Fitness

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Zumba is a dance fitness method based on salsa and other Latin dance moves, performed to Latin and world music beats, and choreographed to allow people of any fitness or dance experience level to enjoy a fantastic workout. If you think you’d like an exhilarating class filled with good feelings and party-like fun, Zumba makes an excellent choice of a group fitness method to support your fitness goals. Zumba is both a dance class and a fitness class. Aside from its heart-health benefits, Zumba provides a workout for the whole body. Zumba classes are intended to provide a large calorie burn through aerobic activity done with interval training in mind. Depending on body weight, sex, fitness level and other common physical factors, the number of calories you burn in a typical Zumba class will equal that of any fast social dancing hour, such as salsa, disco or jitterbug. For most people, that can add up to 400 to 600 calories burned per hour. With the classes choreographed to provide intervals of intensity in both pace of music and type of movements, class members’ energy expenditure is maximized for fat-burning benefits. There is no large learning curve in a Zumba class. New participants in most cases, can simply jump right into a class and follow along with the instructor.

The Health Benefits Of Yoga For Women

The health benefits of yoga for women are so wide ranging it’s difficult to know where to begin. This amazing practice gives the body a full workout and in a gentle way.

Yoga stretches your body, tones your muscles and relaxes and calms your mind. Through yoga you can develop a stronger and more flexible body that also looks toned and healthy.

When you practice yoga you gain both physical and spiritual well being and the multitude of benefits to be gained by incorporating yoga regularly into your daily life include:

• The reduction of stress and tension
• Improved energy levels
• Increased flexibility
• Increased levels of strength and endurance
• Weight management
• Improved balance
• Relief from pain especially back pain
• Lowering of high blood pressure
• Reduction of anxiety and depression
• Relief from insomnia
• Improved detoxification
• Enhanced concentration levels and mental performance

If we take a closer look at 3 of these areas we can see why yoga is an excellent form of exercise for women of all ages to engage in.

Reduction of stress

Reducing our stress levels is of vital importance if we want to maintain good health. Stress can make us ill both physically and mentally so anything that can ease tension and help us to feel calmer will be good for our general well being in the long run.

As well as performing the postures (asanas) yoga places a great emphasis on breathing and meditation, which are both helpful in calming the mind and helping us to deal with stress. This can lead to further health benefits such as the lowering of blood pressure and stress hormones and may also ease the symptoms of mild depression.

Improved fitness

Yoga may not look like an energetic fitness workout but holding the asanas gives your body a good workout and sequences like the Sun Salutations certainly get your heart pumping.

Yoga is also a form of weight bearing exercise that helps to build strong bones; this is very important for women as bones become weaker with age and osteoporosis (brittle bone disease) can develop.Muscles are also developed as it takes strength to hold the asanas and flexibility is improved due to the nature of the various poses.

Pain Relief

Yoga can help to relieve the symptoms of various painful conditions although care needs to be taken if your pain is severe or chronic. Conditions such as back pain, arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome may all improve when you practice yoga.

Much of the practice of yoga centres on your spine, which is the main support structure for your entire body. If you perform yoga regularly you will develop a stronger, healthier and better-aligned spine.

Yoga Is For Beauty Inside and Out

Yoga for beauty can help you to look young and beautiful well into old age. Face is the index of mind, good texture of skin and health of your hairs are an indication of your physical and mental health.

I have come across many people who have a glow on their face with years of regular yoga practice. But this is not possible in a few days by doing some selective asanas. You need to be disciplined in your diet, regular yoga practice, follow yama andniyama yoga ethics and keep balance between your outward personality and your true self. You have to avoid excesses of all kinds. A person with disciplined life and regular yoga practice will look beautiful form outside as well outside and treats you with a refreshing smile always.

YOGA BEAUTY FITNESS. HOW YOGA HELPS?
Yoga helps you to attain your ideal body weight and gives you a proportionate body by removing excess weight from all body organs. It helps to improve flexibility and maintain correct posture for young looks.

Detoxifying your body is most essential for beauty. Yoga improves blood circulation and helps to remove toxins from the body. Detoxification of alimentary canal through yogic kriyas helps optimum absorption of nutrients in your food. Yoga practice helps to provide nutrition at the cellular level. All the internal organs and particularly the endocrine glands get activated and their functioning is optimised.

