Steepled Shoulder Squeeze-Yoga

By Roberts Bairds

Steepled Shoulder Squeeze-Yoga

Benefits

Improves fexibility of the wrists and shoulders stretches hamstrings, gives the heart a rest

Focus

Keep both legs straight, and press your palms together firmly.

Stand with your feet 4-6 feet apart, toes turned out slightly.

Raise your arms to shoulder height, then bend them and take them behind your back. Bring your fingertips together, palms resting on your lower back.

Rotate your wrists so that your palms face out (backs of your hands against your back), fingertips still together. Lean forward, and drop your head down so that it is lower than your heart.

Press your fingers up along your spine, toward your shoulder blades. At the same time, ease your palms toward each other, fingers pointing toward your head. The pull of gravity will help you bring your palms closer and higher between your shoulder blades. Pull your shoulders back, and bring your palms together firmly.

Turn your left foot in slightly. Inhaling, bring your upper body over your right leg. Exhaling, lower your head toward your knee.

Inhaling and exhaling through your nose deeply and slowly, hold the pose for 3 Full Yoga Breaths . On each exhalation, lengthen your body down along your thigh.

Inhaling, slowly bring your upper body back to the center.

Turn your left foot out and your right foot in slightly. Inhaling, bring your upper body over your left leg. Exhaling, lower your head over your left knee. Hold the pose for 3 Full Yoga Breaths. Focus on lengthening your upper body with each exhalation.

Inhaling, bring your body back to the center, and slowly return to an upright position. Breathe normally.

Very gently, release your hands and flick your wrists strongly (as if you have something sticky on your fingers) to release any stiffness in your WrIsts.

Stomach Bandha

Benefits

Improves function of the pancreas, which produces insulin, to maintain steady energy levels throughout the day and moderate unhealthy sugar cravings

Focus

Pull your abdominal muscles back up and under tightly.

Stand with your legs 4-6 feet apart. Bend your knees and squat; place your hands on your knees, fingertips facing in.

Inhale, then exhale forcefully through an open mouth.

Holding your breath, close your mouth, and tuck your chin into your chest.

Suck your abdominal muscles back, up, and under your rib cage. Continue to hold your breath for a count of 7.

Release your abdominal muscles.

Inhaling, straighten your legs and come up. Exhaling, bend forward and hang loosely.

Repeat the sequence 3 more times. Practice to gradually increase to 7 repetitions.

If you are not used to holding your breath, this exercise may make you cough or feel a little dizzy at first. If it does, exhale and release your head down between your legs, then try again.

Warm-Up

The following warm-up stretches lubricate stiff joints, increase circulation, and improve your flexibility. They will make your practice of the routines more comfortable and help you avoid injury. Use your visualization skills with each stretch to improve their benefits.

Visualize yourself moving intuitively into and out of the stretch according to your body's needs. Be aware that rushing too quickly into an exercise program is a sure-fire route to lower-back pain, so be patient with yourself However, carrying a little extra weight is not a limitation, often a person with a large build can be both stronger and more flexible than a person who has been working out. For example, repetitive choreographed routines can lead to the overuse of muscle groups and joints as well as shortening and tightening of the muscles, leading to inflexibility and muscle fatigue.

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Excellent Form of Physical Exercise for the Wheelchair Bound

By Christine Groth

There are many benefits of yoga. It helps strengthen your muscles, increases your body's flexibility, improves mobility, increases stamina, and is advantageous for the working of all your vital organs. Moreover, regular yoga promotes positive thinking, a stress free and disease free existence and a happier life whether you are a normal person or confined to a wheelchair.

In fact, sitting in a wheelchair all day can be extremely taxing for the muscles over the long haul. But wheelchair yoga can help you strengthen your muscles and allow you to feel healthier and fitter. Typically, yoga is an ancient Indian form of meditation, but it has seen dramatic rise in popularity in the United States within the last 10-15 years. Known for its flexibility in style, yoga incorporates breathing techniques with bodily contortions and stretches. Nowadays, wheelchair yoga has become quite popular and specifically designed yogic exercises are helping wheelchair users to make the best of their physical limitations and begin to lead to a fuller life.

