Yoga For Pregnant Women

Many pregnant women are suffering from symptoms like fatigue, weight gain, cramps, headaches, swelling, mood swings, cravings, and constipation. Pregnancy symptoms can really get you down. Many women are now turning to yoga to alleviate many of these annoying symptoms during their pregnancies. Yoga is also considered as a great exercise for the moms-to-be and provide their babies with the healthiest start.

For instance, yoga practice teaches techniques that will be helpful during labor, such as breathing and relieving tension around the cervix and birth canal. Additionally, prenatal physicians recommend combining a light cardiovascular exercise (like walking) with a relaxing, muscle-toning exercise (like yoga) to maintain your physique. Many physical benefits can be realized from practicing yoga during pregnancy.

Besides physical benefits, pregnant women can also have mental benefits by practicing yoga. For example, it can be a great support to meet other women who going through the same thing you are. Also, there is much emphasis on focusing on the moment and deriving happiness from each and every day, which can be vital when your hormones are not regulating properly. Yoga has been known to stimulate beta-endorphins, which can brings comfort and a sense of relief.

During the first trimester, standing poses help circulation, strengthen legs and increase energy. Avoid bikram yoga classes that use room that is heated for high temperature or any kind of back/belly/inverted positions. In the second and third trimesters, yoga for your pregnancy will include more sitting positions and breathing techniques.

Pregnancy Without Pounds

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Yoga and Meditation For Better Health

Many researchers now have a high interest in studying the healing effects of endorphins released during meditation and yoga. Endorphin is a natural painkiller, a substance in the brain that attaches to the same cell receptors that morphine does. This substance is believed to be able to cure many diseases such as asthma, ADHD, high blood pressure, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and cancer. "Ayudervedic healing," as it's called, has been in practice for over 5,000 years but didn't arrive in the United States until the 1970s. The healing is based on three areas - diet, herbs and meditation yoga - particularly "Sahaja Yoga."

Students who practice Sahaja Yoga will study the three vertical energy channels within the human body:

• the sun channel (governing our thought processes),
• the parasympathetic / nervous system channel (governing our body processes),
• the moon channel (governing our emotions).

In addition to these three channels, millions of chakras (translated from Sanskrit to mean "wheels" or energy centers) are swirling around us, keeping the channels in motion. Chakras can vary from religion to religion, but Sahaja Yoga focuses on several in its yoga and meditation: the crown chakra (pituitary gland / consciousness), the third eye chakra (pineal gland / sleep and awakening), the throat chakra (thyroid / growth and maturity), the heart chakra (thymus / stress and wellbeing), the solar plexus chakra (pancreas / digestion and energy), the sacral chakra (groin / sexuality and reproduction) and the root chakra (adrenal gland / basic fight or flight instincts and kundalini awakening).

Sahaja yoga and meditation has been taught worldwide since 1970. It's well known for treating ailments and diseases. To translate from Sanskrit, "Saha" means "spontaneous" and "ja" means "born within." Yoga, of course, means "union." The end goal is kundalini (or spiritual awakening), as well as a unity and collective awakening among people.

Yoga and meditation have been practiced for thousands of years. Today, there are many people can benefit from the healing effects and energy restoration of yoga and meditation. For the mother of three, an hour of tranquillity has calmed her nerves and boosted her spirits. For the man with intermittent explosive anger disorder, his emotions are now subdued and connected with something larger than himself. For the cancer patient and the arthritic elderly, yoga and meditation has relieved pain that hundreds of harmful prescription medications could not. The miracles of yoga and meditation are happening everywhere around the world.

Practice Yoga to Develop Patience

When you look at the list of virtues that Yoga embraces - patience is one of many. Yet, the development of patience, through the practice of Yoga, could change the quality of your life right away. Traffic jams, delays, extra paperwork, and last-second changes, cause many of us to be irritable - but just how important are they?

Here is an example: You have an appointment with your doctor, but you are running a few minutes late. You fight through traffic, avoiding drivers and pedestrians, while breaking the speed limit. Then you run into office to sit in the "waiting room." After 15 minutes of waiting, you are admitted to an exam room to wait for another 20 minutes.

The end result is that you put your life at risk to wait 35 minutes. If the doctor you went to visit was a surgeon, you might have waited hours - if he or she was called into the hospital for an emergency. So, you have accomplished nothing by raising your blood pressure, putting your life at risk, and driving to endanger others.

