Yoga

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Yoga
Consider This Therapy For
The age-old set of exercises known in the West as "yoga" offers a significant variety of proven health benefits. It increases the efficiency of the heart and slows the respiratory rate, improves fitness, lowers blood pressure, promotes relaxation, reduces stress, and allays anxiety. It also serves to improve coordination, posture, flexibility, range of motion, concentration, sleep, and digestion. It can be used as supplementary therapy for conditions as diverse as cancer, diabetes, arthritis, asthma, migraine, and AIDS, and helps to combat addictions such as smoking. It is not, in itself, a cure for any medical ailment. But as part of the well-known Dean Ornish program of diet and exercise, it has contributed to the reversal of heart disease.
How the Treatments Are Done
Yoga exercises are usually conducted in group classes, although private instruction is also available in many areas. You should wear loose, comfortable clothing to the class, and should bring a "sticky" mat with you to prevent slipping during the exercises. No equipment is needed, although advanced students often use a strap to assist in leg stretches. Wall-mounted devices are sometimes available to help you maintain balance during difficult exercises. The exercises are almost always performed in bare feet. . Many proponents feel morning is the best time to practice yoga, but classes are offered throughout the day and evening. It's advisable to avoid eating for 1 hour before class. Each session usually begins with a set of gentle warm-up exercises. The teacher will then ask you to focus on your breathing, and may take you through several breathing exercises. At the very least, you'll be asked to breathe through your nose, evenly through both nostrils. Then it's on to the yoga postures, a series of poses that typically must be held for periods of a few seconds to several minutes. Unlike the routine in calisthenics or weight training, ...