Wheelchair yoga is designed keeping in mind the physical limitations of people confined to the wheelchair, while helping them to carry out these exercises any time and any place they choose. There are many benefits to practicing wheelchair yoga. Not only will you start feeling stronger, healthier but your muscles, joints, and tendons as well as your vital organs will start functioning better and with more vitality.

Wheelchair yoga also helps you to gain spiritual, physical, and mental benefits. If you are depressed about your physical condition, you will begin to feel calmer, more in control of your life and generally begin to experience a sense of well-being that will aid you in overcoming day to day limitations.

When practicing wheelchair yoga, you will not feel stiff or lack of energy. In fact, some of the more positive effects of wheelchair yoga include increased muscle and mental strength, decreased levels of anxiety, nervousness, and stress. You will sleep better, feel stronger and experience a surge in confidence and self-esteem levels.

The exercise postures and movements are selected carefully during wheelchair yoga sessions and the emphasis is on comfort, ease, and simple poses for every wheelchair bound individual. More and more physiotherapists recommend yoga as a supplementary physical therapy to patients who are disabled, thereby helping them to connect and respond to their own body better.

Wheelchair yoga exercises are even designed for participation of caregivers and are organized in comfortable room where a group of wheelchair yoga enthusiasts can relax and have fun while exercising. And depending on your requirements, wheelchair yoga can be practiced in several different positions including sitting, standing or lying on the floor.

The Internet offers much information on wheelchair yoga and both studio and private lessons are available for you. The cost of a typical lesson could be anywhere from $20 to $50. Let wheelchair yoga help you take charge of your life and general well-being and you'll be glad you did!

© CG Groth Inc 2007

The "Daycare Diva", Christine G. Groth, is the creator of "The Guide to Instant Daycare Profits". To learn more about this step-by-step program and to sign-up for her FREE "How to Start a Daycare" tips and articles, visit http://www.ExpertsatDaycare.com

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Relax And Rejuvenate With Office Yoga!

By Maria Ward

Are you spending too many hours hunched over your computer? Did you just get off the phone with a difficult client? Have you become entrenched in office politics? Are you nervous about an important meeting or presentation? Have you been concentrating on a difficult subject for too long of a time period? Instead of stressing out and causing your body to go into a fight-or-flight type of chemical reaction, which over time may lead to a feeling of dis-ease or worse, take a couple of minutes to release some tension.

Office yoga can be done at your desk, in the break room, at the copy machine, or wherever you are comfortable. There is no need to change your clothing or fix your hair afterwards and you only need a couple of minutes to leave you feeling more centered, alert and feeling good.

Please remember that all movements should be comfortable. You want to feel the tension releasing and the muscle lengthening; however you should never push yourself to the point where you feel pain. If you have any physical limitations, be sure to make proper modifications. An integral part of yoga is to be present in your body and be aware of how you are feeling, so put your problems aside, at least temporarily, and be present in the moment. (It is amazing how perceived problems sometimes just seem to work themselves out when we get out of our own way.)

Here are a couple of simple stretches that you can do without leaving your desk:

Grounding & Centering:

From a seated or standing position, lengthen your spine so your head is over your heart, your heart is over your hips (if you are sitting, your feet should be flat on the floor - if you are standing your hips are over your knees and your knees over your ankles) and take several long, slow, deep breaths. Inhale through your nose and let your belly expand, then exhale through your nose and allow your belly to contract as if you were pulling your navel to your spine. *This posture will hereinafter be referred to as neutral position.

Side Stretches:

From a neutral position, take a deep breath in and bring both arms overhead. Clasp your left wrist with your right hand and use your right hand to assist in a stretch of the left side as you bend to the right. Hold for a couple of breaths, come back to center and then repeat on the opposite side. Exhale as you allow your arms to return to your sides.

