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Yoga: A Physical and Mental Transformation
Yoga is a specialized practice designed to create a strong, long-lasting mind-body connection in individuals through distinct movements, breathing techniques, and meditative aspects.

Overview
The ancient practice of yoga is deeply rooted in Indian philosophy. When this practice first came to be almost 5,000 years ago, it was heavily based in spiritual aspects. However, over time it has evolved into a popular way for individuals to obtain a better physical and mental well-being as well. In general though, yoga is a practice that aims to create a deep and lasting connection between the body, mind, and spirit so that an individual’s entire being can be joined together in harmony.

Asanas
The asanas, or physical postures, of yoga include a series a movements that are designed to increase strength and flexibility. These poses range from easy, relaxing poses to ones that test the physical and balancing limits of individuals.

Pranayama
Pranayama, or breathing, is an integral part to the practice of yoga. During yoga, individuals learn how to control their breathing which in turn helps them to quiet their mind and better control their body.

Dyana
Dyana, or meditation, is often incorporated into the practice of yoga. Meditation helps individuals to become more mindful, relaxed, and better aware of their minds and bodies.

Purpose of Yoga
As Dr. Natalie Nevins, a family physician and yoga instructor, explained, “The purpose of yoga is to build strength, awareness and harmony in both the mind and body.” Therefore, the practice’s purpose is not only to improve an individual’s physical abilities, but to bring a sense of peace and serenity to the mind. The creation of a strong mind-body connection is imperative to a student’s success in yoga.

11 Major Types of Yoga
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Yoga Poses
There are hundreds of different poses found in the practice of yoga. All of these poses are used to strengthen, stretch, and relax various muscles and areas of the body. Groups of various poses are often gathered together so that they can be collectively used to benefit individuals in specific ways. For example, there are specific poses for individuals looking for ones to use for fitness, back pain, or flexibility related reasons.

Poses for Fitness

 * Side Plank Pose: Strengthens the arms, wrists, and legs.
 * Extended Side Angle Pose: Strengthens the legs, knees, and ankles while stretching the waist, shoulders, and spine.
 * Plank Pose: Strengthens the arms, wrists, and spine while toning the abdomen.
 * Warrior I Pose: Strengthens the shoulders, arms, back, thighs, calves, and ankles.
 * Upward Bow Pose: Strengthens the arms, legs, abdomen, and spine.

Poses for Back Pain

 * Cat Pose: Stretches the back, torso, and the neck.
 * Bridge Pose: Stretches the chest, neck, and spine.
 * Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose: Stretches the front torso, back of neck and legs, and relieves mild backache.
 * Sphinx Pose: Strengthens the spine and stretches the shoulders and abdomen.
 * Locust Pose: Strengthens muscles of the spine and backs of arms and legs.

Poses for Flexibility

 * Child’s Pose: Stretches the hips, thighs, and ankles while relieving back and neck pain.
 * Standing Forward Bend: Stretches the hamstrings, calves, and hips while strengthening the thighs and knees.
 * Intense Side Stretch Pose: Stretches the shoulders, hips, hamstrings, and spine while strengthening the legs.
 * Half Frog Pose: Strengthens the back muscles while stretching the deep hip flexors, thighs, ankles, abdomen, and chest.
 * Downward- Facing Dog: Stretches the hamstrings, calves, arches, hands, and shoulders.

Physical Benefits
The physical benefits of yoga are quite extensive as there are not only known physical benefits, but many benefits that are being discovered and researched currently.

Known Benefits

 * Increased flexibility and range of motion
 * Improved balance
 * Increased muscle tone and strength
 * Reduced back pain
 * Improved respiration and energy
 * Reduction in weight
 * Maintenance of a balanced metabolism
 * Improvements in athletic performance

Improving Fitness

 * Researchers who studied a small group of sedentary individuals who had never practiced yoga before found that when the participants practiced yoga twice a week for eight weeks they had a better cardio-respiratory fitness, improved flexibility, and greater muscle strength and endurance.

Cardiovascular Benefits

 * Multiple small studies found that yoga helped to lower blood pressure in individuals who have hypertension. Researchers believe that yoga acts to restore baroreceptor sensitivity which in turn helps the body to better sense when blood pressures are imbalanced.
 * A different study discovered that the practice of yoga helped to improve lipid profiles in patients who were healthy and had known coronary artery disease.

Back Pain

 * A meta-analysis of 10 randomized controlled trials in 2013 found that there was strong evidence in the short-term effectiveness and moderate evidence for long-term effectiveness of yoga treatment for individuals experiencing low-back pain.
 * Another study found that when a group of individuals with back pain did two 90-minute sessions of yoga per week for a total of 24 weeks, they experienced a 56% reduction in pain. Also, the participants said that they had less disability as compared to individuals receiving the standard care of pain medication.

Arthritis

 * A study in 2014 found that a group of women with knee osteoarthritis who participated in a 60-minute class one day a week along with at home practices reported a 38% reduction in pain and a 35% reduction in stiffness after 8 weeks. Meanwhile, the non-yoga group of women reported that their osteoarthritis symptoms worsened.
 * Then, a study in 2015 found that a group of women with rheumatoid arthritis who participated in two 60-minute long yoga classes a week for 8 weeks reported improvements in their pain levels, mood, energy, and physical health. The women also reported that they had significantly less swollen and tender joints after the classes.