Yoga practice helps to reduce the stress levels considerably and provides complete relaxation. Yoga asanas and pranayama makes you free from disease by strengthening the immune system. Healthy body means healthy skin.

Yoga practice can specially benefit women to retain their natural beauty while coping up with menstrual problems, child birth, work and home stress etc. Most of the film personalities around the world practice yoga for years to retain their beauty and youthfulness. Yoga helps women to stay slim and active. So, ideally start your day with yoga practice.

WHAT ARE THE MAIN OBSTACLES IN THE PATH OF BEAUTIFUL SKIN?

• Insufficient nutrition due to unhealthy eating habits.
• Eating foods which are poor in nutrition like white flour, sugar, tea, coffee and soft drinks.
• Sedentary lifestyle which leads to proper blood circulation and accumulation of toxins in our blood.
• Proper blood circulation which is most essential for healthy skin.
• As a result of improper cleansing, dirt and dustparticles gets accumulated in our skin and clog sweat glands.
• Poor digestion or frequent constipation.
• Over-exposure to sun.

YOGA FOR BEAUTY: PRANAYAMA

Pranayam practice provides us oxygen which is transported to our cells across the body through our blood. Practice pranayama at least for 30 minutes early in the morning in an open area or a green lawn.

Rhythmic deep breathing

Alom Vilom

Kapalabhati

Bhastrika

Bhramri

STRESS REDUCTION FOR BEAUTY

For many years devotees of yoga have been telling the world that bending our limbs into a variety of contortions is good for the mind, body and spirit.

There is a great deal of information available about the health benefits of yoga and how it can improve your levels of strength and flexibility. However less is known about how good yoga can be for the mind and how it may help to improve mild depression, stress and other anxiety related disorders.

Scientific research is increasingly interested in finding out if there is a link between yoga practice and improved states of mental well-being. And while yoga is no replacement for the correct medical care if you are suffering from depression or chronic anxiety, research is beginning to show that yoga can be helpful in reducing the symptoms of these common mental disorders.

Yoga and Stress Stress can have many physiological effects on your body such a high blood pressure, increased heart rate and shallow breathing – these can lead to feelings of anxiety.

Practicing yoga requires you to take time for yourself to calm your mind and work on your physical body. A yoga class can be a well-earned ‘time-out’ from your regular fraught schedule and gives you the opportunity to take a mental break from life’s everyday pressures.

Yoga places a lot of emphasis on breath work and meditation and these can both be helpful things to do if you need to reduce your responses to stress. Shallow breathing can contribute to your anxiety levels – we have all heard the phrase ‘breathe deeply’ used when a stressful situation occurs. It is true that deeper breathing can help to calm the mind and help us to cope with stress.

Meditation is a wonderful way to relax your mind and many yoga classes include simple techniques that you can also practice at home. Once you have mastered a meditation technique you will find that regular practice leaves you feeling calmer, more focused and generally refreshed, therefore more able to face everyday life.

Yoga and Depression Regular fans of yoga report that yoga can help you to reconnect with your true self and your ability to stay calm and manage your emotions more effectively.

Some people experience moderate depression as a state of lethargy combined with feelings of hopelessness and they may not be able to find motivation to get through their daily routine. Other people experience acute feelings of anxiety, worry and a sense of desperation when they become depressed.

Specific yoga asanas that can help with depression include the Sun Salutation sequences as these get the blood flowing through the body, require concentration and cause you to breathe more deeply. Backbend asanas such as the bridge, bow and wheel are also reported to have therapeutic effects for the mind

The Benefits of Yoga is For:
HEART

According to recent research from the Yale University School of Medicine, practicing yoga for an hour and a half three times a week can make your heart healthier in just six weeks. Various yoga postures and controlled breathing techniques forces higher oxygen absorption in the blood within a shorter time. This ensures supply of richer blood to cardiovascular muscles thereby helping combat coronary artery disease and keeping the heart healthy in general. Sustained yoga practice also lowers cholesterol through increased blood circulation and burning fat.

Asanas that are excellent for the heart include the mountain, warrior, triangle, tree and lotus poses. The controlled breathing technique of Kapaalbhati also helps keep the heart healthy.