Neck Rolls:

Starting in neutral position, bring the chin to the chest. Inhale and bring the right ear to the right shoulder. Exhale and bring your chin back down to your chest. Inhale and bring your left ear to your left shoulder. Exhale and bring your chin back down to your chest. Repeat several times on each side and return to neutral position.

Shoulder Roll Sequence:

Roll both of your shoulders several times forward and back. Ultimately bring your arms behind your head so that your hands are clasped and supporting the base of your skull. Lengthen your spine and open back by turning your chin toward the ceiling, being gentle on your neck and squeezing your shoulder blades together. Hold for several breaths. (*This will help off-set some of the postural distortion caused by a computer monitor that is too low or hours of looking downward to do paperwork, however, avoid the spinal extension portion of this stretch if you suffer from a bulging or herniated cervical disc.) Then lengthen the spine back to center and gently bring your chin down to your chest using your hands to apply a pressure that is comfortable for you. Hold for a couple of breaths and then return to neutral.

Spinal Twist:

From a seated position with a long spine, reach both hands to the right side of the chair (holding onto the arm of the chair is ideal) and allow the lower, middle and upper back to twist to the right. Look over your right shoulder. Elongate your spine as you increase the twist and make sure to breathe deeply in this pose. Come back to center and repeat on the other side. (*This pose is very nourishing to the spine but in the event of a spinal injury or if you are in your second or third trimester of pregnancy this should be practiced with due care.)

Back Roll Up:

From a standing position with feet about hip width apart, bend the knees - keeping the knees pointed in the same direction as the toes - and place your hands on your quadriceps. Starting at the lower back, inhale and roll the spine up, one vertebra at a time, neck is last. Repeat several times.

Standing Forward Bend:

From a standing position with feet about hip width apart, lengthen the spine and bend forward, coming out of the hips. Hold onto your elbows and lean forward. Hold this stretch at the level that you are comfortable. It is okay to bend the knees if you are less flexible. Otherwise try to straighten the legs and lengthen through the spine. You should feel a lengthening of the muscles of the back of the legs (the hamstrings). You may also feel a release of tension in the upper back. Gently shake your head to allow a greater release. Make sure to breathe fully and deeply as you are nourishing the brain in this inverted pose. If you would like to increase the intensity of the hamstring stretch, grab the back of your legs or even your ankles and pull your torso toward your legs. Remember, first lengthen the spine and then bend.

Quad stretch:

From a standing position, shift your weight to the left leg. Bend the right leg behind you, trying to touch the heel to the buttocks. Your right knee should be pointing toward the floor. You will feel a stretch in the front of the right leg (the quadriceps). Hold the stretch and take a couple of breaths and repeat on the other leg.

Try to take a couple of minutes, several times a day, to incorporate some stretching and relaxation into your daily grind. It will leave you feeling refreshed, revitalized and more productive.

Maria Ward is a yoga instructor and Licensed Massage Therapist located in Miami, FL. Additional information and articles may be located at http://www.vitalityexpressed.com

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Yoga Styles For Beginners

By Jeffrey Meier

Yoga is a fundamental form of exercise, combined with elements of meditation and relaxation that help to create better circulation throughout the body. This art of stretching and muscle strengthening has been around for many centuries in the East; however, it is now catching on in the Western Hemisphere. And of course, as soon as the West gets its hands on anything alterations are sure to be made. So now we have a variety of new styles of yoga that many people are taking part in, in addition to the traditional styles. So why don't you join me as we explore some yoga styles. Who knows, you might learn a thing or two!

Why Choose Yoga?

Before we get into these yoga styles, let's look at the art of yoga and why many people are switching from more rigorous exercise plans to this calming style of exercise. The reason people are switching over to yoga is because they are finding that, like meditation, yoga provides a calming energy that cannot be achieved through normal exercise. Yoga is based on meditation and breathing, and is very spiritual in nature. Its plan is essentially to get your blood circulating though the body more easily, training your muscles to strengthen slowly and healthily, and calming your mind in the process.

Some are finding that as their jobs become more and more stressful, they need something to completely counteract the stress, and for many, yoga is the answer. As more people seek yoga for relief, more yoga styles are also being sought. I have provided a few of the different styles you have to choose from.

Yoga Styles

Ananda Yoga - Ananda Yoga is a class that helps you learns to quiet your body before meditation. You work to move your energy to your brain by aligning your body. Then you control your breathing to calm yourself for your meditative practice. This is great for a person who is not only trying to start as a beginner yoga participant, but also beginner in meditation.

Bikram Yoga - This is one of the more popular yoga styles, especially in the Chicago area, because of it takes on the style of a comprehensive work out, focusing on muscular strength, endurance and cardio exercises. The class was started by Bikram Choudhury, an Olympic gold medalist in weight lifting in the 1960s, who wanted to incorporate yoga into an exercise routine. His style of yoga is said to encourage flexibility, detoxification, and prevention of injuries. And it is unique because it is practiced in a heated environment for increased circulation.

Hatha Yoga - This is one of the more easy-to-learn styles of yoga and is more popular in the West than East. It incorporates several styles of yoga, including Asanas, Pranayama, and Dhyna, to help create a system that gives you a toned body and a sense of enlightenment at the same time. This is one of the yoga styles that are better known for its ability to relieve stress. And it is useful in teaching the novice yoga participant the basics of the skill.

Yoga for Health - This style of yoga is very specific and only offered at the A.R.E. Center in Virginia Beach by a revered yoga instructor of over 30 years. This high energy yoga class was designed to help build strong blood circulation throughout the body and is a wonderful way to warm the body and lift spirits. This class is held for free on the beach every Sunday morning when weather permits, and is loved because it provides beautiful sunrises, crashing waves and leaping dolphins, along with stretching and toning. The class lasts 2 hours and can be very challenging initially, but over time, after you adjust to the level of energy required, you won't want to miss a class.

There are tons of resources available to help you get started on your yoga experience. And with the numerous available yoga styles out there, you are guaranteed to find a class that best suits you. And who knows, you might become so comfortable in the class that you decide to instruct your own and become one of the pioneers of the many new yoga styles to come!

Jeffrey Meier of Jam727 Enterprises at http://www.Jam727.com offers information articles on a wide variety of subjects including Yoga at http://www.jam727.com/yoga/yoga_articles.htm

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How Much And How Often Should One Practice Yoga?

By Leena Patel

The term sadhana in Sanskrit means practice. Committing to practicing yoga on a regular, if not daily, basis, reaps immeasurable benefits. Students often tell me that they cannot commit to an hour a day- they simply do not have the time. In such cases, I recommend deciding the time frame you can realistically commit to each day, even if it is just five minutes. Much better to do this than to practice for two hours twice a week. Experts say build a routine and you are more likely to stick to it. I agree. After a while, missing a practice begins to feel like neglecting to brush your teeth or shower daily. It just does not feel right if you do not do it.

As the classic 15th century Sanskrit text The Hatha Yoga Pradipika tells us:"The young, the old, the extremely aged, even the sick and the infirm obtain perfection in Yoga by constant practice. Success will follow him who practices, not him who practices not. Success in yoga is not obtained by the mere theoretical reading of sacred texts. Success is not obtained by wearing the dress of a yogi or sanyasi (a recluse), nor by talking about it. Constant practice alone is the secret of success." (Ch.1, v. 64-6)

... by the way, do not belittle the value of doing 'flossingyourteethasana'. Anything that you do mindfully and with your full attention is yoga. If you are thinking about something else, you might as well be doing that something else.

Practice staying fully present in each moment. Whether you are driving, washing the dishes or doing a Sun Salutation- be fully engaged in the task at hand. Then you are truly in Yoga, in union, with the Self.

Leena Patel is currently based in Las Vegas where she teaches yoga and meditation to Celine Dion and the cast of A New Day. She has written numerous articles on health, yoga and spirituality and has taught across the US, Canada and in France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Austria and the UK. For more information, visit http://www.leenapatel.net

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