Practicing Yoga

Yoga may seem like a new phenomenon, but it has actually been around in the East for thousands of years. Its Indian roots can be found in Buddhism's quest for physical and mental discipline, through which one achieves absolute union between body and mind…enlightenment. Thus, traditional yoga aims to make its practitioner aware of the identity of Atman, the self to be realized beyond the ego, and Braman, a higher being or sense beyond oneself.

Now a popular form of exercise in the west, modern devotees use yoga to increase their strength, endurance, and flexibility. Others still use it as more of a holistic mind-body exercise to achieve a disciplined tranquility and more peaceful consciousness. Some have called yoga a moving meditation.

While there are many different types of yoga, the two most widely practiced in the west are Hatha or union by bodily mastery-principally of breath and Raja or union by mental mastery.

The actual practice of these types of yoga consists of holding specific poses and transitioning smoothly between the poses. Each pose works different parts of the body while requiring balance and concentration to maintain. Yoga is also different from traditional strength training and aerobics in that it strengthens stabilizers (the muscles and ligaments in between your main, larger muscles) instead of just isolated muscles (like the bicep curl, for example). Because yoga relies on body weight as resistance and poses often work many different body parts at once, stabilizers are required to hold the pose and move between poses. Strong stabilizers give the larger muscles more support and are important in injury prevention. This is why yoga is a great supplement to other forms of exercise like running, biking, or swimming; or vice versa.

Some common Yoga exercises:

Mountain Pose- a base pose to reset your breathing and/or rest in between poses, works on posture.

Downward Dog- a stretch for the backs of your legs (gluts, hams, and calves), as well as your shoulders and upper arms and back.

Child's Pose- stretches your shoulders and back out while fostering a nostalgic relaxation associated with a familiar floor-pose of childhood.

Plank- works shoulders, arms, and the core muscles (torso and abs). Can be modified to work legs and intense balance in more advanced poses.

Tree- works the core and legs, while training balance.

Warrior- lunge like position works quads, hamstrings, gluts, and calves, as well as the core and arms depending upon upper body position.

Cobra- works the lower back and core flexibility.

Sun salutation- works the arms, and stretches the neck, back, and even into the backs of the upper leg.

These are just a sampling of the basic poses that you might combine in a yoga workout. Many of the poses have names associated with the elements and beings of nature, recalling its origin of reaching a consciousness beyond oneself. Not only are there hundreds of other poses, Yoga poses often have many modifications, such as taking away the normal arm pose or adding a leg lift, that can be performed to accommodate the strength and flexibility level of a person (to make the pose easier or more difficult).

The key to yoga's calming effect and its unique method of connecting the body to the mind is breath control (Pranayama). We've all been told to take a deep breath in stressful times. A deep breath helps signal your nervous system to relax. To be aware and in control of your breathing is believed to be a link between the body and mind that allows us to sink more deeply into a pose and helps our bodies to relax and release. During a yoga class, controlled breathing involves inhaling and exhaling smoothly and deeply through the nose in rhythm with the exercises. This increases awareness, as well as makes the poses more effective. For example, exhaling while pushing into a pose better allows the muscle to contract, while inhaling when releasing rushes oxygen to the just-worked muscle.

When yoga is practiced appropriately, it will have an impact on relaxing the mind, says professor of behavioral science and director of the integrative medical program at the University of Texas M.D Anderson Cancer Center Lorenzo Cohen, PhD. This meditative effect of yoga can be an effective compliment to medical treatments for easing anything from the common cold to depression.

Sources:
Rodale's YogaLife, Mind, Body—get it together! Women's special publication. Summer 2006

Yoga+Joyful Living. YogaPlus.org, The Himalayan International Institute. September, October 2006.

FitYoga, Your Path to a Strong Body, a Stress-Free Mind, a Calm Heart. Goodman Media Group. October 2006.

Hewitt, James. The Complete Yoga Book: Yoga of Breathing, Yoga of Posture, Yoga of Meditation. 1977, New York: Schocken Books.