Mental Benefits
The meditative and breathing techniques taught during the practice of yoga have been proven to help individual’s mental well-being. For example, the coping skills and positive life outlook that is developed during yoga can be very effective in helping people manage their stress. Since prolonged stress has been found to create harmful physical problems such as neck and back pain, sleeping issues, headaches, and difficulty concentrating, it is important for individuals to learn necessary preventative skills.

Known Benefits

 * Relieves chronic stress patterns
 * Improves concentration
 * Increases body awareness
 * Reduces anxiety
 * Relaxes mind
 * Creates mental clarity

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

 * At a pilot study at the Trauma Center of the Justice Resource Institute in Massachusetts, women who had PTSD participated in eight sessions of a 75-minute Hatha yoga class. After completing these classes, the women reported that they experienced significantly reduced PTSD symptoms as compared with others who participated in another behavior therapy group.
 * As Dr. Ritu Sharma, the project coordinator, explained, “Body-oriented techniques such as yoga help them increase awareness of sensations in the body, stay more focused on the present moment and hopefully empower them to take effective actions.”

Anxiety

 * In a 2007 study published in Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, researchers at Boston University School of Medicine and McLean Hospital used, “…magnetic resonance imaging in order to compare levels of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) before and after two types of activities: an hour of yoga and an hour of reading a book…” The researchers discovered that the yoga group had a 27% increase in GABA levels, which evidence suggests may help to counteract anxiety and other psychiatric disorders.

Stress Response

 * Dr. Sat Bir Khalsa, who completed several studies in 2004, found that yoga helps to target unmanaged stress which is a critical component to chronic disorders such as anxiety, depression, and insomnia. He explained that yoga helps to reduce the bodies stress response which in turn decreases the activity of the sympathetic nervous system and overall levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

What is Viniyoga?
Viniyoga is a form of yoga therapy that adapts the methods of yoga practices to better fit the conditions, needs, and interests of each individual. Since everyone has their own abilities, physical conditions, and workout interests, instructors of Vinyoga focus on creating the best personalized therapy they can for each of their students. This adaptation and individualization of yoga techniques allows for teachers to better meet the potentials and goals of everyone they instruct.

Mr. Gary Kraftsow, a certified yoga therapist, evolved this approach to yoga in the United States after learning from two yoga masters in India named T. Krishnamacharya and T.K.V. Desikachar in 1974. Then, in 1983 he opened the Maui School of Yoga Therapy and in 1999 he founded the American Viniyoga Institute. These schools have taught many new yoga teachers, yoga therapists, and other health professionals the beneficial ways of Viniyoga for decades now.

Main Differences

 * Viniyoga stresses the importance of function rather than form. During this practice, teachers focus on adapting the postures in order to achieve the different results their students want.
 * Breathing patterns are adapted to produce different effects and breath is emphasized as the medium for movement during poses.
 * Various poses are repeatedly held and moved into and out of to create a connection between breath and body position.
 * Instructors create yoga practices of various difficulties and lengths of time to better fit what each of their students are able or want to accomplish.

Benefits

 * Students become more aware of their breathing patterns and learn how every breath connects to where their body is positioned.
 * Students improve their understanding of how their bodies move.
 * Increases in strength, balance, range of motion, and flexibility occur.
 * Individuals who experience various symptoms and conditions are able to have a personalized approach to yoga that is adapted to be safer and better fit their needs and abilities.

Cancer Symptoms
In a 2018 evaluation of 138 studies on yoga usage in patients with various types of cancer (10,660 total participants), most found that the practice improved patients’ physical and psychological symptoms and bettered their quality of life. Then, a 2017 review of 24 studies in patients with breast cancer (2,166 total participants) found moderate-quality evidence that yoga was beneficial in reducing sleep disturbances and fatigue when compared with no treatment. Also, yoga was, “…more helpful than educational interventions for reducing depression, anxiety, and fatigue in women with breast cancer, and it may have been as helpful as other forms of exercise for health-related quality of life and fatigue…”

Menopause Symptoms
In a 2018 evaluation of 13 studies (1,306 total participants) it was discovered that yoga reduced physical symptoms such as hot flashes along with psychological symptoms when compared with no treatment.

Diabetes
In a 2017 evaluation of 23 studies (2,473 participants) it was found that a participation in yoga programs was associated with improved blood sugar control in individuals with type 2 diabetes, at least on a short-term basis.

National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)
The 2017 NHIS found that the use of yoga by U.S. adults increased from 9.5% in 2012 to 14.3% in 2017. Then, the percentage of U.S. children who participated in yoga more increased from 3.1% in 2012 to 8.4% in 2017. Furthermore, a 2012 NHIS found that 94% of adults who practiced yoga did so to create a general wellness, prevent disease, and/or improve energy. Lastly, 18% reported that they used yoga to treat a specific health condition.

Perceived Benefits of Yoga

 * Reduced stress- 86%
 * Improved overall health- 82%
 * Better emotional well-being- 67%
 * Motivated to exercise more regularly- 63%
 * Improved sleep- 59%
 * Motivated to eat healthier- 43%
 * Made their health problems easier to cope with- 39%