power yoga

Which Type of Yoga Works Best?

If you have not tried it before then you might be confused by the many differing varieties of Yoga practices that are available. Before deciding which sort of exercise is right for you it is an excellent idea to attend a class of each style that interests you so you can try out each style to find out which you like. Here is a quick overview of the most well liked of Yoga to help you get started:

Hatha Yoga - This is by a large margin the most typical kind of exercise practiced in the West. Hatha is a slow paced practice that is focused on both mind and body. If you’re just starting you will possibly find Hatha Yoga to be the most fitting.

Vinyasa - Vinyasa is a sort of Yoga practice that focuses on the breath and how respiring is affecting your body and mind. The physical practice of Vinyasa is more active than the physical practice of Hatha Yoga

If you’re looking for a yoga practice which may supply a good aerobic session then Asthenga Yoga is the best choice for you.

Iyengar - Iyengar Yoga is the best exercise practice for folks who have old injuries or prolonged sicknesses and wish to start a Yoga practice which will help them become more flexible and agile and will help them heal.

Kundalini - Kundalini Yoga is targeted essentially on the breath and its effect on energy. This focuses often on fast, repeated movements rather than on drawn out poses. There’s also plenty of reflection practiced in Kundalini Yoga.

Yoga is an ancient way, practiced for thousands of years, steeped in tradition and, to most people, a mysterious enigma. When practitioners would speak of the many benefits they had experienced in both mental and physical health, yoga would seem to be both a perfect practice, or one whose claims were impossible to believe.

practitioners of yoga, or yogis/yogins (yogini for the ladies) would speak of the unification of mind, spirit, and body. The belief was that when these were brought into balance the persons mental and physical health would improve. The word “harmony” would be heard a lot, as would be “healing”, again, applied both to the body and the mind.

Until recently, you could only go by what someone who had personal experience could tell you. There was a reasonable amount of skepticism that yoga could actually be as beneficial to your mental and physical health as its proponents claimed.

However, in the last few years, scientific study, observation, and measurement have proven that yoga can indeed have specific observable affects on your health. It has been shown that body, mind, and spirit do work together and when the effective level of each is raised, the person experiences a much better life in terms of health, happiness, and harmony within himself or herself and with the world in general.

An article published by Johns Hopkins states:

“Over 75 scientific trials have been published on yoga in major medical journals. These studies have shown that yoga is a safe and effective way to increase physical activity that also has important psychological benefits due to its meditative nature.”

In our modern society, we are likely to look at yoga first as an “exercise program”. As with any good exercise program, yoga can increase muscle strength and respiratory endurance, improve flexibility, and promote balance. It also tends to lessen pain in those afflicted with arthritis and helps to increase energy levels in those who practice it.

Yogis and yogins also have long reported increases in what might be called positive mental states, along with decreases in negative mental states. They tend to report a greater level of optimism, a renewed or improved enthusiasm for life, and a higher sense of alertness and awareness of themselves and the world and people around them. They have also reported decreased levels of aggressiveness, anxiety, and excitability, as well as lowered levels of physical complaints and illnesses.

Scientific observation and testing is now bearing out what practitioners have been saying for years. Studies on the biological, psychological, and biochemical aspects of yoga have shown a wide range of positive results for most who take up the practice of yoga.

When practiced over time, yoga tends to level pulse rate, stabilize the nervous system, normalize stomach and digestive activity, level hormones, and increase joint range of motion. It increases energy, endurance, immunity, and cardiovascular efficiency. It improves eye-hand coordination, reaction time, dexterity, and helps the person to get more restful and restorative sleep.

Yoga also seems to have psychological benefits as well. practitioners and those who study them report that it helps you become more aware of your body, accept yourself more readily, improve your concentration, memory, learning and mood.

Additional benefits of yoga as compared to other exercise programs is that it massages internal organs in a way that other programs do not, and produces a detoxifying effect. Some speculate that this may lead to delaying aging.

Finally, yoga can be practiced almost anywhere, anytime, by anyone, and requires no special equipment. It does not even require special training! While having an expert teach you personally would be best, a careful reading of books on the subject and a DVD or two can get you started. However, our modern citizens tend to throw themselves headfirst into new projects. Not only is this completely opposite from the philosophy and aims of yoga, but it can invite injury and strain. The people in the books and DVD’s have been doing yoga for years. It is highly unlikely that you will immediately be able to duplicate their ability to achieve the positions they demonstrate. Just do the best you can, and then do it again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day…

As always, before beginning any physical fitness program, check with your doctor first to make sure it is okay for you to start. Once started, however, be aware that there are people in their 70s, 80s and 90s doing yoga. You will not be alone.

