Slim Down With Yoga

Lose stubborn fat and tone up all over with this fast, easy plan

By Marianne McGinnis, Source : prevention.com

Yoga is a known stress buster, but it's also one of the most effective workouts for fighting stubborn fat stores, especially the ones that crop up after age 40. Yes, you can use yoga for weight loss. The reason: Studies show that yoga lowers levels of stress hormones and increases insulin sensitivity—a signal to your body to burn food as fuel rather than store it as fat. The following yoga poses for weight loss will do just that while firming up your arms, legs, butt, and abs. Start now to see weight results in as little as 3 weeks.

Workout at a glanceWhat you need: A yoga mat or carpeted space
How to do it: Follow this routine at least 3 times a week, holding each move 1 time for 3 to 5 deep breaths, unless otherwise noted. Start with the Main Move for each exercise. If it's too difficult, do the Make It Easier variation. If it's not challenging enough, try the Make It Harder option. For faster results: Hold each pose for 5 to 8 breaths and increase repetitions (where noted) by 2 or 3.

MAIN MOVE: Crescent [Firms abs, hips, and thighs]

Stand with feet together, toes forward, and arms at sides. Inhale and raise arms overhead, reaching fingertips toward ceiling. Exhale, and bend forward from hips, bringing hands to floor (it's okay to bend knees). Inhale, and as you exhale, step right leg back into a lunge (left knee bent about 90 degrees, knee over ankle; right leg extended and on ball of foot). Inhale and raise arms overhead; gaze forward. Hold, then return to standing and repeat, stepping left leg back. Make it Harder: From end position, inhale and arch torso, arms, and head backward, gazing at fingertips. Make it Easier: Lower right knee to touch floor as you step back into a lunge, and rest hands on left thigh


MAIN MOVE: Willow [Firms sides of abs]

Stand with feet together, arms at sides. Place sole of left foot on inside of right thigh, knee bent to side. Touch palms in front of chest for 2 breaths. On third inhale, extend arms up, fingertips toward ceiling. Exhale, and on the inhale, bend torso to left. Inhale and straighten. Repeat 3 to 5 times, pressing foot into thigh; switch sides. Make it Easier: Keep left foot on calf or touch toes to floor for balance. Make it Harder: Close eyes as you balance and bend.


MAIN MOVE: Rocking Boat [Firms abs and back] 

Sit with knees bent, feet on floor, hands on thighs. With torso straight and head in line with body, lean back about 45 degrees, raising feet so calves are parallel to floor, toes pointed. On an inhale, extend arms and legs, keeping legs together. Exhale, and as you inhale, lower torso and legs 3 to 4 inches so body forms a wider V shape. Exhale and raise torso and legs. Repeat 3 to 5 times. Make it Easier: Hold backs of thighs with hands and keep legs bent. Lower torso only. Make it Harder: Once in the wider V position, extend arms overhead.


MAIN MOVE: Hover [Firms shoulders, arms, abs, and back]

Begin in push-up position on toes with arms straight, hands below shoulders, and body in line from head to heels. On an exhale, lower chest toward floor, bending elbows back, arms close to body, abs tight. Hold a few inches above floor. Make it Easier: Begin on hands and knees and walk hands forward until body is in line from head to knees. Make it Harder: While holding the hover, lift left leg 6 to 12 inches, pause, and lower. Do 3 to 5 times, then switch legs.



MAIN MOVE: Chair [Firms butt and thighs] 

Stand with feet together, toes forward, arms at sides. Inhale and raise arms overhead, palms facing each other. Exhale and sit back about 45 degrees, keeping knees behind toes and abs tight to support back; gaze forward. Make it Easier: Do the move with feet hip-distance apart, hands on thighs, and bend only about 30 degrees. Make it Harder: After you sit back, lift heels off floor, balancing on balls of feet (knees will be in front of toes); gaze up at fingertips.
Flatten Your Belly Faster
If your midsection is your toughest trouble zone, check out Prevention's Better Belly Yoga DVD ($15; betterbellyyoga.com). It offers three 10-minute routines that tone your abs from every angle while harnessing yoga's tension-taming power to reduce cortisol, a stress hormone that contributes to belly fat. The expert Desiree Bartlett, a California-based yoga instructor with more than 15 years of experience and the creator of Prevention's new Better Belly Yoga DVD, designed this workout. Psst, that's her in the photos! Get a sexy, flat belly. Order the Better Belly Yoga DVD today.

