reliever and to complement other fitness programs.

Talk to anyone who practices yoga and they will quickly extoll an endless list of benefits. It seems beginners quickly become converts. They believe it is the key to good health and happiness in today's world _ a common goal for most people. But probably the greatest advertisement for yoga is the fact that it seems to have graduated from the weird and alternative ranks into a position of fairly wide community acceptance.

Housewives, businessmen, sportspeople, teenagers and the aged are all practicing a variety of yoga positions, meditation and associated breathing exercises. For many, yoga becomes a way of life _ often giving a more spiritual side to people's lives, although not necessarily linked to religion. One school of belief maintains that chronic and accumulated stress is the reason for many of our modern illnesses.

Proponents of yoga argue that it has a multiplicity of techniques to counter that cause and, unlike drug therapy, attack the cause, not just the symptoms. It offers, they say, a holistic approach to health and fitness. Many professional athletes, looking for the edge have turned to yoga as a supplementary form of training. They have found that yoga aids their state of mental and physical relaxation between training sessions, and their crucial build-up to big meets, where a competition is usually won or lost in the mind.

Perhaps one of yoga's major attractions is that it combines physical and mental exercise. It is excellent for posture and flexibility, both key physical elements for most sports-people, and in some respects, there are strength benefits to be gained. Yoga teachers say that the approach of yoga therapy is one of the most effective ways of achieving the mental edge that athletes seek.

Marian Fenlon, one of Brisbane's leading yoga teachers of the past 20 years, is the author of two books on the subject and has had thousands of yoga pupils. Many of them have, in turn, become teachers. Believe it or not, she has even taught yoga to footballers. Many years ago, she took Brisbane Souths rugby league team for an eight-week course and, amazingly, it was well-received. She says there are eight components to yoga therapy - attitudes, disciplines, posture and flexibility, breathing, sensory awareness, concentration, contemplation and meditation. Yoga can play a substantial supporting role in modern medicine, and complement other fitness and exercise programs. While there is no great component of aerobic fitness in yoga therapy, it complements aerobic exercise because of breathing techniques that can be learned. So there are advantages of even the most demanding of aerobic sports - swimming, cycling and running. There are numerous documented cases of yoga relieving or curing serious illnesses - such as Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, heart disease, and respiratory illnesses like asthma and emphysema.

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Posturing: Introduction

It increases muscular strength. It reduces tension and stress. It has a low potential for injury, and it doesn't even look like exercise.

Why, then, don't more people practice yoga.

People think of yoga as being passive and mystical - an otherworldly activity that doesn't relate to their lives. People are experiencing a vacuum because of all the outward directed activity, and they are going to have to go back to the experience of self.

Although the Indian discipline of yoga has been practiced for more than 5,000 years, in this country there are few followers. Almost half the American adult population swims and close to a quarter runs or jogs, yet only 2 percent practices yoga.

The word yoga derives from the Sanskrit root yuj, meaning to yoke or connect. Through yoga's various techniques, one is said to arrive at mental and physical equilibrium, better health and inner peace. It has been described as providing, in effect, a ''work-in'' rather than a workout.

There are at least eight main branches of yoga and several offshoots of each, but essentially there are only two concerned with exercise: hatha yoga and kundalini yoga.

Hatha is the most popular type of yoga in the Western world. It is a slow-paced discipline that emphasizes controlled breathing and assuming various physical poses. It is said to aid the nervous system, the glands and the vital organs.

Kundalini, which was introduced to this country in 1969 by Yogi Bhajan, is more active, combining various modes of breathing, movement and meditation. It is based on the idea that body energy that is coiled below the base of the spine can be tapped so that it travels upward through different energy centers or chakras until it reaches the head. At this point one arrives at one's highest potential.

Classically, there are 84 basic yoga positions, or asanas, which are coordinated with special breathing techniques. The asanas range from simple bends and twists to pretzel-like contortions reserved for the most advanced practitioners. The various poses elongate the muscles and build flexibility. Along with the proper breathing, they help rid the body of tension. Static holds isolate and strengthen particular muscles.

Asanas have been evolved over the centuries so as to exercise every muscle, nerve and gland in the body. They secure a fine physique, which is strong and elastic without being muscle-bound, and they keep the body free from disease. They reduce fatigue and soothe the nerves. But their real importance lies in the way they train and discipline the mind.

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Astanga Vinyasa Yoga

Astanga, or sometimes spelled ashtanga Yoga is actually taught today by a man named Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, in Mysore, India. He has brought astanga yoga to the west about 25 years ago and still teaches today at 91 years of age. Astanga yoga began with the rediscovery of the ancient manuscript Yoga Korunta. It describes a unique system of Hatha yoga as practiced and created by the ancient sage Vamana Rishi. It is believed to be the original asana practiced intended by Patanjali.

The Yoga Korunta emphasizes vinyasa, or breath-synchronized movement, where one practices a posture with specific breathing patterns associated with it. This breathing technique is called ujayyi pranayama, or the victorious breath, and it is a process that produces intense internal heat and a profuse sweat that purifies and detoxifies the muscles and organs. This also releases beneficial hormones and nutrients, and is usually massaged back into the body. The breath ensures efficient circulation of blood. The result is improved circulation, a light and strong body and a calm mind.

There is a proper sequence to follow when practicing Astanga yoga. One must graduate from one sequence of postures to move onto the next. The Primary Series (Yoga Chikitsa) detoxifies and aligns the body, purifying it so that toxins do not block. The Intermediate Series (Nadi Shodhana) purifies the nervous system by opening and clearing the energy channels, allowing energy to pass through easily. The Advanced Series A, B, C, and D (Sthira Bhaga) integrate the grace and stamina of the practice, which calls for intense flexibility.

It is best to find a trained and knowledgeable teacher to assist you through this discipline. It is an intense practice that is rigorous, six days a week. You are guaranteed to find inner peace and fulfillment with each breath you take.

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Yoga for Business People: Enhance your Business Acumen

There are many of us who feel we are not as bright as we would like to be; or that we lack the will power a friend or a colleague seems to have. What is not known widely - or taken with skepticism even when known - is that mental power can be enhanced by Yoga and meditation.

Don't worry if your allopathic doctors dismiss this claim, or worse, laugh at it in contempt. Allopathic doctors tend to downplay such claims because allopathy has been brainwashed into a sort of negativism.

While the neuro-surgeon himself swears by the mantra which he recites every morning, believing it is instrumental in making divine energy flow through him, he feels that the beneficial effects of yoga on all professionals, particularly businessmen, have hardly been talked about.

Yoga or meditation is very beneficial to business executives because it makes decision-making much easier and quicker. It takes away vacillation and helps the brain to grasp the pros and cons quickly.

A surgeon needs to take a decision quickly on the operating table. Similarly, a businessman may not have more than five minutes to decide. Supposing he has a dollar 1 million business deal where a decision has to be made in five minutes, he needs a brain which is stimulated and in a trim state. In this state, decision-making becomes easy and anxiety level goes down.

In such a state not only is the brain able to think clearly, but the other systems of the body which suffer due to stress or tensions, are also spared.

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About Yoga

Yoga is a system of philosophy that originated in India 5000 years ago that is focused on the attainment of enlightenment and the liberation of one’s self from those burdens that can have negative effects on the mind, body, and spirit. The practice of yoga was brought to the Western countries, like the United States, after it gained popularity because of the many touted benefits. However, most teachers of the philosophy place the most emphasis on the physical poses and less on the meditation aspect. Yoga and Pilates have both become very popular additions to the fitness routines of many people around the world, and for good reason, which is why people are learning about yoga and its many benefits for the mind and body.

To find a comprehensive introduction to yoga basics, including a glossary of yoga terms and an introduction to popular types of yoga and basic poses visit www.yoga.about.com. There is a also a number of other sites that feature a compilation of essays and articles about yoga including information about yoga, exercise, mind-body workouts, healthy eating, and exercise tips. Learn about yoga from a beginner’s perspective about meditation, yoga cleansing methods, pregnancy yoga, and other yoga techniques to improve your health at www.healthandyoga.com. The first impression many people have about yoga, is that in order to practice it, one must contort their body into impossible uncomfortable positions, but this simply isn’t true. Yoga focuses on the breath with each posture, which is an essential component of the healing applications of yoga, and yoga as an alternative therapy.

