Yoga For Your Health

Yoga has been practiced in parts of the world for thousands of years, and for good reason. Its regular practice provides numerous benefits physically, mentally and spiritually. Not only can it help you get into better shape, it has been shown to help players of all types of sports from tennis to football.

Yoga is a tradition of stretches, balancing poses, breathing techniques, meditation and relaxation techniques and so much more. In it's beginning stages, yogis will learn basic postures to increase flexibility, balance and strength. Proper technique and posture is imperative to your wellness, therefore it is necessary for the beginner to get proper instruction. While you can learn from a video, it is not really advisable. You are better off finding a trained yoga instructor who can work with you to perfect posture and stance as well as to determine what positions should or should not be done. When you begin each session, you should let them know about any long standing physical issues or new ones that have just developed. For example, doing a pose that puts stress on your shoulder when you have a shoulder injury will make things worse.

While yoga strengthens and elongates the muscles of the body, it serves to support the organs as well. Different types of yoga poses stimulate or "massage" the inner organs, helping to improve all sorts of conditions. It has been shown to help everything from IBS to kidney or lung issues. Because the inner organs are effected, if you are pregnant, make sure that you work with an instructor who is trained in pregnancy yoga and check with your doctor before hand to make sure that it is alright for you to practice.

Yoga is also great for reducing stress and anxiety. The breathing techniques and meditation allow you to get into a state of deep relaxation. This has been shown to lower blood pressure and as stress has been shown to exacerbate just about every disease and health issue, lowering it will make great strides for your health.

Yoga is a wonderful, low impact way to get in shape and improve your overall health and well being. If you are involved in other sports, it will increase your flexibility, allowing you to perform better and will improve your focus, a skill which is important to every game on the planet. Start out with a beginner class, you may be surprised just how much you are able to accomplish.

Sydney Garrison is an avid cyclist and sports enthusiast. She is also a partner in an online bikecarrierdirect.com bike rack store.