Yoga Stretching & Flexibility Exercises Benefits Explained

Article by Tracy Renning

Yoga Stretching & Flexibility Exercises Benefits Explained – Health – Fitness

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Stretching exercises are beneficial for our health and help to keep our body supple and flexible. Doing stretching exercises for at least five to ten minutes before you embark on any kind of exercises be it aerobics or swimming goes a long way in preventing muscle pull.

Benefits of stretching exercises are manifold and include enhancing flexibility of your muscles, improving coordination among different body parts, controlling body temperature and heart rate and preventing overall injuries.

However, there are some methods that should be followed by an individual religiously while doing stretching exercises. As in the case of other types of exercises, a person while performing stretching exercises should keep in mind not to overdo it. And the proper way to go about it is to start stretching at a very slow pace. The whole body and mind should be entirely relaxed and the place of exercise should be peaceful and free from all kinds of disturbances. It is best that you avoid those stretching exercises that are painful and hurt you while performing it.

Basic aim of doing stretching exercises is to take your body to the level of “mild tension.” While stretching, give proper attention to breathing. It should be relaxed and normal. Do not try to hold your breath while performing the exercises; it could lead to an adverse effect. Give at least fifteen seconds to each exercise before returning to normal position. Do not rush. You should give time between each stretching exercise to ensure that your body gets enough time to relax. Stretching after your exercise is over is also very important as it helps your body to cool down so that your heart rate and body pressure returns to pre exercise position.

Your stretching exercise routine should consist of those exercises, which would enable you to stretch all parts of your body. Some of the more well known stretching exercises include neck exercises, hip stretch, hamstring stretch, inner thigh stretch, lunge stretch, kneeling hamstring stretch, piriformis stretch, knee to chest stretch exercises, calf stretch, spine twist, and many more.

For the neck stretch just stand upright and relax. Then turn your head to your left side and then hold it in that position for five seconds. Repeat the same turning your head to your left, upwards and downwards.

For stretching your shoulder and back of upper arm stand straight and place your right hand on your left shoulder and with left hand pull right elbow across chest towards your left shoulder and hold for around ten seconds. Repeat it with your other hand also.

For stretching your middle back, stand erect with hands on hips and start twisting your torso at your waist until you can feel a stretch. You should remain in this position for around fifteen seconds. Repeat it in the reverse direction.

For stretching your calf, stand at a little distance from the wall and rest on it with your forearms. Putting your right foot in front of you, bend it while your left leg should be kept in a straight position. In the next step, move your hips forward until you can feel a stretch in your left leg calf. Your left heel should remain flat and toes should be pointed straight. Repeat it with your other leg.

There are a number of stretching exercises and it is important you choose those which are suitable for you and which you feel comfortable in performing. In the end, it can be said that it is always better to start with those stretching exercises, which are easier to perform.

About the Author

Double your flexibility in 28 days using YOGABODY Naturals Flexibility Kit. Stretching Flexibility Exercises & yoga poses are not enough… you need Gravity Poses and 6 specific nutrients to improve your stretching flexibility fast! www.yogabodynaturals.com

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Tracy Renning

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Good Yoga Exercises for Back Pain Treatments

Folks who endure lower back pain usually include yoga into their treatment program. Actually, Yoga exercise is actually great for pain’s curing. Normally, there’s no question that practicing Yoga exercises in a regularly basis can minimize your back pain; if you are lucky enough, your low back pain will probably be eased thoroughly. Here are several encouraged yoga exercises you may as well to follow.

Cat Stretch

Kneel with your arms on to the ground, your fingers apart and your back straight across. Ensure that you keep the hands and your shoulders are in one line, and the same as your knees and hips. Make head relaxed as well as toward the ground. At this moment, breathe steady. But while exhale, arch your back to the ceiling, push your own chin towards your own chest and tuck your tailbone in.

Do to maintain this specific pose for several breaths and next back to the first position. 2 or 3 reps per time are advisable.

