If you are thinking about exploring yoga, you should know that it is a physical and psychological experience that is unlike any other type of activity you have undertaken in the past. You may find that you are exercising your body and mind in a completely new way and you may be surprised at how good it makes you feel. Done right, it feels like the most natural activity and for many, it is like coming home after being lost for a long time. Precisely because it is so different however, you should take precautions before you begin to avoid unnecessary strain and injury. A general rule of thumb is do not push yourself too hard and if it hurts, you are doing something wrong.
Many of you do some form of exercise regularly for strength training and losing weight and you have come to rely on it to feel healthy. With yoga practice, you will find that you are stretching your muscles for the very first time in the way they should be stretched, toning them at the same time to make them more elastic and less prone to tiring with long practice. Besides your muscles, yoga will also tone and stimulate the internal organs, helping the metabolic system and improving digestion and circulation which in turn helps the heart by reducing the demands on it. If you are overweight, you may find that yoga not only helps you shed weight faster and more safely than other methods but also makes your weight loss more permanent.
In the yoga poses, we will stretch, twist and tone the legs, arms, spine and torso that are designed to bring the body and nerves to their maximum level of health. We need to learn the basics carefully as they will determine the success of our practice for the rest of our lives besides minimizing the chances of injury. The end result is a high level of health and strength without spending hours in practice. It is really the ideal physical activity for busy modern times.
It is easy to be confused by the many different types of yoga being advertised nowadays, with many taking their names from the modern "inventors" of systems that cut corners and emphasize specific outcomes like high heart rates, caloric burn and physical strength. Well, if your lifestyle consists of running up and down mountains, ingesting large amounts of junk food or carrying heavy loads all day, you should go for these new yogas. Otherwise, its a very good idea to stick to the tried and true systems that have been practices and produced certifiable results for thousands of years. This will probably save you a lot of money too.
One thing bears repeated mention: you should begin practice by preparing your body and mind for the utterly new and marvelous experience of yoga by doing warm up exercises and these you can do on your own. However, a formal course of practice should ideally be learned with the guidance of a qualified instructor so you get the basics right. It should not be too difficult to find a suitable one no matter where you live. The local YMCA, YWCA or library may be a good place to start looking.
Jay has spent a couple of decades in the investment industry and is now an "early retiree" partly by choice and partly by circumstance. He is enjoying his retirement and spends his time doing his favorite thing--playing with computers and the Internet.
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