To learn more about yoga, from its origin to how to benefit from it, visit www.hinduism.about.com. Beginners can also find a wealth of yoga information such as frequently asked questions and answers about yoga practice, including the mysterious chakras, or primary energy centers in the body, and what yoga postures activate them at www.yogabasics.com. In addition to yoga exercises for body and mind, many online retailers like www.yoga.com, carry products for yoga, massage, homeopathic medicine, meditation, and exercise, as well as demonstrations of stretches and strategies to help you strike the perfect pose. The benefits of yoga are many, and if you haven’t tried it already, you owe it to yourself to liberate your soul and reach the next level of enlightenment, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Anyone can do yoga, at any age, and in most any physical condition. Vinyasa – move with the breath.

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Improve your Personal Life with Yoga

Yoga is not an exercise it is a practice. Yoga is intended to redirect your entire body to make it all come together. Yoga works the mind combined with the body to make it fall into place, which helps one to improve personal overall life.

Everyone needs a little help one time or another to get their health and thinking on track. Practicing yoga brings the perfect out of all of us, teaching us to meditate and at the same time, helps relieve that awful stress. Along with helping to relieve stress, yoga strengthens our limbs, mind, refreshes us and even helps us lose weight. Our energy level will increase because we feel better.

When starting to practice Yoga take it slow and easy. Don’t force your body into the different postures all at once. If you do more than your body says it can do, you could hurt yourself. Like any exercise program, you need to go slow and stick with it. You might not notice a difference right away but hang in there and it will come in time.

Don’t go out and buy all new exercising cloths just to practice yoga. All you need is sweats and a comfortable loose fitting top. Maybe after awhile you might want to buy a yoga mat but most gyms will furnish them. Wherever you are you can practice using a towel for the floor mat they work just as good.

If you’re a person that can’t stand and if you are not flexible, this can be done in a chair. So, stand or sit. You can become the person you’ve always wanted to be. Make those muscles stronger and get that mind into shape along with feeling better and you’ll get to your goal.

Do you have allergies; the noise runs and your eyes water, you are congested, and just don’t feel good especially in the cold weather. Practicing Yoga can help strengthen and balance the immune system with its slow breathing and posture. The nervous system will relax and it calms down the virus.

Is it hard for you to fall to asleep or stay asleep? Try laying on the bed or floor before crawling into bed. This is a good time to practice meditating to relax. Lay on your back with the palms up and start at your head. Start with the head and relax it then the neck and on down slowly until you reach your feet. Practice as often as possible and this one will help you sleep once you’ve relaxed the whole body.

You can practice Yoga at the office sitting at your desk, in the park anywhere you can meditate. When sitting in a chair twist from side to side, rotate your head side to side and to the front and back, put you arms above your head and stretch. While doing these movements in your chair as you relax shut your eyes and let all thoughts come in and go out.

Stressed and need to learn how to breath slow and then sleep will come, Yoga can be useful for all ages from children to Grandma and Grandpa. The children can practice to strengthen the mind and body by standing beside you and Grandma and Grandpa can sit in the chair. Strengthening and relaxing along with the meditating is good for everyone. It all gets easier to you.

Yoga can also be good for your heart. The heart will become stronger, Someone who suffers from epilepsy can benefit from practicing Yoga because it stimulates the brain; some people in a study that was taken says it decreased the amount of seizure’s they were experiencing. Yoga is known to help the mentally handicapped by relaxing their minds, letting them think well.

I’ve given you a few ideas on why a person might want to try practicing Yoga so go for it and enjoy.

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In the pursuit of finding a great job that can help people stay in great shape, many individuals are looking into yoga teacher training. This training can be the stepping stone to a lucrative career that can really help you maintain good health and balance. While some like to go to classes in person, others opt to take yoga teacher training courses online instead.

There are many benefits to taking the classes online. You can pretty much set your own schedule. The yoga teacher training courses available through Internet instruction can be completed in a year or less. Basically, certification through some of these organizations is measured by hours.

In order to earn a yoga teacher training certificate at level one would require 200 hours of study. You should beware of organizations that write out diplomas indiscriminately. If you are not held to high standards, then you can expect that your yoga teacher training program is not really up to snuff.

Remember that the minimum number of hours to complete level-one training is 200 hours. If an organization certifies you with less than that number of hours under your belt then you might want to consider a different yoga teacher training program completely.

Even though the notion of getting through the program quickly is appealing, it does no one any good. You definitely want to take yoga teacher training seriously and getting by on the minimum or less than the minimum may come back to haunt you in the future. Health and fitness is a very serious field of study even when it seems like a breeze.

This is a very demanding industry that requires dedication and skill. Your yoga teacher training program should reflect that in its teachings. The program should also prepare you to teach yoga in a number of different places and circumstances. You should be prepared whether you are working one-on-one or with a group of individuals in a public place.

The efficient yoga training at level 2 is 500 hours. It is a great idea to invest the extra time and money to reach this level of certification. You can find better jobs and more consistent work if you have dedicated yourself to a higher level of education.

The good news is that you can complete your yoga teacher training in as long as an entire year or in as little as three months. If you really put your mind and heart into to program you will find yourself where you want to be in the near future.

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Yoga for Computer Users: The Side-Angled Stretch

Stand straight against the wall and stretch the feet about three to four feet apart. Inhale and raise arms up to shoulder level, palms down. Point right foot to the right and slightly turn in left foot. Bend right knee to form a right angle, with thigh parallel to the floor and the shin vertical. The knee should be directly above the ankle. Stretch the back leg and tighten the knee.

Exhale and stretch right hand down to rest on floor behind right foot. Turn head to look up and press left hip flat against wall with left hand. A strong pull should be felt all along the left side. When you feel comfortable, stretch the left arm up and press it against your ear so that from left heel to left hand the body is stretched and extended. Hold this position for a slow count of 10, making sure that upper shoulder, hip and bent knee are pressed against the wall. Inhale and return to starting position. Exhale and repeat on left.

Benefits: This posture produces overall health. It tones every muscle, tendon and joint in the body. The heart is revitalized and strengthened, and, if crooked, the spine is stretched and realigned. The hip joints, which can weaken with age, become stronger and more flexible. The neck is stretched and made more flexible, easing the pain of stiff, tense muscles and spondylosis. Thighs, hips and waist are firmed. Even digestion is improved.

Remember to lie down and relax after your yoga practice. Relaxation after exercising helps the body to recover, regulates the flow of blood, and calms and soothes the mind. That way you don't feel tired but refreshed and invigorated.

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Basic Yoga Postures and their Variations

1. THE COBRA Do this in easy stages. Lie down, face prone, legs tightly together and stretched back, forehead on the floor. Put your hands, palm down, just under your shoulders. Inhale and raise your head, pressing your neck back, now use your hands to push your trunk up until you are bending in a beautiful arc from your lower spine to the back of your neck. You need go no further than this. However, if you are supple enough, you can now straighten your arms completely, bend the legs at the knees and drop your head back to touch your feet. Even if your head goes nowhere near your feet, drop it back as far as possible and hold the posture with deep breathing. Come out of the posture very slowly, returning to the face prone posture. Relax with your head to one side. Repeat.

2. THE BOW This is also an extreme version of the simple bow. It is surprising how many children can do it immediately. Take it, once again, in easy stages. Lie face prone on your mat. If you are very slim have a nice thick, padded mat for this one. Inhale and bend your knees up. Stretch back with your arms and catch hold of your ankles, keeping fingers and thumbs all together on the outside. Inhale and at the same time raise your head and chest, pulling at your ankles and lifting knees and thighs off the floor. Breathe normally, trying to kick up your legs higher and lifting your head up. You are now bent like a bow, balancing the weight of your body on your abdomen. You can stop right here but if you can still stretch further, then slide your hands down your legs, lift them higher, keep the knees together and pull back as much as you can. Hold for a few normal deep breaths, then relax back to the face-prone position, head to one side.

