Restorative Yoga Benefits for Mothers

05/07/2023 Leave a comment

Yoga can provide mothers with obvious and unexpected benefits for the mind, body, and spirit. One of the main reasons every mom should do yoga is that it offers them emotional and physical balance and self-acceptance. There are several different types of yoga, but today, we will focus on restorative yoga.

What is restorative yoga? It’s a therapeutic style of yoga that revolves around using props in order to get into certain poses in an easier way, thus enabling you to completely surrender to the pose. This practice is not physically challenging and doesn’t require you to switch from one position to another quickly, but rather encourages you to stay in a certain pose for an extended time period.

This form of yoga will encourage busy moms to slow down, heal, and reflect. Instead of focusing on physically challenging poses, restorative yoga emphasizes simple stretches. You will learn to practice stillness, center your breath and body, and hold certain poses for extended periods. Staying in a certain pose for as long as you are comfortable will help you achieve a state of relaxation.

Like any type of yoga, you can choose to work either your entire body or a specific area. You can achieve restorative yoga poses by using many different props, such as pillows, blankets, chairs, straps, blocks, and bolsters. By using these props, you’ll allow your body to relax and stretch with support.

Restorative yoga isn’t as popular as other yoga techniques since most people opt for something more physically challenging. Nevertheless, restorative yoga is far from easy (even though it might not look that way) and offers many different health benefits.

Aids Weight Loss

You might be thinking that there’s no way restorative yoga could help you lose weight since it isn’t an aerobic style of yoga, such as the fast-paced vinyasa flow. Or maybe you’ve learned that you can lose weight only by taking part in strenuous exercise and keeping a healthy diet. Although this is true, there are other ways to lose weight effectively. By practicing one of the calmest forms of yoga, you can lose significant weight by reducing the stress hormone cortisol, which is associated with too much stress and excess belly fat. The National Institutes of Health study, led by researcher Maria G. Araneta, PhD, MPH, of the University of California, San Diego, found that it also helps people get rid of subcutaneous fat.

Restorative Yoga for Menopause

Restorative yoga will help reduce the effect of hormonal changes associated with menopause by balancing your endocrine system. Your poses in a therapeutic yoga class will stimulate all your body’s organs, glands, tissues, and cells, significantly affecting your neuroendocrine system. As a result, it will also increase oxygenated blood flow to the glands in your head and neck.

Calm the Nervous System

Stress and anxiety cause our nervous system to move into fight or flight mode. On the other hand, restorative yoga can help bring back balance and calm to the nervous system. Practicing simple yoga stretches for just an hour a day will trigger the parasympathetic nervous system and get your body into a more balanced rest and digest state. You should feel a sense of calmness and rejuvenation when finished.

Increase Flexibility

Yoga is probably best known for increasing flexibility. However, restorative yoga isn’t about how bendy you can get, like some of the other more popular forms of yoga. Instead, it focuses on simply teaching you how to release tension in your body, especially in tight areas. Because of this, restorative yoga may be the fastest way for you to learn how to increase your flexibility.

Injury and Illness Recovery

Restorative yoga is excellent for all people recovering from a particular illness or who are partially immobile and unable to take part in more strenuous workouts. This form of yoga allows people with depleted strength and low energy levels to enjoy some exercise. Engaging in this form of exercise will help you become more active. You’ll also experience a faster recovery, seeing how restorative yoga will help you rest, relax, and fight stress.

Restorative Yoga for Women with Breast or Ovarian Cancer

According to a study published by the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, restorative yoga may help slow down the development of breast and ovarian cancer in patients suffering from these conditions.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18544284

Strengthen Mind and Body

By strengthening your mind-body connection, you’ll deepen your self-awareness and introspection and experience a heightened body awareness. With a solid mind-body connection, you’ll be able to access certain parts of your body and relieve those areas of tension very quickly.

Try these 7 easy-to-follow poses to relax the mind and body:

Restorative Yoga Sequence to Relax the Mind and Body – Yoga Rove

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4 Benefits of Adding Yoga and Pilates to Your Workout Routine

09/21/2017 Leave a comment

Photo credit: Ms Sarah Welch (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

So, you already have a workout routine that is working pretty well for you. You are getting in your cardio and your weight training, but you would like to focus more on full body flexibility, balance, and alleviate some posture issues. Or, maybe you need to find better ways to manage stress and increase your overall sense of well-being. One way to achieve these goals is to add yoga and Pilates to your workout routine. If you aren’t sure this will work for you, consider these benefits.

1. Leaner Muscle

If you are looking for the fastest path to long, lean muscles, then adding Pilates and yoga elements to your overall workout routine is a great choice. Both disciplines involve long periods of sustained stretching, which open up those muscle fibers and help your muscles achieve their maximum natural length, in addition to enhancing your strength, agility, range of motion, and flexibility.

