Aerobic And Yoga Can Maintain A Healthy Body

Navigating the journey between childhood and teenager status can be both a fantastic and treacherous adventure. At the onset of puberty, everything seems to change. Youth experience dramatic, often sudden, transformations of physical systems, cognitive capacities and social relationships. It is natural for youth to experience some degree of confusion or disequilibrium about these major life alterations. The fluctuations in mood and opinion can be just as confusing for the people who live and work with youth.

Fortunately, ancient health systems, like Yoga, can contribute to finding balance and ease in the face of today’s mounting challenges. Here, I will share three practices that I have found helpful to the teens I have worked with over a decade’s time in the field. The following practices address three distinct needs that many early adolescents share: self- awareness, emotional regulation, and energy rejuvenation. The benefits of each exercise are included.

1. Breath Moves Energy
Sit in a comfortable cross-legged pose on the floor. Sitting on a cushion or folded blanket that lifts the hips higher than the knees can be helpful for achieving more lift in the spine. Root the tailbone into the Earth. Extend the spine tall, drawing the shoulder blades onto the upper back. Spread across the collarbones. Balance the ears just above the shoulders so the neck is lengthened, but not straining. Enjoy five deep breaths simply being aware of breath and body.

With a deep inhale, extend both arms out to the side and up, joining the palms overhead. Exhaling, draw the joined hands down the midline of the body, past the face, heart and center. Inhale, arms reach out and up overhead. Exhale, center the mind and body as the hands pull down the midline. Repeat 10 to 20 times being mindful of movements and breath the entire time.

Benefits:
- Increase self awareness
- Build lung capacity
- Develop core strength

Why this works: When the body, mind and breath move together in concert, the whole system reaches a higher level of harmony. Explain to youth that yoga is about linking all of the different parts of ourselves together: physical, mental, emotional, intellectual, spiritual and social. All of these parts can be compared to a band. When one part is out of tune, the whole song can sound unpleasant. Yoga is a practice of tuning our various parts to the same note.

2. Balance Through Challenges
Stand tall with feet hips width apart. Spread the toes and press evenly through all four corners of the feet. Firm leg muscles. Extend the tailbone towards the floor and activate the abdominal muscles. Lengthen the side body. Draw the shoulder blades onto the upper back, spreading across the collarbones. Gently lengthen the back of the neck, reaching up through the crown of the head. This is Mountain Pose. Once Mountain Pose is established and steady, find one spot on the floor about 4 feet in front of the feet to focus the eyes. Try to keep the eyes softly placed on the chosen spot for the entire exercise.

Now, extend both arms out to the side to help maintain balance. Press deliberately into the right foot, slowly lifting the left foot from the floor. Place the sole of the left foot onto the inner calf muscle or inner thigh of the right leg. (Note: Avoid placing the left foot on the right knee as the pressure on the joint can be unsafe.) The left knee points outward and the toes of the left foot face the floor. As balance is established, reach arms overhead into Tree Pose. Practice paying attention to the breath and keeping the eyes focused. Repeat on the other side.

Benefits:
- Cultivate core strength and balance
- Develop emotional regulation
- Increase muscular strength and tone in legs, trunk and arms

Why this works: Learning to stay focused and calm during the challenge of balancing on one foot is a skill that transfers to many activities. In this exercise, the body, mind and breath work together to achieve balance for the whole system.

3. Let Go and Trust the Flow
Lie down face up on the floor. Use a blanket, mat or rug for comfort if desired. With legs straight, place feet wider than hips width. Extend arms out beside the body with hands below heart level and palms open to the sky. Close the eyes and find the breath. Starting from the toes and feet, relax each part of the body all the way up to the crown of the head. Let the bones and muscles release into the floor. Allow the organs to soften. Find the heartbeat. Stay in this position for 5 to 10 minutes rejuvenating the body’s energy and allowing the mind to be spacious.

Benefits:
- Strengthen body/mind connection
- Relieve mental stress
- Rejuvenate physical energy

Why this works: Adolescents need to rest! They often stay up until late hours of the night and need to wake up early for school. Lack of rest creates moodiness and lethargy. Five to 10 minutes of focused resting can save hours of wasted time.

These simple, practical practices can be offered to tweens at home or in a classroom environment. One does not need to be a certified Yoga teacher to help guide youth toward the practice. Remember: youth do not typically enjoy being pushed in any direction, so a subtle approach may be most successful. Letting tweens know that they have power in shaping their life can inspire them to give the tools a try. Offer the practices as a choice and allow them to enter the practice in their own time.

Yoga practice can contribute to wellness, happiness and balance in anyone’s life who is open to the experience, particularly youth. Be mindful to educate youth on the benefits of the practices and how their individual lives can be enhanced.

For demonstrations of these techniques and more, visit http://www.shantigeneration.com.

Abby Wills, MA, ERYT http://www.abbywills.com

Bikram instructor should always guide students learning the Bikram yoga postures because they are the certified and licensed people to teach you. In every class, every individual should bring their own mat that can be suitable for yoga as well as their own towel. Before the start of the session, you have to make sure that are prepared to enter a heated room as you proceed with the 26 postures.

The complete session of the hot yoga is actually divided into two segments: the standing and sitting poses.

Standing Poses

1. Half moon pose – build up the core and stimulates vital organs
2. Hands to feet – elongates the spine including the lower muscle
3. Awkward Pose – lower body is strengthen
4. The Eagle – stimulate the reproductive system
5. Standing Head to knee – helps one achieve balance and concentration
6. Standing Bow Pulling Pose – increases circulation
7. Balancing Stick -focuses intent and strengthens the trunk of the body
8. Standing Separate Leg Head to Knee – A wide-legged stance that relieves sciatica
9. Triangle – A full-body rejuvenation pose
10. Standing Separate Leg Head to Knee Pose – enhance muscle tones on the core and upper thighs
11. Tree Pose – works the internal oblique
12. Toe Stand -mental-physical balancing pose

Sitting Poses

1. Dead Body – allows your body to relax
2. Wind Removing Pose -improves hip flexibility
3. Cobra Pose – improves flexibility in spine
4. Locust Stand – Increase back strength and flexibility
5. Full Locust Pose – Tightens the core and arms
6. Bow Stand – Improves internal organ function and opens the chest
7. Fix Firm Pose – reduces leg problems
8. Half Tortoise Pose – relaxation pose that improves circulation
9. Camel Stand – Relieves back pain and expands the chest, throat, and thyroid
10. Rabbit Strike – elongates spine to the maximum
11. Head to Knee Stand – can improves blood sugar
12. Paschimotthanasana – Stretches the back and arms and lower spine
13. Spine Twisting Pose – allows the twist of spine
14. Blowing in Firm Stand – breathing pose that also improves circulation

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To someone who has never tried it before, yoga may seem like an unusual way of channeling your “inner spirit” through monotonous humming and awkward bodily positioning. However, it is more than that; it can be much simpler or slightly deeper than its initial appearance. You can learn how to find relaxation through uniting body, mind and soul. Whether you are in it for the physical body sculpting benefits, or seeking to heal an overstressed mind and spirit and improve your quality of life, there are a few pieces of yoga equipment for beginners that you will need.

Numerous styles of yoga exist, just as there are countless personality types, therefore the way it is practiced will be different from person to person. However, stretching is most important in all styles of this practice. In order to build up muscle resistance and strength, muscles must be well stretched in order to prevent injury and uncomfortable results, even in the practice of simple yoga moves.

In order to properly stretch your body, you will need the right yoga accessories. A comfortable mat or towel should be used to provide a firm but supportive surface which can cushion the body when stretching. The right mat can make or break your first experience. Without comfort there can be no relaxation, which is what it’s all about. So when buying a mat keep in mind your own personal comfort and don’t be afraid to invest in a quality mat, because your personal happiness and serenity can make it worth the splurge.

While your favorite sweats and a t-shirt can be comfortable and quite informal, some find that wearing proper exercise clothes such as spandex, nylon or polyester tank tops and yoga pants can enhance your exercise and your stretching technique.

The perfect shoe is important as well. The wrong shoes can greatly affect the quality of your exercise as well as the long term development of certain muscles in the foot. The best way to ensure that you get the most out of your shoes is to go to an athletic shoe store and talk to a professional and get fitted for your own personalized pair of shoes.

Your clothing choices can shape your experience, so choose shirts that fit properly and do not need to be pulled down constantly and pants that won’t sag below the crack of the back end. This can be quite uncomfortable and cause one to become self-conscious, which imposes upon the relaxation required to fully enjoy your practice.

Taking up this ancient practice can change your outlook on life, your quality of life and your ability to properly handle stress in the healthiest way possible. Yoga equipment for beginners can include various other items; these are strictly the “bare necessities, the simple bare necessities.”

Yoga helps you focus your mind and improve your body, and choosing the right routine can enhance your workout considerably. Learn more about yoga accessories and where to find them at the Simple Yoga site.