3. THE SHOOTING BOW In Sanskrit this is known as Akarna Dhanurasana and one leg is drawn up like a shooting bow. Sit with both legs stretched out in front and back straight. Reach forward with both hands and clasp your feet, catching the right foot with the left hand and the left foot with the right hand. Inhale, bend the left knee and pull the foot across the body, close to your chest, pointing the elbow up and twisting the body slightly to the right. The left hand stays firm and tight, holding the right foot. Hold posture with normal breathing, release slowly, and relax. Repeat on other side. In the beginning it is enough to hold the bent left leg with the right hand. When this is easy, stretch down and hold the left foot with the right hand. Continue to pull on the left foot, lifting it higher on each exhalation.

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Infertility

Infertility is defined as the inability to conceive after one year of trying, or the inability to carry pregnancies to a live birth. It affects one out of six couples of childbearing age in the United States today - at least ten million people. And in a career-oriented area like Washington, where many couples postpone decisions about childbearing until professional goals have been met, the ration of one in six is probably on the conservative side. Yet it is rarely discussed, and understood even less.

For almost all couples the condition comes as a surprise. And no wonder. It seems as if the whole is on its guard against producing unwanted children. Every day 19.9 million women in this country wake up and remind themselves to take the Pill. In China, a woman with more than three children is considered an enemy of the state. In India, population experts fear the country may end up at century's close with four times as many people as it started with - up from 250 million in 1900 to one billion. The huge nation has resorted to quickie vasectomies and cash rewards at commuter train stations. Two will do posters are everywhere.

Although infertility may affect people of all social classes, the childless poor usually have neither the time nor the money to undergo a lengthy series of tests - commonly called an infertility work-up - to determine the cause of the problem. There may also be class differences in a person's willingness to endure many sacrifices so that a long-range goal can be realized. For these reasons, the inability to conceive and bear children seems to be a middle and upper middle-class problem.

The anguish of infertility will strike increasing numbers of couples in the next few years, however, as the children of the baby boom reach their late twenties and early thirties. Many who till now have postponed marriage and childbearing for their careers will turn to both to round out their lives - and find child-bearing not possible.

The men, after years of enjoying what they consider a healthy sex drive, will be shocked to learn that their sperm are too few in number or perhaps not active enough to effect a conception. The women may be given a finding of endometriosis, a condition in which parts of the uterine lining seed themselves in various places along the reproductive tract. Unknown in cultures where women marry young, it is a common finding in American women past 30. Or the women may be part of the 10.9 million who took the Pill every day whether or not previous gynecological abnormalities should have warned the physician against a prescription.

A generation ago, before the current explosion in medical technology, many couples who could not produce children were told there was nothing wrong with them: either it was all in their heads or God's will. There was also smirking ignorance on the public, the insinuation they weren't performing correctly in bed.

In fact, male impotence is the source of less than five per cent of the cases of male infertility, and the sources of impotence are extremely varied, from diabetes to perineal nerve injury to psychogenic causes.

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Yoga for Women: Basic Yoga Lessons for Women

If a woman wants a healthy way of life devoid of any strain and stress, she should start her day with yoga.

First things first, when you roll out of your bed, sit onto a mat on the floor and hug your knees to your chest. Then raise your legs in the air and stay bottoms up until your head clears. Next stand up and drop your forehead to your shins until you feel ready to tackle the toothbrush and get on with your day.

Waking up doesn't have to consist of pouring coffee down your gullet to shock yourself alive.

Many women pile up an array of small violences against themselves from the moment they wake up - caffeine, cigarettes, abrasive exercises or no exercise at all. Lots of faddish fitness programs today have this violent approach - do 50 leg raises or pound your body jogging on the pavement or jump around to a rhythm not of your own making.

Your approach to fitness and well-being and to life in general should be nonviolent one - working smoothly with concentration and determination at your own pace without competing with anyone else. Don't be ruthless with yourself and you won't be ruthless with other people.

Your routine should ideally center on 28 postures drawn from the 5,000-year-old technique whose name comes from the Sanskrit for sun, moon and join together. The exercises should range from deep breathing to pretzel-like stretches.

Yoga is strenuous, but not painful, and it gives every inch of your body a terrific workout.

Yoga proves particularly helpful in strengthening a body plagued by injury.

Yoga helps you maintain flexibility, build strength and muscle definition and even. Try spending 60 to 90 minutes on your yoga routine, before breakfast, five to six days a week.

Follow the basics mentioned here to have a healthy and balanced life:

Avoid the big seduction to only go with your strong points - like weight-lifting if you've got great muscles. It's the thing that's hardest for you that you need to work on the most

Don't space out during workouts. Use that time to have a private conversation with yourself: 'How do I feel physically, mentally.' 'How is my balance and coordination today.' 'Is there something I should pay special attention to.'

Practice yoga in the early morning or early evening at least one hour after a light meal or three to four hours after a main meal. If you are hungry before practice, try tea, milk or fruit juice.

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Go Straight to Video for Yoga Training

The various postures of yoga have long been used as a basis for the stretching moves that are prescribed for athletes or used in other forms of exercise. It's no surprise, then, that a flood of yoga tapes is hitting the market.

There are tapes for Olympic-level athletes and tapes for rank beginners. There are tapes that will challenge your strength and endurance, and tapes that will lull you into blissful relaxation.

Here's a look at four yoga tapes, from the most difficult to the most basic. The only thing you need to get started is comfortable clothes and a non-skid surface like a sticky mat.

Embracing Power Yoga

This tape, led by Los Angeles instructor-to-the-stars Mark Blanchard, is the yoga version of boot camp. It's 85 challenging minutes of constant movement designed to build strength and endurance, with Blanchard leading a class of 13 men and women.

The tape is billed as appropriate for all levels, and there's a 5-minute segment at the beginning that offers a quick summary of how to do many of the basic yoga poses in the tape.

But that's not enough for novices, and the rest of the tape is far too strenuous for those who aren't extremely fit. You can tell that Blanchard isn't very interested in newcomers to yoga because he ignores the poor, fumbling fellow in the back row who has little flexibility.

Despite these deficiencies, this tape is wonderfully challenging and effective workout, judging by the sweat that pours off the members of the class. But unless you're already in good shape -- and by the standards of this tape, that means you can do push-ups, balance easily on one leg and have abs of steel -- you'll be better off with an easier tape.

Yoga Zone: Power Yoga for Strength and Endurance

This routine provides a great introduction to the strength-building postures of power yoga. It's taught by Lisa Bennett, who leads two exercisers through the 55-minute class.

One exerciser is a beginner; the other is more advanced. Beginners will be heartened to see that Bennett devotes plenty of time to helping Gina, the beginner, find modified versions of the postures that allow her to complete every segment of the routine. And veterans can learn much from her work with Charles as she guides him into more challenging moves.

One of Bennett's major strengths is her ability to provide clear, detailed descriptions of proper form, from the angle of a bent knee to the direction of an extended arm.

Though there's hard work to be done in this routine, Bennett's comforting tone and understanding demeanor make it pleasurable.

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Yoga for Modern City Life: Yoga Helps Ease Modern Stress

For Gail Stuart, who is finishing a beginner's series, yoga is an antidote to the stress of her job at the Medical University of South Carolina, where she works with psychiatric research. You just walk through the whole process, and you feel yourself slipping away. It's a different workout, she says, a welcome alternative to aerobics or exercise machines, which remind her of a torture chamber.

Yoga is the most prominent form of the burgeoning mind-body health movement, which includes tai chi, qigong and other meditative forms of exercise.

The practice of yoga should integrate every aspect of human existence. While many of modern Western practitioners focus on the physical asanas, for others, yoga is an all-encompassing way of life and a path to bliss.

Considering yoga's lofty goals, it's delightfully simple and can be done anywhere, anytime. Taken to its extreme, yoga encompasses everything from a moral code and dietary practices to deep meditation. Most commonly, though, it's a combination of asanas, pranayama (breathing exercises) and some meditation.

Yoga would be an effective and relatively cheap substitute for many anxious and stressed patients, although they would probably also need to be motivated to become physically fit.

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Beginners’ Yoga Video Offers Good Instruction

Trying to find well-produced fitness videos that are truly suitable for beginners can be a daunting challenge.

