| If you are thinking about exploring yoga, you should | | | | the body and nerves to their maximum level of health. |
| know that it is a physical and psychological experience | | | | We need to learn the basics carefully as they will |
| that is unlike any other type of activity you have | | | | determine the success of our practice for the rest of |
| undertaken in the past. You may find that you are | | | | our lives besides minimizing the chances of injury. The |
| exercising your body and mind in a completely new | | | | end result is a high level of health and strength without |
| way and you may be surprised at how good it makes | | | | spending hours in practice. It is really the ideal physical |
| you feel. Done right, it feels like the most natural activity | | | | activity for busy modern times. |
| and for many, it is like coming home after being lost for | | | | It is easy to be confused by the many different types |
| a long time. Precisely because it is so different | | | | of yoga being advertised nowadays, with many taking |
| however, you should take precautions before you | | | | their names from the modern "inventors" of systems |
| begin to avoid unnecessary strain and injury. A general | | | | that cut corners and emphasize specific outcomes like |
| rule of thumb is do not push yourself too hard and if it | | | | high heart rates, caloric burn and physical strength. Well, |
| hurts, you are doing something wrong. | | | | if your lifestyle consists of running up and down |
| Many of you do some form of exercise regularly for | | | | mountains, ingesting large amounts of junk food or |
| strength training and losing weight and you have come | | | | carrying heavy loads all day, you should go for these |
| to rely on it to feel healthy. With yoga practice, you will | | | | new yogas. Otherwise, its a very good idea to stick to |
| find that you are stretching your muscles for the very | | | | the tried and true systems that have been practices |
| first time in the way they should be stretched, toning | | | | and produced certifiable results for thousands of |
| them at the same time to make them more elastic | | | | years. This will probably save you a lot of money too. |
| and less prone to tiring with long practice. Besides your | | | | One thing bears repeated mention: you should begin |
| muscles, yoga will also tone and stimulate the internal | | | | practice by preparing your body and mind for the |
| organs, helping the metabolic system and improving | | | | utterly new and marvelous experience of yoga by |
| digestion and circulation which in turn helps the heart by | | | | doing warm up exercises and these you can do on |
| reducing the demands on it. If you are overweight, you | | | | your own. However, a formal course of practice |
| may find that yoga not only helps you shed weight | | | | should ideally be learned with the guidance of a |
| faster and more safely than other methods but also | | | | qualified instructor so you get the basics right. It should |
| makes your weight loss more permanent. | | | | not be too difficult to find a suitable one no matter |
| In the yoga poses, we will stretch, twist and tone the | | | | where you live. The local YMCA, YWCA or library |
| legs, arms, spine and torso that are designed to bring | | | | may be a good place to start looking. |