Weight Fitness

Fitness Yoga

May 17th, 2010 at 10:15pm Under fitness

Yoga is an ancient Hindu discipline that, in its purest form aims to help a person achieve tranquility and inner peace. Yoga made its way into Western society and is used as a relaxation technique. It is particularly popular amongst younger people who lead very busy lives and find that yoga allows them to detach from the hustle and bustle whilst helping to clear their mind.

The goal of yoga is to control both your mind and body. In recent years people have put a new spin on yoga to turn it into a fitness routine rather than just a spiritual and relaxation experience. Yoga has the ability to assist in the flexibility and strengthening of your body and it is these attributes that are focused on during fitness yoga routines and classes.

So what are the benefits of fitness yoga?

1. Strength
Yoga is a combination flow movements that have to be held for periods of time. This sort of resistance training is not practiced in any other form.

2. Flexibility
The range of motions that you do in yoga are unmatched by other exercises. Your flexibility will improve over time as some of the positions can be rather difficult (and best attempted after you gain some experience)

3. Balance
Most exercises focus on just a few core muscle groups or parts of the body whereas yoga encompasses your entire body (inside and out) and as such is one of the most all round forms of exercise you can do.

4. Breathing
Yoga teaches you how to breathe evenly and it lets you practice in a concentrated manner, unlike many other exercise forms in which it can be hard to concentrate on correct breathing techniques.

Fitness yoga is a great way to gain more flexibility and strength and is a welcome change from the regular exercise you might do. Always consult an expert or buy a fitness yoga DVD before starting so that you can learn the correct form for each exercise.

Most health and fitness clubs now hold yoga classes as this discipline becomes increasingly popular amongst people who are just starting to realize is multiple benefits.

By Paul