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You may be wondering just what the craze is about Pilates. This is one of the fastest trends in fitness today. So, you want to jump on the bandwagon and try out Pilates for yourself? First, you must begin with some basic warm-up exercises. They will prepare your body to safely execute more challenging exercises in the future. Here are some beginner exercises that will help you jump into the program:

Warm-up – Arm reach and pull

This Pilates exercise will help to establish shoulder stability. It will increase the awareness of scapular placement as well as movement.

Warm-up – Arms Over

This is a fundamental exercise in Pilates. It not only helps to improve posture but it increases the range of motion in the shoulders and gives the trunk more stability.

Warm-up – Angel Arms

This is a terrific exercise to perfect your understanding of how your shoulders and arms affect the back as well as the ribcage. This exercise will help to develop core stabilization awareness, helps increase the range of motion for the arms and shoulders and improves posture.

Warm-up – Imprinting

This is probably the most basic exercise in Pilates. This exercise is centering and deeply relaxing. It is great for stress reduction and a good way to center yourself before you begin any exercise routine whether it is Pilates or not.

Chest Lift

This may look like the “crunch”, but there are some major difference between the chest lift and the way people do a “crunch”. Here’s how you do this:

o Lie on your back, knees bent keeping your feet flat on the floor. You want to make sure that your legs are parallel. Now you are in a neutral spine position and have a natural curve of your lower spine. This creates a slight lift off your mat.
o Bring your hands behind your head with your shoulders down and fingertips touching each other.
o Take a few deep breaths. Check your body to make sure it is in the proper alignment. Your neck should be relaxed and your ribs should be dropped.
o Bring your head up slightly toward your chest and then drop back down again.

The Hundred

This exercise is often used as a warm-up for the abs and lungs. You must coordinate your breathing with the movement and try to be strong and graceful as well. This is a challenging exercise. Here’s the way to do it:

o Lie on your back with knees bent. Your shins and ankles should be parallel in height with the knees. Your hands should be put behind your knees for now. Inhale.
o Exhale. Your head should be brought up and your chin down. Using your abdominal muscles, curl the upper portion of your spine off the floor. Your shoulders should be engaged in the back. You should now be gazing down into the scoop of your abs. Hold this position and inhale.
o Exhale. You now want to deepen the pull of your abs while extending your legs and arms and point toward the wall that is in front of you. Your legs should be as low as you can get them without shaking. You also do not want your lower spine to jump off the mat. Extend your arms straight out low, and with your fingertips reach for the far wall. Hold this position.
o Breathe in five times and out five times. These should be short breaths. As you do this, you should be moving your arms in an up and down manner – a small pumping of your arms. Your abs should be doing the work while your shoulders and neck remain relaxed.
o This should be done for a cycle of 10 breaths. Now go back to your original position.

One Leg Circle

This is one of the best exercises in Pilates for testing your core strength. Your abs must work hard in order to keep the shoulders and pelvis stable even though there is movement of your leg in your hip socket. Here is how to do this exercise:

o Prepare – Lie flat on your back with your arms by your sides. Try balancing the weight of your shoulders and hips on each side.
o Engage your abs – Pull your abs in and anchor your shoulders and pelvis. Extend one of your legs toward the ceiling. Do not lift your hips. If your hamstrings are tight, then the knee may be slightly bent.
o Leg Circles – Inhale. Cross the extended leg toward your opposite hip. Exhale. Drop your leg a few inches. Open your leg out and sweep it around in a small circle back toward the center. You should use control and your shoulders and pelvis should be kept level.
o Breath and Movement Pattern – With each leg, do five circles in each direction. With the first set of five, inhale as you cross your body and circle down. Exhale as you open your leg and circle up. With the second set of five, you want to exhale and open your leg and circle down. Then inhale to cross your body and circle up.

These are just a few of the Pilates exercises that beginners should get to be familiar with. Remember, practice makes perfect!

By: Steven Giles

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More and more people have wondered whether Pilates is a form of exercise that can improve their muscle fitness and increase their strength. Experts believe that Pilates can indeed reduce a person’s stress levels while increasing his or her mental awareness and body’s flexibility. But, when people are asked if Pilates is a suitable form of exercise to increase fitness levels, responses vary greatly. Some think that probably is not the best type of exercise to do the job. But, those who have tried it assert that Pilates can definitely make your body feel stronger.

If you would like to really put your daily fitness routine in overdrive and get better results than you ever have in the past, you really should consider adding Pilates exercises into your home fitness workouts. Unlike traditional weight building exercises, with Pilates your body is controlled by your breathing. Even if this sounds surprisingly simple, while you are not going to produce the bulked up muscles of some weight lifters, Pilates will certainly help you increase your muscles’ strength. In particular, some Pilates balance postures require enormous muscle control in order to prevent you from falling over. This muscle control actually helps you build and strengthen your whole body. Aerobic exercise is great for burning calories, while strength training works very well for strengthening your muscle groups, but Pilates goes far beyond either of those forms of exercise and can benefit you both physically and mentally.

