February 3, 2012

What are the yoga benefits for women? Lady Gaga’s instructor speaks up

It's no secret that singer, songwriter and eccentric celebrity nonpareil Lady Gaga is a big fan of yoga.

It's no secret that singer, songwriter and eccentric celebrity nonpareil Lady Gaga is a big fan of yoga.

It's no secret that singer, songwriter and eccentric celebrity nonpareil Lady Gaga is a big fan of yoga. In fact, she's such an enthusiastic practitioner that even her instructor occasionally makes headlines. Recently, long-time friend and yoga teacher Tricia Donegan reminded the world that the singer is way beyond yoga poses for beginners.

Donegan told the New York Times Magazine that when she first met the songstress, she still went by Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta. At the time, the proto-Gaga was still a student at New York University.

The two ran into each other at Donegan's yoga classes, which she had just begun teaching. Now, years later, the instructor said that Germanotta is still committed to all the yoga benefits for women.

"She is a woman of service. She uses her talent to make this world better, and that’s because she practices yoga," Donegan explained to the magazine. "She is blessed that she has talent, but what’s special about her is that she’s going to change the world."

What's wonderful about yoga is that such a versatile mind-body system can be used for isolated relaxation and reflection, or for community-building and outreach, as needed.

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January 17, 2012

Yoga benefits article says the holistic regimen leads to bliss, not stupor

If you've taken a Dahn Yoga health class lately, you've probably left your local community center feeling relaxed, refreshed, even dazed.

If you've taken a Dahn Yoga health class lately, you've probably left your local community center feeling relaxed, refreshed, even dazed.

If you've taken a Dahn Yoga health class lately, you've probably left your local community center feeling relaxed, refreshed, even dazed. This sensation – which many enthusiasts refer to as "blissing out" – has nothing to do with your mental clarity or intelligence level, according to a yoga benefits article in the Boston Herald.

A reader named "Taylor" wrote to the newspaper to describe an anecdote she'd heard from her yoga teacher. The instructor, who freely admitted that yoga occasionally makes one feel dopey or dazed, was once asked if yoga "makes you stupid."

Her response, according to the reader, was a heartfelt "No!" Yoga doesn't make practitioners stupid; instead, it stimulates parts of the brain that aren't activated during conversation or everyday mental work.

The reader quoted another prominent yoga teacher, who explained that "yoga has a sly, clever way of short-circuiting the mental patterns that cause anxiety." The resulting pleasant daze has nothing to do with effects on one's intelligence.

Of course, that doesn't mean you won't occasionally say or do something silly after a good yoga workout! If you do, you can rest easy knowing that it's because your yoga routine is so relaxing.

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January 10, 2012

Yoga Can Help Ease Stress

In the fast paced world that we live in more and more Americans suffer from stress related illnesses and disorders.  If your body is under too much stress it can lead to heart disease, high blood pressure, headaches and insomnia.

Yoga, which can be traced back over 5000 years has been effective in helping people reduce stress.  This ancient practice teaches physical posture, breathing control and meditation. Participants learn how to stretch the body to form different poses while keeping their breathing slow and controlled at the same time.

Other health benefits of yoga include:

  •  more sound sleep
  • reduced cortisol levels
  • lower blood pressure
  • spiritual growth
  • reduced anxiety and muscle tension
  • increased strength and flexibility

It is never too late to learn yoga to help you deal with the stress in your life.  According to a recent study by the American Council on exercise, “”the regular practice of Hatha yoga significantly improved the subjects’ flexibility, muscular strength and endurance, and balance. After eight weeks, the average flexibility of the yoga group improved by 13% to 35% .”

The mind, body and spirit connection emphasized in yoga has strong emotional benefits.  People who practice yoga have reported that they are able to sleep better, deal with stress easier and learn how to live on the present and not worry about the things that are beyond their control.

If you have never tried yoga before don’t worry it is very easy to learn.  Many local gyms and rec departments offer begging yoga classes.  There are also several affordable dvd’s for beginning yoga enthusiasts.  When stress takes over your life yoga can help you relax and feel better.