Most tapes these days aim at intermediate exercisers, the ones who know a grapevine from a box step and a lateral raise from a biceps curl. These tapes may offer a few easier moves here and there, but the instruction clearly is geared to people who already know what to do.

The few tapes that are marketed for beginners often are unspeakably repetitive, as if flabby muscles always mean a flabby brain. And too often, they provide no way to add extra challenge or difficulty to the routine, as if beginning exercisers are going to remain beginners forever.

It's nice, then, to discover Yoga Zone: Flexibility and Tone, a beginners' tape that offers the depth of instruction and easy pace that true beginners need.

The instructor here is Alan Finger, a genial-looking middle-aged man who wears a polo shirt, rolled-up cotton pants and a chin-length bob. His physique is not the standard chiseled form of exercise videos; he looks as if he might carry a few extra pounds around the middle.

But he has a lovely voice (with a hint of a brogue) and a calm manner, two essentials for a yoga tape, where relaxation is key.

And he has a true gift for instruction, combining the nuts-and-bolts details of positioning with what it feels like to stretch and balance.

When he describes how the muscles of the feet ought to rotate through to the little toe, you'll know -- and be able to feel -- just what he's talking about.

But each move contains so many of these instructions that it can be a little overwhelming to try to master all of them at once.

If you have tried yoga before, you'll recognize some of them -- the down-on-all-fours stretch called the cat, the inverted V that forms the down dog, and the corpse, which requires little more than lying flat on one's back, completely relaxed.

In another nod to beginners, Finger also provides true modifications and tips for those who may not be as flexible as they'd like.

Finger shows how a folded blanket can be placed under the knees or for better support while performing seated postures. A folded towel also is used for several poses, although Finger doesn't announce that in advance.

The 50-minute session ends with stretching and relaxation, set to gentle New Age music that might lull you to sleep.

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Yoga for Computer Users: Supported Side Stretches

Many computer users around the world face the problem of back pain. Having your back against the wall usually means you're in trouble. But for certain yoga positions, having your back firmly against a wall will aid health.

In Hatha Yoga, the practitioner forms what Swami Gitananda calls body geometry--triangles, straight lines, circles and parallel lines. When you do a posture, always stretch your body to its utmost limit and then hold it there for a slow count of 10, gradually building up the time, until each posture can be maintained for 30 seconds. Holding a posture is essential to yoga because it gives the body a chance to settle into the stretch and loosen up. Then each time you stretch it will be just that little bit farther.

Many of the sideways, or lateral, stretches in Hatha Yoga require that the body face forward, with hips level and back and spine tilting neither forward nor back. Beginners tend to lean forward to increase the stretch. But leaning forward is wrong and will actually detract from benefits and possibly cause harm. To perform these stretches properly, make sure to keep your spine firmly against a wall. The wall acts as a prop. Even those who have practiced yoga may find that they cannot bend as far as they thought they could when they do the postures properly. The extra time spent in forming careful postures will pay off: Your body will gain excellent flexibility and strength.

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Kundalini Yoga

The word Kundalini is a familiar one to all students of Yoga, as it is well known as the power, in the form of a coiled serpent, residing in Muladhara Chakra, the first of the seven Chakras, the other six being Svadhishthana, Manipuraka, A nahata, Visuddha, Ajna and Sahasrara, in order.

Less is historically known of the Agamas than the Vedas, because the latter provide descriptive poem-pictures of Vedic life. The original Agamas are twenty-eight in number. They are called Saiva Agamas as they focus on establishing a relationship with and ultimately realizing the Supreme Being Siva. They carry names like Vira, Hero. Siddha, Perfected and Swayambhuva, naturally revealed.

The Agamas are divided into four parts called padas, lessons. The first two padas - Chariya good conduct, and Kriya, external worship,- include all the details of personal home life, house planning, town planning, personal worship in temples, the architectural plans for temples and sculpture as well as the intricacies of temple puja. The final two padas - Yoga, internalized worship and union, and Jnana, enlightened wisdom, – vividly describe the processes and stages of kundalini yoga, and the Cod-like plateaus of consciousness reached when Sivahood is attained. In the actual texts, the padas are ordered with jnana first, yoga second, then kriya and chariya - unfurling from a God-state to a human state.

The Agamas contain tens of thousands of verses, much more prolific than the Vedas. Though the Vedas stayed strictly in Sanskrit, the Agamas proliferated across India and oilier countries through many languages. But they fared poorly over the millennia, particularly the Yoga and Jnana Padas - so high and powerful. The custodian Saiva priests neglected them. Many padas of entire Agamas were lost or destroyed.

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Some of the Lesser Known Yoga Videos

With more than 100 yoga videos on the market, you can imagine the diversity among them - everything from nude yoga to postnatal yoga.

Healing Yoga for Common Conditions

This video promises to improve circulation, promote weight loss and manage the symptoms of diabetes and high cholesterol. Without a medical study it's hard to say if it can really deliver, but the hosts, Lisa and Charles Matkin, come with good credentials.

They have taught therapeutic yoga programs at Beth Israel Hospital in New York and New York Presbyterian Medical Center, working with physicians in using yoga to help people with chronic injuries and illnesses.

The 35-minute video is designed to help you increase your metabolism, according to the Matkins. The couple begin the workout with Lisa demonstrating the moves next to a pool with an ocean in the background while Charles does the voice-over, then they switch, then switch again. Both have soothing voices and good form.

The workout is divided into three sections. The first deals with learning to control your breath. It's a pretty basic segment, teaching you breathing techniques and stretching out the body.

The second is for strength, and involves poses that are a bit more difficult, such as the warrior and downward-facing dog poses.

In the third section, you work on releasing tension and relaxation.

This is a good video for all fitness levels. The moves are explained well, as are the benefits and purposes of yoga. None of the poses is very difficult, and the instructors give you modifications to make the moves easier.

Power Strength Yoga for Beginners

Though the title says for beginners, don't believe a word of it. This video takes you through a vigorous set of poses collectively called the Sun Salutation (which you learn in another video, Power Yoga Stamina for Beginners).

Then, with the mountains of Maui as a backdrop, instructor Rodney Yee takes you through a series of very difficult poses including the pendulum, where you balance your entire body off the floor with the strength of your arms, and others that require a good deal of upper-body strength.

The workout takes only 20 minutes, but you work hard in those 20 minutes. It's the only yoga video of those reviewed here in which your heart rate gets close to an aerobic rate.

Yee has a great, soothing voice and perfect form, but he never really offers an explanation of the poses or an easier way to do them. Nor does he offer any help in how to build up to them. That said, if you have the upper-body strength, this is an amazing - and fast - way to get in a strength workout without having to go to the gym.

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yoga therapy

There are many benefits to practicing yoga - that ancient Indian discipline that serves to enlighten and help “still the mind”. Yoga therapy has been used increasingly in the West, and yoga classes are popping up in cities across the U.S. The physical and mental challenges that yoga can provide have been seen to yield increasingly greater health benefits for people.

One reason why yoga therapy appears to be so popular and beneficial is because it works on many levels. It can be viewed simply as a system of physical exercise, or as a profound philosophy, and yoga teachers vary in the amount of emphasis they place on different aspects.

Yoga is non-competitive, and suitable for people of all ages, whether they have health problems or not. Yoga therapy has been shown to benefit the body physically. Some people that practice yoga on a regular basis have been able to lower blood pressure, increase their energy, increase their balance, and improve their strength and flexibility. Still others have been able to help improve their hormonal function.

Other mental benefits go hand and hand with yoga therapy. It can help to relieve stress and mild depression, improve concentration and memory, and induce a sense of calmness in people.

Disabled people can benefit from yoga therapy too, and it has been found especially helpful in certain specific ailments, notably asthma and multiple sclerosis.

People can derive more benefits from yoga if they practice for a short time each day, in addition to the lesson, which will usually be weekly in some form of a class. There are many books and tapes which help with home practice, but it is very important to remember that they are only meant to act as a back-up to regular lessons with an instructor.

Many people who find work stressful can benefit greatly from yoga therapy. To still the restlessness of the mind, simple breathing exercises can be employed without having to leave one’s desk. Breathing is an integral aspect of yoga, and it generates heat, relaxes the body and helps to block out distractions. Deep breathing expands the stomach during inhalation, which lowers the diaphragm and creates a vacuum that can help draw more air into the lungs. Repeating breathing exercises 15 to 20 times helps the body in preparation for yoga exercises.

