Few exercise modalities offer such scope for health improvement as yoga.
Yoga exquisitely blends techniques which promote muscle tone, flexibility, proper breathing, mental clarity, stress relief and peace.
Whilst yoga was traditionally used as a path to spiritual enlightenment, yoga is valuable to people of all faiths and is practiced more commonly in western society for its physical benefits.
However, many people find as they delve deeper into their practice that there is an attraction to explore their mind/body/spirit connection.
Benefits of Yoga (just a few to start)
- An essential aim of yoga is to harmonize the body and mind through breath and movement.
- Significant mental focus is required to perform yoga postures, which effectively clears the incessant ‘chatter’ in our minds.
- Full movement also massages vital organs and promotes detoxification and oxygenation from head to toe.In addition to general health benefits such as strength, flexibility and relaxation, yoga can be applied therapeutically.
- Back pain, menstrual tension and asthma can be improved under the guidance of a qualified yoga teacher.
- An advantage of yoga is that people of all ages and fitness levels can work at their individual intensity to attain benefit.
- The emphasis is not on what you can do, rather on how you do it and how often you practice.
- Results are surprisingly swift to manifest and people soon feel lighter, happier and healthier.
Breathing
Did you know that you breathe approximately 11,000 litres of air per day? This sheer quantity is indicative of how vital oxygen really is for our health. Fulfilling a fundamental requirement for life, oxygen is involved in the production of adenosine triphosphate – the ‘energy currency’ that powers our body. We die very quickly without it. Indirectly, oxygen is also implicated in the acid/base balance of blood. After a cell uses oxygen to generate ATP, oxygen is ‘blown out’ in the form carbon dioxide and exits the body via the lungs during exhalation. When we do not breathe adequately, carbon dioxide can accumulate in the blood, inhibiting optimal oxygen intake and increasing blood acidity. 
The lowest third division of our lungs is innervated by a richer blood supply than the upper regions. Incidentally, this lower region also contains the air that is expelled at the end of an exhalation. Even on a full exhale, we cannot completely breathe out all old air as our lungs would collapse without the pressure exerted by the remaining gases.
When we breathe shallowly, quickly or improperly, an excess of this older air circulates at the bottom of our lungs. Consequently, our bodies are deprived of optimal oxygen, energy levels decrease and our bodies have to cope with an acidic environment. Therefore breath work is vital to any healing equation. Whilst there are many excellent books available on breath work, awareness of a few simple techniques that can improve your well-being. Take some time out of your day to focus on your breath:
- Inhale deeply and fully through the nose
- Allow your diaphragm and stomach to swell
- Completely fill the lungs
- Exhale through the mouth
- Release air from the chest
- Deflate your diaphragm
Eat Breathe Love 