Palm Tree

Begin from your feet using your hands lying by your sides. Target all of your bodyweight in your two feet. Raise the arms above head and cross your fingers. Maintain your hands move along with your palms forward the ceiling. Raise your hands on top of your head and bend your head steadily. Extend your arms to the ceiling direction as possible as you can. Now stretch or relax your entire body similar to you are being pulled up by a few heaving things. However, if it’s difficult for you to balance your foot, you can simply just stay your feet only.

Locust Posture

Lie on your own stomach with your hands by your sides.

Downward your palms using your elbows bent for some secs. Next raise your legs as high as possible only if it does not cause you discomfort. Keep this posture for a second and continue doing this for a maximum of five times. If your low back pain gets relieved after several postures, it is possible to increase your repetitions up to twelve times or more steadily. To be able to stop your muscles from strained, it is recommended to not to over-stretch your body.

Corpse Pose

Lie on your back and relax all your body. Place your hands by your sides together with your palms down. And relax your legs while turn it outward slightly. Do to bend the knees and place your feet flat on the ground if you feel pain in your back. Throughout the whole process, inhale and exhale many times gently and steadily.

www.LeeHayward.com This is a hard and heavy back workout. 1 Arm dumbbell rows for lat thickness. Weighted pull ups for lat width. And good mornings for working the lower back and spinal erectors.
Video Rating: 4 / 5

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10 Effective Yoga Back Pain Exercises

Despite all the warnings and advice about the risks of back pain and injury, most of us do not exercise enough or take care to protect ourselves against further back injury. The good news is that there are some wonderful back pain exercises that not only help to relieve pain, but are also excellent in strengthening the back to prevent against further injury. Below are 10 effective yoga back pain exercises, if you take the time to learn, will be able to ensure that your back remains strong and healthy indefinitely:

“Triangle pose.” This is a yoga pose that can help the chronic sufferer by concentrating on the hips which has a strong influence on the spine. It also tones the leg muscles, spinal nerves and abdominal organs.

“Mountain pose or Tadasana.” The Mountain pose is probably one of the most important poses in yoga as it is the starting and finishing point of all standing poses. It is especially helpful in establishing the ideal spinal alignment and helps in the overall improvement of the body.

“Pelvic tilt.” The pelvic tilt is one of the basic movements in yoga. It is excellent in working the abdominal muscles and helps to correct the lower back posture. It is also a great way to stretch tight muscles around the hip including the hamstrings and quadriceps.

“Bridge pose.” This is an extremely effective pose to practice, yet very simple. Practicing this pose helps to promote a flexible spine while strengthening the legs and buttock muscles at the same time as well as stimulating the abdominal muscles and organs.

“Reclined Big Toe pose.” The primary function of this pose is to stretch the hamstrings and calves. However, it can also help reduce pain by addressing the lower back posture.

“Cat Pose.” This pose is very popular as one of the back pain prevention exercises for both yoga and Pilates. It is very effective in helping you to establish the ideal spinal alignment, strengthening and stretching of back muscles as well as developing the coordination of spinal movement.

“Down Dog Pose.” The down dog pose is excellent because it stretches and releases tension from the spine. It also strengthens the shoulders, arms and back and it is great at relieving headaches and back pain.

“Cobra pose.” As far as yoga exercises go, the Cobra pose is probably one of the more popular poses because it has a rather extensive list of benefits including relieving the pain in your back, strengthening of the spine, stress relief and reduction in sciatic pain.

“Child’s pose.” This is quite an all-rounder pose because not only does it help to alleviate certain types of back ailments, it is also a great aid in relieving stress, anxiety, tension and fatigue. It is also used before and after more complex and strenuous poses.

“Corpse Pose.” The corpse pose can also be considered an all-rounder because in addition to alleviating the pain in your back, this pose also calms the brain, helps reduce stress and depression.

As you can see, there are a lot of back exercises that are effective in relieving chronic back pain, and they also have a whole host of the added benefits. However, in order to execute these yoga back exercises correctly, it is highly advised that you get the proper training from a professional yoga instructor.

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Combine Yoga With a Weight Training Log

Article by Howard Dennison

The primary reason that stress management activities work are that they break the normal chain of events that lead to stress. If you do not take time away from your work and life responsibilities to exercise your body and mind, stress will result. If you keep a weight training log, it will help you get more benefit from your activities.

