Tag Archives: yoga stretching

The best yoga stretching poses for anxiety relief

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If you're feeling stressed out, you should consider practicing yoga stretching poses that have been shown to help relieve anxiety. Yoga combines exercise and meditation techniques to help relax both your body and mind, which is why you should consider looking into yoga stretching if you're overwhelmed. Recently, The Huffington Post explained a little more about which yoga stretching poses are best if you're feeling anxious. 

"Yoga helps us slow down for a moment and tune into the breath. Simply the focus on one thing – which is the very definition of meditation – allows us to decompress," Terri Kennedy, Ph.D., registered yoga teacher, told The Huffington Post. "The actual asanas [poses] release tension in different ways, and help certain parts of the body."

Kennedy recommended trying the calming child's pose, which involves kneeling and stretching the body as though you're bowing. This position can quiet the mind and ease stress.

Yahoo! states that if you're really a beginner, you may want to start with the corpse pose, which involves simply being spread out on the ground. According to the news source, this pose relaxes the entire body. 

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Traveling? Consider yoga stretching as a mobile workout

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Fitness buffs who often travel for personal or professional reasons may have a difficult time keeping up with their health and wellness goals on the road. Not only are they away from their usual gym or health club, but lengthy travel can eat away at time for physical activity. Here are three reasons yoga stretching is the perfect mobile workout.

Minimal workout gear
People who like to lift weights or cycle usually can't bring their workout gear with them. However, practicing yoga meditation and stretching exercises requires minimal equipment. Simply throw a yoga mat in your suitcase, and you're good to go!

Versatile workout routine
Another great part about yoga is that you can exercise just about anywhere. Whether you decide to head to a local park in your vacation destination or practice in your hotel room, all you need is a flat patch of ground to get started.

Yoga in stages
If you want to get a quick exercise in before you head out for dinner reservations or sightseeing, yoga is the workout for you. In fact, yoga can even be done in stages. Consider practicing a few poses in the morning, meditating in the afternoon and finishing up the evening with another quick yoga stretch.

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How yoga meditation and stretching can help with common health issues

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If you've been struggling with aches, pains or other general health issues lately, incorporating regular physical activity into your life can make a big difference. Yoga meditation and yoga stretching exercises are great ways to improve your overall wellness while also combating a number of common health problems. Here are three examples of how yoga can benefit your lifestyle.

Trouble falling asleep
When you've got a full day of work, classes or family obligations ahead of you, the last thing you want to deal with is a poor night of sleep. If you've been finding it difficult to catch some shuteye, yoga exercises and meditation techniques are great ways to lower stress levels and promote relaxation, making it easier for you to go to bed at night.

Joint and muscle pain
There are numerous reasons why you may be experiencing joint and muscle pain on a regular basis, whether its due to a sudden weight gain, manual labor or recent stress. However, there are a variety of yoga stretches that can specifically relieve pain in your back, legs, shoulders, neck and feet.

Headaches
Stress, lack of sleep and poor diet can all contribute to frequent headaches. If you're looking for a way to deal with the pain, consider practicing yoga meditation and deep breathing exercises that can promote relaxation and improve blood circulation.

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Tips for sticking with New Year’s health and weight loss resolutions

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New Year's Eve has come and gone, and now you're probably getting ready to put your resolution for better health and weight loss into action. However, you might also be worried that you may give up on your goals within a week or two of the new year. Here are a few tips on how to stick with your resolution all year long.

Join a yoga class
If you're looking for a comprehensive workout plan that's sure to keep you motivated, you might want to join a yoga class. Between yoga stretching exercises, meditation and deep breathing, you'll be on your way to a healthier lifestyle in no time.

Grab a friend
It tends to be much easier to stick with dieting and exercise goals when you have someone as a health partner, so grab a friend as part of your New Year's resolution. Together, you can keep each other on track with working out and eating right when you feel like giving up.

Keep a record
One great method of encouragement for practicing better health is to keep a record of your progress. By logging how many hours you spend working out or noting your calorie consumption, you can see how much you've achieved in the new year.

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How yoga meditation and stretching exercises can benefit you in the new year

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If you're looking for a great New Year's resolution, you might want to consider joining a yoga class for your health and wellness. Yoga meditation and yoga stretching exercises are beneficial ways to improve your body, mind and spirit. Here are a few of the ways practicing yoga can improve your new year.

Better eating habits
While you're not required to change your diet when you practice yoga, you'll likely be surrounded by a group of people who are enthusiastic about healthier eating. If you're open to the idea, you may start including more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy products in your regular diet.

More energy
Have you been struggling to stay motivated in your personal and professional lives? You might be surprised how much extra energy working out with yoga can give you. Beyond helping you sleep better and longer at night, people who exercise on a regular basis have more strength and energy to use in their everyday activities.

Less stress
The holiday season can be a particularly stressful time of year. Luckily, yoga meditation, deep breathing and stretching are all great ways for you to blow off steam and feel more at peace with the world around you.

