Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

Have doubts about the effectiveness of yoga on your overall health? Here are 10 amazing benefits of yoga that are supported by scientific studies. The practice of yoga has existed on this planet for a long time. It was developed by the Indus-Saraswati civilization in India nearly 5,000 years ago. Yoga was acknowledged by the UN, and the world celebrates International Yoga Day on June 21 every year. It is now practiced nearly all over the world for its positive effects on the individual’s well-being. But does science support the effectiveness of this millennia-old practice? Well, for years, a lot of people have questioned the effectiveness of yoga practices, and their suspicion was justifiable. If someone tells you that certain lifestyle changes can fix a chronic illness that medication cannot, you are supposed to be surprised! However, researchers have found significant pieces of evidence that support several powerful benefits that yoga has to offer. Here are 10 evidence-based benefits of yoga, proven by science.

In order to build a strong core, you need to work a variety of muscles, all the way from your hips to shoulders. The core does not just refer to your abs. It refers to the different muscles that run the length of your torso. There are great yoga techniques that can be done in order to build your core muscles. Not only do they help to make you more fit. They also increase your will power, stamina, and overall quality of life. Here are 7 Essential Yoga Postures for a Strong Core:

We, humans, live in an age of physical and mental stress. Body inactivity, past ailment, and genetic traits make our bodies lose flexibility and strength. Mild to chronic health problems are the consequence. Yoga is one of the top ways to de-stress and rejuvenate the body to wellness and immunity. This physical practice is world-famous since times immemorial. With yoga cities getting back to the new normal, fitness rainbow is brightening up for health and strength seekers. Let us look at the world's most popular places to take your yoga practice to new heights.

In more ways than one, the COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed our sense of normal. These days, more people find themselves working remotely as the virus continues sweeping across the globe, forcing many establishments to shut down their offices. Most children are staying at home as well and logging on for their classes rather than catching the school bus. There are also fewer opportunities to get out and socialize with friends and family. This means that many of us are stuck at home all day long. Unfortunately, all this time spent inside can lead to increased issues with your health.

Iyengar yoga is a type of yoga that was developed by B.K.S Iyengar - and also named after him. He was one of the people who was partly responsible for bringing the modern practice of yoga to the Western world. B.K.S. Iyengar was born in 1918 in Bellur, India. B.K.S. Iyengar practiced yoga for over 85 years, but began his study under his guru, T. Krishnamacharya - also sometimes known as the Father of modern yoga. B.K.S Iyengar brought the practice of yoga to the western world in the 197’0’s and wrote the book Light on Yoga, which has been a book many yoga students across the world have studied for generations. Iyengar yoga is identified by being similar to the classic Hatha yoga traditions, but with lots of attention on the technical alignment and proper posing. This helps keep the mind drawn inward, but also connected to reality.

The first chakra is the chakra that most reflects the physical body; also known as the root chakra, or Muladhara. Energetically speaking, the root chakra contains the information that codes how we take care of our physical bodies, what set of experiences have created assistance and resistance to being in our bodies, survival information, safety information, fight, or flight information, and our connection to our mother. Whenever we feel that things are no longer in alignment with us, or could use some mending or transformation, the first chakra tends to be the best place to go within and get curious.

​If you’ve been feeling a bit down recently and are in need of a mood boost, it can be easy to veer towards those vices which might not necessarily be the best for you. That’s not to say there’s not a time and a place for a bit of junk food, or a glass of wine, but one thing you can do everyday to help boost your mood is practicing yoga. Building a healthy habit of practicing a little bit of yoga each day can help to improve your mental and physical health, as well as make you feel happier. Here’s a few more reasons why doing yoga everyday can help you.

Want to fire up your yoga practice? Here’s how to do yoga with resistance bands. Build your strength with this complete list of yoga poses with bands. Resistance bands can be added to any work-out. They’re an easy way to incorporate a challenge into your exercises, and you can use them in many different ways. Resistance bands make your muscles work just that little bit harder, so you get more work-out for your time spent. And resistance bands are portable – pop them in your yoga bag, and you’re good to go.

Stepping into any yoga class, it’s common to include some music into your yoga practice. Music combined with yoga practices can help the mind to find stillness, and help you get into the mood to get on the mat. It can be hard to take your mind away from your busy life for an hour, and music can help with that transition into a more mindful state. Music can affect the whole brain, and help it relax, in a similar way that meditation does. It can help the mind slip into a state where happiness and stillness is created. Music can help you to get into the groove of your yoga practice, and link your mind, breath and body to a beat.

Restorative and Yin Yoga are often confused and assumed to be the same style of yoga. Some yoga studios even use the class names interchangeably. They are, in fact, different styles of yoga that employ distinct techniques and philosophical approaches. While some of the benefits of these practices are the same, the aim and methods not only differ, they are complete opposites. Why do they get confused? At first glance, they appear to be similar practices because they explore mostly poses that rest close to the ground and often use props to support the body. Like most yoga practices, both Yin and Restorative Yoga can promote relaxation and stress relief.