Yoga breathing techniques have been used by professional athletes to improve performance. By breathing deeply through the nose, oxygen is drawn into the lower lungs. The lower lungs contain more blood and have greater oxygen-exchange capacity. Therefore, oxygen, the essential for muscle function, can be delivered in higher concentration to fuel the muscles through yoga therapy.

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Every day folks are questioning their careers. They wonder if they're in the right profession or not. I'm not going to lie; I do this as well. More importantly, my wife does it all the time. I'm talking daily. From where I'm standing, that's not a good thing. This is why I encourage her to pursue other career options. What she needs is a change of scenery. Maybe it's time to go back to college and acquire that teaching degree, become a marine biologist, or just attain some yoga teacher training. Anything but what she doing now. Personally, I'm all for the yoga thing. This way she could teach me at home.

I received my very first yoga experience a few months back. It was at our local YMCA. Hey, before you diss our YMCA, you should know that it's the largest one in the country. Now I have to admit that I used to pick on and joke about the YMCA. I always considered it a cheesy family workout center. Well, it actually is, but the YMCA we have is phenomenal. It certainly changed my viewpoint. The place has 8 swimming pools. It's really quite awesome. Anyway, I decided to sit in on a yoga class. You know, to see what it's all about. I must admit I liked it. The class had me wondering what it would take to acquire some yoga teacher training. Maybe I should teach yoga for a living. They can't be doing too awful bad. I saw the teacher pull out of the parking lot in a 2006 Lexus SUV. That's reassuring. But seriously, imagine that you received yoga teacher training, and began teaching a class such as this. How hard could your day possibly be? You go into the YMCA or where ever it is you're teaching, you guide a group of people through a standard yoga routine for about an hour and then what? Maybe you have 3 or 4 classes each day. That's easy! What is that compared to the standard 8 hour a day work-week? The more I ponder this option, the more ideal it sounds.

So, are you getting tired of your hectic career and cramped cubicle? Hey, join the club. My wife can definitely relate to this burden. I've got to get her some yoga teacher training and fast. Once she's in there and teaching, maybe I can then get a free membership to the YMCA.

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Equipment

Yoga is a challenging discipline for the beginning to the advanced person. The asanas, or postures are slow and steady and are not meant to be painful, but this does not mean that they are not challenging. Never extend yourself too much to cause discomfort. With practice, you should see yourself relaxing into the stretches with ease.

Nevertheless, for beginners there are a few tips when practicing yoga. Release all thoughts, good or bad before you begin. Turn off your phone and don’t answer the door, you need peace and quiet. Make sure you take a warm, relaxing shower and that you wear comfortable clothes that will allow you to stretch easily. You can use aromatherapy that will relax and help to clear you thoughts. You will want to purchase a yoga mat so you can rest on the pad and not slip and slide on the floor. Make sure your shoes and socks are off and that your hair is either comfortable pulled back or no, whatever feels better. Turn the lights low (or you can do it in the sunlight), whatever suits you. You may want to turn some relaxing music of nature, perhaps the beach. Belts or ropes are used to grab your legs and pull them into a better stretch, which should feel delicious. Blocks are used to prop yourself up and sit better or for standing postures.

Without the prop support, you may not be able to attain some postures. Just remember that although the postures are important, performing them absolutely perfectly is not the goal. Yoga is not just an exercise; it includes the mind and intelligence and the reflection in action. These tools make it easier for you as a beginner in yoga, but you will find that eventually you will not need them. Some people prefer taking a yoga class so they are guided properly. There is nothing wrong with this, but keep in mind that only you can take your mind and spirit as far as it was meant to go, alone.

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Yoga for Modern City Life: Most Urbanites Start with a Class

The best place to start is with a class, where a teacher can show you how to adapt poses using props and help you learn proper technique for the postures.

The good news is that yoga classes have never been more widely available. You'll find them at small studios, health clubs and gyms. The hard part is finding a class that's just right for you. Studios that are dedicated to yoga also foster a more dedicated practice. The same students return to class week after week, and instructors usually follow a particular discipline of yoga. Some classes are aimed at beginners.

Whether you consider a studio or health club classes, here are some tips to find qualified instructors and classes that suit your needs:

Define your goals. Do you have chronic back pain or other physical limitations. An Iyengar-based class, with its emphasis on proper form and use of props, would be ideal. Looking to improve concentration and reduce stress. Consider a class that incorporates meditation. Seeking a challenging workout. Try an ashtanga class.

Ask about the instructor's background. There is no national certification program for yoga yet, although some disciplines have their own rigorous teaching certification programs. You want an instructor who has been practicing and teaching for a long time.

Check out the space. Look for rooms that are spacious and well ventilated. Plenty of props sticky mats, straps, foam bricks, blankets and bolsters are a good sign, too. Ideally, yoga rooms are quiet, but that may not be the case in a gym setting where students have to contend with loud music and clanking weight machines.

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Yoga for Women: How to Gain a Shapely Waist through Yoga

The size of the waist is an indication of overall fitness for many people. Most health experts agree that a smaller waist is healthier than a big one. The reasoning behind this is that increases in fat around the waist usually result in increased health risks such as diabetes, high cholesterol and blood pressure.

In evolutionary and biological terms, a small waist signifies youth and vitality. But doing endless workouts of crunches alone will not allow you to achieve that Venus-like waist of your dreams. You will need to supplement specific waist-orientated exercises with ones from various disciplines.

Specifically you will need to work the inner girdle of muscles - commonly known as the core muscles - with slow abdominal exercises that work very deep into these muscle groups.

While usually associated with building flexibility, some specific exercises from yoga-based workouts also target the underlying core muscles around the waist.

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Yoga for Modern City Life: Hatha Yoga – Most Popular in the US

There are actually several branches of yoga, including bhakti, the yoga of devotion, and jnana, the yoga of knowledge. The most widely practiced branch in the US, the one typically offered at gyms and exercise studios, is hatha yoga, which is physical yoga. But there also are different styles of hatha yoga, from the exercise-intense power yoga to the gentle chair poses used in svaroopa yoga.

Many of the instructors offer integral yoga, which involves stretching and bending into various positions called asanas, as well as breathing exercises and deep relaxation. By practicing and learning asanas, students can gain flexibility, strength, stamina and improved circulation.

Integral yoga is not religious, but it does offer an introspective, spiritual component that you won't find in most exercise programs.

A typical adult class lasts 1 hour. First, the students center themselves through breathing, then come together as a group with a collective om. They do a quick series of cardiovascular movements, an hour of stretching and 20 minutes of relaxation while lying on their backs.

The relaxation period gives students a chance to turn inward. Some people are making lists in their head. Some people are asleep. Some people are just in a really great space, where they're conscious of what's going on in the room, and yet at the same time, completely and unequivocally out.

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Ten Minute Yoga Plan to Pep Up

Whether you might be staying home with a new baby or working too many hours at the office, anytime is a good time for yoga. You can do yoga stretches and postures in bed or even while driving to work.

Hundreds of fitness seekers use their lunch hour to squeeze in exercise and take off extra pounds.

I occasionally use my lunch hour for Yoga, said John Ray White, 35, who works at the Arkansas attorney general's office. Downward facing dog and sun salutation are two of the postures she practices every day.

Practicing yoga in the middle of day some people think is the break that they need to face the afternoon, said Ray.

Lunch-hour fitness routines become more popular in warm weather.

Kick Back Log-on Pose

Interlace your fingers behind your head. Relax your elbows and shoulders. Smile, breathe and stretch your elbows back. Let the tightness release slowly.

E-mail Meditation

While reading your e-mail, remember to breathe slowly and focus your attention on your breath. Make the out-breath two times longer than the in-breath. This will immediately calm you.

Photocopier Stretch

Place your hands on the edge of the copier. Stand back with feet apart. Drop your head and chest. Breathe and relax your shoulders.

Close-the-deal Warrior Pose

Raise your arms to the side with fingers pointed. Take a big step to the side, with your right foot out and knee bent, your left foot planted, left leg straight. Keep the upper body straight and strong, shoulders relaxed. Relax into the stretch -- don't hold your breath. Return to a standing position, switch sides and repeat.