The author is retired from the Army after 21 years of service, has worked as an accountant, optical lab manager, restaurant manager, and instructor. He has been a member of Mensa for several years, and has written and published poetry, essays, and articles on various subjects for the last 40 years. He developed an interest in health and fitness in the ’70s after reading numerous books, including Dr. Kenneth Cooper’s “Aerobics”. This has led him to continue his personal research into health and fitness for over 30 years, and to pursue course work on health and fitness, including yoga, which he practices regularly. Learn more about Yoga. Articles on Diet and Weight Loss.

The yoga practice acts as a therapeutic tool to heal the body and the mind. When you practice yoga regularly, the numerous health benefits become apparent. The yoga postures (asanas), breathing exercises (pranayama), and meditation come together to yield a large number of physiological and psychological changes:

Physiological Benefits of Yoga

* increases muscle flexibility and joint range of motion

* increases muscular strength, endurance, and joint stability

* improves posture, steadiness, coordination, and balance

* decreases joint and back pain

* increases immunity

* improves sleep and increases energy levels

* decreases heart rate and increase cardiovascular efficiency

* decreases respiratory rate and improves respiratory efficiency

* reduces high blood pressure

* improves digestion and normalizes gastrointestinal function

* improves excretory functions and reduces constipation and Irritable Bowel Syndrome

* improves flow of lymphatic system, thus helps in removal of toxins

* normalizes endocrine (hormone) function

* normalizes weight and body composition

* increases bone density and decreases onset of osteoporosis

* decreases blood sugar levels

* decreases sodium

* decreases total cholesterol

* increases HDL (good) cholesterol /decreases LDL and VLDL (bad) cholesterol

* decreases triglycerides

* increases grip strength
* EEG - alpha brain waves increase leading to a restful mental state

* brings autonomic nervous system to stable equilibrium

* improves dexterity, reaction time, and depth perception

* increases Galvanic Skin Response (GSR)

Psychological Benefits of Yoga

* improves concentration and attention

* decreases anxiety, internal stress and depression

* improves mood and sense of well-being

* increases self-acceptance and self-actualization

* improves learning efficiency and memory

* increases somatic and kinesthetic awareness (body/mind connection)

* decreases aggression and hostility

* increases social skills

* improves depth perception

God is comfortable with questions. Throughout the Bible, both the Old and New Testament, we find even the mightiest men and women of the faith asking questions. However, to many observers, Christianity has been diminished to a mindless religion occupied with following rules and holding to blind faith. God simply is not calling the world to this kind of acceptance of who HE is.

Fully engaging the idea of knowing and deeply connecting to God is recognizing “that faith and inquiry are inseparable.”1 Theology is a manifestation of walking as a Christian; awakened to the realization that he/she is free from the bondage of sin and responsible to search out and examine the faith he/she ascribes to in God. A Christian should desire a deeper understanding of who God is and how God reveals Himself to the world through Jesus Christ and how He continues His presence in the world through the indwelling Holy Spirit, recognizing that fully grasping the richness of the most important event in the life of the world will never be fully attained. Theology is not meant to merely become a regurgitation of traditional ideas on the doctrines of the faith. A Christian searches deeper into the expressed truth within the words of Church history for what God may wish to reveal in the age in which he/she find himself/herself. The spirit of theology is “interrogative rather than doctrinaire; it presupposes a readiness to question and to be questioned.”2

To be a Christian simply means to come to the foundational questions of the faith and work through what it means to ascribe to the ideas of Christianity. At the core of all that a Christian knows and from where the outpouring of how he/she lives burst forth, Christians begin to look at Jesus, “the author and perfector of our faith”.3 Followers look to Him to enchant, delight and remind them that it is in Him they “live and move and have {their} being”.4 Let’s reexamine the good news of who Jesus is? What did He do? And Why does it matter?

