Georg Feuerstein

Yoga is well known for making people more flexible, supple, lithe, and limber. In fact, you’ve probably seen photographs of yogis or yoginis contorting themselves into different yoga postures. However, recent studies indicate that it’s a safe and effective option for relieving moderate low back pain.In a study funded by NIH’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), participants suffering from chronic lower back pain were divided into three groups: one group took 12 weekly yoga classes, one group took 12 weekly stretching classes, and one group was given a self-care book and encouraged to exercise to relieve pain.

Yoga is an ancient practice that still provides numerous benefits today to the people who practice it regularly. Some people are scared off by certain myths they’ve heard about Yoga, but in truth, there’s no reason why anyone can’t and shouldn’t practice it.If you’re new to Yoga, finding a class and a teacher that fits your needs is crucial.

Yoga itself is at least 5,000 years old, and yoga exercising — what you know as yoga postures, or asanas — emerged about 600 years ago. Even though yoga has evolved over the centuries as it traveled to new cultures, its principles are universal. Yoga is a practice of mind, body, breath, and spirit. The articles in the Cheat Sheet touch on the physical and mental benefits yoga offers, offer suggestions for how to enhance your yoga practice even when you’re on your own, and remind you why warming up is so important to any exercise routine — even one as “user-friendly” as yoga.

This short Yoga routine focuses on the areas of the body that you want to strengthen as you prepare your body for giving birth. Make sure you have consulted your physician to be sure you have no special circumstances before beginning any prenatal exercise routines.Mountain posture: TadasanaOne of the benefits of the mountain posture during pregnancy is that it directs your attention to your posture during this period when your weight and balance have gradually but steadily changed.

Partner Yoga can be a unique experience and addition to your normal Yoga routine. Just remember, partner Yoga requires touching and trust with your partner. So choose your partner wisely for the best experience. Partner tree pose This simple-looking posture brings a bounty of benefits. It creates stability and balance, improves concentration, opens the hips, and strengthens the ankles.

The Yoga partner teeter-totter exercise decompresses the lower back and builds strength in the arms and shoulders. You start as you would in the suspension bridge and add a flourish. Face your partner standing, and hold on to one another’s wrists with corresponding right and left hands. Begin to bend forward, and walk backward until you’re both parallel to the floor.

Partner Yoga exercises require a certain amount of touching and trust in your partner, so be sure you are comfortable with your partner. The partner suspension bridge is a Yoga partner exercise that decompresses the entire spine, provides traction, and stretches the hamstrings. It also builds strength in the arms and shoulders.

Lucid waking is the art of being present in the moment, of living with mindfulness throughout the day, which is what Yoga is first and foremost about. When you’re lucid during your waking hours, you’re penetrating the illusions and delusions of ordinary life with the searchlight of full awareness. Lucid dreaming, a special state of consciousness in which you retain a degree of self-awareness while dreaming, is somewhat an extension of lucid waking.

No matter what anybody else tells you, yogic breathing typically occurs through the nose, during both inhalation and exhalation. For traditional yogis and yoginis, the mouth is meant for eating and the nose for breathing. Here are at least three good reasons for breathing through the nose: It slows the breath because you’re breathing through two small openings instead of the one big opening in your mouth, and slow is good in Yoga.