There are many benefits to practicing yoga regularly. Some are more obvious than others, like more flexibility, strength, and balance. However, yoga’s benefits can also extend off of the mat, and into other areas of our lives as well. For example, yoga can make you more productive and better at your job. Yoga can also increase your energy levels throughout the day. And yoga can also make you better in bed, whether you’re gay, straight, or anywhere in-between. Really? Yes really, and here’s why:

If you’re thinking of starting yoga practice, you might be feeling a little overwhelmed with trying to decide which class is right for you. There are lots of different traditional yoga practices, as well as a huge variety of hybrid yoga classes, which can make trying to pick a style confusing. Here’s a quick guide to a few different types of yoga, and how to choose the right type of yoga for you. Hatha Yoga A hatha yoga class is great for beginners, who want to learn the basics of yoga. This is because the movements are slower than other types of yoga. There is more focus on alignment and deep breathing, with longer posture holds and no flow in between asanas. It’s a great place to start before trying out more advanced and fast yoga styles.

It’s important that seniors do all that they can to stay in shape and optimal health. In order to get the best quality out of life, it's ideal seniors make it a point to preserve their overall health and wellness; and in order to do that, they should work out at least 3-4 times a week for about 30 minutes a day. Though some seniors want to workout, they don’t know how or have not found the right workouts they enjoy, for their body. If this sounds like you, or you simply are a senior that is looking for something new, try some of the following workouts. These four easy workouts that every senior should incorporate into his or her life to improving the quality and longevity of it. What are the Best Workouts for Seniors?

If you have a friend or family member that loves yoga then buying them a yoga-related gift the next time their birthday comes around is a really nice idea. You getting them something they’ll enjoy and find useful, it’s also a gift that will encourage them to keep up their practice. Because practicing yoga is proven to be extremely good for you physically as it can improve your flexibility, strength, posture, muscle tone, and range of motion. And the controlled breathing, mindful movements, and spiritual aspects of yoga mean it’s great for your mental and emotional health too. Yoga can calm your busy mind, relieve stress, improve your mood, help you to sleep better afterwards, and give you a sense of overall well-being. So, giving a gift that helps someone with their yoga practice can also contribute to keeping them healthy in all areas of their life. However, it can be hard to know what to get if you don’t have experience of practicing yoga yourself!

Yoga has been proven to have benefits to your mental health, and a wealth of research has gone into how practicing yoga can improve the lives of those with mental health conditions. The results are staggeringly positive, proving that yoga can help with many common mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression, as well as others. There is now one in every four people affected by mental health disorders, so more and more people are looking for effective ways to help protect and restore mental health. Yoga is becoming more and more accepted as a way to manage mental health conditions. It’s already used to reduce stress, improve flexibility and promote a more ‘zen’ state of mind. However, more people are digging deep to understand the therapeutic benefits of yoga on mental health. These findings are also backed up by studies which show that yoga practice can change the structure and function of your brain, proving that yoga can improve your emotional health in a neurological way. Here are some of the ways yoga can support your mental health.

If you suffer from back pain, or have an any point in your life, you are not alone. Back pain affects many people. Fortunately, for most, you are not a helpless victim to your back pain. There are things you can do every day to help relieve actuve back pain, and also heal and prevent future back pain. Yoga creates long-lasting relief from back pain. Science is continually backing this up. Here is why, explained in this easy to understand infographic, created by Dan Singleton, a survivor of back pain, and founder of Back on Site.

Yoga mudras are emotional, devotional, and psychic gestures, usually done with the hands. While seemingly simple, these gestures help your body in restore it's physical, mental, and spiritual health. These benefits can be accessed by using yoga mudras on their own, or while performing yoga asanas (poses). Here is everything you need to know about what yoga mudras are, what they symbolize, and why they are powerful. Mudra comes from the combination of two words: “Mud” and “Dravay”. “Mud” means pleasure, and "Dravay” means to draw forth. Mudras can also mean 'to seal'. Thus, performing mudras is like creating a closed circuitry within the body. Mudras are simple hand gestures of arranging and touching fingertips in specific ways, to stimulate different parts of your brain and body. Mudras alter the flow of energy in your body and mind, and tap into energy on an astral level.

