Yoga health and wellness benefits

Yoga offers tremendous health and wellness benefits for everyone. As a means of therapy, Yoga is becoming increasingly popular among athletes and sports enthusiasts. Here are 5 key reasons why Yoga can be beneficial for those involved in sports and athletic training programs.

Yoga helps you build a stronger, more flexible body with its unique approach to manipulating the body's various muscle groups. Power yoga is one form of yoga that can really strengthen and increase the bodies flexibility as it combines sun saltations (poses) with cadio and strength training exercises.

One study carried out by the WebMD group concluded that individuals can improve their flexibility by up to 35% after practicing yoga a few minutes a day for 8 just weeks.

Bikram Yoga was developed by a fellow called Bikram Choudhury in Los Angeles in the 1970s but it is only in the last ten years or so that it has exploded in popularity. He was a weight lifter who had some kind of accident that crushed his knees (I am not sure if he dropped his bar bell on them or if it was some other misfortune that befell him). Told he would never walk again, Bikram decided to turn to Yoga to fix his problems. He had been practicing Yoga since a young age so he returned to his old mentor to devise a series of yoga postures to fix his knee. The result was the 26-posture series that is taught in the same way in every 90 minute Bikram Yoga class all over the world.

In seated poses, press your legs down into the floor, keep that action as you bend at the hip joint, not the mid-back. Then lengthen your front spine as you stretch forward. In Iyengar Yoga, yoga postures are supported with props like straps to catch a foot, or a bolster to support your torso. This way you should get the benefits of wonderful yoga by: 1) keeping yourself moving during hot summer days which is good for your lymph system that cleanses your tissues, 2) keeping yourself cool which is not only appropriate but satisfying, and 3) keeping your tissues toned, strong and alert. Practicing yoga postures is all about appropriate balance in the self, both in the moment and in life.