Pranayam is made up of two words Prana + Ayam.
Prana is the vital force present in whole cosmos. We have been provided Prana, the supreme source of energy by the creator. Proper utilisation of this free source of energy can make remarkable changes to our physical and mental health, vitality and self confidence. Prana is more subtle than air and can be defined as the energy essence that is within everything in the universe.
Ayama means to control or to give a rhythm or a definite flow.
In this sense Pranayama may be defined as a process and technique through which vital energy can be stimulated and increased and this brings about perfect control over the flow of Prana within the body. Pranayama locks the scattering of pranic energy, consolidates it at the centre of your body-mind complex and laser-beams it to an intense awareness of the self. In simple language Pranayam can be said to be the right form of breathing technique to control our energy.
Breathing Technique: We can train ourselves to breathe more slowly and more deeply. We can reduce our breathing rate from about fifteen breaths a minute to 5-6 breaths a minute. Reduced breathing rate leads to slowing down the heart rate as more oxygen can be pumped even with less number of breaths. Time of exhalation should be longer than that of inhalation in the breath cycle.
Types of Pranayama:
1.Bhastrika Pranayama
2.Kapal Bhati Pranayama
3.Baghi Pranayama
4.Anulom Vilom Pranayama
5.Bhramari Pranayama
6.Udgeet Pranayama
Most of us are not well aware of tangible and intangible benefits of Pranayama. All benefits of pranayama cannot be written down, few of them are listed below:-
Healthy Heart: Heart is the key organ of our body which beats about 70 times per minute to pump blood non-stop all your life. The health of your heart indicates our life expectancy and quality of life in old age. More oxygen in the blood means more oxygen to muscles of the heart.
Better Blood Circulation: As a result of better breathing techniques, the freshly oxygenated blood travels from lungs to the heart. The heart pumps it via arteries and blood vessels to every part of the body, where in turn is absorbed by every tissue and cell. This improves the blood circulation and more oxygen energy reaches all parts of your body.
Stress Management: Pranayama is an excellent stress relief technique. Pranayama practice provides freedom from negative thought, anger, depression, lasciviousness, greed for money, arrogance etc. With pranayama fluctuations of mind are controlled and it prepares the mind for meditation. With practice of pranayama, we can experience lightness of body, feeling of inner peace, better sleep, better memory and better concentration whereby improving the spiritual powers/ skills. Mental peace and clarity of thought occur in our mind. Cheerfulness and enthusiasm is increased in life.
Functioning of Body Organs: By practice of pranayama all body organs gets more oxygen, toxins are removed from body; therefore onset of various diseases is prevented. Better functioning of autonomic system improves the working of lungs, heart, diaphragm, abdomen, intestines, kidneys and pancreas. Digestive system improves and diseases pertaining to digestive organs are cured with good appetite. General irritability due to lethargy/ fatigue vanishes. Pranayama strengthens the immune system. Pranayama reduces wear and tear of internal organs.
Longevity and Quality of Life in Old Age: Higher the breath rate, lower the life of creature in the world. Dog and monkey have higher breathing rate and lower life in contrast with elephant and tortoise taking four to five breaths in a minute and it lives up to 200 years or more. As a person with sedentary lifestyle reaches middle age, lung tissues tend to grow less and less elastic and lung capacity decreases. Pranayama can help to reduce the effects of following old age problems.
That way you are able to select the right class for you personally. You may usually find a lot of gyms in a given neighborhood, so you almost certainly can look for a few which have yoga courses. Yoga Facilities – Yoga exercise studios tend to be basically places focused on practicing yoga exercise. Depending on your geographical area, you might not be able to locate yoga facilities nearby. Even though you find a number of, they might not meet your financial allowance or your requirements.
