The Purpose of Yoga - Solutions for Releasing Anxiety

Yoga is a 5,000 year catalog of health solutions and an evolving science of life. Therefore, here are some "age old" Yogic solutions for releasing anxiety. To make them work, you must realize that you have to make a habit of releasing a little anxiety, within acceptable limits, all day long.

Physical practice of Yoga postures (Asanas) will release muscular tension. Make a habit of physically practicing as you sit, stand, or lie down. You do not have to put on a "Yoga show" to sit straight, stand straight, tilt, twist, or bend.

As humans, we are in motion most of the time, but you can move or stand still with purpose and mindfulness. Once you establish Yoga into your life "off the Yoga mat," you will be surprised how often you and people around you are regularly sitting, or standing, in poor posture, during the course of an average day.

Observation is very important. As you wake up, observe the muscle groups and joints, which have contracted, as you slept. These contractions can cause daily muscle tension, spasms, pains, and aches. Is the tension in your face, back, neck, shoulders, legs, arms, or hips?

Get to know how your body responds to mild warm-ups and develop routines to compensate for physical tension. The connection between mental and physical tension is symbiotic. If you resolve a physical form of tension, you will resolve mental tension, as well.

In Hatha Yoga, there are more than 1500 postures to choose from. Many of us have seen charts, or books, with 500 to 600 Asanas to choose from. If you become creative, you will soon discover many more while sitting in a chair.

You can practice Yoga while you are at your desk, in your bed, on your couch, on a bus, or when you walk. When you add the breathing component, (Pranayama), to your daily life, you have many more combinations of techniques.

Here's another approach to dealing with anxiety. However, you must use it in the right time and place. Do not be silent! Let it out vocally. Some people laugh, pray, sing, cry, or shout, but each method works at the right time. So, be tactful, if you decide to make noise.

If you hold it all in, you will burst - in the figurative and literal sense. Therefore, you have to release it in some way. Some people roll up the windows in their cars and scream at the top of their lungs. In truth, whatever works is a good thing.

We will not have the same reactions to anxiety. Some people will laugh, while others cry during identical circumstances. Look at how some people react to losing a job. Some people have a party, while another person may contemplate suicide.

In a typical Yoga class, you may learn Mantra and Japa. These are powerful methods and are very beneficial in combination with Pranayama.

Lastly, anxiety is energy, which is not always negative, but can be deflected or circulated, throughout your being. Yogic solutions work, but they must be practiced daily. You do not want to collect and store negative feelings, so carefully release them back into the universe.

Kids Yoga: A Solution to Global Obesity in Children

Two topics that most people are tired of hearing about are obesity and childhood obesity. The problem is we will not find solutions for these problems if we "bury our heads in the sand." Kids Yoga is a viable solution to obesity in children, but this requires schools and parents to take action now.

Obesity has crept up on all age groups quickly; children in some countries need to change their lifestyles immediately. If not, there will be serious health repercussions that will shake our health systems and fragile economies.

How did massive numbers of obesity get here? How can less physical activity in children be acceptable? How could Kids Yoga be a solution?

Parents today have less buying power than our parents had. Many children are shifted from school to day care, while both parents are working extra hours to support the family. Many of today's meals are composed of processed foods -whether they are store-bought, or bought for takeout, from a restaurant.

Physical education has suffered serious cutbacks since the "Cold War" ended. Back in the 1970's, and before, children ran and played outside more often.

The Yoga lifestyle helps parents and children manage diet in a very busy and stressful world. If you are conscious of it, there are wiser food choices, even from restaurants. When children practice Yoga, they become much more aware of their diet, posture, activities, and daily exercise routine.

Educators, doctors, Yoga teachers, and parents cannot afford to wait until the next study on childhood obesity is completed to take action. Children are bigger than ever, due to inactivity and a high fat / carbohydrate diet. Large numbers of big children will become even bigger adults, who are at risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, various forms of cancer, and much more.

Therefore, educators, doctors, Yoga teachers, and parents must be proactive. Do not expect grant money, government assistance, or any help from "big brother." Look at the reaction to global warming by the world's governments and you see how long it takes to get a reaction.

For parents with school-aged children, there has never been a better time for them to attend Yoga classes. Children consider Yoga an extension of other games and exercises they would normally do. Children will naturally jump, roll on the ground, run, and spin around, in the course of playing with their friends.

With proper supervision from a certified Yoga teacher, children learn what they can and cannot do. Kids Yoga classes teach safe Hatha Yoga techniques for flexibility, strength and muscle tone.

If a child is obese, parents should not expect instant miracles with weight loss, and parents would do well to learn the practice of Hatha Yoga. In this way, parents and children will both be aware of proper dieting and a much healthier lifestyle.

Yoga Health News

Yoga Health Foundation announces Yoga Month 092008, a global awareness campaign to inspire a healthy lifestyle.

