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A healthy body and a sound mind

The Healing Powers Of Practicing Yoga

November 5, 2016 By John Jones

yoga-benefits

With over 20 million yoga practitioners in the U.S. alone, yoga and its benefits have only grown in popularity through the years.  The meditation aspect of yoga helps the heart rate go down while providing relaxation those who practice yoga.  Yoga promotes flexibility and strength poses which can bring relief to back sufferers.  Various studies and research are now backing up what yogis have claimed for years about how practicing yoga can provide a variety of health and healing benefits.

Improve Back Pain

Yoga, which emphasizes stretching, strength, and flexibility, has been the subject of many studies that have shown that practicing yoga on a regular basis actually relieves back soreness.  With more of us being confined to sitting at a desk hunched over a computer all day, bad posture and the back pain that is associated with it has become an epidemic.  According to a recent study, people who take yoga or stretching classes are twice as likely to cut back on pain medications for their backaches as people who managed symptoms on their own.

Lose Weight

With more than one-third of adults in the U.S. considered being obese and the weight loss industry yielding an annual profit of over 20 billion, there are many people who are searching for ways to lose weight.  With yoga being a practice that one can implement into their workout routine on a regular basis at any size as well as start at any fitness level, it is a great way to burn a few calories.  Jen Cassetty, an American College of Sports Medicine certified health fitness specialist, states “Yoga is not a high intensity exercise, usually, but the classes run 75 to 90 minutes of continual activity, so your muscles are working the whole time, strengthening and lengthening…”.

Improve Your Mental Health

It has been reported by many practitioners of yoga that practicing yoga can be beneficial to your sense of self.  Many people use it as a type of therapy, a way to focus on breathing and being in the moment through holding each pose.  Addicts have also reported that yoga has helped them through the recovery process.  In a publication from Harvard Medical School, it was shown that studies reveal attending yoga classes or practicing yoga in your home reduce stress, improve mood, and reduce depression.  The evidence is growing that practicing yoga is a healthy approach to improving overall health.

Yoga has been around for thousands of years for a reason.  From people who are devout yogis and practice on a daily basis to those who are just trying to find a drug free alternative to fighting chronic back pain people can enjoy yoga for a multitude of health benefits.

Filed Under: Alternative Tagged With: back pain, pain medications, Weight Loss, yoga, yoga benefits

Your Chair and You

July 29, 2010 By Charlie

If you are the typical employee you probably spend a large part of your time in your little cubicle, sitting on your chair, typing at your computer. While this sounds easy, you would know that that is far from real. Now what made me decide to deal with this topic? Simply because like you, I have been reaping the results of my daily activities. Back pain, sharp pains in the neck, numb behind – do these symptoms sound familiar?

While there is nothing much that we can do about our job description (sitting all the time!), there is something that we can do about the pain that we experience due to a sedentary lifestyle. For one, check out your chair. Ever since people started to exhibit symptoms like the ones I described above, different sectors have been trying to improve the conditions that employees have to work in. We may take our chairs for granted but in fact, they are one major factor.

The best chair that you can have is one that can be adjusted with regards to height and tilt. More often than not, when I start feeling pain on my neck, I adjust the height of my chair until I find a more comfortable position. Yet more than that, we have to bear in mind that the best chair means nothing if we do not have the proper sitting posture. This is essential for long term health. Another thing, why not take a break from sitting down every so often and stand up for a bit. Take a short walk, pace the office, get a cup of coffee or whatever – as long as you give your body a break from that sitting position.

Filed Under: Business Tagged With: back pain, ergonomics, work environment

My Back Hurts, Does Yours Too?

July 22, 2010 By Charlie

If you are like me, living a sedentary life, you probably feel more than your share of back pain. Though a large number of people experience back pain of some sort at some point in their lives, the exact causes of back pain have not been pinpointed. There are many factors that can cause back pain, especially for cases wherein there has been physical injury. Yet a majority of the recurrent back pain cases cannot be attributed to a single factor.

If you think about the back being the workhorse of the body – it being the main support of the torso – it is but logical that this part of the body will feel stressed out most of the time. Add to this the fact that more and more people are starting to live sedentary lifestyles and you will definitely get more and more cases of back pain.

So how do we deal with this? Well, some of the greatest factors that may cause back pain include slouching in a chair for long periods of time, bad posture when standing, not keeping a straight back when driving, sleeping in a mattress that is uneven and too soft, and being unfit -Shall I go on? I am sure that like me, one or two things mentioned above hit home with you.

I think I shall start with the slouching. I spend 90% of my day on a chair working. I do slouch a lot as I like to put my feet up as well. So maybe starting today, I’ll make a conscious effort to sit up straight.

Filed Under: Exercise and Fitness Tagged With: back pain, fitness

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