Yoga for Fatigue

For my blog this week, I read an article about yoga and fatigue. I have currently been suffering from fatigue and can not seem to get enough sleep or have enough energy to get through the day. The article gives tips on some basic poses that can help with fatigue. The first is Sun Salutation or Surya Namaskara. Sun Salutation is a series of poses meant to warm you up and establish a link between your movement an breath. It consists of starting in mountain pose, bringing your arms up to the sky then bending down into a forward fold. From here you step back into a plank, then lower yourself and move into upward facing dog. You then move into downward facing dog. Next bend your knees and step forward into a forward fold. Finally lift halfway up, move back into forward fold, then lift all the way up with your hands towards the sky and bring your hands to your heart. Sun Salutation can be repeated as many times as needed.
The article also explains that forward fold pose, fish pose, and headstands help with fatigue. Fish pose is a pose I have not currently done but it sounds very interesting. To start fish pose, you first lay on your back with bent knees and your arms at your side. You then arch your back and raise it off the ground while pressing down your elbows. The head is then tilted back to rest on the floor. This pose seems like it would be great at opening up your back and diaphragm.
For this next week, I am going to try and do these poses once a day and see if they help with my fatigue.

 http://www.organicauthority.com/health/yoga-for-fatigue.html

Benefits of Headstands/Shoulder stands

For my blog this week, I read an article about headstands and shoulder stands. There area many benefits associated with these two positions. When practicing these positions, your body is inverted. Inversion increases blood flow to your brain and heart.




There are many benefits to practicing shoulder stands, which include curing colds and nasal disturbances, soothing nerves, strengthening upper body, legs, and abdomen,  and stretching neck/shoulder/back muscles. The benefits to practicing headstands include ensuring proper blood flow, rejuvenating thinking power, strengthening spine/neck/shoulder/arm muscles, and relieving colds, coughs, tonsillitis, bad breath, and palpitations. Practicing both positions daily "brings health and vitality to the body while calming and soothing the mind and spirit.

http://www.sunandmoonstudio.com/Articles/headstand.html

Warrior II Pose

 The three warrior poses were made to represent the warrior Virabhadra. Virabhadra, according to Hindu mythology, was a warrior created by a lord named Shiva. Shiva had married the daughter of his enemy. Shiva's enemy, Daksha, never approved of the marriage and there was always animosity between Shiva and Daksha. Shiva's wife, Sati, killed herself because of the fighting between her husband and her father. Shiva was so distraught by his wife's death that he created the fiercest warrior to destroy those who had caused the death of Sati.

 

 The warrior II pose has many benefits. One benefit is that it stretches your hips, groins, and shoulders. Other benefits are that it opens your chest and lungs, it builds stamina and concentration, it energizes tired limbs, helps relieve backaches, and improves circulation and respiration.

http://www.cnyhealingarts.com/2011/06/01/the-health-benefits-of-virabhadrasana-ii-warrior-ii-pose/

Yoga and Skiing

Today I went skiing for the first time. Yay!!!! This made me wonder if yoga can help you ski better. The article I read about skiing and yoga explains that yoga can help by helping with injury prevention. The article explains that skiing can be very hard on your knees. This is because your knees absorb most of the impact from terrain on downhills runs. The knees take even more of the force if your gluteus, quadriceps, and back muscles are weak because these are the muscles that provide the power for skiing. In order to reduce the stress to knees, you can do poses that lengthen and strengthen the four sides of your upper leg. The article also explains that skiers need to have an awareness of their core and center, like in yoga. This allows a skier to turn efficiently and have quick reactions to unexpected situations.
Certain yoga poses can also help with proper ski form. For example, when skiing, your feet should be shoulder-width apart like in Mountain Pose, your knees should be in line with your toes like in Chair Pose, and your shoulders should be dropped/relaxed like Tadasana.
This article has been very helpful and I am going to try these tips for injury prevention and ski form next time I go skiing!

http://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/206

Yoga and Strength Training

For my blog this week, I read an article explaining the debate between practicing yoga and strength training. The article explains that when you want to build muscle strength and mass, strength training is better. This is because when you practice yoga, you are limited to your own body weight. When you practice strength training, you can increase the amount of weight you use. Strength training is also better for preventing bone loss by practicing resistance training that helps bones become stronger by causing the muscles and tenons to pull on the bones. This stimulates the bone cells to produce more bone. Overall, the article explains that neither practice is better for overall fitness. The best thing to do is combine the practices. Strength training will strengthen the body and boost your metabolism while yoga will keep your body flexible and keep your mind calm.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/fitness/Is-yoga-better-than-strength-training/articleshow/11079545.cms

Yin Yoga

Last week in class we did yin yoga. It was a very interesting experience. I felt as if it was a mix between meditation and holding yoga poses. I really like the experience and now want to learn more about yin yoga, so more my blog this week I read an article explaining the basic concepts of this practice.
Yin Yoga is a meditative approach to yoga that focuses on accessing deeper tissues, like the connective tissues and fascia. It also focuses on areas in the body where there are joints, like the hips and spine. When we did yin yoga in class the other day, we focused on stretching out the hips. I had not realized how tight my hips were until we held these positions. I have been doing a couple of the positions we did in class at home this past week in order to become more flexible in my hips.
The article explains how this practice allows you to become more intimate with your emotions and sensations. This practice also helps you learn to accept what is happening in life because it makes you sit still in uncomfortable positions for long periods of times. Doing this asks you to learn to accept what is in that given moment.
After learning more about Yin Yoga, I am even more interested in it and plan to practice it more outside of class.

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-5037/Yin-Yoga-101-What-You-Need-to-Know.html

Yoga for Your Feet

Throughout my life if have suffered from foot problem that ranged from plantar fasciitis to tendinitis. For my blog this week, I have found an article explaining how yoga can help with these types of foot pain. The article explains that yoga can help strengthen the muscles in your feet and help heal  inflammation.
The article also explains some techniques to use when your are doing yoga in order to decrease foot pain. These include, working the toes, making sure to be square and to distribute your weight across your feet, and make sure to do poses that stretch and strengthen your feet. Theses poses include downward-facing dog and hero pose with the toes tucked under.
Overall this was a very interesting article. I am looking forward to trying some of these techniques to see if they help with my foot pain.

http://www.yogajournal.com/health/2292