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10 tips for practicing yoga at home

By Ramdesh Kaur on May 25, 2010, Source : http://www.spiritvoyage.com 

Practicing yoga at home has never been easier.  If you are a beginner to yoga or relatively new and want to establish an at home yoga practice, it is important to do some groundwork before jumping into the fray.  To prevent injury and maximize the power of your yogic experience, careful preparation and modest investments can make learning yoga at home viable, efficient, and fun.

Here are ten tips to help you establish an at-home yoga practice.

1)  Create a space

Set aside a space dedicated to your yoga practice.  Make sure it is free from furniture that could create a hazard to you as you do various yoga asana.  Your yoga space should be clean and serene.  Decorate it with images and objects that create a peaceful and sacred feeling in your heart.  

2) Invest in tools of the trade

If you do not already have a yoga sticky mat, purchase one.  There are yoga mats for every budget and taste.  A mat cleaner will keep your mat smelling fresh after tough workouts.  Make sure you have two blocks and a strap for modifications and consider getting a yoga blanket.  Not only will they keep you warm when you relax in savasana but they can also be rolled up to help you modify poses.  You may need two bolsters for under your knees, and you will probably want at least one style of zafu or meditation cushion. 

3) Carefully prevent injury

If your grandmother told you that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, she was right.  When you practice yoga at home, it is your job to make sure that you don’t injury yourself.  Keep your space clear  of obstacles like furniture and children’s toys, and if possible, do your yoga in a room with hardwood floors.  Soft surfaces can injury joints and thick carpet makes balancing difficult.  Lifeboard is a hard surface that you can put on top of carpeting to make a transportable yoga floor if necessary.

Christel Pierron (Seva Simran Kaur), an experienced teacher of Hatha Yoga, YogaDance, and Kundalini Yoga in Cape Cod, cautions, “Never force a posture. If you are going to tip over your edge, it is better to have a teacher who can watch you and help you go further.  At home, take it easy.  Don’t compete with your body. Love your body, nurture your body, and be present. Be present, warm up, fully get into the poses you know…that is how an at home practice should be.  More difficult poses should be in a class, where your teacher can make a safe environment for you.”

4) Choose your yoga style

There are so many styles of yoga to choose from that it can be a little daunting at first.  But rather than be overwhelmed, be excited!  There are so many forms to choose from that if you don’t like one, you have several others to test out.  Hatha yoga is the most common form of yoga, but there are several schools of Hatha yoga to choose from.  Pierron recommends that beginners try something like Iyengar yoga or Kripalu yoga to help them learn the mechanics of a pose.  If dynamic movement and deep meditation is your true love, Kundalini Yoga might be the perfect style for you. Shop around for teachers and styles that appeal to you, so that you know what will inspire you at home.

5) Get Instruction

Once you find a style and a teacher you like, go to a few yoga classes.  Then you can develop yourself privately.  You can work with a teacher to find a series appropriate for you to do at home. Says Pierron, “Nothing replaces a teacher giving you personal instruction.”

6) Do further research

If you cannot find a teacher in your area, or if you want to further educate yourself about yoga, invest in some yoga books or flash cards.  They are handy references to have while learning about the finer points of asana.  Magazines such as Yoga Journal can provide inspiration and a feeling of connection to a larger yoga community.

The internet is a wealth of resources for an at home yoga practice.  You can go onto Itunes and find a yoga podcast that works for your level and interests.  You can also join an online yoga club such as Gaiam Yoga club, which will give you access to videos, podcasts and guides with master teachers Rodney Yee and Colleen Saidman-Yee.  You can join Yoga Glo which films their yoga classes and allows you to participate from home. I Yoga Life has many videos that you can watch and participate with that are appropriate for a variety of levels.