2. Increased Flexibility

One of the obvious benefits of an effective yoga stretching routine is increased flexibility. Regular stretching can improve circulation, prevent injury, and increase range of motion in your ligaments and muscles. Poor posture is also a big problem for many people, which is usually caused by tight lower back muscles. The best approach is to combine both yoga and Pilates to correct those imbalances. Both disciplines are very effective for developing core strength, teaching proper alignment, improving posture awareness, and increasing range of motion.

3. Body Awareness

Body awareness is an integral part of yoga and Pilates. You learn how to be more mindful and aware of your body. You gain a better sense of the position of different body parts and how those parts work together, which is called proprioception. Touching your nose with your index fingers while closing your eyes is one example. Your mind knows where certain body parts are so you don’t always need your eyes to find them. For example, being able to walk in complete darkness without losing your balance. So, as you continue to develop this ability, your relationship with each individual body part and where they exist in space will be enhanced. Some additional benefits include better sleep, less stress and anxiety, and a greater sense of peace.

4. Meditation

Yoga and Pilates also brings in meditation to your daily workout and workout plan, which can help you maintain a state of calm and centered in times of stress. Practicing meditation on a daily basis can also help you work through problems and issues that you normally would not think of during your normal workout. Overall, this can be a huge benefit if you are overly stressed and concerned about your stress levels during your day.

By keeping these benefits in mind, you can begin to look through the large number of yoga and Pilates styles to find the ones that work best for you and your lifestyle. Remember, there are many styles like Barre that combine yoga and Pilates to maximize your time and effort.

 

 

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Benefits of Yoga

05/09/2012 1 Comment

Photo Credit: Yoga4Love Public Domain
Yoga is an excellent way to calm your mind, stretch your muscles and improve your level of fitness. Some people envision bodies contorted like pretzels when they think about yoga. Yoga is a great way to stretch all the muscles of your body, improve your range of motion and get a good non-aerobic workout. Stretching your muscles releases stored lactic acid from the muscle tissues that causes stiffness, soreness and tension in your muscles. There are different styles of yoga each designed for different outcomes. Power yoga, called ashtanga, is a vigorous style of exercise that will improve your muscle tone. Iyengar style yoga focuses on precise poses that improve strength and endurance. Standing positions can improve the strength in your legs and abdominal muscles as well as improve balance. 
Yoga helps improve your posture. Standing and sitting positions help to strengthen your core and your back muscles. Holding yoga poses strengthens the abdominal and back muscles. Stronger core muscles helps you to maintain good posture throughout the day whether you are sitting, standing or walking. The more you practice yoga poses, the more aware you become of your body and your posture. You are less likely to slump when sitting and to stand up straight because of increased body awareness.
Deep breathing exercises when doing yoga can improve your lung capacity. Deeper breathing increases the oxygen in your blood, which can improve your performance and endurance when doing more strenuous exercise. Deep breathing yoga exercises also helps you to relax by reducing the amount of adrenalin in your body. 

People who suffer from neck, spine, and shoulder injuries should not do yoga or any other stretching exercise without a doctor’s approval. Those who suffer from osteoporosis and pregnant women should also avoid yoga exercises. See your doctor before beginning a yoga program. Don’t try to do yoga on your own. Find a qualified yoga fitness instructor so that you learn the proper way to perform yoga poses and stretches. 

Filed under breathing, flexibility, strength, stretching, yoga

Social Fitness

04/18/2012 Leave a comment

Photo Credit: www.localfitness.com.au
Do you exercise alone at home or at the gym? Sometimes belonging to a group of like-minded people can be a great motivator. Friendly competitions or simply sharing time with others can make exercise more enjoyable, strengthen friendships and increase your social circle. How can you engage your current friends and find new friends through exercise? Here are a few tips to help you get started:
Communities across the USA are starting walking groups. Join a local walking group to make new friends. Start your own walking group if you can’t find one in your area. Recruit current friends, family and co-workers. Encourage them to bring someone with them, too. Schedule walks when the most people can join in the fun and exercise. Choose start locations that are convenient to the majority of the group and have fun!
Take a dance class for the aerobic exercise and to make new friends. Dancing, like ballroom dancing or Salsa dancing, is a low-impact form of exercise that is effective and fun! You can probably find a dance class close to your home. You don’t have to have a dance partner to join a class. There are almost always partners ready to dance with you. Line dancing is a popular dance style and doesn’t require a partner. You’re sure to make new friends and get a good workout at a dance class. 
Most gyms offer group exercise opportunities, such as yoga, martial arts, Pilates and dance aerobics classes.  Join an exercise group at your local fitness center or gym to make friends and get fit at the same time. Those who need a more personal touch when it comes to exercise may consider a small-group exercise class offered by certified personal trainers. Personal trainers sometimes offer group training with 10 or fewer participants in the group. 

Filed under aerobic exercise, exercise, fitness, walk, walking, workouts, yoga