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Yoga for Modern City Life: Ancient Practice Fits Modern Life

When Trace Bonner launched Holy Cow in West Ashley's South Windermere Shopping Center last summer, she didn't know what to expect. Now she's teaching 16 classes a week and adding another instructor. And while she credits the center's success in part to its cute cow logo and convenient location, there's no question that there's a revived interest in yoga across America.

The ancient Indian practice of yoga first arrived in the US at the beginning of the 20th century, but didn't really catch on until 1969 with chants at Woodstock. Now, after being overshadowed by the aerobics craze in the '80s and early '90s, yoga is once again attracting followers, with many looking for relief from ailments and injuries or from the stress of daily life.

Baby boomers, worn out from years of jogging and bouncy workouts, are back on board. But interest is growing with other age groups, too, from college students to senior citizens to celebrities.

The surge in interest is being fueled partly by doctors' growing acceptance of yoga's healing potential. Mainstream medicine has adopted yoga as a gentle therapeutic method for treating a number of illnesses, so more and more doctors are referring their patients to yoga. Initial trials have shown yoga can help people with arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, asthma and cardiac risk factors.

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Breathing and Relaxing

You don't need to fall into the stress mode of life. You can use breath to relax, rather than stress, your mind and body. Yoga helps you to relearn that natural state that your body and mind want to be in: relaxation.

Deep breathing is both calming and energizing. The energy you feel from a few minutes of careful breathe is not nervous or hyper, but that calm, steady energy we all need. Slow, steady, and quiet breathing gives a message to your nervous system: Be calm.

Whole books have been written on yoga breathing. Here is one 5-minute Breath Break. (Read through the instructions several times before you try the practice.)

1. Sit with your spine as straight as possible. Use a chair if necessary but don't slump into it. Feet flat on the floor with knees directly over the center of your feet. Use a book or cushion under your feet if they do not rest comfortably on the floor. Hands are on the tops of your legs.

2. Close your eyes gently and let them rest behind closed lids.

3. Think about your ribs, at the front, back, and at the sides of your body. Your lungs are behind those ribs.

4. Feel your lungs filling up, your ribs expanding out and up. Feel your lungs emptying, your ribs coming back down and in. Don't push the breath.

5. The first few times you do this, do it for 2 to 3 minutes, then do it for up to 5 to 10 minutes. At first, set aside a time at least once a day to do this. When you learn how good it makes you feel, you'll want to do it at other times as well.

Just as one stressful situation goes into your next challenge, relaxing for a few minutes every day gradually carries over into the rest of your daily life and activities.

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High Blood Pressure (Hypertension)

For controlling your hypertension, there are two effective yoga exercises that helps lower the blood pressure:

Inverted Yoga

Inverted yoga reverses the action of gravity on the body. The most profound changes brought about by Inverted Yoga is in circulation. In inverted poses, legs and abdomen are placed higher than the heart.

Lengthening up through the legs and keep them very active so your spine opens and the entire body actively involved in the pose.

One of the reasons for this is simply because the force of gravity is reversed and venous return becomes significantly greater.

Normally, the muscles of the calf and other skeletal muscles in the lower extremities must contract in order to pump unoxygenated blood and waste back to the heart through the veins.

In inverted poses, gravity causes the blood to flow easily back through the veins and this brings the blood pressure in the feet to a minimum. This in effect gives skeletal muscles a chance to rest.

In Inverted poses, drainage of blood and waste from the lower body back to the heart is increased and disorders such as varicose veins and swollen ankles are relieved.

Rhythmic Breathing

It's time to learn about breathing, because inhaling and exhaling has the power to nourish the body and calm the mind.

Not just any old breathing will do. If you're like most people, you take shallow breaths, pull in your stomach when you inhale and never empty your lungs of carbon dioxide when you exhale.

Here's the physiological explanation: Long, slow breaths are more efficient than short, fast ones.

To take in a good breath, your lungs must first be basically empty. Thus the key to efficient breathing lies in exhaling completely. A full exhalation begins with the upper chest, proceeds to the middle chest and finishes with tightening the abdominal muscles.

Only after a good exhalation can you draw in a good lungful of the oxygen-rich air your blood needs for nourishing cells.

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Yoga for Business People: Mind-Body Connection

A rising number of business people are finding the mind-body connection.

Yoga, meditation, and other Eastern-born exercises are finding a growing audience among harried business people craving inner calm. Classes are offered at health clubs, company fitness centers, corporate retreats and spas.

Ideas that once were left-of-center are finding greater acceptance with the public support. Mind-body executive fitness is a hot topic right now.

Lynn Doody, owner of Zen Fitness wellness programs in Chicago, notes that, whereas in the past most of her clients pursued traditional cardiovascular and weight-training exercise, most now incorporate mind-body applications into the regimen.

There's just a general awareness, and non-conventional health care is a little more available.

No need to convince Mark Frantz. The 40-year-old vice-president at Merrill Lynch & Co. had learned in 15 years of trading commodities to manage stress and anxiety. He ran a few times a week, worked out at the gym, and worked at reducing stress in other conventional ways.

But he still ground his teeth at night, massages were temporary Band-Aids, and even while running he'd tense his muscles. He wanted more. He sought ''a different quality of life.''

What he found was yoga and meditation. At home, on an airplane, or for 10 minutes behind closed doors at work, Mr. Frantz can shut out distractions with deep breathing, yoga poses, imagery and other relaxation techniques.

He still runs, but '(yoga and meditation) forces you to focus on what's going on in the moment and to be aware of what your body is telling you. It relaxes you, brings your heart rate and your blood pressure down.

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The Seven Chakras

Chakra is a Sanskrit word meaning spinning wheel. These are a system of seven energy centers located along the spine. Each chakra corresponds to an area of the body, a set of behavioral characteristics and stages of spiritual growth. Practicing yoga and focusing your energies during different postures can help you to align your chakras and get all the wheels spinning in the same direction and speed. Understanding how to fine tune and control your chakras through yoga and meditation can help bring balance and peace to your mind, body and spirit.

There are seven chakras, each associated with a different part of the body along the spine from the perineum to the crown of your head. Each chakra is associated with a particular body location, a color, a central emotional/behavioral issue, as well as many other personal aspects including identity, goals, rights, etc.

The seven chakras are: Muladhara- base of the spine; Svadhisthana- abdomen, genitals, lower back/hip; Manipura- solar plexus; Anahata- heart area; Visshudha- throat; Ajna- brow; Sahasrara- top of head, cerebral cortex.

Through the movements and postures of yoga, you can learn to focus your concentration and energy to and from the various chakras in your body. This can allow you to compensate for areas that may be out of synch with the rest of your body or not active at all. By balancing the energy among all seven of the chakras, balance can be achieved. This spiritual energy is known as Kundalini energy. In its dormant state, it can be visualized as a coiled up snake resting at the base of your spine, the Muladhara chakra. Since the chakras act as valves or pumps regulating the flow of energy through your system, controlled and purposeful movements such as yoga can be extremely beneficial in realigning your chakras in a way that can cause great benefits to you in your physical and emotional wellbeing.

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Basic Sitting Postures with Benefits

JANU SIRSASANA: Correct foot placement

Sit up straight with legs evenly extended in front. Bend the right leg at the knee and place the foot so that the heel is in the right groin and the front of the foot touches the left thigh. Turn the foot so that the bottom of the foot is facing upward and press the knee back to form an obtuse angle with the body. This position will be difficult at first; don't force it. Put a folded blanket under the knee and also under the hips. Gradually the knee will move farther back. Just keep the foot correctly positioned.

JANU SIRSASANA: Correct, perfect posture

Having positioned the foot and knee correctly, stretch the left leg out, keeping the leg firmly on the mat. Settle the heel firmly and stretch the toes up. (The heel should pull gently away from the ankle.) Now inhale and bend forward over the straight leg, catching the foot with both hands if possible. Beginners should bend only as far as they can without rounding the back. When this posture is done correctly and completely, the body will roll forward over the extended leg, absolutely flat from the tail bone to the head. Stay there breathing normally for as long as you can. Inhale, release the handhold, come up smoothly, straighten the bent leg and relax. Repeat on other side.