Purchasing some yoga DVDs with master instructors can help you take your practice to the next level.  Rodney Yee is an excellent source of instruction for Hatha yoga.  If you fall in love with Ashtanga yoga and want to create a solid at home practice without having a lot of time, a video such as David Swenson’s Short Forms is a wonderful resource.  Vinyasa yoga is a more fluid and often physically demanding form of yoga, but a Shiva Rea video might be just the ticket for your at home practice.  If Kundalini Yoga is where your heart is, try a video by Gurmukh.

7)  Take your yoga with you

Even when you are not at home, you can be enhancing your home yoga practice.  Iphone applications are a great way to study yoga asana on the go, or even practice yourpranayama.  Many yoga applications are free and others, such as Long Deep Breathing to help you learn to control your breath, are very affordable.  Going for a hike in the summer months?  Do some simple yoga and breathwork along the trail to connect more deeply with yourself and with Mother Nature, or learn Breathwalk as a spiritual practice.

8 ) Be gentle

“If you are a beginner to yoga, start as such, whether you are in shape or not,” counsels Christel Pierron.  Start with small increments of time.  Even 20 minutes of yoga to begin with is stretching areas of your body in a new way.  Start slowly when beginning a yoga practice.  Yoga was not designed as a fitness routine, but as a way to achieve spiritual union with the divine and purify the body to prepare it for meditation.  Respect the discipline and your body enough to give it time to adjust to your practice.

9)  Set the mood

For many, good music during yoga is one of the best parts of the practice.  Consider keeping ipod speakers and your ipod in your yoga space.  Begin collecting music conducive to a beautiful yoga experience or make a playlist just for your practice.

Spirit Voyage has an extensive collection of Yoga Music, including a Yoga Living Series.  Decide what style of music will support you in your yoga practice.  Love Kundalini music?  Try Snatam Kaur. Like groovy Sanskrit mantras?  Listen to some Wah! For mellow instrumentals, Deuter is a favorite.  Shiva Rea has even compiled a collection of trance music suitable for Vinyasa flow.

10) Meditate

The purpose of yoga was to support meditation.  In your home yoga practice, do not forget to take the time after your workout to meditate and relax the mind while you are relaxing your body.  There are so many forms of meditation.  Try something simple, such as sitting with a straight spine, closing your eyes and focusing on your breath.  The benefits of meditation include everything from lowering your blood pressure to improving your mood.

Remember that yoga is a practice of honoring yourself and your body.  Take the time to rediscover your body and soul in a nurturing, self-supportive way.  Try to find the time in your busy life to take even ten minutes for yourself in your new sacred space.  The stresses of the day and world outside your yoga space might seem pressing and urgent, but ultimately whether the dishes are put away and the laundry is done is not as important as whether or not you feel at home in your body and are in touch with the divinity within you.  Start your yoga practice at home slowly, continue steadily and gently, and while you look at your hamstrings stretch, watch your spirit soar.

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5 Reasons You Should Start a Yoga Practice

By Jill Lawson for DietsInReview.com

Beyond being tragically hip and in vogue, yoga is an incredibly beneficial activity for all ages and abilities. The health benefits of yoga are exponential, and many are much happier as a result of their practice. With all the great press yoga has received as a panacea for optimal health and wellness, it is surprising that there are still so many people who have yet to try yoga for the first time, or do not practice on a regular basis.

If you have never stepped onto a yoga mat, or if it has been a while since you’ve taken a yoga class, the following reasons why you should get with the program may inspire you to make it a priority.

You will gain inner peace and contentment.

This might be a huge turn-off to type A overachievers, but peace and contentment are two fundamental qualities that are necessary in completing complex tasks. Without them you might feel scattered, spread way too thin, or irritated with the to do list you’ve created for yourself. All types of yoga, from restorative to vigorous flow, will leave you feeling calm, cool, and collected so you can get the job done. Most importantly, when you are at peace with yourself, besides experiencing more success, you will experience more happiness.

Your body will feel better.

After practicing yoga for several weeks, or months, you will eventually say good-bye to early morning stiffness. If it takes you a couple of hours to get moving in the morning because your body is incredibly tight, go to yoga a couple of times a week and you will see a huge improvement in the way you feel.

Your body will look better.

This is really an afterthought compared with the psychological benefits of yoga, but it is an attractive side effect. Sculpted arms, toned legs, and the coveted yoga butt can all be yours if you make your yoga practice a part of your daily routine. Anyone check out Jennifer Aniston lately?