Yoga teaches us to enjoy the present moment - regardless of the situation. Plan and prepare for delays by starting earlier or by making good use of time you spend waiting.

An experienced Yoga practitioner would practice Pranayama (Yogic breathing techniques) or mentally perform mantra anywhere. These Yogic methods do not require you to carry anything with you.

Yet, you could also practice Jnana Yoga (Union though knowledge) by carrying audio books, a lap top computer, or a book. Any of these methods would make delays much more bearable, and you would learn to practice or cultivate patience, while you wait.

© Copyright 2007 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, has written many books on the subject of Yoga. He is a co-owner and the Director of Yoga Teacher Training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA. http://www.riyoga.com He has been a certified Master Yoga Teacher since 1995. To receive a Free Yoga e-Book: "Yoga in Practice," and a Free Yoga Newsletter, please visit: http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

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Healthy Benefits Of Having Yoga As A Hobby

In today's fast-paced stressed life, even children need to take a little time off with some form of relaxation. However, instead of raising a couch potato who listens to MP3s, plays video games, surfs the Internet or just watches TV, encouraging a child to take up a constructive alternative, such as, a hobby could open a whole new dimension to his life. Parents should support their child in discovering the rewards of having a hobby.

What is a Hobby?

A hobby is a pastime or activity that a child does in his spare time for individual accomplishment. It is something they have an interest in and that they enjoy. It differs from an activity that is forced on them. For instance, a parent may think that her son needs some exercise and signs him up for soccer. While her son may not mind playing soccer, he is not especially enthusiastic about it either. This is not a hobby for him; whereas, a daughter begs to take up ballet. Here she is not only getting exercise, but she lives and breathes ballet. That then makes it her hobby.

What kinds of Hobbies are there?

1. One type of hobby is collecting, such as, key chain, lunchbox, autograph, stamp, trading card, comic book, postcard, doll, spoon, patch or coin collecting.

2. There are educational hobbies. A few of them would be amateur radio, bird watching, genealogy, chemistry or astronomy.

3. Then there are creative hobbies. They could be painting, photography, playing a musical instrument, cooking, scrap booking, building models, HO gauge trains, kite building, wood carving, needlepoint, knitting, sewing and crocheting.

4. Also there are physical hobbies, for example, playing sports, yoga, bicycling, running or hiking.

5. Next there are the games. Many of which can be played in competition. Several are chess, checkers, bridge, gin rummy, backgammon and scrabble.

6. Some are then a combination of hobby types. For instance, hobbies that are a blend of the collecting and educational varieties are rock and mineral, fossil, butterfly, feather, shell and arrowhead collecting. Gardening could be considered both physical and educational; whereas, the art of dance is creative and physical.

What are the Rewards of Having a Hobby?

1. It can promote relaxation.

2. It can encourage physical exercise.

3. The hobby may further advance creativity.

4. Through the process of self-discovery, a child may realize a talent they did not know existed.

5. A hobby can teach. A child may learn about the particular subject they are engaged in and perhaps become an expert. They can learn organizational skills through setting up a collection or planning the next phase of their hobby's development.

6. It may aid a child in increasing the drive and persistence to attain their goals.

7. Due to self-achievement, the hobby can help in building confidence. For example, when a budding gardener takes some seeds, cultivates the soil, adds the right amount of water and proper sunlight and wins first prize for growing the largest tomato at the fair.

8. It can also aid in developing social skills like how to handle competition with learning to win politely or lose gracefully.

9. The hobby could result into a lifetime passion or eventually turn into a career.

There are very few downsides to having a hobby. Unless, of course, the child becomes obsessed to the point where everything else in their life falls to the wayside. It is the duty of a parent to keep their child on track with what is appropriate and not to allow them to become too fixated on their hobby.

To further the desire to take up a hobby in a child, it is important that the parents have a hobby themselves. They also should attempt to expose their child to various experiences so that possibly their child may form an interest in some area. When an interest seems to develop, parents should support it wholeheartedly. Perhaps take a trip to a museum, show, or exhibit that features the hobby.

However, parents should not demand absolute perfection from the child. They should allow the child to try, fail, and learn from their mistakes. After all, it is their hobby and they should be allowed to explore it their own way. A child who discovers his own personal pursuit will surely reap many rewards from his hobby that he otherwise would not have experienced.

About the Author:

S.E. Odom is an independent publisher and co-founder of The Samadhi Group, Inc. Stop by The Samadhi Group Inc. today for abundant living tips and resources.