Author’s Presuppositions Have you noticed that there is something about the name of Jesus? There is almost a hesitation to say the name in mixed company for fear that a nice evening might suddenly turn ugly. Where does this hostility come from? Why is it that this person in history evokes such strong responses? As a Christian, I must disclose my bias in that there is something about the name of Jesus that has caused me to radically change inside and out. When I initially understood His identity, I started getting my life straight as far as cutting out those things that maybe we all know are not so good for us and this gave me an excuse to finally let it all go.

When I continued to walk with Him, I found myself letting go of things that might not have been perceived as necessarily harmful but just were not good for me. But then one day I realized that I was not just watching a list of dos and don’ts and gauging my worth in God’s eyes based on how I was measuring up. Suddenly I really got that Jesus was not just about simply cleaning up my sin problem. I found my heart beat for Him, my soul thirst for Him, my existence was all wrapped up in my finally getting that He loved me fully and wanted to have an very personal relationship with me. So it is from this bias that I begin to unpack someone which cannot be fully captured in a few pages. Yet my desire is that you will recognize something about yourself that is lacking that is completely contained in Jesus.

Who is Jesus? Jesus is the Son of God. He is fully human and fully God. Fully human meaning that He is a flesh and blood human being, like us physically, emotionally, mentally. Yet unlike us in that He came into the world by way of a virgin birth, a supernatural collaboration between a female virgin and the Holy Spirit, God’s representative working in the world today. Also unlike us, He walked the earth without disobeying God in any way, shape or form. When Jesus is referred to as fully human, “the claim is not simply that he is a human being but that He is the norm and promise of a new humanity in relation to God and to one another.”5

Let’s be clear. The full humanity of Jesus is not seen in his gender, somehow projecting a lesser connection to women than to men. The fullness of who God is portrayed in this man comes from his “shocking love and his prophetic criticism” aimed at the powers of the world and those who held the religious reins.6 Additionally, the way Jesus walked in freedom in His relationship with God the Father and with the disenfranchised in the world made all who had access to Him whether directly or indirectly take notice. Throughout the gospel stories within Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, we watch in wonder at Jesus’ consistent and unhindered love toward the Father and toward all people. And this love for people was not simply for the people within his social circle. His aim was (and still is) to bring the rich and the poor together, the strong and the weak in tandem, the young and the old into appreciation of one another. Migliore comments, “This alone makes the life and death of Jesus a radiant expression of the eternally, self giving, other affirming, community forming love of the triune God.”7

1Migliore, 147. 2Ibid., 147. 3Ibid., 148

Now let’s move back a bit to the word “gospel”. One could define gospel as the “the good news” and to be sure Jesus is in fact the good news from God. But think about that for a moment. Jesus himself is the good news. What does that mean? Simply put, the good news is that God Himself came into the world in the person Jesus Christ. The gospel does not “introduce an idea but a person.”8 The gospel is Jesus living and active in the world exhibiting and experiencing the emotions and experiences as we do, present and available to all the joy and heartache which we experience whose heart soared and despaired for those things that God the Father rejoiced and hurt for in the world, who died and is now alive. The only way that we can really know what God is like is to look to Jesus because it is in Jesus that “God is most fully revealed and known.”9

What Did He do? Jesus was scandalous in his engagement with the outcast and the underprivileged of the world. Having a grasp of the inner motives of the religious people and self proclaimed gatekeepers of the knowledge of God, Jesus walked around in his surroundings with an agenda to turn over tables to reveal the true heart of God for the world. Jesus’ ministry and words “transgressed the supposed boundaries of God’s grace and thus shocked the sensibilities of the guardians of religious tradition.”10 You might hear the “person” of Christ and the “work” of Christ referred to in relation to one another. I would like to unpack that a bit. What I do and who I am are no doubt intertwined. The same is true for Jesus. As you read through the gospels, pay attention to what he is doing and what he is saying because those two things must indeed compliment one another. If we find discrepancies, the whole of what God is attempting to reveal about Himself comes into question. Identity comes together in the history of a person; his/her life story. Additionally, if Jesus’ credentials come into question as far as whether or not He is both God and Human simultaneously, He cannot mediate the relationship between human beings and God the Father which means there is still no way to enter into a relationship with God because sin still separates us.