Cascia  Talbert is a busy blogger, publisher, freelance writer,  online   merchant and mother of five children, living  in   The Pacific Northwest. With a B.A. in history and  law and a passion for writing and staying  healthy, she  started The Healthy Moms Magazine in 2007. The Healthy Moms  Magazine is currently  ranked the  top health  blog for moms and features   several  health  expert   writers  and mom   bloggers.  Ms.  Talbert  believes  that  if  mothers are well    educated  on  health  issues  and  how to  stay  healthy,  they can pass  that information down to their children and    reverse the   childhood obesity  statistics  in the   U.S.

 

 

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January 5, 2012

Yoga benefits for women extend to, and through, menopause

One researcher discovered that even a few yoga classes each week seemed to soothe hot flashes, improve muscular fitness and lower blood pressure.

One researcher discovered that even a few yoga classes each week seemed to soothe hot flashes, improve muscular fitness and lower blood pressure.

Menopause is no picnic. This life change, which women typically reach between the ages of 45 and 55, can be accompanied by hot flashes, night sweats, anxiety, depression and sleeplessness. Fortunately, one of the many yoga benefits for women is the potential for a little relief from menopause-related irritation.

Recently, a study conducted at the University of Lethbridge found that yoga exercises work at least as well as walking when it comes to reducing the symptoms of menopause.

The author, kinesiologist Sophia Veroza, monitored dozens of volunteers who were perimenopausal – that is, beginning or going through the hormonal shift that signals menopause.

Over the course of several months, she monitored the hormone levels, physical fitness, blood pressure, body mass and heart rate of each participant. One-half of the group was given regular yoga instruction, while the other half undertook a weekly walking program.

In the end, the yoga health benefits for perimenopausal women were clear. Veroza discovered that even a few yoga classes each week seemed to soothe hot flashes, improve muscular fitness and lower blood pressure.

Such findings aren't small potatoes. After all, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that in any given year, 37.5 million American women are in some stage of menopause!

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December 20, 2011

Yoga benefits article explains how the holistic regimen helps all sorts

According to a survey conducted by the Yoga Journal, nearly 16 million adults use yoga as a way to unwind and unburden themselves of stress.

According to a survey conducted by the Yoga Journal, nearly 16 million adults use yoga as a way to unwind and unburden themselves of stress.

If you're wondering how far yoga poses for beginners have penetrated American culture, take a look at the numbers. According to a survey conducted by the Yoga Journal, nearly 16 million adults use yoga as a way to unwind and unburden themselves of stress. And if the Huffington Post's new yoga benefits article is any indication, that figure may soon rise even higher.

Written by Harvard Medical School physician Aditi Nerurkar, the piece focuses on the apparent utility of yoga in treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The researcher said that the latest segment of American society to adopt the regimen for this purpose is the U.S. Armed Forces.

Nerurkar's colleague Sat Bir Khalsa noted that yoga is particularly well-suited for a condition that is both physiological and psychological.

"PTSD is a mind-body disorder with both mental and physical components," he told Nerurkar, quoted by the news source. "So yoga, in its blending of physical postures with conscious breathing, adds a strong dimension for the existing treatment of PTSD."

Nearly 7 percent of adults will suffer from PTSD in their lifetimes, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Regardless of the condition's cause, scientists are looking into using yoga to reduce its severity.

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October 24, 2011

Yoga benefits article says UK football team has gone holistic

A yoga benefits article published by ESPN points to the Tottenham Hotspur Football Club as a group of guys who have adopted the mind-body regimen wholeheartedly.

A yoga benefits article published by ESPN points to the Tottenham Hotspur Football Club as a group of guys who have adopted the mind-body regimen wholeheartedly.

Yoga health benefits men of all ages, body types and backgrounds, even if they have just come off the soccer field. A yoga benefits article published by ESPN points to the Tottenham Hotspur Football Club as a group of guys who have adopted the mind-body regimen wholeheartedly.

The UK team, which is part of both the Premier League and the Europa League, began doing yoga exercises at the behest of their head coach, Harry Redknapp. He was not shy about expressing his enthusiasm to the news source.

"It's fantastic. We have been getting into doing the yoga and I think pilates is just an amazing thing,'' Redknapp said of the holistic regimen. ''It's great for the players. They are all doing it now."

Similar phenomena have occurred in the U.S., where amateur and professional basketballers, hockey players and baseball stars have admitted to loving the way yoga strengthens and relaxes their bodies.

One doesn't have to be an athlete in some other sport to get the most out of yoga. Plenty of men consider the mind-body routine their primary source of exercise and entertainment.

