Perhaps one of the most important health choices I make these days is my Yoga practice. I was introduced to Yoga in my thirties by a friend; she went for 30 days and I went for 3 years. Within in a short period of time the benefits of Yoga transformed me and life has never been the same.<\/p>\n
Yoga, meaning \u201cunion,\u201d has been practiced for more than 5,000 years, and currently, millions of Americans are enjoying its health benefits. Yoga can hardly be called a trend. Most yoga classes focus on learning physical poses, which are called asanas. They also include some form of breathing technique, and I like classes that include meditation as well.<\/p>\n
Yoga classes are designed for energy and relaxation while teaching you how to move your body in new ways. The focus of Yoga is on honoring your body where it is today, moving toward your \u201cedge\u201d but not past it. \u00a0Each practice is new, so we meet our body again for the first time with each pose. The health benefits come from enabling you to develop your flexibility, strength, and balance, but this is only part of the gift of this powerful practice. \u00a0Yoga is about creating balance of body, mind, emotion, and spirit.<\/p>\n
The practice of Yoga, which for me is meditation, works remarkably well to achieve this harmony and helps the mind to work in sync with the body. \u00a0How often do we find conflicts in our mind that weigh heavily upon us? \u00a0The Yoga mat is one of the best places to leave this worry and stress behind.<\/p>\n
The meditative practice of yoga helps in achieving an emotional balance through detachment or what I like to call \u201cdropping the rock\u201d! Meditation creates the space to be here now; a place where you are not negatively affected by what\u2019s going on around you. This, in turn, creates a remarkable calmness and a positive outlook, which has tremendous benefits on physical health. I leave my stress at the door, at least for an hour at a time, and I find with continued practice the leaving-it-all-behind benefits last longer and longer.<\/p>\n
Yoga is a light, which once lit, will never dim. The better your practice the brighter your flame<\/em>. – B.K.S Iyengar<\/p>\n Here are just some of the tangible benefits that can be achieved through yoga.<\/p>\n Physical Benefits:<\/strong><\/p>\n Improved Digestion<\/p>\n Weight loss<\/p>\n Improved posture<\/p>\n Increased flexibility & strength<\/p>\n Optimal breathing<\/p>\n Reduced headaches and upper body tension<\/p>\n Reduction of symptoms from old illnesses and injuries<\/p>\n Deeper sleep<\/p>\n Mental Benefits:<\/strong><\/p>\n Increased ability to manage stress<\/p>\n Improved focus and concentration<\/p>\n Better memory<\/p>\n More creativity<\/p>\n Emotional Benefits:<\/strong><\/p>\n A sense of emotional freedom<\/p>\n Increased enjoyment of life<\/p>\n Increased freedom of expression<\/p>\n More peace of mind<\/p>\n More feelings of empathy & love<\/p>\n Increased self-confidence<\/p>\n Aids in grief recovery<\/p>\n Spiritual Benefits:<\/strong><\/p>\n Connection with the purpose of life<\/p>\n Experiencing more joy<\/p>\n Brightness of spirit<\/p>\n Increased optimism<\/p>\n Increased creativity<\/p>\n I think you will agree that the benefits of Yoga are many.<\/p>\n With the popularity of Yoga now, most places have Yoga centers. Find one in your town and try it out. If you don\u2019t have a studio near you, bring Yoga home in the form of a DVD. \u00a0Yoga truly is\u00a0one the most powerful, profound technologies available today. \u00a0And with regular \u00a0practice, you can improve your life greatly at every level. \u00a0And with that said, I am off to do just that! – JR<\/p>\n (J.R. Westen, D.D. is a Holistic Health & Spiritual Counselor who has worked and presented side-by-side with Neale Donald Walsch for over a decade. He is passionate about helping individuals move beyond their emotional and spiritual challenges, transforming breakdowns into breakthroughs. His coaching provides practical wisdom and guidance that can be immediately incorporated to shift one\u2019s experience of life. As is true for most impactful teachers, J.R.\u2019s own struggles and triumphs inspired him to find powerful ways of helping others. Sober since June 1, 1986, J.R.\u2019s passion for helping individuals move through intense life challenges drove him to also specialize in Addiction and Grief Recovery. J.R. currently shares his gift of counseling & coaching with individuals from around the world through the Wellness Center, Simply Vibrant, located on Long Island N.Y. \u00a0In addition, he works with Escondido Sobering Services and serves on the Board of Directors for the Conversations with God Foundation. He can be contacted at\u00a0JR@theglobalconversation.com<\/a>, or to book an appointment, write support@simplyvibrant.com.)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Perhaps one of the most important health choices I make these days is my Yoga practice. I was introduced to Yoga in my thirties by a friend; she went for 30 days and I went for 3 years. Within in a short period of time the benefits of Yoga transformed me and life has never […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[158],"tags":[470,361,237,206],"class_list":["post-2273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-holistic-living","tag-heath","tag-jr-westen","tag-wellness","tag-yoga"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2273"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2277,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2273\/revisions\/2277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}