Again the purpose of Jesus coming into the world as a human being is not simply to rescue us out of the pain and the destruction of sin. In Jesus, not only does God bring forgiveness, but also “liberation, reconciliation and new life to the world.”11 This man blessed the poor, ate with the outcasts, befriended women, challenged the self righteous and stirred up the Roman authorities to the point where the latter two groups continuously attempted to find a means to silence his message. He did not simply come up against sinful individuals but sinful corporate structures that continue to oppress and silence the underprivileged of the world today. When we hear talk from Jesus about offering abundant life and freedom He is speaking to more than isolated persons coming into relationship with God. Jesus is setting the stage for a new world order built at the core by the grace and righteousness of God that can now live on the inside of a human being through the Holy Spirit as he/she chooses to let his/her life flow through the mindset of Jesus.

8Thomas C. Oden, The Word of Life: Systematic Theology Volume Two (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1992), 11. 9Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1998), 752. 10Migliore, 146. 11Ibid., 142. HY Theology Page 3 Holy Yoga Theology 12Oden, 20. 13Migliore, 160. 14Oden, 35.

So what did Jesus do? He walked on the Earth, died on a cross and now lives which serves as proof that sin and death no longer have to oppress a human being. This death and living again (referred to as the resurrection) is “key to the work of Christ.”12 So how does this translate to good news for all people, rich and poor, weak and strong, popular and outcast? Migliore states,

“The message of the cross has nothing to do with resignation to the forces of violence and nothing to do with the spirit of revenge. Wherever the cross of Christ is rightly preached and heard, the deadly circle of violence and counter violence is broken, and the rule of violence begins to yield to a new world of compassion and solidarity.”13

As we begin to experience a relationship with God as He intended, the changes begin to make inroads into our hearts, transforming our minds and bursting forth to be the transformation of humanity as God initially intended.

Why Does It Matter? Jesus is in the center of whatever it means to be a Christian. We can have discussions and agree to disagree on many things but this one thing, this one person cannot be a place of confusion. It is through Jesus Christ that God has chosen to give the world the opportunity to put back in place a relationship broken by sin. If God in Christ is not allowed to meet us in our misery, our loneliness and our disappointments and transform this life into self giving, other affirming and community creating, we have missed the essence of what it means to see the Kingdom of God in our presence. The point of Christianity is to be a witness in the world that through Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, we are allowed to see God present and active in pursuing the world to come back into relationship with its Creator. God has not simply spoken; He has acted in order to give an avenue in which this relationship can be restored.

This relationship can only be put back together through faith in Jesus Christ. When we look to the Bible to find out how this happens, this faith looks like more than a recognition that Jesus’ teaching is true or that He did indeed live and die and is now alive. The Bible tells us that the faith comes when we believe in Jesus; a person not simply the teaching. Oden states,

“Jesus was less concerned that his miracles be publicly celebrated than that they be inwardly recognized as embodying and attesting his divine mission and son ship. His ministry confronted every hearer with the same simple decision: are you ready to live in the presence of the coming governance of God?”14

Holy Yoga Theology Faith in who Jesus is and the ramifications of His work must cause some movement on the part of the hearer. The movement begins with an inner consent to walk in life in a way that understands the message of God’s kingdom in the world as displayed in the words and actions of Jesus Christ. Then it transitions to an outward movement where the world is affected by this decision. Those changes are cyclical with the stages and seasons of life experiences where each person is constantly being washed and renewed as he/she reads the Bible, dialogues with other believers, and lives and loves in this world. People change as they are challenged to examine inwardly and then become the change affecting world systems and family systems and personal demons. Only then can the world see the manifestation of what it means that in Jesus we live and we move and we have our being.

One positive that has resulted from our troubled economical climate is a sense of increased awareness. Many people are starting to look closer at their bank accounts to see where their money is going and looking for ways to save on expenses. As a result, a common renovation these days is the addition of an in-home gym. Not only do you save the monthly club fee, but also the extra gas and time spent going back and forth.

Along the same lines, and gaining in popularity, is the home yoga studio. Instead of trekking down to the neighborhood gym before and after work, just open the door to your own little studio, right in the comfort of your own home. Here are some ideas to help get you started setting up your own yoga space.

Find the perfect location: This can be as simple as transforming an extra bedroom or den, or using a portion of your existing rec room. If none of these options are available, you may consider renovating an attic or loft space over a garage. Whatever space you choose, it should be flat, have natural light and be fairly sound-proof.