Los Angeles, November 05, 2007 – The Yoga Health Foundation, a non-profit organization registered in California, has announced “Yoga Month 092008”, a grassroots, community-based global campaign to educate people about the health benefits of yoga and to inspire a healthy lifestyle.

Yoga Month is a year-round campaign and will peak September 2008 with millions of health & socially conscious individuals practicing yoga at thousands of yoga studios, parks and homes around the globe.

The 10 City Yoga Month Tour featuring lectures and concerts will visit yoga-passionate cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver, Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, Miami, Austin, Denver and San Diego.

“Yoga has been practiced for the last 5,000 years and transformed into one of the most popular and effective methods to balance body mind, stay flexible, fit and healthy and prevent disease - mainly because it works.”, says Johannes R. Fisslinger, president of the Yoga Health Foundation and initiator of the Yoga Month campaign.

Yoga is attracting North American participants in numbers as high as 20 million. A recent Harris poll revealed that more than 100 million North Americans would like to practice Yoga for its health benefits.

With many Hollywood celebrities like Gwenyth Paltrow, Madonna, Russell Simmons, Courtney Cox and Nicholas Cage, Meg Ryan, Ricky Martin practicing yoga and 27 billion spent in yoga-related products even traditional advertisers are paying attention.

The extensive list of current Yoga Month partners include magazines like Fit Yoga, Yoga+ Joyful Living, LA Yoga, Yogi Times, Yoga Journal, Yogamates.com, Whole Life Times, studios like Yogaworks, Exhale, Jiva Mukti, Power Yoga, Dahn Yoga and Bikram Yoga and teachers like Seane Corn, Hala Khouri, Bryan Kest, Nike’s Margo Kellison, Larry Payne, Shiva Rea.

Yoga Month will benefit local community leaders and inspire sustainable healthy lifestyle projects like Yoga for Kids, at-risk-youth, breast health or AIDS prevention.

Find out about the Cost of Poor Health and why Yoga Month 092008 will make a difference in the future of health care.

How To Step Up Your Aerobics

Aerobics exercise is the optimum way to raise your heart rate, burn fat, and tone your muscles. You can choose from a variety of options, from running and walking to aerobic machines and classes. You can dance, run, walk or hop your way to a fitter body. As your body becomes accustomed to the routine, you'll want to find ways to add more intensity to the program. A good way to step up your routine is to add step aerobics moves. The great thing about step aerobics is you can find ways to intensify your workout with limited cost and space involved.

Step aerobics routines follow the same principle as other aerobic activities using continuous activity through a series of steps and arm movements that are set to music. A step aerobic routine is different because the workout goes vertically, by situating the entire routine around a small platform that you continuously step onto and off of. Not only does step aerobics increase the number of calories burned, you will also intensify the effects in your leg and buttock muscles.

Using a step or platform provides a little more boost to your cardio workout with a more intensive form of workout. Another great advantage of step aerobics is it's a low impact activity and does not result in the joints stressing as do other activities, such as running or jogging. In fact, when it comes to stress on the joints of the leg, step aerobics are similar to walking.

The step platform comes in a variety of heights, starting with four inches. If you are a beginner, this is probably the height to start with. The size goes up from there in two-inch increments, and will be determined by your comfort level and experience. If you decide to try step aerobics in the privacy of your living room, you can buy the platforms for around fifty dollars. There is also a huge variety of video and DVDs to choose from. This type of workout is actually well suited to a home routine, since it does not take much space and it is easy to do in front of the television.

The workout moves aren't hard to master, and can be easily accomplished by the newest newcomer to aerobic exercise. A beginner can start by stepping up and down from the four-inch platform. You can add variety with different steps, music and the addition of arm movements. The level of intensity of the workout is completely variable, and can be set to the skill of the participant. For example, you can adjust the step platform in two-inch increments to be higher than the beginning four-inch mark. A higher step will mean a higher level of difficulty. You can adjust the music tempo to include more beats per minute which will result in an increase of aerobic moves in a session. You can also incorporate arm movements and even add free weights to give your upper body a more intense workout as well.

One important rule of thumb however, is to never increase the intensity of your workout until your current level becomes easy to complete. Trying to accomplish too much too soon will only result in sore muscles, and possibly the need to take some time off from to heal.

When performing your step moves be watchful of your posture. Keep your head up, shoulders back, and your back straight while stepping up and down from the platform. Place your entire foot solidly on the platform when stepping up. Place your foot directly behind the platform when stepping down. Always begin your routine with a warm-up and finish off with a cool down. These steps are extremely important in protecting your body from injury.

Benefits

The benefits received from step aerobic routine is an excellent cardiovascular workout and the strengthening of the lower body muscles. This raising and lowering of the body utilizes the large muscles of the lower legs.

A step aerobic exercise routine can be compared to jogging or running in cardio benefits, but without the associated stress placed upon the joints of the knees and ankles. In addition, step aerobics are often choreographed with upbeat music and can the accomplished either in the company of other enthusiasts, or in the privacy of your home.