Complete Guide to Pilates, Yoga, Meditation Stress Relief

Parragon Publishing

ISBN 1-4542-216-5

The first excerpt for today’s post is from the Complete Guide and is about deep breathing which is the primary emotional technique to gain control of your emotions.

“Yogic breathing, or pranayama, revitalizes the entire body, balances the emotions, and promotes clarity of mind. All the breathing exercises described here are performed sitting down, keeping the spine, neck, and head in a straight line. This will facilitate the flow of prana and create the space for the lungs to expand more fully.”

1) “Sit cross-legged (sitting on a cushion relieves tension in the lower back and knees). Place one hand on the rib cage, the other on the abdomen. Keep your back straight and shoulders relaxed.

2) Make sure that you breathe through your nose with your mouth closed. Inhale slowly, feeling the abdomen expanding first, then the rib cage, and finally feel the air filling the entire chest area.

3) As you exhale, the air will lave the lower lungs first, then the rib cage, and lastly the chest. Check that you fill your entire lungs with air and that your breathing is slow, rhythmic, and deep.”

Stress Control for Peace of Mind

Linda Wasmer Andrews

ISBN 0-7607-6468-9

Stress Control has two breathing exercises that you may use.

“Side-to-side breathing:

1) Sit in a comfortable position. Fold the pointer and middle fingers of your right hand into your palm. Inhale deeply.

2) Press your thumb against the right side of your nose, closing off your right nostril. First exhale and then inhale slowly through your left nostril.

3) Release your thumb, and press your ring and pinkie against the left side of your nose, closing off your left nostril. First exhale and then inhale slowly through your right nostril.

4) Repeat steps 2 through 3 several times as you focus on the breath going in and out.”

“Spine-tingling breathing:

1) Sit in a comfortable position. Close your eyes, and bring your attention to the base of your spine.

2) Inhale slowly and deeply. As you do, draw your awareness up your spinal cord-up your back, then up your neck, and finally to your brain.

3) Inhale slowly. As you do, draw your awareness back down your spinal cord to the base of your spine.

4) Repeat Steps 2 through 3 several times.”

“Hatha yoga is a meditation program that includes exercises to help improve flexibility and breathing, decrease stress, and maintain health. Yoga has been practiced for thousands of years in India and is based on the idea that the mind and body are one. It is thought that yoga improves health by improving how you see the world, which calms the spirit and decreases stress.”

“Two basic components of Hatha yoga are proper breathing and exercises, called postures, that stretch the body. Postures are done while standing, lying down, sitting in a chair, or in a headstand position. While practicing a posture, a person does breathing exercises to help relax muscles, maintain the posture, and focus the mind.”

“Hatha is one of many types of yoga. While each type focuses on different aspects of yoga, all share the same goal, which is not only improved physical and mental health, but achievement of “oneness” with a higher being, the self, or some form of higher awareness.”

“What is yoga used for?”

“Most people who try yoga for meditation find that it increases flexibility and reduces stress. Several studies have shown that yoga helps lower blood pressure and improves a person’s sense of well-being. Studies have also shown that yoga can help people who have asthma learn to breathe more easily. If you suffer from a long-term (chronic) medical condition, you can often combine yoga and conventional medical treatment.”

“Is yoga safe?”

“Yoga is considered safe.”

“Always tell your health professional if you are using an alternative therapy or if you are thinking about combining an alternative therapy with your conventional medical treatment. It may not be safe to forgo your conventional medical treatment and rely only on an alternative therapy.”

“Like any physical activity, yoga can cause muscle strains or sprains. Gentle stretching before a yoga session can help prevent injuries.”

The author for the above information is Paul Lehnert.

Yoga requires very little room to practice-just room for your body on the floor. You may choose to use a yoga mat. A site that has great variety in yoga mats and meditation products, matsmatsmats, also has a catalog that you can download.

A short glossary of the basic yoga poses, abc-of-yoga, will help you to get started with the basic poses. This extensive site may be all that is needed for your yoga education. It gives information about yoga and meditation, health, exercise, postures, equipment, and tools. It also has a members site and a links directory.

One of the best sections on this site is under “yoga exercises and postures” as it lists the yoga exercises under these sections;(1) warm-up poses, (2) standing poses, (3) seated poses, (4) twist yoga poses, (5) supine poses, (6) inverted postures and balance poses, (7) backbends, and (8) finishing poses. I especially like their warning that yoga is not a competition but a way to learn to relax.

Some of the best yoga products are for sale at Gaiam which is a lifestyle company with ideas and products for mind-body fitness, solar living, apparel, home and outdoors, wellness, and DVDs (and audio and books).

The Yoga Site has a directory of yoga retreats across the US, Canada, Central/South America and the Caribbean, Europe, and Australia.

Wai Lana has weekly asanas (exercises) with a video to learn that week’s pose. Flickr has many pages of yoga poses.

My favorite yoga CDs are: (1) Sara Ivanhoe’s 20 minute yoga makeover (ISBN 1-59443-546-4) and (2) You Can Do! Yoga (ISBN 0-7662-1904-6).