Alongside insecurity, anxiety and self-centeredness, one of my greatest emotional challenges in life has been anger. And while it was much worse in my teens and twenties, it still tests me. Even just a couple of years ago, when I was living in Hawaii, there were days when I just woke up with an unshakable and debilitating irritability and animosity towards everyone and everything, for no immediately obvious reason. And this was particularly disheartening because, at the time, I felt that I had everything for which I could ever wish; I was living where I had always dreamed of living and had a wonderful partner, all the time I desired for investing in my practices, meaningful and successful work that generated more than enough income to support our modest but very comfortable life – not to mention surfboards, paddle boards, hiking shoes, climbing gear, and the perfect environment in which to use them all, every single day. And here I was, waking up exasperated and resentful of a life that was failing to fulfill me, compounded by all the guilt and shame that resulted from judging myself for feeling this way. It was a horribly difficult time, but it did teach me at least one important lesson: anger won’t disappear at some point in the future, when external conditions are perfect.

As I sit here and think about this blog post, I can hear in the back of my head, "I will finally be happy when this post is written." Here I am placing conditions on my happiness and I know that I am not just doing it here, but I am guilty of it in many other area of my life. Thinking about this thought, I ask myself, “am I really going to be happy and content long term when this blog post is written? Or will I be seeking the next goal to place my conditions of contentment on?” Conditions on contentment was never something that I ever gave much thought to, I just assumed that they came with the process of being content, however, fleeting it may have been. However, true contentment does not lie in reaching the destination, but rather in enjoying the process. Something that I would come to learn through my personal yoga practice and the trials and errors of seeking lasting contentment.

If you’re getting stuck in a rut these days, and need something to boost your spirits, it’s tempting to lean into back habits and pick up fast food or a pint of beer. But before you head for the bad vices, try yoga for just 15 minutes. 15 minutes of yoga practice a day can help to improve your mood and your health. Whatever space or time you have, it can be easy to fit in 15 minutes of yoga a day and help to boost your health and make you feel better. Here’s some of the benefits of just 15 minutes of yoga a day. Better Fitness Levels

Staying at home? In the midst of this COVID-19 pandemic, many people are wondering what they are going to do during this lockdown or social distancing period, and how they will stay active. If fitness is important to you, you may be trying to find the new normal in indoor routines. The idea of being isolated during these stressful times can be daunting. Fortunately, taking care of ourselves and our health doesn't need to go to the bottom of the to-do list just because we’re indoors. In fact, the World Health Organization encourages movement and self-care during quarantine. Take care of your body, mind, soul, and family with our indoor health tips. Staying Healthy During Isolation

So, I won’t be the first to suggest that some good might come of the lockdown and social distancing enforced upon many of us by government action over the spread of Covid-19. Social media is not only full of political rants and tyrades of fear, but also of heartfelt encouragements, expressions of kindness and solidarity, and even beautiful poetry about us members of the great human family who are stepping up to take care of each other in difficult times, about the benefits to the environment and ecosystem of the planet from the forced cessation of destructive human production and transportation activities, and even about the psychological and spiritual benefits of just withdrawing from the world a while and spending time with ourselves.

If you have done yoga before, you know it is about getting to a place of important to be physical, mental, and spiritual peace, more than it is about how anything looks. At least to a certain extent. To induce those feelings that help you clear up your head it is essentially important to be in an environment where the distractions are minimal and your mind can focus. Moreover, to be physically at peace, you need to be in yoga clothes that feel comfortable and relaxed. If you're clothes don't fit right, aren't ideal or mobile enough from yoga, or you simply don't feel good in them, it can be a distraction from finding your sense of peace on your mat.

Have you ever heard someone say “I can’t practice yoga because I’m not flexible enough?” Maybe you’ve said it yourself! Truth is yoga encompasses so much more than the pretzel postures plastered all over Instagram. The physical practice of postures is just one aspect of yoga and the benefits of the other parts of yoga practice are just as transformative, if not more, than the workout. Here are 5 ways you can practice yoga right now, no mat, physical coordination, money, yoga pants, or muscle flexibility required. Try Something New The practice of yoga is unique in that it asks us to get outside our comfort zone. But you don’t have to have a mat to do that. Try a new food or a new route to work. Start a conversation with a stranger. Do a different workout. Try a new hobby or activity. If you’re intimidated by yoga because you’re afraid you’re not going to be able to do it right or you won’t be good at it, know that this is part of the process of the practice. Yoga asks us to intentionally show up to our discomfort.

Sometimes in life we get knocked off center. We CAN begin to doubt ourselves and struggle to find ways to trust ourselves, our strengths, beliefs, our knowledge, and our power. We can get knocked off center because of things that came up unexpectedly, or something we tried that didn’t go according to plan. Maybe a harsh word from another or ourselves that allowed self-doubt to creep in. The causes can be endless, but regardless of any cause, any cause of imbalance always rests at home in our mind and our thoughts. It is in the mind where we can hide out in the past or false truths, instead facing the untainted present with clarity and confidence. We can know all of this and yet still feel challenged to find the confidence to give things another try, or step out of our protective barriers. An easy way to restore confidence is to do something you know you do really well.