Yoga is an excellent example of a beneficial stress management activity. As little as 15 minutes per day of Yoga exercises expels the tension that is stored in neck, shoulders and back muscles, not to mention all of the stress that is stored in our mind!

You don’t have to climb a mountain to meet a Yoga guru. In fact there are many outstanding Yoga books and web sites that can teach you all that you need to know. Practiced correctly, Yoga is both a body and mental exercise.

There are some basic Yoga exercises that are excellent for stress management. The most basic is called Savasana although some people spell it Shavasana. Either way, it has the slightly scary nickname of the “corpse pose”. Don’t let the name scare you though because the only thing it will kill is stress. As you recognize reduction in stress, keep your weight training log up to date.

This exercise teaches you to become very still and to systematically let every inch of your body relax until the stress just melts away. Amazingly, you’ll discover that while you are concentrating on relaxing your body, your mind is relaxing at the same time.

Once you have melted away the stress, the next classical Yoga exercise, or meditation, concentrates on what is called your “chakras”. Your chakras are energy concentrations, or centers, that are between your tail bone and the top of your head. Chakras are positioned right above your tail bone, immediately behind your navel, immediately below and behind your ribcage, in the center of your chest, in your throat, your forehead center, and immediately above your head.

These areas are thought to control your entire being. By using Yoga as part of your stress management activities you clear the stress form these areas and free your body and mind from the damaging effects of stress. Your weight training log will help you stay on track with your Yoga activities.

There are many stress management books that focus on Yoga as a stress management exercise. Yoga is easy to learn and can be mastered over a lifetime. If you make a serious effort to use Yoga some of the benefits are near instantaneous. Try Yoga as a stress management exercise, together with the maintenance of a weight training log and success is surely yours.

Yoga Stretching Routine for Tennis Players

Article by Roxanne Daniels

Starting a stretching routine into your exercising will boost your results in any sports activity. Tennis demands cat-like reflexes with quick bursts of strength and swiftness. These types of short movements might not permit the muscle tissue to extend their full-length. When muscle tissues are strenuously used they come to be tight and can lose their elasticity unless correctly stretched. Yoga exercises may boost the body’s range of motion plus restore the elasticity of the muscle tissue. Without any muscle elasticity you will not be capable of performs at the greatest capability. A sound stretching routine can provide that edge on the court.

Using yoga techniques makes it possible to re-train the muscle tissues so they learn that it is acceptable to go beyond their usual restrictions. Nearly all tennis players perform in a continual state of muscle tension. Yoga trains our body to relax muscle tension. Learning to begin your match in a relaxed condition could mean obtaining an extra step on the ball.

Yoga breathing exercises may help improve endurance and energy. Whenever exerting in sports activities or exercise we frequently hold our breath as a way to create power. Yoga trains the body to produce strength via breathing control. Holding your breath at points of effort requires a lot of energy that may be made use of throughout long sets or matches.

It is possible to discover the appropriate breathing form when carrying out a yoga pose. Breathe out through the execution of any pose until you feel the muscles’ full length of stretch (maximum resistance). Under no circumstances hold your breath. Breathe normally and tune in to your body. Maintain the pose for thirty seconds, and then release the pose gradually. With continued practice of yoga poses you can soon be able to implement breathing techniques in day-to-day workouts.

The Spine TwistOne particular yoga stretch that would be ideal for tennis players would be the simple spine twist. Adding that in your stretching routine is wonderful, particularly for rotational sports activities. It helps increase overall flexibility in the shoulders, back and hips. Remember to implement the breathing technique to this pose. This stretch will allow you to maintain sideways mobility of your spinal column. It is easier to watch that one instead of to attempt to explain.

Mind & BodyAll the physical benefits associated with yoga, such as increased power, endurance, balance, and flexibility; help tennis players satisfy the demands of the activity. Your body is continuously being put out of balance while taking part in tennis. Your elbow and wrist take a beating plus your knees, calf muscles, and ankles. As we lunge for passing shots and during the serve your back gets twisted and jerked out of alignment. Anyone who has ever played sees that tennis is very challenging to your entire body. Adding a stretching routine in your training can assist restore the balance and suppleness to your muscle tissues. Try these types of yoga techniques to increase your mobility and give you the edge on the court.