JANU SIRSASANA: Wrong posture

The heel is not positioned against its own thigh. The knee has not been pushed back as far as possible to form an obtuse angle. The back is humped and curved because the pelvis is jammed and unable to lift properly. Instead of a smooth, complete stretching of the spine, the lumbar is over-stretched and the rest of the spine constricted. The left leg is not flat on the floor.

TRIANG MUKHAIPADA PASCHIMOTTANASANA: Sitting, forward-bending pose over one leg

This posture generally follows the previous one. Sit with your legs stretched in front. Bend the right leg so that the right foot is near the right hip. The toes should point back. The right calf presses against the right thigh. The body will tilt in this position so put a small folded towel under the left buttock to keep the hips level and the forward stretch even and extended. Hold the left foot with both hands, inhale and bend forward, keeping both knees together as you stretch forward over the straight leg. Many students will find it difficult in this position to even take hold of the foot of the outstretched leg. Do not despair. Just hold the knee, shin or ankle, and sit, breathing deeply, in whichever position represents your best extension. If the back is tight and the spine inflexible, this will take time. Release the hold and straighten the bent leg. Repeat on the other side.

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Instant 10-minute Yoga: New Form of Yoga

Do you drag yourself out of bed on Monday mornings, exhausted before you've even begun the week. Or maybe you can't enjoy your evenings, because work drains you of every ounce of energy.

Don't worry, you can boost your energy levels and balance your body with a new form of yoga - dynamic yoga.

Its simplicity and almost instantaneous benefits have made it one of the most fashionable alternative exercises of the new Millennium. Normally known for its relaxation benefits, dynamic yoga can boost your energy levels in just 10 minutes.

It includes some of the most basic yoga postures. You can try each of them individually, or in succession, but none of them should be rushed. However, you should feel the benefits after just ten minutes.

The deep stretches and graceful movements help to unblock energy, improve muscle tone and increase your general stamina. When practised regularly, say enthusiasts, you will experience improved energy levels, greater sexual vitality and better self-discipline. In the long-term, the breathing and body exercises will help detoxify your mind of tension and strain, creating calm and an inner peace.

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Yoga for Business People: Workplace Implications

Mind-body fitness, which derives from Eastern philosophies and religions, improves physical and emotional well-being, and has implications for workplace performance.

The overall benefits of mind-body exercise are documented in an increasing number of scientific studies. They include everything from reducing cardiac risk factors to enhancing mood.

'You're under stress, but you have to be in control all day, and after so many years, what happens is that leads to eating misbehaviors, stress hormone production and cardiac risk factors,. The good news is you can reverse these risk factors non-pharmacologically and develop some habits for a lifetime' that complement conventional diet and exercise.

The kinder, gentler movements typical of yoga improve flexibility, strength and muscle tone and can be more youth-promoting than the wear-and-tear of daily aerobics, weights and running alone.

Especially with the baby boomer generation getting older, they're realizing the need for flexibility, the need for good posture, and the desire for the things that are going to help them look and feel young.

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Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras is a text that covers many aspects of life, beginning with a code of conduct and ending with the goal of yoga, a vision of one’s true Self. The Pantajali’sYoga Sutras is probably the most authoritative text on yoga. It defines yoga as a focusing of the attention to whatever object is being contemplated to the exclusion of all others. Yoga isn’t only about postures, or meditation, it is a way of life, or religion. In this influencing scripture there are eight steps to awakening or enlightenment through yoga. These eight astanga or limbs of yoga are: yamas, niyamas, asanas, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi.

The yamas consist of lessons in moral and social conduct in our environment. It teaches us to restrain from lying, stealing, and greed. Non-violence and consideration toward all living things is the key. Communication with sensitivity towards others and moderation in all things we do is revered.

The niyama focuses on attitudes towards ourselves: compromising, cleanliness, serenity, devotion, and asceticism. One should study and reverence to a higher intelligence. There is an acceptance of our limitations in relation to God. It is key to have removed the impurities from the mind and body.

In the asanas, one focuses on posture practice, positioning the body while incorporating the breath to achieve a greater awareness in the mind. One is alert and relaxed without tension, while observing the reactions of the body and breath to various postures. This minimizes the effect of the external influences on the body, such as diet and climate.

Pranayama, or the restraint and control of the breath, helps with concentration, energizing and balancing of the mind and body.

Pratyahara is the relaxation of the senses, where no distractions actually activate the mind.

Dharana, or concentration, is the ability to direct the mind toward a chosen object and focus in on it alone.

Dhyana, or meditation, is the ability to develop focused interactions with what we seek to understand.

Lastly, but most importantly, Samadhi is the ultimate state of Self-realization, or union with the Source.

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America is the fattest country in the world and that reputation has started to get to us. Now more than ever Americans are trying to lose weight and get into shape. There is an endless supply of diets and exercise routines, so why are we still so fat? I think that a big part of the equation has to do with our mental health.

I think that it has a lot do to with stress. Stress causes all kinds of health problems and I believe it makes some people gain weight or hold on to the weight that they already have and are trying to get rid of. If we are truly going to become a healthier country, I believe that we need to focus more on the importance of stress relief.

One of the best and most popular ways to relieve stress is yoga. Yoga has become wildly popular in this country and the world over. Many people get great results by doing simple yoga exercises regularly and these people also report that a great deal of stress relief comes with the exercise.

Before you get started there is one very important thing you need to get your hands on – some yoga mats. Yoga mats can be found everywhere now, even at your local K-Mart. They can be very inexpensive so there is no reason not to have an extra one. I keep one in my house for home exercise and one in my car for when I go to the gym. Having two yoga mats just makes it easier on me because I won’t be able to forget to bring one with me or take it back inside the house.

Having your own yoga mats is crucial when it comes to doing yoga. If you do to a yoga class without one you will quickly find that you are the only without one. As I said, you can find very affordable ones all over the place now so you will never have to be without one.

I suppose that I ought to say that you really do need to use yoga mats while doing the exercises. There is a reason that people use them and you should follow their lead. Yoga mats cling to the floor and make it easier for you to hold those crazy positions without shifting or sliding around. I have, on more than one occasion, had to learn this lesson the hard way and I do not recommend it.

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Yoga for Business People: Lifetime Habit

Mr. La Forge (Yoga Trainer) suspects that because the mind-body exercises typically are easier to pursue, executives have a better chance of making a lifetime habit of them. To see if his hunch is correct, he launched a five-year study of 110 middle- and upper-level executives in companies in the US. He tracks their exercise habits and see if those incorporating mind-body techniques stick with the program longer.

Devotees say the mind-body exercise regimen has a payoff in the workplace, as well.

Barry Moltz, 36, founder and CEO of CHTech International., a mail-order distributor of computer hardware and software, started doing Yoga a year ago at the to balance the pressures of growing a business with starting a family. He still works out in a gym and commutes to work on his bicycle, but he also meditates in the half-lotus position for 15 or 20 minutes at night after his two young children have gone to sleep.

He says most of his friends, also in their mid-30s, have jumped on similar mind-body fitness tracks.

''I think the toughest part about running a company is that there are so many demands on your time. When I meditate, it really allows me to relax and focus all my energies in one place,'' he says. ''Now when I'm involved in a meeting, I can be immersed in that meeting instead of thinking about 15 other things. And people really respond when you're totally focused on just them.''

The pressures of the job say you shouldn't be satisfied where you are today. You can never feel like you've achieved anything because it's very elusive. Yoga and meditation allows you to be happier and more effective in what you're doing now.

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How to Start

You can get audio or video tapes that give breathing instruction and teach relaxation techniques at health food stores, bookstores, and by mail order. It's probably fine to learn breath and relaxation from a tape or booklet, but don't try the yoga exercises without a skilled teacher. He or she can make corrections, caution you when necessary, and help you to adapt poses, if you need to.

It will be worth it to you to spend a little time finding an instructor who is right for you. Your diabetes nurse educator or other health care professional may be able to recommend a yoga instructor. Get referrals for a yoga instructor as you would for any professional you might wish to consult.

