Interest in Yoga for fitness is increasing across the country and it is a widely accepted fact that Yoga is great for the body. What was once ridiculed as a bizarre fad is today recognized as a basic skill that many people have embraced as a way of life and a first-rate choice for physical and mental fitness.

Yoga is so popular these days that many celebrities like Madonna, Sting, Russell Simmons and Ricky Martin to name a few have become informal advocates for this form of exercise. From increased flexibility, strength, endurance to delayed aging and massaging of the internal organs of the body, the benefits of Yoga seem limitless.

I stumbled upon it personally after telling a friend in the gym several years back that “Hey man, look at apes and all, we are so similar, they don’t lift these boring weights and they are so much stronger, in fact Bruce Lee was known to NOT lift any weights but to perform several Hindu Push-ups, so there’s got to be another kind of exercise to do for fitness on the inside and out” Well, he passed on a book on Yoga to me the next day and lo and behold, I’ve been hooked ever since.

From my own studies, research and practice, I’ve come to realize that Yoga is more than just stretching, is not only an exercise for women: (I challenge the most hard-core body-builder to hold a peacock pose for 2 minutes!!) and is quite simply great.

Many people practice Yoga exclusively and at times for days on end, that is the only exercise I perform with as much emphasis on the unique ‘Sun salutations’ as possible. I single these core warm-up routines of Yoga out as they restore flexibility to the spine and believe it when I say they miraculously endow you with strength to hold challenging poses such as the Wheel, Peacock and Crow poses for several minutes on end. I mention these poses, because being a guy, these are the main ones that enhance the muscle groups us guys are so concerned about: Arms, Chest and Abs.

I’ve also found that when combining these poses with other body-weight exercises like Hindu Squats and Push-ups, regular push-ups, reverse push-ups, pull ups and aerobic exercises, you really may not (re-phrase will not) need a gym or cumbersome equipment to get a total body workout.

Another great benefit of Yoga lies in its unique Abdominal and Breathing exercises.
These ones work. Being a former asthmatic and lethargic person, they have been an integral reason why my breathing (and singing mind you) has improved so drastically.
Moreover, they have spiritual benefits such as clearer thinking, clairvoyance and increased focus.

It is important, however, when practicing Yoga to adhere to a healthy diet, most books on the subject advocate a Vegan/vegetarian diet (which is fine by me being as I have been a vegan for several years, and this is arguably the main reason I believe I was able to cure over a decade of marring acne as well.) This simple, yet very effective discipline or sacrifice will aid you in gaining the most from Yoga as some poses do speed up detoxification and cleansing.

Now for fitness, since most Yoga poses are Isometric in nature, you may choose to combine them with conventional exercises as while the latter builds the muscles up, Yoga definitely will relax them and add tonality much quicker. This simple principle is why Basketball coach Phil Jackson brought his Yoga philosophy to the Los Angeles Lakers and in June of 2000 led the team to their first championship in 12 years; needless to say, similar methods were used in the coaching of the Chicago Bulls during their successful tenure as NBA champions under his guidance.

In addition to the points above, Jackson’s philosophy on Yoga embraces the facts that

1. Yoga strengthens and streamlines your muscles, giving you a leaner yet stronger body, with longer and toned muscles instead of short bulkier ones common to body-builders. This gives everyone from athletes to housewives, increased ability to perform their duties better.

2. Yoga calms and clears the mind for more focused thinking.

3. Yoga energizes the average practitioner while simultaneously increasing one’s flexibility.

4. Yoga offers psychological benefits in that it increases self-confidence, esteem and self-acceptance as no other exercise can.

5. Yoga tones and normalizes internal organs like the endocrine, digestive, excretory, reproductive and respiratory systems through the gentle, yet very effective poses it’s associated with.

Here are two last reasons I set aside based on their uniqueness: Sexual fitness & animal magnetism? Well, yoga gives you thatjust try its breathing and abdominal exercises and inverted poses, namely the shoulder-stand and you will see for yourself what I am talking about.