1. Tree pose (vrksasana) to strengthen the thighs and legs, open the hips, and increase sense of balance and coordination. 2. Triangle pose (trikonasana) to strengthen and stretch out your hamstrings, open the chest area, and promote stability. 3. Warrior II pose (virabhadrasana II) to strengthen quads, calf muscles, and Achilles’ tendons; expand range of motion; and teach you to move through the hips.A complete body conditioning and flexibility stretching routine is crucial to the serious tennis player. Yoga techniques may be the advantage you’ll need in growing your game. Yoga can help your game on numerous levels, most notably working on your overall flexibility, strength, balance, injury avoidance as well as mind control, all that can enhance your tennis game and over-all well-being.

Easy Yoga poses with basic stretching and simple body conditioning. After this 9 minutes session you will feel relax, restore and re-engerized! Buy this DVD www.yoga4man.com Namaste~ Vicki
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Yoga Abdominal Breath

Do the Abdominal Breath when you’re feeling tension, stress, or fatigue. This breath relaxes you. A few minutes of deep abdominal breathing can help bring greater connectedness between your mind and your body. In essence, the goal is to shift from upper chest, short, shallow breathing to deeper abdominal breathing. Concentrate on your breath and try to breathe in and out gently through your nose. With each breath, allow any tension in your body to slip away. After you start breathing slowly with your abdominals, sit quietly and enjoy the sensation of physical relaxation.

Follow these steps to practice the Abdominal Breath:

Lie on your back or sit comfortably in a chair.
Place one hand on your abdomen just above your pubic bone and below your navel; place your other hand on your solar plexus right beneath your breastbone.
Listening to your breath, inhale slowly and deeply through your nostrils — so deeply that your belly expands and you feel a wave of breath moving into the bottom, or lowest recesses, of your lungs. Get down to the bottom of your lungs with this inhalation, going as low and as deep inside your lungs as you can. You can feel the rounding of your abdomen in your hands such that your hands rise a bit and your abdominal cavity pushes upward. Meanwhile, your chest opens and expands gently as if your abdomen is a balloon filling with air evenly and equally in all directions.
At the top of your inhalation, find the point of transition where the inhale becomes an exhale. At the top of every breath is a point of passage, the place where the inhale ends and the exhale begins. Find that place within your lungs and pause a moment to notice how your breath gently begins to shift in a new direction.
To a count of six to eight (or more) seconds, exhale fully through your nostrils. Feel your whole body releasing tension and letting go. Allow your body, including your arms and legs, to relax and go limp.

Do ten slow, full Abdominal Breaths.

Try to breathe smoothly and regularly without gasping for breath or letting your breath out all at once. Let each exhalation roll out like a long, slow ocean wave. Remember to notice that transition, or turning point, at the end of each inhalation and exhalation when one becomes the other in a seamless transition. If you can manage it, try to get in a rhythm and practice the Abdominal Breath for 10 minutes.

The Abdominal Breath is very relaxing. It really works when done well, and for that reason, you may not want to practice it while you’re driving. One of Sherri’s students missed her freeway turnoff by three exits because she practiced Abdominal Breathing behind the wheel of her car. She was able to induce such a deep state of relaxation during her journey that she forgot her reason for driving her car. Be careful and, along with driving safely, breathe wisely.

If your breathing becomes too rapid, short, or shallow, you may start hyperventilating. And hyperventilating, in turn, sometimes can cause symptoms similar to those of a panic attack. Hyperventilating occurs when you breathe out too much carbon dioxide relative to the amount of oxygen in your bloodstream. If you find that your breathing is shallow and you’re breathing in an anxious way, try taking an Abdominal Breath. Taking Abdominal Breaths helps you shift into deeper, more rhythmic breathing.

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Yoga Stretching Flexibility

Article by Tracy Renning

The mantra of yoga – A healthy mind rests in a flexible body

Yoga has nowadays become a crucial part of a person’s life. It works on the physical as well as the mental level. No other form of exercise can offer this. Yoga also helps the body in improving the lung capacity, circulation, preventing muscle soreness, loosening the tight hamstrings and most importantly providing flexibility to the body.