Preparing your space: Remember, this is a place where you will be closing yourself off, and when you’re practicing you need to feel separate from the rest of the house. Completely rid your room of clutter and any distractions that may interfere with your ability to focus.

The floor should be completely level, and preferably composed of hardwood, bamboo, tile or cork. You should have enough room to stretch out 360 degrees without bumping into anything.

Paint your walls with a non-toxic paint in a pleasing color that is easy on the eyes and produces calming effects. Attach full-length mirrors to the walls, in direct view of where you will be practicing.

Allow natural light to flow in wherever possible, but have a dimmer on your light switch for those evening practices. Avoid harsh fluorescent lighting - it can be hard on your eyes and is not conducive to yoga practice.

Get yourself a small combo TV/DVD for your yoga tapes, and set it up in a place where it can be easily viewed without twisting. A small stereo is also handy for soothing background music.

If possible, allow for a separate temperature control in your yoga room, and keep it at a comfortable 75 to 85 degrees F to help keep your muscles warm and flexible. If you’re practicing hot yoga, you may want the temperature as high as 105 degrees F.

Depending on your preferences, here are some supplies you may want to keep on hand: yoga mat, blanket, towel and drinking water, candles, and meditation pillows.

Keep the room clean and stow these articles away in baskets or a cupboard. Decorations should be sparse and limited to objects that have special significance. You may want to include a couple of bamboo or other similar plants.

Above all, try not to use the room for anything other than its intended use. This is your sanctuary; the place where you set aside time just for your practice of yoga. In the end, your room should feel calm and inviting - the perfect escape for complete relaxation.

The beginning of yoga goes back 2,500 years and was introduced by Patanjali of who we owe a debt of gratitude for helping us all in our quest to maintain stability in mind spirit and soul. Most importantly it is the healthy outlook on life. (mentally/physically) it gives. Hot of the press, word has it this form of exercise has taken the world by storm and still continues to do so and will for a long time to come.

Believe it or not hot yoga is a type of exercise people are practicing on such a high scale that it is becoming a craze. Hot yoga is a combination of different poses carried out in a special heated room of which the temperature is normally between 95-100 degrees.
Think sauna - think perspiration when this routine is performed. Having a towel handy is a good idea to wipe your brow or other parts of the body that needs attention in absorbing sweat loss.

Light clothing like shorts to practice hot yoga will make your experience a more comfortable one, no winter wollies please they are not needed.
Involving your self in hot yoga is a fabulous way of cleansing the body and ridding any waste toxins on the inside.
Be sure to drink plenty of fluid (water) during lessons. Bring your own thermos or bottled mineral water, by doing this you can quench your thirst thus stemming off dehydration. Before taking part in hot yoga remember that it is not advisable to consume food at least two hours before. The reason being is you have nominated your body to take part in a strenuous workout.

Cholesterol and fat levels are lowered through sweat loss, so if slimming is on the agenda then it is certainly worth checking out the Bikram yoga method.

Moves and bodily posture movements differ greatly so choosing which class is for you could prove to be a problem. Do a little research or talk to a guru in the field of yoga who can advise you on what is best for your needs, whether it is a health matter, slim down or just to claim peace of mind.

Before enrolling in a hot yoga class make sure to delve more intimately into what it entails as it may not be your cup of tea unlike it is for others. Hot yoga can be exhausting but it does have its perks giving results. Your health is so very important thus making yoga a number one priority to be taken seriously to take claim of a fit mind body and soul.
Feeling good about your self is a step forward in leading a better life. Consult your doctor on any health concerns you may have before he points you in the right direction of easing your symptoms with a dose of yoga.

The hot yoga or the Bikram Yoga is discovered by a popular yoga instructor named Bikram Chaudhuri. He is also the teacher of the Yoga College of India, established by him. The yoga is to be performed in a heated room having a temperature ranging from 95 degree to 100 degree Celsius. This would help the individual to get rid of toxic substances from the body without experiencing injury. The body becomes flexible with well toned muscles on working out with yoga on a regular basis.

This form of yoga has earned a considerable degree of controversy as the inventor had to move to the court regarding the enforcement of copyrights on the various forms of the yogic postures of Bikram Yoga. Later on an agreement ensured that he would stop suing San Francisco based yoga instructors while his opponents would not make use of the word’ Bikram’ for teaching the science of yoga.

Requirements of Hot Yoga

The information may help you to learn certain tips and requirements while performing the hot yoga.

• You are recommended to use mats and towel while doing the yoga. You would be profusely sweating while working out and so you are advised to use a towel of your own.

• You are advised to drink ample water before and after the yoga session. During the time of yoga your body would flush out fluid contents of the body in the form of sweat. So, you should drink adequate water in order to avoid dehydration.

• In case you have decided to go for this yoga you must join a yoga institute who has been certified to teach the prescribed 26 poses of the hot yoga.

The yoga might not be suitable for pregnant ladies and while performing the act of yoga considerable amount of heat would be generated in the body and as a result of which the normal body temperature would increases to quite an extent.

Benefits of Hot Yoga

• The yoga helps you to work with deep muscles and tendons including of internal organs of the body.

• You would also be effectively healed from any form of chronic pain.

• The yoga helps in attaining a perfect weight. It would also keep you out of stress.

On trying out right poses one would be able to attain a balanced and a well composed mind. The capability to focus on a certain objective increases manifold and the ability to stay calm even during the time of stress.Hot Yoga

Yes it is true, the advantages that Bikram Yoga will give you can ultimately change your perspectives and change your whole life completely. Bikram yoga is also known as Bikram Method Yoga and sometimes called the ‘hot yoga’. This yoga method builds both your physical and mental strength and also improves your flexibility and balance, all of which are very important in your overall health.

Bikram yoga was founded by Bikram Choudhury and has roots from Hatha yoga, which helps to heal the mind and body. Bikram suffered an injury in a weightlifting accident and it was as a result of this injury that he developed this type of yoga. He discovered some healing benefits within some of the exercises he practised and then went on to share his discovery and Bikram yoga has since gone on to be practised by many, many people.

This type of yoga helps to bring holistic benefits to those who practise it and it is usually practised for its healing benefits. Many people have found that their ailments have reduced significantly after practising Bikram yoga for a a few weeks.

It does take some devotion to Bikram yoga to really get the full healing benefits from it. You can’t just do the poses once and expect to be healed, it is a process that takes time, but it is definitely worth doing and once you begin to feel the benefits you can continue to practise the method to maintain your health.

Bikram yoga helps to repair tissues and cure chronic ailments. This has been studied by scientists from the University of Tokyo and found to be true and it was stated that this method does have the ability to affect the body internally.

This method works by replenishing the cells and flushing toxins through our body. It also helps to oxygenate blood through our body helping to keep it clean and healthy. The method will be much more effective on a healthy body than it would on a body that is weak so it is beneficial to practise the method regularly to maintain that good health.

There are twenty six posture exercises in Bikram yoga which should be practised every day for optimum health. These focus on stretching muscles, tendons, nerves, glands, organs and ligaments.

Anyone of any age can practise Bikram yoga and will find that it could help to assist and perhaps even overcome some medical problems and I am sure that if you are devoted to your yoga practise you will enjoy a very healthy life.

We all breathe without even really thinking about it, but many of us don’t breathe to our full potential. We tend to breathe shallowly and quickly, and therefore don’t give our bodies as much oxygen as we could.

By learning to breath more effectively and fully we can increase our energy levels and general sense of wellbeing considerably.

But learning to breathe effectively is harder than it sounds - we are so used to breathing incorrectly and we don’t even think about it. We have to first become aware of our breathing patterns and then re-learn new patterns.

Much like fat loss already! We have to re-learn patterns and new habits in order to reap the rewards, such as increased energy and wellbeing.

If you try to focus too hard on your breathing, you can easily get light-headed and even feel like you are hyperventilating. This is because you are forcing a process that is designed to occur naturally. You end up over-doing it a bit and lose all the benefits.

Rather than focussing on both the inhale and exhale, it helps to simply focus on channelling the exhale, lengthening the breath out until your lungs are completely empty. You don’t have to force the inhale or even control it - the body’s reflex response is to initiate the inhale part of the process at this point. So you can exhale fully, relaxed in the knowledge that the inhale will take care of itself.

OK, I see you may be a little bit confused about where I am going with this one, so let me explain.

When we start on a fitness and diet programme, with the intention of shedding that extra weight, we often focus on the wrong part of the process. We are so fixated on the results that we get frustrated and may even forget to focus on the steps we need to take to get there.

