Fit and Youthful Life

Guest Author: Jolly Majumdar


The term “Yoga‘ has been originated from Sanskrit which means union of mind , body and spirit. Yoga can be also defined as practice of physical postures or poses. The vast field of Yoga includes techniques of breathing, meditation, body awareness, purification, and emotional stability.

Yoga has wide range of features which can very well diminish, managed and cure a particular disease by carefully selecting elements included in the Yoga traditions.

Yoga Therapy:

In the first half of the 20th century, Yoga therapy has been evolved in India. Yoga therapy is a new discipline which integrate traditional Yogic concepts and techniques with the western medical and psychological knowledge. It is a therapy without medicines and surgery without tools. Yoga therapy deals with the holistic treatment of various kinds of psychological or somatic dysfunction. The natural and innate healing resources of the body is promoted by this therapy. It also helps in restoring the proper functioning of the various systems present in our body.

Depending on the individual needs and also considering the medical accounts, Yoga therapists designs Yoga practices for the patients. They prescribes some specific regimens of postures, breathing exercises and relaxation techniques. Yoga therapy can diminish various symptoms and guard the body against various diseases which are mostly evolved due to stress. It treats various ailments ranging from back problems to arthritis to heart conditions to hyperventilation to asthma to irritable bowel syndrome to diabetes to multiple sclerosis to chronic fatigue syndrome to anxiety to hypertension.

In contrary to this, traditional Yoga is primarily concerned with personal fineness on the part of a “normal” or healthy individual. But both the techniques, however, share an understanding of the human being as an integrated body-mind system, which can function optimally only when there is a state of dynamic balance. Yoga therapy is more effective than general yoga practice as a safe means of treating medical conditions.

Advantages of Yoga Therapy:

1. Yoga therapy is good for everyone.

2. It is a modified form of all the classical Yoga practices and therefore provides same advantages the traditional Yoga practices provides but without having any risk of injury.

3. Yoga therapy keeps the body flexible and mobile and keeps the joints moving.

4. Yoga therapy helps in both preventing and curing the diseases..

Yoga Therapy in Kerala:

Kerala which is situated in the southern most part of India is renowned all over the world for its Yoga therapy. Kerala has many Ayurvedic resorts which offers Yoga therapies. Some of the famous Auyurvedic resorts of Kerala are Athreya Ayurvedic Resorts, Keraleeyam Ayurvedic Resort, Somatheeram Resorts, Kare Yoga Centre (Iyengar yoga therapy kerala) and many more.

All these resorts offers special therapies to treat various ailments depending upon the body condition. These therapies included general body massages with herbal oils, Steam bath in herb enriched steam, Dhara [with medicated buttermilk], Half body massage with herbal oils, Special head massage, Panchkarma tretmens, Slimming programs, paralysis, weight loss, Anti- aging, Yoga and mediation, Detoxification and rejuvenation therapies.



Look 10 Years Younger

Guest Author: Steve Evans


Children is a wonderful antidote to the hectic lives that our children lead. Yoga can be relaxing, stimulating, and promotes well being. It provides closely controlled exercise and is enormous fun for children at the same time.

A number of Yoga for Children programmes have been created by Yoga teachers to introduce the benefits of yoga and relaxation at an early age in a playful, simple and fun way. The combination of special yoga moves, breathing exercises and relaxations will energize, strengthen, loosen and balance little bodies, while helping to calm and control and relax little minds.

Kids yoga is a wonderful opportunity for the child to learn life skills that can be implemented into their daily routine. Whether it\’s breathing and relaxation techniques that will help them, focus, concentrate or be calm; or postures that will help their endurance, flexibility, balance and coordination these are all very naturally a strong part of yoga.

Yoga for children is most successful if the children are encouraged to use their imagination. A dynamic, creative and stimulating approach grabs the children\’s attention.

Yoga for children is practiced in the United Kingdom. It is not new to Britain, with after-school clubs and classes gaining popularity in recent years as parents realize its wide-ranging benefits. What is new to the UK, however, is the method of Research on Yoga in Education (RYE), an international non-profit making organization which blends the standard school curriculum with exercises on concentration, attention and relaxation, drawn mainly from traditional yoga.

What is also claimed is that Yoga for children gives the benefit that the children may be protected from injuries and at the same time they get all the benefits of exercising the system. This is not to suggest that the other exercise including outdoor forms of exercises and sports and games are not beneficial.

Parents have expressed appreciation for the presentation of yoga in a playful manner with its presentation of actively moving exercises balanced with those that require stillness and inner concentration, all in a child-friendly way. Parents may be practicing yoga themselves, and kids are always interested in what their parents are up to.

When assessing yoga trainers for children, parents should also inquire as to the spiritual nature of the classes; some instructors take a strong religious stance, while others offer no particular religious slant, instead focusing simply on the movements and breathing.

In the best classes the kids learn balance with dozens of yoga poses, develop strength, improve coordination and enhance their flexibility all with these children\’s yoga exercises. Furthermore, kids develop an overall sense of strength, flexibility and well-being, while they get hold of their active lives and sometimes overactive minds. Kids get to prowl, growl and wiggle through yoga animal poses from Alligator to Zebra! Certified children\’s yoga instructors will introduce stretching, breathing, standing poses and simple meditation.

Kids yoga provides an answer to children who we might described as being are little bit harder to reach, although we stand firm with our belief that every child has an angel deep down inside them.

We have said that children’s Yoga allows a child to deal with daily stress. What do we mean by that?

The answer is that each time a child enters a Yoga class for kids, he or she can “close the door” on negative feelings that stress overload brings. They can simply put that behind them throughout the lesson and afterward doing that tend to take a more mature perspective. Kids need a way to manage all of their stress and anxiety. It is not healthy for a child to feel so much anxiety over any given situation.

There you have it! Kids and yoga seem like a natural match. It can be immensely therapeutic for those who need it.

However, yoga can be presented well and insensitively. The best trainers recognize that kids need a practice that suits their physical and emotional needs. Luckily, many yoga schools across the nation are responding to the growing interest in yoga for the younger set in a very well managed and sensitive way.

It is a fact that to provide kids yoga a specialized training might be needed, and is in some places being made available, but patience is a key quality needed for Yoga instructors who want to embark on this path. I teach children myself, and a Kids Yoga class has to be well devised, be fun, and include games.

So, we hope that we have shown you how yoga is such a great way to relax and de-stress equally for the child and the adult.

However, did you know that there are even now some yoga practitioners who are providing training to parents in yoga from soon after birth?

By using yoga with babies, parents confidence grows in handling, playing and having fun with their babies. The classes are fun class in a system which also offers gentle post-natal yoga and tummy toning exercises for mummy!

The Real Youth Potion