Yoga for Beginners: How to Take those First Steps into Yoga

Yoga is all around us these days. From Sting to Madonna, to maybe even your next door neighbor, everyone is hooked upon this fitness craze and with good cause. As a form of physical exercise, Yoga indeed is a force to be reckoned with. But just how can one go about using yoga for beginners? It is my hope that as a Yoga practitioner and enthusiast, this article will be of assistance in this regard.

If you have been considering learning yoga or have recently begun a yoga practice, I hope to provide you with some useful and helpful tips in which may be helpful to you in using yoga for beginners.

I have been doing Yoga for quite some time now, 6 years to be exact and since the first day I swore of free-weights and exercise machines, my use of Yoga and other body weight exercises like Hindu-Push ups (in my honest opinion a Yoga derivative) has been the main method for keeping fit. (in addition-of course- to my diet which co-incidentally changed when I started Yoga as a beginner those 6 years back.)

I will now enumerate the yoga poses to be learned as a starter which can aid or supplement your knowledge from your yoga classes, books and or DVD?s.

Yoga for Beginners: Yoga Poses to Learn first.

The Sun Salutations:

Okay, this is the core of Yoga itself. This exercise is a combination of Yoga Poses, Breathing exercise, Sun Bathing and Prayer. It is the warm-up of a yoga class or personal yoga session and is a combination of poses, 12 to be exact, that are performed in a synchronized motion with emphasis on rhythmic breathing. They mildly exercise the arms and legs and are often recommended for obesity, depression and fitness. Friends, several Martial Artists, Indian and African Wrestlers perform tons of rounds of these exercises alone, so in learning yoga, for beginners, this will be a guaranteed must-know.

The Shoulder Stand:

Don?t be intimidated by the name at all. Even for a beginner, this yoga pose is a piece of cake, really. It is actually a very important pose though, arguably the most important as its Sanskrit name (Savangasana) actually means the ?all members? or ?all limbs? pose, meaning it affects all parts of the body. As a beginner, be aware that some poses (such as this one) do have specific counter poses, so if you?re taking a Yoga for beginner class or learning from a DVD, make sure you are taught these poses to counter-act and balance the effects of the Shoulder-stand pose on the body, these are the Bridge and fish poses. Here?s a hint or ratio to adhere to in their combined execution: 6:1:2 , meaning the ?bridge? and ?fish? poses should be held for a sixth and third of the time you spend in the Shoulder-stand Pose respectively.

The Corpse Pose:

You?ve got to learn this Yoga Pose as a beginner. It is the relaxation pose that is usually executed during and after your session as a means of relaxing the muscles used for your yoga exercise. At the end of a session, it is usually done for about 15 minutes and one always comes out feeling refreshed after its execution.

Arguably, these are the 3 main poses you have to lay emphasis on in learning yoga for a beginner, but there are other poses that should be included as you go further. They are

1. The forward Bending exercises: Head to Knee pose, Plough Pose and Wind reliving pose

2. The Back Bending Exercises: The Bow, Inclined Plane and Wheel Poses.

3. The Spinal Twists

4. The Balancing Exercises: The Peacock, Crow, Side Plank and 4-limbed staff Poses

5. The Exercises in Sitting and Standing Positions

6. The Abdominal and Breathing Exercises.

Each of these groups has several variations on the root poses; however, let me tell you a secret that would go a long way in aiding you as a beginner learning Yoga. Do at least 24 round of the previously mentioned Sun Salutations and the ease in executing these poses will come almost naturally. Trust me.

There are several styles of Yoga to pick from and in seeking the right style of Yoga for a beginner; it might be quite difficult to pick the best. However, since Iyengar Yoga seems to involve a lot of props that can aid till flexibility is re-gained or enhanced, it may be one of the easier choices to pick. Kripalu and Bikram Yoga may also be quite easy to pick up as well as a beginner.

To find the best yoga for beginner class around you, you can always check your local YMCA or YWCA branches as they almost always carry information on Yoga classes for all stages: from beginner to intermediate.

One other factor that I must stress is the need to also pick up a Yoga diet for health and aiding these poses to both strengthen and detoxify you. This will-as a result of the symbiotic relationship that exists between Yoga and a proper diet-speed up an increase in fitness, weight loss, focus and the ability to execute these poses easily.

Though Yoga for beginners may best be learned from a certified instructor, your own practice will remain paramount for your mastery of this form of physical culture and there are tons of books and DVD?s to help in regards to this. Moreover, keep in mind that as a beginner doing yoga, not unless you intend to do lots of Sun Salutations as mentioned above, you may still want to incorporate some body-weight resistance poses (that co-incidentally are still Yogic in origin) such as the Hindu-Push-ups and Squats and the Bridge (now this is and the first one are basically Yoga poses in motion friends…).

This combination will see that till you have mastered the use of Yoga poses to make a complete session, you are still burning up enough calories and exercising the muscles for both weight loss and fitness.