Flexibility can we obtained by stretching and this stretching can we well done through various yogic poses and asanas. Unless one has a flexible body, one cannot perform the higher level yoga poses that are extremely beneficial to the mind and body. Increasing flexibility of the body is the primary aim of the basic level yoga poses..Flexibility is of different types:

Dynamic flexibility- ability to perform kinetic movements of muscles

Static active flexibility- ability to maintain extended positions using only tension without external support

Static passive flexibility – ability to maintain extended position using once weight.

Flexibility is influenced by various factors some of which are given below:

o Body structureo Elasticity of joints and muscleso Type of joints and internal resistance of jointso Elasticity of skino Temperature of the place where the exercise is performedo Gendero Age

Stretching is very important for gaining flexibility of the body and this stretching can be done effectively with the help of yoga.Yoga stretching can also help to have greater strength, flexibility, and range of motion while reducing injuries, aches, pains, stiffness, and tension.

Yoga stretching is the best form of exercise to increase the flexibility of the body because it involves a progressively more demanding work out and the results are very tangible. Results can be seen within a few weeks of starting and Yoga comes with the added benefit of development of the mind. The reduced stress levels, increased spiritual consciousness help to keep one attracted towards yoga exercises for years together.

Some of the yoga stretches are as given below:

o Makarasana (Crocodile pose)-

Lie on your stomach. Stretch your hands and place them on top of each other. Touch forehead to ground. Legs should be straight Now try to stretch your hands and legs so that there is a pull on your thighs. Maintain this posture for a few seconds. repeat

o Yastikasana (Stick pose)-

Lie on your back. Straighten your legs. Stretch your hands beyond your head and fold them. Now stretch your hands and legs. Feel the pull on your thighs and forearms and spine. Maintain for a few seconds and then repeat.

o Kati Chakrasana (Waist Rotating pose)-

Stand straight with your feet together. Stretch your hands in front. Now turn to the right. Look at the tip of your hands. Do not move legs. Repeat on the left.

The above are only a few forms. There are many other types to improve stretching and thus flexibility. The type of yoga chosen may depend on the individual. Remember, a healthy mind rests in a flexible body.

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Ideal Yoga Exercises For Lower Back Pain

Individuals who endure low back pain frequently include yoga into their remedy program. Truly, Yoga is actually good for pain’s curing. In many instances, there isn’t any doubt that doing Yoga exercises in a regularly basis will lessen your pain; if you’re fortunate enough, your lower back pain will likely be eased completely. Here are several advisable yoga exercise you may as well to follow.

Cat Stretch

Kneel along with your arms on to the ground, your fingers apart and your back straight across. Make sure you keep the hands as well as your shoulders are in one line, and the same as your knees and your hips. Keep the head relaxed as well as toward the bottom. Now, take in air steady. But while exhale, arch your back to the ceiling, drive your chin towards your own chest and tuck your tailbone in. Do to hold this specific posture for a few breaths and after that back to the initial position. 2 or three reps per time are proposed.

Palm Tree

Start from your feet along with your arms lying by your sides. Concentrate all of your weight in your two feet. Raise the arms above head and mix your fingers. Maintain your hands move as well as your palms forward the ceiling. Lift your palms on top of your head and also bend your head slowly and gradually. Extend your own arms to the ceiling direction as possible as you can. Now stretch or relax your entire body similar to you’re being pulled up by several heaving things. On the other hand, if it is hard for you to balance your foot, you can only stay your feet only.

Locust Pose

Lie on your stomach using your arms by your sides. Downward your palms together with your elbows bent a couple of seconds. Subsequently lift your legs as high as possible only if it doesn’t result in discomfort. Have this kind of posture for a second and do this again for a maximum of five times. If your low back pain gets alleviated after a couple of postures, you possibly can increase your repetitions up to a dozen times or more gradually. To be able to stop your muscles from strained, it is recommended to not to over-stretch your body.

Corpse Pose

Lie on your back and relax all your body. Put your arms by your sides together with your palms down. After which relax your legs while turn it outward slightly. Do to bend the knees and place your feet flat on the ground if you feel pain in your back. During the full process, breathe in and out repeatedly gently and steadily.

