Prenatal yoga has both physical and mental benefits during pregnancy.

When it is paired with a cardiovascular exercise such as walking or jogging, yoga can truly be an ideal way to stay in shape throughout the length of your pregnancy.

Prenatal yoga helps you to learn how to breathe properly and how to relax – useful skills in the labor ward.

In fact, one of the very first things that you will learn in any yoga class is how to breathe fully, and the breathing technique in yoga which is known as ujjayi requires you to take in air slowly through your nose, filling your lungs, and then exhale completely until your stomach compresses.

The reason that learning this type of breathing is so important is because it will really prime you for labor and childbirth by training you to stay calm when you need it most, and so a regular yoga practice, particularly while you are still pregnant, is going to help you to be able to fight the urge to tighten up when you feel pain, which is what your body will do naturally.

All types of yoga are great for your mind, body and soul, but if you are pregnant then this type is going to help you out more than any other, as it is specifically designed to focus on the body of a pregnant woman.

[tags]yoga, prenatal yoga, breathing, ujjayi[/tags]

You’re many pounds overweight, and you’d love to try yoga… will yoga help you to lose weight?

The main benefit of yoga is that anyone can do it: young, old, fit, or completely out of shape, so do try yoga – with your doctor’s permission, of course. Indeed, many yoga studios now provide classes with specially modified exercises for people who want to lose weight.

Since hatha yoga isn’t strenuous, you’re not going to burn lots of calories with yoga, but what you will do is get back in touch with your body.

Yoga Puts You Back In Touch With Your Body

After a few sessions of yoga, many people find that their cravings for fatty and other “unhealthy” types of food go away, and they find themselves eating less, and wanting to eat more fruits and vegetables. This happens completely naturally, your diet will change of its own accord.

Yoga has a normalizing effect on all the systems of your body. Your digestion will improve, and you may find that small niggling heath worries like a sore back, or sinusitis, clear up of their accord. You’ll also find that you will sleep better, and that you want to move more.

Yoga Eases Stress, Eliminating Comfort Eating

Yoga is particularly useful if you’re a comfort eater – someone who eats whenever they’re stressed. Your yoga exercises help you to calm down. This isn’t something that you will notice immediately, but over time you’ll find that you no longer react as you once did. You’ll get rid of your stashes of chocolate bars, because you no longer need them.

So if you’ve been considering yoga, sign up for some classes. You’ll be amazed at the changes which yoga will bring into your life.

Visit 30 Day Slimmer and the 30 Day Slimmer Blog for more on healthy, easy weight loss.

[tags]yoga,weight loss,lose weight,hatha,food,diet,healthy[/tags]

The most common form of yoga practiced in the United States is hatha yoga. Hatha yoga differs from other disciplines of yoga as it is more exercise than mental preparation for meditation. All yoga stretches are designed to relax the body on the path of spiritual enlightenment including meditation; however most Americans practice the poses for the fitness benefits.

Hatha yoga is a gentle exercise which strengthens the existing muscles without adding unwanted muscle bulk. Yoga has been practiced for thousands of years, and yogis do seem to enjoy good health. If you’re stressed, yoga is particularly valuable, because it’s an excellent way of clearing your mind, and getting rid of the effects of adrenaline before you become ill.

Hatha Yoga and Illness

There is no conclusive scientific evidence that hatha yoga has any positive or negative health benefits. However, the technique is thousands of years old and the people which practice the poses and meditation claim a variety of health benefits. Hatha yoga is said by some to be able to ease every discomfort from bowel problems to headaches. The stretches and poses are said to massage the inner organs balancing the body’s chemicals naturally.

Even if there is no conclusive evidence supporting the claims that hatha yoga does in fact have health benefits beyond physical exercise, many people who practice yoga have better self esteem, are more in tune with their bodies needs, and take a more active role in their health by exercising regularly and eating healthy foods.

Menstrual Discomfort

Many medical facilities are dedicated to women’s health alone because of a woman’s unique anatomy and life changes. Hatha yoga is able to promote women’s health by providing an outlet for daily exercise which is recommended by most doctors. Also the massaging of internal muscles, the poses and stretches are thought to ease menstrual pain or other discomforts associated with the menstrual cycle.

Yoga during Pregnancy

Some poses of hatha yoga are known to be safe exercises for women while pregnant. However, not all poses should be preformed while pregnant; poses which would require a woman to press on her stomach for instance would not be recommended.

Also during the third trimester, only gentle stretches and poses of hatha yoga should be practiced. Any poses which would require a woman to lie on her back or stand on one foot should be avoided late in pregnancy.

There is a reason for each of these points; in the first case, there is a large system of veins that supply blood and oxygen to the baby that runs by the spine. The added weight of the baby on this system of veins can slow blood flow to the baby and deny it oxygen. The other is because during pregnancy, usually sometime in the second trimester, a woman’s equilibrium changes and she may have trouble maintaining her balance while on one foot.

[tags]yoga, hatha yoga, pregnancy, exercises, women[/tags]