Maybe you need to try yoga exercise out. You may practice this before and wish to start once again. If for you to do yoga, you most likely want to locate a yoga course. You may use the subsequent methods to locate a local yoga classes. Local Fitness center – Along with their pounds rooms as well as Cardio devices, many gyms provide a large range of fitness yoga classes. Some fitness centers offer pamphlets that checklist and describe all their different courses. Nonetheless, you can easier find out whether a nearby gym provides any yoga exercise classes by simply calling all of them and requesting. When a person calls, make sure to ask for that price. Try calling several gyms and recording the various prices along with other details.
Craigslist – You are able to read as well as post nearby classified advertisements on craigslist free of charge. If you don’t see anything on the website about yoga exercise classes, post the classified advert asking regarding yoga classes in your neighborhood. You may also use this process to locate a yoga companion, but be careful meeting anyone from the web. Craigslist enables you to remain unknown when publishing ads. Ask your pals – Knowing other individuals, who practice yoga exercise, ask all of them where these people practice yoga exercise. This won’t help you discover places that provide classes, but it will likewise let you receive immediate first-hand details about those locations.
The following is definitely an overview of the very popular Yoga Teacher Training methods. Nowadays, there are a lot of options with regard to Yoga instructor certification, that it may be better to obtain a general concept of Yoga teacher courses first.
On-site Yoga Teacher Training classes are often held from Yoga studios and may last between one 30 days to 2 years, depending on the depth of the material protected. These Yoga services may fulfill every weekend break or with regard to weeks within succession. For more info please visit :- http://www.westchesteryogaarts.com/
For many practitioners of yoga, it’s hard to completely separate the discipline from other aspects of their lives, such as nutrition. To them, getting the proper balance from yoga not only concerns the fitness-building and stress-reducing benefits of yoga, but also includes a nutrition plan that supplies the proper nutrients to assist in the creation of both.
Combining yoga and nutrition is not a new development. Yoga instructors have been touting the benefits of proper nutrition for years. But it has become part of a new awareness recently thank to scientific studies that back up the claims regarding diet that yogis have been espousing for centuries, namely that nutrition is a big part of the quest for balance between the mind, body and spirit.
As we’ve said, combining yoga and nutrition is not a new development. In fact, there is an entire practice of yoga, called Anna Yoga, which is directed at food as it relates to fitness and a healthy spirit. But while the information concerning healthy eating may not be the same among the various kinds of yoga, some of the belief are relatively the same: consume modest, reasonable portions of food that is high in nutrients and low in toxins. These include lots of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. It is a diet that has existed among practitioners of yoga for decades but today’s doctors have only recently begun to understand and encourage.
Among yoga practioners, food is divided into three categories: Rajasil, Tamsik and Satvik. Rajasik (food of the king) is food that is overly processed or seasoned. Candy, processed foods and beverages and alcohol are classified as Rajasik foods. Tamsik foods are elaborately prepared foods that are high in sodium and usually highly spiced. Finally, Satvik foods are considered the ideal diet by yoga enthusiasts, foods that are consumed in as close to the original state as possible, meaning fresh vegetables and fruits that, if cooked, are lightly seasoned and prepared to keep most of their nutritional value.
Satvik foods are, therefore, easily digested and have exceptional nutritional value. When eaten in conjunction with the performance of the health benefits of yoga, Satvik foods are considered an important part of a well-conditioned mind and body.
Even if you are not a regular student of yoga, adhering to a Satvik diet can have great benefits.
One of the main concepts of nutrition and yoga is that the food used be as fresh as possible. Fresh fruits and vegetables and the enzymes they contain are favorable over frozen or canned foods, where the canning process has taken out many of the vitamins and minerals of the food. In addition, some instructors recommend eating a large portion of the fruits and vegetables raw to absorbe more of their nutritional value.
Green vegetables are held in special regard by many yogis, who consider vegetables such as broccoli, spinach, lettuce and cabbage to have the highest nutrients and life force. Fruit is also considered highly nutritious and full of the life force. Because of the natural sugars in fruit, they can supply a quick but nutritious and sustained source of energy without the toxins.