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October 4, 2011

New film explains yoga benefits for women

yoga benefits for women

Titled Yogawoman, the film focuses on the personal experiences many women have had with the holistic routine, using their own words to describe just how healthy and life-changing a simple yoga class can be.

Sometimes it can be hard to explain how yoga benefits for women differ from those for men, children or the elderly. Fortunately, a movie released in September explains how salutary yoga is for women.

Titled Yogawoman, the film focuses on the personal experiences many women have had with the holistic routine, using their own words to describe just how healthy and life-changing a simple yoga class can be.

Yoga instructor Tari Prinster told KSDK News St. Louis that the documentary is quite innovative, depicting how women use yoga in places ranging from the high-rises of New York City to the plains of Kenya.

"This movie is groundbreaking in that aspect, in that it brings the importance of yoga to everyone," she explained, quoted by the news source.

Narrated by actress Annette Bening, Yogawoman aims to explain the history of the spread of yoga. Its official website notes that while men brought the practice out of Asia, women have been largely responsible for repopularizing it in the 20th century.

Today, the mind-body regimen offers women the chance to reduce their menopause symptoms, shed family-related stress or try yoga poses for pregnancy, among many other applications.

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August 9, 2011

Yoga benefits for women may pick up where soy leaves off

yoga benefits for women

A study found that isoflavones - a group of natural estrogen-like molecules found in soy (pictured) - do not appear to reduce hot flashes or slow the bone loss associated with menopause.

Going through menopause can be a real pain. Fortunately, yoga benefits for women may even extend to the reduction of hot flashes, something that soy apparently cannot do, according to one of the most popular articles on CNN Health.

This finding comes from a study appearing in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine, which found that isoflavones – a group of natural estrogen-like molecules found in soy products – do not appear to reduce hot flashes or slow the bone loss associated with menopause.

The news comes on the back of a meta-study, also published in the Annals, which determined that the 12 prior randomized trials conducted with soy isoflavones were, at best, inconclusive. The review also found that dong quai, Chinese herbs, evening primrose oil, vitamin E and acupuncture also do not appear to affect the symptoms of menopause.

For the latest experiment, researchers asked 248 women to take a daily supplement, which contained either 200 milligrams of isoflavones or was a placebo.

Over the course of two years, the team found that women who took the isoflavones were, in fact, slightly more likely to have hot flashes. Those who received the soy extract had a 48 percent chance of experiencing the menopausal side effect, compared to 31 percent of those taking a placebo.

Likewise, the extent of bone loss was in no way diminished through isoflavone supplementation, scientists added.

If soy does not reduce the severity of hot flashes, then what are women to do? Numerous yoga benefits articles have suggested that doing holistic exercises, like stretching, deep breathing and meditation, may naturally dampen flashes and night sweats.

Several studies published in the journal Maturitas have found that postmenopausal women report experiencing significantly fewer symptoms of the life change after taking eight weeks of regular yoga classes.

If you have been suffering from hot flashes and can find no relief, consider checking in with a local yoga community center.

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May 27, 2011

Yoga class can ease the aches and pains away

Overall, 61 percent of yoga-using respondents felt that the holistic program was beneficial for their health and wellness.

Overall, 61 percent of yoga-using respondents felt that the holistic program was beneficial for their health and wellness.

What can Dahn Yoga classes do for you? Besides taking away some of the stress that builds up over the course of the day, this holistic mind-body program may help individuals with mild injuries or body aches reduce their levels of perceived pain.

Researchers at Harvard Medical School’s Division for Research and Education in Complementary and Integrative Medical Therapies analyzed data taken in the 2002 National Health Interview Survey to see what kinds of people engage in yoga.

They found that individuals with sprains, asthma, musculoskeletal conditions and mental health issues like depression or anxiety were more likely than their peers to use yoga.

These findings, which were published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, also noted that those with muscular, skeletal or mental health problems were the most likely to use the system, potentially indicating the benefits of using deep breathing and stretching to heal oneself.

Overall, 61 percent of yoga-using respondents felt that the holistic program was beneficial for their health and wellness.

Those who are interested in trying meditation, tai chi or yoga for themselves may consider looking into the classes offered at the dozens of Dahn Yoga community centers nationwide.

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