You will have more compassion for yourself and others.

I always tell my students to thank themselves for taking care of their mind and body with yoga, because when you take care of yourself, you have more energy to give to others. Yoga has a way of inviting us to look at the big picture of life and not take ourselves too seriously. When we let go of our own silly hang-ups or issues, we can clearly see how others might be suffering. This breeds compassion and a genuine desire to offer nothing short of loving kindness.

You will have better body awareness.

Having a keen sense of your body has a plethora of benefits. For starters, you will be less likely to overeat, you’ll know exactly which foods serve your body best, you’ll respect your body’s need to get more rest or get more exercise, and you’ll experience heightened sensual pleasure during sex.

Find a reason that resonates with you and hop on board. Be a part of the 15 million happy, fit, and healthy Americans who frequent yoga studios across the country.

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12 Yoga Tips for Beginners

 

By Rolf Sovik, Yoga International

Beginning students are just as likely to feel the joy that comes from yoga as are their more experienced comrades. But beginners also face a pesky collection of obstacles. For one thing, the vocabulary of yoga can be difficult. Despite its beauty, Sanskrit has a tendency to make Western eyes glaze over (read the words pashchimottanasana and paravairagya quickly and see if it still happens to you). Another problem is that even relatively common practices may require more than a casual explanation (“You want me to pass salt water from one nostril to the other?”). Finally, many of the goals of practice seem improbable (“I’ll be sitting like that? Comfortably?”). Beginners, in short, need empathy. Among the most difficult challenges for beginning yoga students is creating a home yoga practice. For that a student must choose from a growing list of techniques and arrange the selections to fit into a never-quite-adequate length of time. The practices mushroom as you progress from class to class, and it can be difficult to keep up with them all. It can be even more difficult to measure the relative significance of the practices (“How important is this?”) or to make sure that when you are doing them at home you are doing them correctly. There is also the question of faith. Patanjali, the original codifier of yoga, noted that yoga prospers when the student practices with faith. Beginners often do have faith in the value of yoga, which helps them through periods of doubt and frustration. With the passing of time, however, beginning students must make the journey from blind to reasoned faith. And this means learning to own the practices yourself—even when it feels more comfortable to cling to the sticky mat of your teacher. Here are some suggestions for beginners—tips that will nourish the joys of yoga for a lifetime. Most of them are practical—do this and do that. A few cultivate attitudes. The bulk of them apply to old yoga hands as well as to beginners. See if they work for you. 1. Keep a practice journal. Yoga classes are full of little comments and insights that smooth over life’s rough edges and change the way we see ourselves. But today’s “aha!” experience is often swept away in the flood of tomorrow’s activities. Write it down. A spiral-bound blank book is a great place for recording thoughts about your practice, even if some of your insights turn out to be less than cosmic. Use your notebook to make observations about the classes you are taking, too. Compile lists of postures—the ones you know and the ones that you are learning. List new terms that you think you would like to remember. Write down questions that come up in meditation. You get the idea. 2. Become an “artist.” Drawing stick figures is a great way to summarize information and remember the fine points about a posture. “Mr. Stick” (or “Mr. Peanut” if you are a bit more talented) takes only moments to sketch. Highlight your drawing with arrows and important cues. Small figures can be used to create short sequences (vinyasas) and even longer practice routines. Of course, if you are a computer whiz you might consider scanning digital photos of postures into your computer and manipulating the images onscreen. But then you’ll miss the fun of creating the image yourself. 3. Make space in your home. By practicing in the same place at home you create a groove in your mind—the memory of past days’ experiences makes it easier to begin today. Store props nearby so that getting started doesn’t require a lot of running around. An inspiring image or statue, an Oriental carpet, or a specially selected cushion can mark this place as special. 