What could be more stressful than shopping for a bathing suit or meeting your significant other's parents? Preparing for finals!
If you've been cramped up at that computer for hours studying and feeling like all the pressures of the world -- parents, school, friends -- are pushing in on you, then yoga could be the release valve you're looking for!
Yoga? Maybe you think yoga means bending yourself into a pretzel till your face turns blue, but it's actually a great way to relax your body, shrug off stress, and get healthy at the same time. Plus, yoga is cool. Julia Roberts, Sting, Madonna, Woody Harrelson, Robin Williams, and Donna Karan all practice the ancient postures.
Yoga began roughly five millennia ago in India, where mystics, deeply religious people looking for a direct connection with a greater power, sitting in deep meditation, would experience spontaneous movements. These movements were collected, and a system was born. One of the best things about yoga is that you don't have to believe any claims from anyone else. In fact, the more you practice, the more individual your practice becomes.
Try it out for your self and draw your own conclusions. Take a class or read a book to make sure you're practicing it properly.
Start your practice right now with some basic yoga postures!
- Deep Breathing
- Half-Moon
- Neck Roll
Take a Deep Breath
There! You've just practiced one of the first steps of yoga, taking a full deep breath. Feel more relxed? Did you know that the breath is closely tied to our moods and emotions? When you get stressed, you feel all tight inside, and your breath becomes shallow and constricted. When you take a conscious deep breath, you automatically move a little more into the relaxed state your body associates with deep breathing.
Deep breathing does more than just relax your body. Practice five minutes a day, and you'll notice that you think more clearly, digest your food better, and eat less. You also might notice that your skin takes on a glow--get ready for some compliments--just because you're filling your body with oxygen. Many people find they can manage their weight better because they don't eat as much. No more study-break snacking!
Ever Half-Mooned Somebody?
Now, try the second step in the practice of yoga, combining stretching with breathing.
You've just done your first yoga posture! It's called the half-moon series, and you can do it whenever you feel stressed.
Pain in the Neck?
Neck sore from hours of reading? Try the neck roll.
Do two rotations in each direction, making sure to coordinate the movement with deep breathing; feel the tension drain away from your head, neck, and shoulders. If you stop and do a couple of neck rolls every hour, you'll probably find that you remember more of what you are reading, because you'll be less tense all the way through.
Yoga postures work on the same principle as the breath. When you're stressed, your muscles contract, your blood vessels constrict, your immune system weakens, and your digestion is thrown out of whack. As a result, you feel anxious and depressed, in other words, just plain bad. When you move in yoga postures, all the systems of your body are stimulated. Your circulatory system brings more nutrients to your cells and removes more waste, your lymph system fights infections better, your muscles are lengthened and relaxed, and your metabolism is given a boost. You wind up feeling healthier, less stressed, and more connected to yourself.
Practice the breath, the half-moon series, and some neck rolls for 10 minutes in the morning for six days, and you'll be surprised at how good you feel and how much easier it is to take on those finals and anything else that comes your way!
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar