By Kathi Duquette
If you can focus on your breath while you are in a stretch you can actually direct the breath into the muscles. This brings awareness to that part of your body. With the same idea, if you bring awareness to your breath you can focus on filling your lungs to capacity with energy reviving, fresh oxygen. This oxygen moves through your veins with your blood and goes into your muscles. We use our breath to warm, to relax, and even to release tension from our bodies.
Yoga is the practice of connecting the mind and the body either in yoga postures or in a meditative state. We use the breath as a tool to connect the mind to the body.
We can implement the mind and body connection by breathing into basic yoga poses. Focus is the key. If we are trying to stretch and thinking about doing the laundry or going shopping, stress at work, or the stress of the economy, our focus is not inside our body. When we are stressed our muscles tighten. We want to give our stress a break; bring awareness inside our bodies. Breathe for a little while and just be aware of what you are thinking (or stressing) about. Be aware of shallow breathing as opposed to re-energizing deep breathing. Be aware of tightness in the neck and shoulders from stress.
This awareness lets us take a step back and look at what we are thinking about from an outsider's perspective. Do we really need to hold onto that anger? That stress? Will it make it better if we worry about it? Yoga lets us tune in to our thoughts and our bodies and notice what kinds of tension we hold onto. Then we can let go of any unnecessary burdens. Let those tight muscles relax and release. Basic yoga poses can erase some of the tension we hold onto in our muscles due to stress. By simply breathing into some poses we can give our brain a rest from stress and give our muscles a little stretch so they can let go of tension. It is physical and mental at the same time.
Don't get me wrong; many, many people practice yoga postures just for the exercise of it. And it is good exercise. Flexibility and strength increases with the practice of the physical postures. But when you practice the focus, the breathing and the postures you really gain more benefit from yoga. The mind calming, stress relief is a key aspect.
Meditation is another fantastic form of calming the mind. Once you can bring your awareness inside your body, you can start to slow your thoughts down and really give your brain a rest. Meditation can be practiced by simply focusing on your natural breathing. Whenever a thought comes in to your mind you simply refocus on the breath. Those thoughts keep coming and you just keep bringing your focus back to your breath. Eventually you will be able to stop the thoughts, simply rest your brain, and find your inner peace.
Try a local yoga class with a certified Instructor. Many YMCA's and local Community Centers have yoga classes or there might be a yoga studio near you. As a certified Instructor I teach classes that are mixed levels all the time. Don't worry about not knowing what to do. Let the instructor know that you are new to yoga and he or she can offer you some modified poses throughout the class.
The one thing you need to remember is to listen to your body. Keep your focus on how it feels in each pose and make sure that every pose feels good. If you can get a gentle stretch in a pose, stay there and breathe into it.
Use your breathing as your guide in each pose also. If you are gasping for breath then you are too far into the pose and you need to back out to a point where you feel a gentle stretch - but you can still breathe deeply and slowly. Don't worry about how anyone else looks in a pose. Make your yoga about you. Every body has its own unique flexibility. You are looking for your stretch just as the person next to you is looking for theirs. Yoga is not a competition - it is very personal.
Can you benefit from basic yoga poses? Of course you can. You can benefit from anything from chair yoga to power yoga to a deep meditation. Basic yoga poses build awareness; awareness allows us to use our breath to alleviate stress. Too much stress can lead us into risks of many diseases including heart disease. We all need to let the stress out.
Do something good for your body - take some time for some gentle yoga poses. You will feel calmer, stand taller, feel stronger and have more confidence.
Breathe your stress away, practice yoga.
Namaste,
By Kathi Duquette
Certified Yoga Instructor
For more basic yoga information check out my website. http://www.basic-yoga-information.com/
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posted by Cheryl Levesque @ 8:20 PM
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