In addition to all its other benefits, Pilates can help you improve muscle fitness and make you actually feel and be stronger. Whether you choose to use it as your primary means of strength training or you want it to supplement your other exercises, Pilates can help your muscles grow fit, balanced, and strong. In fact, many poses in Pilates are done very slowly or you are required to stay in a specific posture during several breaths. In fact, those who have experienced it, support that it is much more challenging to your muscles to hold a pose or repeat it slowly than it is to allow momentum to move you through an action. Particularly, by practicing Pilates you actually realign your muscles, so they become more balanced. You truly work your entire body when you practice Pilates as you do not focus on an isolated muscle or set, but actively recruit the smaller muscle groups as well. Finally, since you are not overworking any specific muscle group, you are less likely to get injured.

Concluding, Pilates is a type of exercise that has multiple benefits. Using the Pilates positions and breathing exercises one can focus inward rather than on the outward distractions of life. Pilates is considered a fitness program but also a mental exercise. Uniting mind and body through breathing, Pilates is destined to make people feel better about themselves and attain a better state of health overall.

By: Jonathon Hardcastle

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yogayak asked:

yogayak.com In order to have all round good health, we must have proper digestion and elimination. For many people today, bowel health is an issue, especially those who do not get enough exercise, sit for too long and practice poor nutrition . Improper diet and elimination can lead to such conditions as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), gas, bloating, constipation or loose bowels. This Kundalini set (kriya) is designed to massage the intestines and digestive organs, to stimulate digestive fire and improve elimination and bowel health. If you want to increase the intensity of this kriya, practice each posture for a couple of minutes longer than indicated on the video make sure you practice all postures equally for maximum effect. Duration 37 min. Teacher: Setareh Riahi

Yoga is a well known discipline for body, mind and spirit. With its ever increasing popularity worldwide, it has rapidly adapted to people’s needs and has become more comfortable to practice in the home or in the classroom. Because of these factors and the fact that it has become much higher profile, it has now led to the appearance of a wide variety of yoga equipment being used for classes or for practicing at home.

Essentially, this means that before starting any type of yoga class, you should undertake a little bit of research to ensure that you find out which type of yoga will be right for your needs. Once you have decided this, you can then buy the correct yoga equipment, either online or directly from the yoga school that you attend. More information about what you need can be found over the internet as well as in books or at the various yoga studios.

A Bit about Yoga

Yoga consists of a combination of physical exercises or body positions, which are also known as “asana” and these are used together with various breathing techniques. This will usually take place under the supervision of a qualified instructor.

Most probably your instructor will advise you about what you need, in terms of the necessary yoga equipment. Clothing will be the first thing to consider. It should always be comfortable and allow for yoga poses where for instance you need to keep your head down, or in any other posture where you may slip due to using inappropriate clothes. Shoes are not required as yoga is usually done barefoot. This is great news for those used to sitting or standing for long periods of time, which can cause feet to swell. Consequently, without the need for shoes, it can make things much more comfortable for them.

As part of the exercises are done sitting down, in yoga studios, mats are used. These are called sticky mats which also help to define the personal space of each student, but more importantly, create traction for both the hands and feet.

Optional Equipment

Other yoga equipment consists of blankets, yoga blocks, yoga balls and straps. Blankets can be used in certain positions to elevate a part of the body or to achieve a particular position if students cannot do this by themselves. They may also be used purely to make the position more comfortable and to allow students to maintain it for a longer period of time. Yoga blocks are used to align the body properly, for example where the students hand can’t touch the floor. Straps are especially designed for maintaining a pose or to stretch muscles more effectively. They are used in poses where you are unable to reach or hold a position for more then a few seconds.

Other Things to Consider

In addition to the yoga equipment necessary in class, you can also find other helpful tools such as information material, namely videos, DVDs and books etc that you can use at home, or can study when you have some spare time. All of these things will help you to maintain a broader outlook and progress more quickly in your Yoga.

If you are Really Keen

For those of you willing to continue your exercise outside of the class, you can buy yoga kits. A yoga kit consists of all the necessary elements, e.g. mat, blocks, balls, books and videos to help you progress much faster. Alternatively, there is Yoga equipment available to help create a warm, ambient atmosphere while you practice your yoga. In these kits you will typically find tapes with relaxing background music, aromatherapy tools, candles, bowls and essences etc. Further to this, you can even buy charm jewelries or yoga greeting cards.