RESPIRATORY SYSTEM

The structured breathing exercises like alternate nostril breathing help clear the nasal passages which reduces sinusitis and allergy symptoms. Yoga also lays much emphasis on correct and complete breathing and uses the entire upper body for it. Thus the ability to take a complete breath can be hampered by tightness around the shoulders, back, chest and abdomen. Yoga postures stretch and strengthen these areas and encourage deep full breathing. This helps reduce the respiratory rate that indicates better functioning of your lungs.
SPINE AND CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

Successive asanas in a solid yoga routine reverses the muscular stretches of the previous ones. Yoga uses free weight i.e. your own body weight for strength training. These two factors increase spinal flexibility and ensure overall brilliant spinal health. Yoga reduces spinal compression and helps overall body alignment to reduce back pain. Additionally, yoga’s ability to lower levels of cortisol helps keep calcium in the bones, thereby reducing chances of osteoporosis.

Postures known to reduce lower back pain include pigeon and cobra poses. The half plough, spinal twist, wheel, bow, mountain poses are recommended for overall spinal health. The standing wheel pose in particular is known to correct mild scoliosis or curving of the spine. Yoga has a specific group ofpostures,like Bramha’s pose, specially designed to stretch and tone the neck muscles, a group usually overlooked in other forms of exercise.

Yoga stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system which lowers blood pressure and slows the pace of your breathing allowing relaxation. Downward facing dog stretch, shoulder stands, torso twist, bridge and half moon poses may help relieve pain associated with sciatica. A new study indicates that yoga can help elevate brain gamma-amino butyric (GABA) levels. Low GABA levels are associated with the onset of Alzheimer’s. Focusing on stress reduction, breathing, and restoring overall balance in the body may help prevent epileptic seizures.

LYMPHATIC SYSTEM

Since yoga works on the usually neglected muscles and body parts it is encourages the functioning of lymphatic system. Headstands, spinal twists and inversions help remove toxins and flush important lymph around the entire torso.

ABDOMINAL ORGANS

Sustained practice of yoga encourages better posture that helps the digestive and elimination systems to work more efficiently. It not only increases blood flow to your digestive tract but also stimulates intestinal action so digestion is more efficient. The calming effect of yoga relaxes your digestive system and leads to more effective elimination of entrapped gases.

Some asanas improve the blood circulation to the hepatic cells, sensitizes lymph nodes supplying your liver and remove toxins from the peritoneum and hepatic regions. A healthy liver helps reduce cholesterol, promotes better digestion and blood metabolism. Yoga helps your muscles absorb the extra blood glucose in your body, thus allowing the pancreas and liver to work more efficiently. It also encourages your pancreas to produce more insulin, which can help to reduce your blood sugar levels. Since a balanced yoga routine stretches every muscle of your body it keeps fat from accumulating all over your body. These factors make yoga extremely beneficial for diabetic patients.

Postures recommended for the abdominal region includeKapalbhatti, spinal twists and half plough, raised leg, leg lock, boat and thunder bolt poses.

KIDNEYS

Certain yoga postures like the warrior pose is extremely beneficial for kidneys as it stretches your lower abdomen, activates your large intestine, prevents constipation and enhances urination. Other asanas good for the kidneys and urinary tract are half plough, boat, wheel and rise and squat poses. Kapalbhatti breathing due to its basic detoxifying effect helps regulate the kidneys.

MIND

Yoga not only works the body but also the mind. Since much of yoga revolves around structured breathing and holding a posture, yoga practice forces you to look inward and requires astute concentration. This helps control a wandering mind which in turn increases self awareness and acceptance. The positive self image thus generated combats depression. Meditation and controlled breathing exercises can calm the mind. Improved blood circulation to the brain coupled with stress reduction and improved concentration results in a better memory.

Breathing deeply in a headstand increases blood flow to the brain and stimulates the pituitary gland, which helps relieve mild depression. Other asanas recommended for excellent emotional well being include corpse, bridge, palm tree, warrior and child’s pose.

OTHER HEALTH BENEFITS

Arthritis – The slow, conscious movements associated with yoga help relieve arthritis symptoms. Due to the low impact nature of yoga postures, gentle pressure is exerted on the joints and chances of injury is much less compared to other forms of exercise.

Cancer – Yoga has proved to increase red blood cells in the body. This helps cancer patients fight anemia, nausea and fatigue better during chemotherapy.

Yoga gives us control of ourselves. It helps cut through the layers of mis-identities that arise in response to our actions, experiences and feelings. It calms the frenzy, clears the clutter and allows us to get back in touch with ourselves.