So there you have it, a few of the many reasons why Yoga is so popular and with good cause. Now to improve your fitness levels beyond your imagination, why not incorporate a little bit (or heck a whole lot) of Yoga. Trust me, your body will be glad you did.

Discover proven ways of attaining improved health with the all-natural methods of a proper diet, Yoga and positive thinking. For additional information on yoga for fitness and healthy living go to: http://www.bodyhealthsoul.com

Foras Aje is an independent health researcher and founder of Bodyhealthsoul.com. For more Yoga tips and information on Yoga for beginners, feel free to stop by his website today.

Tags: fitness, health, yogafitness, health, yoga

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What is neck pain? Where does it come from?

It might surprise you to know that those of us who have regular or recurring neck pain likely have an underlying condition, most likely a spinal condition. The reason the spinal source of the problem is often overlooked is because our front line doctors are not normally trained in its diagnosis and treatment.

The problem is that many front line health care practitioners do not know how to properly diagnose or treat this condition. In fact, the subluxation complex, which simply means a spinal bone or vertebrae has fallen out of alignment, is almost always overlooked when a patient is first examined by their physician for neck pain.

The subluxation complex is more likely to be properly diagnosed and effectively treated in your chiropractor’s office than in any other health care practitioners office, leading to mistreatment and unsuccessful treatment where simple chiropractic work would have resolved the situation.

The simple truth is that a full spinal exam by a practicing chiropractor should begin in the early years, but many adults shy away from taking spinal health seriously. By the time regular symptoms exist, it is likely that the subluxation complex or associated similar spinal condition has set in.

A full spinal exam including x- rays is essential to promoting and maintaining good spinal health and preventing arthritis. Ignoring spinal problems or limiting your care to only the mainstream medical world often turns out to be a pathway to continuing spinal decay and continuing degeneration of the condition itself.

For the full picture on the origins of neck pain and how a healthy spine can accelerate your energy and guarantee your longevity, you can visit various web sites on the Internet that cater to answering these questions. Open up a whole new level of knowledge on your body and exactly how it works. You will find access to incredible information that will revolutionize the way you think about your health and your life.

About the Author:

Dr. Bryan Brodeur is the owner of the health web site VitalityHouse, and author of the health and fitness e-book Vitalism.

Tags: chiropractor, health, neck pain, spinal, subluxation, treatmentchiropractor, health, neck pain, spinal, subluxation, treatment

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Why do we always seem to look for a more complicated way of doing things? Take your health for example; nearly everyday there’s a new product or book that is going to make a big difference to our health and we fall for it! The more complicated the better, if its complicated it has to just has to work!

Yeah, right! For example we all know that if you eat more and exercise less you’re going to put on weight.. It’s a simple fact so if you just cut back on the nachos, exercise more and hey presto the weight starts to fall off.

Take your general health as an example we’re always looking for more energy, we look for this product to give us a boost and that energy bar but why look for the complicated ways again and just improve your breathing technique, break it down to the basics if you took more oxygen in, with every breath do you think it would make a difference? Of course it would, what we’re doing every day is the equivalent of driving around with the handbrake on, we’re using more energy (by using poor breathing technique) and getting less back, but what if you turned it around? Imagine the difference of breathing in more oxygen with less exertion, think of the stockpile of energy that can now be used in other activities. Some people are walking around today and only using a third of their lung capacity, (so they have to breathe in 3 times as much as someone who takes in 100% every time) can you imagine how their bodies suffering because of this and not performing to its best.

So before you go looking for complicated way to improve your health and energy. If we all just worked on the basics first before moving on we may just find that the less complicated ways sometimes are the best!

Visit http://www.scienceofbreath.be today we promise not to make things complicated, claim your FREE 13 page report packed with all the best and easiest breathing excercises and start to improve your breathing technique today!

Tags: breathing, breathing techniques, fitness, health, yogabreathing, breathing techniques, fitness, health, yoga

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