Finally

The discipline of Yoga has always been popular, but now it has become a real growth industry and has attracted masses of attention worldwide. Because of this, you need to do your research carefully to ensure that you achieve the goal you have set yourself. All this said and done, with time you can truly benefit from this wonderful ancient discipline. It is well worth the effort you will put in. Good Luck.

By: Darrell Dymond

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Yoga Balls are the new craze in the market due to its viable uses which provides the best posture and stability factor for those who practice yoga. This is an inflatable piece which is now being part of an exercise routine for many. It is made out of PVC vinyl or rubber. Once it is inflated it is used basically for basic muscles like abdomen, chest and back.

The essence of the ball is instability which lets you use other muscles to balance the ball. This helps to stress on the other specific muscles. It helps in strengthening your lower back, buttocks, abdomen, chest and arms. By using these yoga balls the yoga poses becomes extremely easy and comfortable. It is a great instrument for having a healthy body with strong muscles to complete the yoga poses.

The ball helps in stretching and removing the stress which is one of the grave issues for many. This helps in achieving stability by controlling the ball. It gives a proper shape to your body, tones your muscles, as well as can be fun in doing most of the yoga poses with the ball. There are different sizes and colors to be chosen from to suit your personality as well as the current trend. These balls are long-lasting due to its finish and can support a good amount of weight on it. These are used not only for yoga but for all the other exercises, as well as for dancing. The air-filled balls give the required support for all the poses as and when it is done.

By: Kevin Pederson

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yogayak asked:

yogayak.com for more free video. Sadness happens to all of us at some point . Whether we are simply a little blue, or dealing with life’s more challenging circumstances sometimes daily life becomes hampered by the emotions we hold in our bodies. Regular practice of this flow will stabilize your mood and lift your spirits as well as provide a no-impact dose of fitness! A great PMS and STRESS buster as well, and at only 37 minutes, lack of time isn’t an issue! Andrea guides you through this sequence of twists, back bends, standing postures and pranayama to increase your endorphins, get your blood flowing and focus your mind on the day ahead of you. Final relaxation is combined with a Buddhist meditation to add perseverance and positive thinking to your outlook for the days when it is hard to find it for yourself. Duration 41 min Note: You will need a small, smooth stone that fits into the palm of your hand for final relaxation – be sure to choose your stone before you settle down for your practice. Level: Beginner-Intermediate to Advanced Benefits: soothes anxiety, uplifting, stabilizes mood, decreases PMS symptoms, increases perspective and clarity, increases self-esteem, improves posture, opens shoulders, hip flexors and the heart chakra Contraindications: if you have very low blood pressure, do not over exert yourself during the pranayama portion of this class; modify the poses if you have any shoulder or lower back pain; if you have any concerns about anxiety or b…/b

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Hot Yoga or what is also known as Bikram Yoga is getting more and more popular. So what are the benefits of this form of Yoga?

Some of the many benefits of Bikram Yoga include, body strengthening, building endurance and emotional balance as well as improving your health. Some of these benefits can be contributed to the use of heat while performing the posture series.

With the help of a heated room, you are able to get into your postures better, and your muscles stretch more readily. In a heated room you will also find that you will lose weight more rapidly if this is your goal. Another advantage is that your metabolism speeds up and this helps to breakdown glucose and fatty acids.

The heat also helps to move oxygen to your body tissue and organs, which promotes healing as well as aids in removing harmful toxins. Another great benefit of Bikram Yoga is unlike many other forms of Yoga; it will raise your heart rate and promote cardiovascular health.
Beyond the obvious benefits of Yoga, this form has been known to actually help repair damaged tissue and ligaments as well as helping to cure those who are plagued with chronic ailments.

The health benefits alone may be a good reason to try Bikram Yoga, but this is by far not the only benefit to this form of Yoga. There are many others, including a means in which we can find balance in our lives.

Additional areas in which Bikram Yoga may be helpful include, relieving stress. This is important in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Stress can be a killer and the better we learn to manage our stress, the better our health can be.

The endurance required in Bikram Yoga helps you to learn how to focus your energies. This is undoubtedly a good trait to master. The better we can focus in our everyday lives, the more we can accomplish and the better we will feel about ourselves.

Though Bikram Yoga is not necessarily a highly spiritual form of Yoga, it can help in spiritual transformation. When we feel better about ourselves, it is easier to reach to a higher spiritual self.

Bikram Yoga is a wonderful form of Yoga, but it may not be for everyone. Essentially, the postures can be performed by most anyone of any age, though you may find it difficult at first unless you are in good shape and have a high tolerance for heat. It might be a good idea to begin with Hatha Yoga first and then move on to Bikram Yoga. Once you have mastered Hatha Yoga, you can be fairly certain you are ready for Bikram Yoga.

Once you reach the point that you feel you are ready to begin Bikram Yoga, you may be truly astounded by how good you begin to feel.

By: Thomas T

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