Yoga For Healing And What It Provides

Yoga has risen in popularity because of its ability to create long, lean muscles and increase flexibility. But what the current culture is overlooking is the thousands of years yoga has been used to heal various ailments. Yoga for healing is a very real practice that has been proven to provide various physical and mental healing powers.
What Yoga Does for the Body
A large study was performed on breast cancer survivors to gauge the biological effects of asana on the body. Half of the group didn't practice, while the second half took classes twice a week. Of course, participants who regularly practiced reported less stress and fatigue after their chemo treatments. But the study didn't stop with the psychological effects. Ohio State University, who was in charge of the study, used the virology, immunology, and medical genetics department to measure participants' cytokines, a blood protein that serves as a marker for inflammation. At the end of the twelve week study, the group who attended classes regularly saw a 10 to 15% decrease in inflammation.

While there's no concrete evidence as to why yoga has such profound anti-inflammatory effects, the research team has a theory. It's no secret that cancer treatment and the ensuing recovery can be incredibly stressful. Patients undergoing cancer treatments report that the stress and worry often lead to sleepless nights, further increasing their stress. Stress has long been shown to increase the body's inflammatory response, possibly explaining the decrease in inflammation with yoga because of its ability to help people relax, unwind, and sleep better.
Healing from Trauma
Unfortunately, the human brain absorbs traumatic and negative experiences like a thirsty sponge, while deflecting positive events like a Teflon pan. It isn't any wonder that trauma can be so incredibly destructive to the human psyche. Whether it was a violent event, a particularly difficult loss, or even the constant worry that something bad is going to happen, the mind can soak these in and internalize them as trauma. A three year Natural Institute of Health (NIH) study focused on yoga and its healing powers for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Women who were diagnosed with PTSD regularly practiced yoga and at the end of the 10 week study, several women no longer met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD. Other participants had a 30% decrease in intrusive thoughts.

Oftentimes, trauma victims fear the physical sensations in their body. For people who experienced abuse or neglect as children, they often don't know what it's like to have a healthy relationship or perception of their body. In yoga based therapy sessions, practitioners guide their patients through a combination of talk and asana therapy. The yoga helps them differentiate between the sensations that go on inside the body versus what's stimulating them on the outside. It teaches them that negative sensations are only temporary, meaning any negativity that comes up from trauma can be controlled and eliminated with some careful work. Finding a feeling of safety in the body allows them to realize that their body can be a safe place again for them, and this can be gradually achieved through yoga for healing.
Yoga is so much more than exercise. It's a pathway to allow people with varying ailments to find a way to work with their bodies again and learn to heal themselves both physically and mentally.

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How To Use Yoga For Chronic Stress Relief

These days, more and more people are realizing that they can use exercise as a tool through which they attain optimal wellness. In many cases, people are seeking to become more healthy by eliminating chronic stress. While there are many types of exercises that can be performed in order to reduce or eliminate chronic stress, many people are unaware that they can use yoga for chronic stress relief. To learn more about this important matter, review the information found below.
Yoga: A Brief Overview
The term "yoga" comes from an ancient Indian language called Sanskirt. It is derived from the word "yuj," which pertains to the yoking one observes in a team of oxen. In this contemporary era, the term yoga is interpreted as a reference to union. Specifically, yoga is a form of exercise that is completed for the purpose of uniting an individual's mind, body, and spirit.
How Yoga Reduces Chronic Stress
Yoga can play a role in the reduction of chronic stress for several reasons. Firstly, the performance of yoga moves can induce the release of a hormone called serotonin in your brain. When released, serotonin induces feelings of calm and happiness. Upon experiencing these emotions, the feeling of stress can be reduced substantially. While this stress reduction is only temporary, individuals who begin to do yoga moves regularly can experience the aforementioned sense of peace and calm on a regular basis.
Yet another reason that yoga is effective in reducing the experience of chronic stress is because of the steady breathing that it typically involves. As many health and fitness experts know, steady breathing can normalize the heart rate. This cardiovascular activity is important for people who suffer from chronic stress because it is oftentimes associated with irregular heart beats.