Yoga instructors aren't required to be certified, but many are, through many different programs. Ask prospective teachers if they are certified. A certified teacher isn't necessarily better than someone who isn't certified, but it's something to consider.

Yoga is fun, healthy, and calming. It's a wise way handed down over several thousands of years. There is little danger in yoga, and even a little progress brings with it freedom and peace of mind.

Although most people with diabetes can exercise safely, exercise involves some risks. To shift the benefit-to-risk ratio in your favor, take these precautions:

Have a medical exam before you begin your exercise program, including an exercise test with EKG monitoring, especially if you have cardiovascular disease, you are over 35, you have high blood pressure or elevated cholesterol levels, you smoke, or you have a family history of heart disease.

Discuss with your doctor any unusual symptoms that you experience during or after exercise such as discomfort in your chest, neck, jaw, or arms; nausea, dizziness, fainting, or excessive shortness of breath; or short-term changes in vision.

If you have diabetes-related complications, check with your healthcare team about special precautions. Consider exercising in a medically supervised program, at least initially, if you have peripheral vascular disease, retinopathy, autonomic neuropathy, or kidney problems.

Learn how to prevent and treat low blood glucose levels (hypoglycemia). If you take oral agents or insulin, monitor your blood glucose levels before, during, and after exercise.

If you have type I, and your blood glucose is above 250 milligrams per deciliter, check your urine for ketones. Don't exercise if ketones are present, because exercise will increase your risk of ketoacidosis and coma.

Always warm up and cool down.

Don't exercise outdoors when the weather is too hot and humid, or too cold.

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Work – Life Balance and Yoga

After a surge of interest during the consciousness-conscious '60s, yoga began to fall out of favor. Exercisers apparently lost patience with the activity, which offers slow but steady results, and turned to the fast pace and quick shape-up of aerobics. Now yoga is back-less mystical than in the past, less reminiscent of gurus in pretzel positions, and more attractive than ever to people who are interested in working out rather than working toward some spiritual goal.

Once you step out of the metaphysical atmosphere, yoga is a great stretch and flexibility program. Yoga is increasingly being used by those who are having a trouble in balancing their work and personal life. A stressful working environment and a hectic schedule has a telling impact on the personal lives of the modern day executives and so they are turning to yoga to bring about a peace of their mind and to adopt a perfect work-life balance.

Also, many disgruntled runners, weight trainers and aerobic dancers complain that instead of reducing the stress in their lives, their exercise regimes add more.

People rush to work out every day at lunch, force themselves to keep up and then rushed back to work. Surely, it does something good for them, but it is just another pressure. Yoga is less competitive, less stressful, and above all gives a wonderful feeling of being.

Indeed, the healing aspect of yoga is a key to its renewed popularity. The strained knees, aching backs and neck pains generated by the push for fitness and the stress of making it in a competitive world have inspired a packaged set of a book and audio cassettes. Some orthopedic surgeons, chiropractors and neurologists are now referring patients to specific yogis during treatment.

Growing interest in the mind-body connection is fueling a major comeback of the ancient practice, boosted by research suggesting it can reduce stress and blood pressure, improve work performance, even slow effects of aging.

Several techniques are now being taught in mainstream hospitals and businesses; books about them are brisk sellers and discussion groups have sprung up on the Internet.

Even the Army is interested - it has asked the National Academy of Sciences to study meditation and other new age techniques that might enhance soldiers' performance.

Details differ, but a common theme is relaxing the body while keeping the mind alert and focused - on an object, sound, breath or body movement. If the mind wanders - and it always does - you gently bring it back and start again

Stress-related problems account for 60percent to 90percent of U.S. doctor visits, and mind-body approaches often are more effective, and cost-effective, than drugs or surgery. For example, 34percent of infertile patients get pregnant within six months, 70percent of insomniacs become regular sleepers and doctor visits for pain are reduced 36percent.

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Yoga for Business People: Do Not Get Distracted From your Goal

Suresh Nigam, chairman of MetJet, one of the leading trainers of computer hardware engineers in India, not only practices yoga but preaches it at his 35 centers.

So what is it and how does it work.

At the heart of it is something which translates as the stoppage of mind modification. For example when we hear music we get distracted. We must stay aware and conscious but not get distracted from our goal.

How then does yoga, an ancient, essentially private activity, help in the work environment.

Suresh believes that the collective is an entity just as much as an individual is. If individuals are happy, calm and alert then the collective consciousness is harmonious and dynamic and will produce better results. If people are tense and unhappy it will reflect in their productivity.

At MetJet all managers and employees are sent to the Yoga Institute at Santa Cruz (in Mumbai) which was founded in 1989. There people are shown a path, how to control your mind and not to run after sensual pleasures. You learn not to run away from your responsibilities.

The root cause of these afflictions is ignorance. That leads to a grandiose sense of self-importance and misunderstanding. We love and hate in extremes. By getting up and finding out what is happening, we reduce stress. Once you are aware of what is going on you have won half the battle.

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Yoga for Computer Users: Releases Lower Back Pain

Twenty percent of all those who undergo surgery for lower back pain will get no relief. The remaining 80 percent will have problems ranging from mild to severe. All will have trouble with spinal flexion.

Yoga does not offer cures. It simply promises that if you faithfully practice these asanas every day, there will be no pain and you will build up a strong and supple spine, restructuring posture and body image. Once you have back problems you must remain conscious all through the day of how you stand, sit and lie down. Here are a few guidelines:

Always sleep on a firm (not necessarily hard) bed, with a flat pillow under your head and a thicker one under your knees. This will help the spine to reposition and adjust itself.

Do not wear high heels as this promotes lumbar lordosis and throws the spine out of balance.

Do not go in for break-dancing, strenuous aerobics, jogging, running or anything where you need to bounce or jiggle. Guarded activity is the key here.

For lower back pain, sitting is the most painful. Sit on a firm seat, not squashy cushions, and sit on your buttock bones. Do not loll back on the tailbone or lower spine. Wedge a rolled towel or small cushion behind your back to keep you upright. Sit as often as possible in The Diamond Posture (Figure 1) in order to benefit the sciatic nerve and to cure a convex or a lateral curvature of the spine.

When the pain is acute and you can neither sit nor stand in comfort, rest in bed, take whatever anti-inflammatory or analgesic medications your physician prescribes, and wait until the pain is milder before starting on these postures.

All these asanas have healing and curative properties. They will act as a form of mild traction, gently stretching the spinal muscles in safe extension postures. Strength will be gradually built up in the paraspinal muscles and buttocks, abdominal organs will be toned and strengthened, and pressure points all along the spine will be stimulated. Practice each asana to the point where mild pain is felt.

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I am a pretty straightforward guy. I am, have always been, and always will be an atheist, and I do not ascribe to anyone's superstitions. I do not care if they are Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim, or a member of one of the many New Age cults that seem to be taking over the entire West Coast nowadays. No matter what, it all seems like nonsense to me. None of it is worth my time.

Because of this, it is a tremendous challenge finding a good yoga studio. Now, with the popularity of yoga classes nowadays among practical, upwardly mobile business types, you would expect there to be more places where you can study the art deeply without being subject to a barrage of superstitious nonsense. Perhaps it is just where I live – Berkeley California is not known to be a haven for the practically minded. Whatever the reason, however, every time I try one of the newest yoga studios I hear about, it is hard to make it through class without laughing.

Honestly, I would have never gone to a yoga studio in the first place if it were not for health problems. Sitting at a computer all day can do terrible things to your back. I never really paid much attention to it until it was too late. Although physical therapy helped, what I really needed was classes at a yoga studio to help me get back in shape. I was taking yoga classes at a local fitness center, and was unhappy with them. They just did not seem to go deeply enough into the practice of yoga. But honestly, the yoga studio was so much worse.

It seems that all of the yoga instructors that I've met have one thing in common. They think that we are there to hear a sermon, and that their status as yoga teachers qualifies them as spiritual leaders. I don't want to hear about letting go of past anger. I don't want to hear about taking more time to relax. I get all that from my life coach. If it makes you feel happy to believe all of that hokum, more power to you. What I want is a yoga studio that will show me the breathing, the postures, and the theory behind them without all of the religious superstition. Until I can find something like that, I'll have to put up with all of the silly spiritual talk.

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