4. Define your practice. The practice routine you create depends a good deal on you. Define the time you have available for practice, the technique you would like to focus on, and the balance among meditation, breathing, and asana practices. Then consider the details. Are you clear about the order of your practice and the methods you are using? Are there aspects of an asana that need attention or that intrigue you? If a posture or any other practice seems too difficult, could you break it down, or prepare for it with less challenging techniques? What are the steps in the relaxation or meditation methods you have learned? If you have questions, make sure to ask your teacher for help. 5. Invest in a sticky mat. This may seem like a minor matter, but the security that comes from firm footing is hard to overrate. If you have never tried a mat, borrow a friend’s so that you can feel the difference it makes in any of the spread-legged postures and in the downward-facing dog pose. Once you’ve tried it, you’ll probably want your own. 6. Balance the postures with relaxation/meditation. These days most yoga classes heavily emphasize asana practice. Some teachers may not include relaxation or meditation in the class routine at all. But don’t neglect them. You need to relax; it will help you feel better; and once you have begun to relax or meditate regularly, the experience will transform you. Many students are attracted to yoga primarily in order to meditate; others are focused on physical health and are not aware of the importance of meditation. Working with the body or mind alone is usually not enough to create the inner strength and equilibrium we hope for. A balanced combination of asana practice and mental centering will engender a sense of well-being. 7. Build a small library of books and CDs. Yoga videos are invaluable. They offer experience with different styles of yoga as well as with different levels of practice. And audio recordings is a great way to internalize the relaxation and meditation practice of your choice. In addition, a library of a dozen or so yoga-related books will provide a lifelong source of information. My choices would include two to three manual-style books offering practice suggestions and an overview of yoga; a copy of the Bhagavad Gita (Juan Mascaró’s translation is an inspiring starting version); a basic anatomy workbook; a copy of the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali (How to Know God remains a good beginning choice); a book devoted to the spirit and practice of meditation; something on yoga philosophy; an introduction to Ayurveda; and three books that inspire you. Build your library slowly. 8. Learn to sound out Sanskrit words (if you like languages). Sanskrit is an elegant language and it contains technical terms as well as historical names that have been associated with yoga for millennia. It’s an orderly language too, and once you have learned the basics of pronunciation your days of mumbling the sounds will be over. Most Sanskrit syllables begin with a consonant (or two) and end with a vowel. All Sanskrit letters have a fixed pronunciation (unlike English c’s, g’s, a’s, and so on), so once you can pronounce the letter you can sound out the word. This will also make it possible to accurately pronounce the many mantras found in meditation practices. 9. Take breathing breaks. Breathing is a powerful tool for managing stress. And while a few moments of breath awareness can definitely short-circuit a fit of anger or a moment of anxiety, you might consider extending your breathing breaks and using them on a more regular basis—refreshing yourself for a few minutes or longer once or twice every day. During your break you can close your eyes and count your breaths, or you can simply relax the tensions that have crept into the respiratory muscles. You’ll find that a five-minute period of breath awareness will soothe the subtle strain of daily thinking and recharge your mind. Place reminders (Brake for Breathing!) at one or two key places in your home or office. Better yet, don’t let an afternoon go by without using five minutes for this sort of mini-meditation. 10. Let the practices do their work. In the midst of a posture or relaxation exercise it’s easy to feel you should be doing something. And certainly it’s important to make the effort to master a practice. But trying too hard can get in the way just as much as not giving enough effort. So a good question to ask in the middle of any practice is “Am I letting the posture (breathing exercise, meditation focus) do its work?” Try it the next time you practice the relaxation posture, shavasana. Let the posture do its work. 11. Go to bed on time. That romantic dream of getting up early for a long asana and meditation practice followed by whole-wheat waffles and a stroll around the block won’t happen unless you work on the other end of the equation: going to bed on time. Once you have whittled your late-night activities and moved your bedtime to a reasonable hour you can consider making changes in your morning schedule. But give yourself plenty of time for adjustments—months rather than days or weeks. Expect to feel better when you’re done. 12. Quiet the critics. You know the ones—the voices in your head that tell you that you aren’t likely to accomplish much or that you’re really not suited for yoga. Everyone has some doubts about themselves. But if those doubts become a naysaying chorus, they’ve gone too far. Trust that your interest in and appreciation for yoga are really a kind of devotion—a sentiment of greater value than any technical skill you can muster. And remember Krishna’s words in the Bhagavad Gita: “Those who come for shelter, no matter how humble they may be, reach the Path supreme.”

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