It’s a far better approach, especially at the beginning, to almost forget about the results altogether!

The results, like the inhale, will happen naturally, so long as the rest of the process is happening. If you are effectively making changes to your diet and lifestyle and are exercising regularly and consistently, then you will lose body fat. If you are following a programme correctly, then you don’t need to worry about the outcome. You energies are far better directed at making sure you follow the programme as best you can.

When we overly fixate on the results we can easily become frustrated or despondent, feeling as though all our efforts are being wasted. You might not see a great difference straight away, and the difference you see each day will be negligible as the process of fat loss is a gradual one, so to follow it every step of the way is counter-productive. By keeping this side of the equation uppermost in your mind, you set yourself up for self-defeating and self-sabotaging thoughts, such as ‘it’s pointless, I’ve not lost any weight today after all my hard work yesterday, I might as well not bother’.

Even if you manage to avoid that kind of thinking, you will be making the whole process much more stressful than it needs to be.

However, if you direct your energy into doing all you can to enjoy your healthy eating plan, and giving all you’ve got to your training programme, you can relax and let the results come to you. You are putting in the work, consistently, and there is only one way you can go. This way you avoid the emotional rollercoaster that occurs when you live by the morning’s scale reading.

Not to say you shouldn’t monitor or track your results, however. I weigh myself every morning, and log it. But I keep my distance from the numbers on a daily basis, and use it to track the overall picture. The weight may go up one day for hormonal reasons, or after a carb overload, but so long as the trend is going the way I want it to then I know things are on track. If the weight is going up over a period of time, I know I need to adjust my approach. But the approach is the important thing to focus on! The scales just provide some feedback, which should also be combined with other feedback, such as the fit of your clothes and the tape measure.

Keep your vision in mind, remind yourself of your goals, but direct that towards the part you can change - the behaviours. The outcome is actually out of your hands - we can’t accurately predict how we will respond to a weight loss programme. We may not achieve our goal weight on the scales, but get to our perfect dress size instead.

By thinking about the results every second of the day you set yourself up for a lot of pointless stress and worrying! Focus your energy instead on exercising and eating right - and let the fat loss come to you, naturally.

During the course of a week, Yoga teachers may work with students who have a variety of physical ailments. Among those ailments are the many forms of heart disease and heart conditions. There are many differences, and many causes, of heart problems.

Some heart problems are caused by risk factors, such as: Lack of exercise, poor diet, smoking, obesity, and a combination of these conditions. At the same time, high stress levels and genetics can also play a role in poor heart health.

While physical forms of Yoga can change the lack of physical exercise factor, how can it be a remedy for all of the other factors mentioned? When looking into the personal histories of dedicated Yoga students, there is one common denominator: All of them make a commitment to a healthy lifestyle.

If a Yoga student has a poor diet, or smokes, but keeps practicing, he or she will eventually give up bad habits. If a student is obese, years of Yoga practice usually will change his or her approach to life and diet. Some people eat without thinking. Yoga teaches us to be mindful of every action.

In the case of stress levels being too high: Everyone has stress, but Yoga teaches students to cope and to think clearly. The job that sends you over the edge today may be the cause of your hyper-tension tomorrow. Knowing this, one might ask how much more can he, or she, take before the job becomes a health risk.

Yet, how could Hatha Yoga compensate for genetic heart conditions? No form of Yoga can change a lineage of heart disease, but a healthy lifestyle should be able to extend your life, beyond the age of relatives, in your bloodline. In this case, a strict vegetarian diet may be a matter of necessity.

There are some people who will never change their lifestyles; even if, they know the consequences. Doctors deal with this every day, and it can be discouraging. One of the greatest gifts of life is the ability to change for the better. Practicing Hatha Yoga does not require you to turn your life upside down, but you have the power to eliminate health risks by priority.

Luckily, Hatha Yoga gives you all the tools for clarity of thought. It is up to you to take action for your sake and for those who love you. Time spent meditating will give you rational thought and life-saving solutions. The physical postures will develop a body that is the best it can be. Yogic breathing techniques require time and practice, but the rewards are inner calm and a method for coping with high stress levels.

To maintain one’s heart is a matter of choice - even if our ancestors did not leave us the best of genetic score cards.