Getting Started
People who are serious about limiting or eradicating the experience of chronic stress in their life should note that yoga is a great way to accomplish the objective. Individuals who are ready to get started should know that they can "jump right in" or take things slow. Ideally, people currently suffering from chronic stress should consult with a physician before they sign up to participate in a yoga class. After gaining the physician's consent, the patient can enroll in the class of his or her choice. Preferably, a beginner class should be selected. Beginner's classes are great for individuals who are just getting into the practice of yoga because the instructors tend to be very supportive and encouraging. Additionally, yoga instructors will oftentimes offer a great deal of assistance to ensure that the beginner learns how to execute the movements properly.
Individuals who want to get the most out of their beginner yoga classes should be sure to bring everything they need to the session. Typically, this will include workout clothes, a towel, a water bowel, and a mat. Additionally, remember that simply doing a once weekly or twice weekly yoga class is not sufficient to completely eradicate stress. Rather, people who want to eliminate the experience of chronic stress in their lives should exercise regularly and eat a balanced diet.
Conclusion
People who are serious about bringing an end to the experience of chronic stress should note that consistent engagement in physical activities such as yoga can help them accomplish this objective.

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11 Best Fitness Tips of All Time

Fitness tips can be a bit faddy. Experts and trainers are constantly trying to come up with new and innovative ways to whip your body into shape. However, these 11 best fitness tips have been tried and tested. They may be classics, but they are classics because they work. Give them a go and you’ll be able to burn more fat, build more muscle and transform your body:

Burn fat

To burn fat you need to do some interval training sessions. Not only are they time-efficient, interval training sessions are also great for burning fat because they make your body use up its carb stores, which in turn makes your body use fat for energy. Plus, even after you have finished your interval session your body continues to burn calories. Win, win.

Build more muscle

If you’re used to strength training and you want to build more muscle you need to incorporate drop sets into your workout. This involves lifting weights until you experience muscle failure and then, using a lighter weight, you continue to do the same exercise. For example, complete one set of between six to 12 reps with a heavy weight, then without resting switch to a weight that’s lighter for the second set. Finally, without taking a break switch to an even lighter weight to complete your final set.

Mental power

You may be physically fit, but if you haven’t worked on your mental strength you won’t be able to fulfil your fitness potential. To toughen up mentally, become very aware of your internal dialogue. If a negative thought pops into your head, such as ‘I can’t do this’ or ‘I’m too tired’, try to replace it with a positive one.

Don’t forget agility

So many people underestimate agility. If you are agile you will be able to perform better during your workout and get better results. The time you spend improving your agility will be well worth it. To work on your agility the American Council of Exercise suggests you do ladder drills, balloon drills, cone drills and medicine ball drills.

Weights on the treadmill

To save time and to give your body a tough workout take a pair of dumbbells onto the treadmill. Set the speed of the treadmill to a fast walk and then do some upper body exercises, such as lateral raises and shoulder presses.

The right time to train

The right time of the day to train is controversial. Some people say that if you train in the morning, before your breakfast, then you burn more fat. Other people say that if you work out in the evening you perform better compared to if you worked out earlier in the day. Christian Finn, a personal trainer and the creator of Muscle Evo, suggests that the right time of the day to train depends on you, your fitness goals and whether you are a morning or evening person. Christian suggests that whatever time of the day works for you is the best time for you to train. Simple.

Video diary

You know that if you are going to continue to work out you need to continually boost your motivation levels. A great way to do this is to start a video diary. Record your thoughts and feelings about your body and your performance.
If one of the reasons you want to get fit is to change the way your body looks, you could also take some full body shots of yourself. That way, when you look back through your video diary you can really see the results you have achieved. It’s also really interesting to see how your thoughts about yourself, your body and your performance have changed over time.

Eat these foods

We all know that if we’re going to achieve our fitness goals we need to have a balanced diet that meets all of our nutrition needs. When looking for the best way to do this it can be easy to become overwhelmed by the amount of diet information that is out there. However, if you try to incorporate foods that are the most nutrient dense and the least processed into your diet, you will probably be getting a very decent, healthy and balanced diet.

Improve recovery

Lots of people who are very fit often tend to skip or skimp on their recovery. But if you don’t allow your body to recover properly, you won’t continue to progress and you also might pick up a nasty injury too. To allow your body to recover properly, follow the three ‘Rs’ – rehydrate, refuel and rest.

Intensify your go-to exercises

If you always do push-ups, intensify the exercise and do a squat-thrust push-up instead. If you love doing crunches, hold a medicine ball whilst you complete some of your ab workouts. Tweaking your go-to exercises in this way will ensure you continue to challenge your body and reap the rewards of your training sessions.

Mix things up

One of the biggest mistakes people make when they are trying to keep fit is that they stick to the same workouts. If you’re guilty of doing this you need to mix things up. Use different machines in the gym, join a new class or try a new sport.
Try new things regularly or tweak the exercises you currently do so that you can continue to get fitter. Mixing things up will also keep you focused and will help you to enjoy exercising more.

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