While many yoga practitioners shy away from meat (including fish and poultry), it is not entirely off the list for everyone involved in yoga However, yoga instructors recommend moderation in taking in meat as it may contain toxins such as lactic acid, fat, cholesterol and other chemicals that can slow the growth of muscles gained from the practice of yoga.
Finally, the way in which the food is prepared for consumption is also one of the keys to nutrition for yoga practitioners. Yoga experts recommend that you eat your meals slowly to give your body time to absorb all of the benefits and nutrients contained within. Yoga exercise, many experts believe, will help in preparing the body to use the nutritional benefits of nutritious eating.
We all know that long term eating disorders can be potentially harmful and dangerous to our health. The most common eating disorders are: anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.
Anorexia nervosa (commonly called Anorexia) – is a psychiatric illness that describes an eating disorder characterized by extreme low body weight and body image distortion with an obsessive fear of gaining weight.
Bulimia nervosa (commonly called Bulimia) – is an eating disorder characterized by recurrent binge eating, followed by compensatory behaviours. The most common form is self-induced vomiting, fasting, use of laxatives, enemas, diuretics and over-exercising are also common.
Eating disorders are better dealt with when your mind is calm. To become more peaceful and calm yoga can be of great help. It has been said that by practicing yoga regularly we can reduce depression and restore a balance of the mind.
Yoga can be a great tool and should be utilized in treating eating disorders. That doesnt mean we stop getting help from the professional medical world. But what we can do is to have the best of both worlds; the medical field of brilliant minds and the intuitive and spiritual world to help us calm our mind and lift our spirit.
Bulimia and anorexia have a very huge potential to destroy lives, and not only the lives of the sick but also the lives of their family and friends. If professional help is not sought there could be painful and tragic consequences. And there is help at hand.
So if you have an eating disorder or you know someone who has helped them by encouraging them to take up yoga. A well-maintained medical program combined with yoga can do wonders.
Everyone has the power to take control of their life. With the help and support of the medical community, their nearest-and-dearest and yoga community they have the chance to fully recover and become once again healthy and happy individuals.
If you are knew to yoga you may get confused of the different types of yoga on a market today. There is Hatha yoga, Ashtanga yoga, Scientific yoga, Bikram yoga, Power yoga, Sivananda yoga, and many others.
The most common form of yoga is Hatha and Scientific yoga which are the nearest to the true ancient form of yoga from India. The classes will include relaxation and deep breathing which are both very important to release stress and keep the mind calmer.
Power and Ashtanga yoga yoga are more aerobic-style yoga, with emphasis on cardio. Bikram yoga is performed in a heated room to accelerate detoxification.
Blood pressure is nothing but the rate at which the blood is circulated by the heart throughout the body. A condition of high blood pressure is when the force of the blood is very heavy. Also known as hypertension, it’s one of the most common problems faced by people of this age. Try to take care if you have symptoms of high blood pressure like head pain, lightheaded, shivering and worn-out easily.
There are many treatments for high blood pressure. In this article we are going to cover the home-made remedies and also the yoga suggested by Swami Ramdev Baba for the same. To begin with home remedies should be considered. Chew a clove of garlic daily in empty stomach along with a glass of water. This is the best remedy for high blood pressure.
Having pepper powder in tepid water just like tea also helps. This is a natural remedy to lower blood pressure. First thing in the morning on an empty stomach eat a papaya for positive results. Walking for at least 30 min with out shoes will also help in bringing down the high blood pressure. You can reduce blood pressure by eating steamed potatoes.
Swami Ramdev Baba suggests the practice of yoga to reduce blood pressure without out any drugs and almost immediately. Pranayama has many benefits and since it uses only breathing techniques, it’s easy to practice too. Apart from other exercises Ujjayi Pranayama, Nadishodhan Pranayam are more beneficial. A breath seizing exercise called Kumbhaka should not be practised by high BP patients.
I advise you to follow these simple yoga exercises and natural remedies to help reduce and control of your high BP. One should undertake yoga first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Keep a watch on your blood pressure along with a regular visit to your doctor frequently. We aspire that you will find this writeup very valuable.