Doing Yoga is fun, exhilarating and extremely rewarding for lots of reasons that may have already got you researching about it, so needless to say, choosing this exercise, even as a beginner, will go a long way into making for a fitter and healthier you.

Foras Aje is an independent health researcher and founder of Bodyhealthsoul.com. For more Yoga tips and information on Yoga for beginners, feel free to stop by his website today.

Yoga Improves Fitness: One Trial and You’ll See

Interest in Yoga for fitness is increasing across the country and it is a widely accepted fact that Yoga is great for the body. What was once ridiculed as a bizarre fad is today recognized as a basic skill that many people have embraced as a way of life and a first-rate choice for physical and mental fitness.

Yoga is so popular these days that many celebrities like Madonna, Sting, Russell Simmons and Ricky Martin to name a few have become informal advocates for this form of exercise. From increased flexibility, strength, endurance to delayed aging and massaging of the internal organs of the body, the benefits of Yoga seem limitless.

I stumbled upon it personally after telling a friend in the gym several years back that ?Hey man, look at apes and all, we are so similar, they don?t lift these boring weights and they are so much stronger, in fact Bruce Lee was known to NOT lift any weights but to perform several Hindu Push-ups, so there?s got to be another kind of exercise to do for fitness on the inside and out?? Well, he passed on a book on Yoga to me the next day and lo and behold, I?ve been hooked ever since.

From my own studies, research and practice, I?ve come to realize that Yoga is more than just stretching, is not only an exercise for women: (I challenge the most hard-core body-builder to hold a peacock pose for 2 minutes!!) and is quite simply great.

Many people practice Yoga exclusively and at times for days on end, that is the only exercise I perform with as much emphasis on the unique ?Sun salutations? as possible. I single these core warm-up routines of Yoga out as they restore flexibility to the spine and believe it when I say they miraculously endow you with strength to hold challenging poses such as the Wheel, Peacock and Crow poses for several minutes on end. I mention these poses, because being a guy, these are the main ones that enhance the muscle groups us guys are so concerned about: Arms, Chest and Abs.

I?ve also found that when combining these poses with other body-weight exercises like Hindu Squats and Push-ups, regular push-ups, reverse push-ups, pull ups and aerobic exercises, you really may not (re-phrase will not) need a gym or cumbersome equipment to get a total body workout.

Another great benefit of Yoga lies in its unique Abdominal and Breathing exercises.
These ones work. Being a former asthmatic and lethargic person, they have been an integral reason why my breathing (and singing mind you) has improved so drastically.
Moreover, they have spiritual benefits such as clearer thinking, clairvoyance and increased focus.

It is important, however, when practicing Yoga to adhere to a healthy diet, most books on the subject advocate a Vegan/vegetarian diet (which is fine by me being as I have been a vegan for several years, and this is arguably the main reason I believe I was able to cure over a decade of marring acne as well.) This simple, yet very effective discipline or sacrifice will aid you in gaining the most from Yoga as some poses do speed up detoxification and cleansing.

Now for fitness, since most Yoga poses are Isometric in nature, you may choose to combine them with conventional exercises as while the latter builds the muscles up, Yoga definitely will relax them and add tonality much quicker. This simple principle is why Basketball coach Phil Jackson brought his Yoga philosophy to the Los Angeles Lakers and in June of 2000 led the team to their first championship in 12 years; needless to say, similar methods were used in the coaching of the Chicago Bulls during their successful tenure as NBA champions under his guidance.

In addition to the points above, Jackson?s philosophy on Yoga embraces the facts that

1. Yoga strengthens and streamlines your muscles, giving you a leaner yet stronger body, with longer and toned muscles instead of short bulkier ones common to body-builders. This gives everyone from athletes to housewives, increased ability to perform their duties better.

2. Yoga calms and clears the mind for more focused thinking.

3. Yoga energizes the average practitioner while simultaneously increasing one?s flexibility.

4. Yoga offers psychological benefits in that it increases self-confidence, esteem and self-acceptance as no other exercise can.

5. Yoga tones and normalizes internal organs like the endocrine, digestive, excretory, reproductive and respiratory systems through the gentle, yet very effective poses it?s associated with.

Here are two last reasons I set aside based on their uniqueness: Sexual fitness & animal magnetism? Well, yoga gives you that?just try its breathing and abdominal exercises and inverted poses, namely the shoulder-stand and you will see for yourself what I am talking about.

So there you have it, a few of the many reasons why Yoga is so popular and with good cause. Now to improve your fitness levels beyond your imagination, why not incorporate a little bit (or heck a whole lot) of Yoga. Trust me, your body will be glad you did.

Discover proven ways of attaining improved health with the all-natural methods of a proper diet, Yoga and positive thinking. For additional information on yoga for fitness and healthy living go to: http://www.bodyhealthsoul.com

Foras Aje is an independent health researcher and founder of Bodyhealthsoul.com. For more Yoga tips and information on Yoga for beginners, feel free to stop by his website today.