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How yoga meditation and yoga stretching can help with holiday fatigue

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The holiday season can be a mixed bag. While you're probably looking forward to celebrating days like Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Eve, the stress of shopping, decorating, cooking and planning in advance can really begin to wear you down. This is why you might want to consider practicing yoga meditation and yoga stretching, as these can help you make it to January without driving yourself crazy. Here are a few of the advantages that yoga provides.

Stress relief
Deep breathing exercises, a personal mantra and meditation are all great ways yoga can help you relax. Not only will you be improving your self-control and focus, but you'll also push distracting and stressful thoughts from your mind, allowing you to enjoy a clear head.

Weight loss goals
Have you been trying to lose some weight and fear that holiday meals can undo all your good work? Physical activity such as yoga can provide you with a fun and beneficial way to burn calories and keep your gut in check. Exercise also boosts your metabolism, so that's another added benefit to practicing yoga.

More energy
There's no doubt that planning a variety of events for family and friends can really begin to wear you down. Luckily, the stress relief you'll enjoy from yoga stretching and meditation can help you feel more alert and energized. That's not to mention that working out helps you sleep better, which can give you an added pick-me-up when you need it.

 

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Three benefits of yoga stretching

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If you're the type of person who likes pumping iron in the gym, you may have overlooked yoga stretching in the past. However, yoga is becoming an increasingly popular way to stay fit and limber these days, and you might want to think about signing up for a class. Here are three yoga stretching benefits to keep in mind if you're still on the fence.

Healthy heart
Cardio exercise is important for weight management, but it also can have a significant impact on your heart as well. Yoga stretches are a great way to boost blood circulation, reduce high blood pressure and lessen the chance of heart disease and heart attacks.

Muscle pains
All those hours in the gym can really take a toll on your muscles. If you've been feeling particularly achy lately, you'll be happy to know what yoga exercises can target and relieve pain in specific muscle groups like the neck, back and shoulders.

Increased flexibility
If you like participating in organized sports leagues for football, baseball or hockey, yoga is the perfect way to stay loose and limber before a game. Increased flexibility can boost your speed and agility as well as strengthen muscles that your usual workout plan may have overlooked.

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Yoga stretching benefits men more than they may realize

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Nearly 4.4 million American men practice yoga, based on a survey conducted by the Yoga Journal. But according to FOX Providence's The Rhode Show, this number could (and maybe should) be a lot higher. The news source listed some of the many yoga stretching benefits for men – which is especially apropos right now, during Men's Health Week.

First and foremost, the holistic regimen helps men loosen up, instructor Kelly O'Connell told the news source. She explained that guys do far less to stay limber, compared to women, even though they are much more likely to have tight tendons and stiff, knotted muscles.

"They get tight in their shoulders, their chest and their hips," she told the news source. "They do a lot of repetitive sports, men tend to like to do a certain type of sport, just one, and they can get injuries sometimes with those sports."

She explained that yoga, more than any other "sport," is perfect for the kind of chronic pain management that many men need.

Furthermore, the mind-body program can reduce stress and improve cardiovascular fitness, two things that plenty of American males could certainly use more of.

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Dahn Yoga exercises don’t require a mat

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If you're into doing some yoga stretching exercises, chances are you've probably looked into getting some of the usual accoutrements – special shirts, leggings, socks or mats. While it's fine to be interested in such things, it is also important to be aware ahead of time that none of them is necessary.

Mats in particular have no real place in Dahn Yoga exercises. This isn't a reaction to current yoga culture – instead, Dahn Yoga simply pre-dates the use of mats or any other sort of specialty yoga product.

If you use a mat, you may have already noticed that they have certain limitations. For instance, FitSugar recently listed three things that you absolutely can't do with a mat: You can't clean it with soap (which can cling to the plastic), you can't roll it up immediately after a class and you can't loan it to others.

All three of these limitations have to do with sweat, which makes yoga mats unbearably dirty sometimes. Dahn Yoga has the perfect remedy for this: Ditch the mat.

Yoga is best performed on the floor. To avoid getting overheated, you can wear loose, long-sleeved shirts and pants, which cool the body and wick away sweat.

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Yoga stretching for runners may lengthen active racing career

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Every year, it seems like more people decide to get in shape by running, or improve their mind-body connection with yoga. But did you know that these two exercise regimens can be mutually beneficial? That's right – with yoga stretching for runners, everyone from the casual jogger to the hardcore marathoner can improve their stride and avoid injury.

The latter yoga stretching benefit – namely, reducing the risk of strains or sprains – is pretty important, at that. According to an article published in the Regina Leader-Post, holistic poses and gentle stretches may significantly extend a runner's career.

The news source explained that small injuries, like pulled muscles, can take joggers off the road for weeks at a time, which can in turn affect their ability to stay fit.

Of course, larger injuries – such as worn-out joints or torn tendons – can leave runners out of commission for months. While yoga cannot necessarily prevent such problems, it can certainly reduce the everyday wear and tear that runners are prone to.

On the flipside of things, jogging can increase leg and core strength, giving yoga practitioners better endurance for those tough-to-hold poses.

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