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Online Yoga Training Information Center Publishes Guides on Yoga Postures Exercises and Yoga Advice

Article by Paul Robles

Yoga is an ancient Eastern discipline, specifically from India which carries with it traditions of 2000 year. People across the world practice for both physical and mental health benefits. Yoga Training Course information portal, an online information portal for information and articles publishes guides about various postures, exercises and history. The website has also got multiple articles on meditation, illustrating a variety of yoga poses, photos of many positions, answers to common questions and more. All over the world, has become an increasingly popular form of exercise and meditation in the last years.

With the help of authentic people can do features in various levels like beginner, intermediate and advanced positions and workouts. practitioners will find detailed instructions and photos on how to do a variety of poses. Physicians confirm that Yoga is the finest option for back pain and related physical problems health benefits are spelled out in multiple articles and pictures of poses that lead to a healthier heart, a better night’s sleep and a happier outlook on life. More details can be found at the training course website

About Yoga Training Course

Yoga training courses are aimed to help people learn the ancient science and study of the mind that has become a practical method for mental and physical health and well being. YTC center has been started as an and information service, providing guidance and expert advices on topics related t, training and the history of yoga. The service website has been published on July 2010 to spread the word online to yoga admirers. It helps people to learn about yoga and yoga exercises with authentic information. More details about yoga, Branches of Yoga, Benefits, Yoga exercises and yoga postures can be found at the website.

YTC (www.yogatrainingcourse.com), an online information portal for yoga information and articles publishes guides about various yoga postures, exercises and yoga history

Is Yoga the Best Way to Get in Shape

The word Yoga comes from the Sanskrit root ‘yuj’ meaning ‘to unite’ which means that it helps in uniting the mind and the body. Yoga also teaches us methods to unite the individual soul with the supreme soul. It is the exercise of the body and the spirit and will definitely help you to get in shape. Yoga dates back to the Upanishads, written during 1000-5000 BC. Bhakti yoga, Hatha yoga, Jnana yoga, Karma yoga, Kundalini yoga, Mantra yoga, Purna yoga and Raj yoga are some of the types of yoga practices.

People started realizing the importance of yoga for achieving excellence of both mind and body a few years back and eventually, a new form called power yoga came into being. Power Yoga also known as Dynamic yoga is a modern way to get in shape. It started gaining popularity during the late 90’s and as the name suggests, it is fast paced and involves quite a bit of effort.

It differs from other forms of yoga as it has an emphasis on fitness and it gives more importance to strength and flexibility of the body.

Yes, it can be followed by anyone who wants to keep their body fit by exercising, but you have to keep in mind that it works best when practiced on an empty stomach. Hence, performing power yoga in an early morning environment is highly recommended.

The following are some of the benefits of yoga:

– Increases the flexibility of the body. It activates the different joints of the body, including the ones that cannot be triggered with regular exercises.

– Acts as a ligament, connecting bones or cartilages or supporting muscles or organs. It also helps exercise the various joints and tendons of the body.

– Massages all the internal glands and organs of the body including those that hardly get externally moved during our entire span of life.

– Can be a tool for detoxification of the body.

It helps in flushing out harmful toxins from every organ and part of the body.

– Helps in toning the various muscles of the body. Muscles which have been drooping and fragile are moved repeatedly to get rid of excess fats.

– Regular practice of yoga helps in mood improvement and lessening of nervousness and tension.
– Yoga encourages living happily by reducing depression.

– Nourishes the skin and makes it glow and look younger and healthier.

– Reduces the chances of osteoporosis since it helps keep calcium in the bones by lowering the levels of adrenal-cortex hormone that is active in carbohydrate and protein metabolism.

– Benefits the cardiovascular system. It helps in circulating the blood and oxygen throughout our body.

– Regular practice of yoga leads to improved sleep.

– Increases the energy level in your body and helps fight fatigue once and for all.

As you can see, the practice of yoga helps to relax the mind and body and improving strength through various postures and breathing exercises. The benefits of yoga surpass the benefit of any other exercise and therefore Yoga is the best form of exercise in order to get in shape.

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