October 12, 2011

Yoga poses for weight loss can also soothe anxieties of cancer patients and caregivers

Yoga poses for weight loss can also soothe anxieties of cancer patients and caregivers

Yoga poses for weight loss can also soothe anxieties of cancer patients and caregivers

Millions of Americans perform yoga poses for weight loss and improved flexibility, but did you know that many people engage in the holistic regimen to alleviate symptoms of chronic illnesses too? This includes patients who are struggling with cancer, who often must deal with the pain and discomfort of treatment in addition to the stress of coping with a devastating disease. According to a popular article on the Washington Post, individuals who have this condition can significantly relieve tension and anxiety with the program's deep breathing exercises.

Not only can cancer patients benefit from engaging in yoga, but their caregivers may as well. The health of those who look after severely ill individuals has been of growing concern over the years, since these people tend to exhibit higher rates of mental illness, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

"It's not infrequent for caregivers to die before the person they're caring for," said geriatric psychiatrist Helen Lavretsky, quoted by the news source. She added that yoga can soothe these individuals, explaining that "meditation and breath work teach people how to be more productive and not react to minor stuff."

With so many yoga benefits for women and men, it's no surprise that so many Americans have adopted the program's gentle poses and relaxing stretches.

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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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August 1, 2011

Yoga health benefits articles touch on PTSD treatments

yoga health benefits articles

Because PTSD can be caused by nearly any traumatic event, it is a relatively common mental condition, affecting nearly 7 percent of U.S. adults during their lifetimes, according to the NIMH.

Do you like reading yoga health benefits articles to see what they say about the advantages of stretching, posing and doing deep breathing exercises? If so, you may have come across stories suggesting that yoga can be used as an adjunct therapy for people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

This may not be much of a surprise. After all, research has shown that yoga's benefits for women, men, children, the elderly, the chronically ill and the pregnant are all similar. Taking on the holistic health regimen as a part of one's lifestyle can ease stress, improve sleep patterns, increase flexibility and range of motion, decrease stress hormones and strengthen one's bond to the community around them.

One might as well add "alleviate the symptoms of PTSD" to the list above, since several studies have indicated that regularly doing yoga, meditating or engaging in tai chi or qigong may go some ways toward reducing depression or anxiety caused by traumatic events.

For instance, an investigation conducted by researchers from Australia, including the head of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Queensland, found that veterans of the Vietnam War experienced significant improvements in their depression levels after taking a six-week yoga class.

Similarly, a study appearing in the International Journal of Yoga Therapy found that the holistic mind-body system appeared to improve the symptoms of PTSD for patients with a wide variety of originating traumas, including war veterans, abused children, rape victims and disaster survivors.

Because PTSD can be caused by nearly any traumatic event, it is a relatively common mental condition, affecting nearly 7 percent of U.S. adults during their lifetimes, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

An article in the Press Mentor noted that yoga is being put to good use in many studios across the nation, both as a physical health regimen and a facilitator of mental unburdening.

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July 12, 2011

Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha can help others see Dahn Yoga benefits

Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha can help others see Dahn Yoga benefits

Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha can help others see Dahn Yoga benefits

Perhaps the greatest of all the Dahn Yoga benefits is that it gives practitioners a different sense of the world. No longer are they as concerned with material goods but instead more focused on personal enlightenment and happiness. There are many characters in literature who have attempted to achieve enlightenment through many different paths, but the most famous may be Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha.

Set between the fourth and seventh centuries B.C., the novel focuses on the titular character, a young man who is determined to find a way to nirvana. However, his quest is certainly not that easy. At first he abandons all worldly pleasures thinking it will be bring him closer to being one with himself. Soon after, however, he moves to the opposite end of the spectrum, enjoying all the world has to offer as a wealth trader, renouncing the life that he once knew.

Eventually, Siddhartha makes his way back to his original life of minimal pleasures, and discovers that there is not one path to enlightenment, and that one experience alone is not enough. After all, it is a world varied experience that truly form a person, with each stop on his road to enlightenment of equal importance.

There's a lot that Dahn Yoga practitioners can learn from following the plight of Siddhartha. In particular, the fact that Hesse demonstrates that there is not one clear, set path to happiness and that each individual has his or her own way. Siddhartha and Dahn Yoga also both adhere to the concept that a truly health person not only has a fit body, but needs to find balance and harmony in all aspects of life.

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