Yoga Studio Toronto

Stress…. It’s a fact of life; there’s really no getting around it. How you manage the stress though can mean the difference. 

The body’s natural relaxation response is a powerful antidote to stress. Relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, and yoga can help you activate this relaxation response. When practiced regularly, these activities lead to a reduction in your everyday stress level and  boost  your feelings of peace and calm. They also help by teaching you how to stay calm and collected when life throws you a curveball.  

The stress response floods your body with chemicals that prepare you for “fight or flight.” But, while this response is helpful in emergencies when you must be alert, chronic stress wears you down. Under sustained or severe stress, even the most well-adjusted person loses the ability to adapt. When stress overwhelms our coping resources, our bodies and minds suffer. Science is constantly learning about the impact that stress has on your overall health. Recent research suggests that anywhere from 60 to 90 percent of illness is stress-related. The physical wear and tear of stress includes damage to the cardiovascular system and immune system suppression. Stress can cause a miriad of health problems, compromising your ability to fight off disease and infection, throws your digestive system off balance, makes it difficult to conceive a baby, and can even stunt growth in children. 

To counter-balance the stress response, we need to learn to activate our bodies relaxation response brings your system back into balance, deepening your breathing, reducing stress hormones, slowing down your heart rate, lowering your blood pressure, and relaxing your muscles.

Yoga is an excellent stress relief technique. It involves a series of both moving and stationary poses, combined with deep breathing. The physical and mental benefits of yoga provide a natural counter-balance to stress, and strengthens the relaxation response in your daily life.   Since injuries can happen when yoga is practiced incorrectly, it’s best to learn by attending group classes or hiring a private teacher. Once you learn the basics, you can practice alone or with others, tailoring your practice as you see fit.

Tips for starting a yoga practice: 

*Consider your fitness level and any medical issues before joining a yoga class. There are many yoga classes for different needs,  Hatha Yoga, Vinyasa or “Power” Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, “Hot” or Bikram Yoga, (practiced in a heated environment, might be too much if you are just starting out.) Research the different styles and find one that feels like a good fit. *For stress relief, I’d recommend Hatha Yoga; especially if you’re just starting out. 

*Look for a low-pressure environment where you can learn at your own pace. Don’t extend yourself beyond what feels comfortable, and always back off of a pose at the first sign of pain. Listen to your body. A good teacher can show you alternate poses for ones that are too challenging for your fitness level.   

*Remember, Yoga is not about turning yourself into a pretzel…it’s about finding your own edge and honoring where you are in this moment. Also, try a few different classes, every teacher has their own style; if you get turned off by one, try another. 

Texas

Today’s society is much faster paced that ever before.  People have more stress problems which lead to more health problems, mental and physical.  There are more concerns with toxicity in the food we eat and the air we breathe.  Millions of Americans today live a sedentary lifestyle, which is associated with obesity.  The body, the cavities of our soul, was not meant to deteriorate in such a way that leads to disease.  Yoga was developed over 5,000 years ago in India and it included spiritual beliefs, physical techniques, and scholarly philosophy.  

There is a growing trend to practicing Yoga for many different reasons, which include attaining the yoga body or physique, relaxation and peace of mind, or to prevent injury and ailments.  Americans mainly practice Hatha Yoga, which focuses on postures and stretching the body.  

Yoga, which is derived from the sacred Sanskrit language of India, meaning *union* or *to yoke or harness*.  Yoga is a way or path to transcendence and liberation from the self and the ego by purifying the mind and body.  Practicing yoga leads to a union with the mind and body or the individual and universal consciousness.  In other words, yoga is the union with the Individual Self and the Universal Self.  Yoga predates all other religions and has influenced and inspired many other traditions and philosophies.  Yoga is better understood as a union of the physical, physiological, mental, emotional, and intellectual bodies, which leads to a purposeful and balanced life.  

There is simply no other discipline quite like yoga because it utilized the body, mind and spirit, all in one practice.  Yoga is indeed a spiritual path that is based on ancient sacred philosophy, but one does not need to make an ethical decision when practicing yoga, rather finding your own path is wholly accepted.  The holistic benefits of yoga are suitable for the young or old, sick or well, with any religious background.  The secrets of yoga are inwardness, concentration, and purification of mind and body with cleansing thoughts and food. Indian philosophy states that within man is the spirit that is the center of everything.  *Internal equilibrium is the basis and the ground for the higher illumination,* The cultural Heritage of India (Vol. I) – published by The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Kolkata, India

Nicholas Tan

Turbaned gurus, sing-song mantras and bodily contortions . . . the promise of true enlightenment and omphaloskepsis (contemplation of the naval) completes the cliche. But don’t knock yoga till you’ve tried it, and then only with respect.

Yoga means to bind together — variously joining sun and moon, left and right, male and female, and any number of yins and yangs — through ascetic techniques of meditation and exercise. The goal is physical and mental balance. 

Indian Hatha’ yoga is best known to Westerners. Double-jointedness isn’t a prerequisite, but the classic lotus position, cross-legged on the floor, soles-up on the inner thigh, either comes naturally or doesn’t.

Then there are more magical/mystical varieties of yoga for which people quit jobs and polite society and retreat to the Himalayas. But not everyone follows a spiritual guide beyond the Beltway; they’d rather take up the discipline at a local ashram or the Y.

Committed practitioners claim yoga leads to intuitive awareness, spiritual harmony, perfect concentration. Others use it to lose weight or quit smoking. Some just like the lift they get from yoga asanas (positions) better than breaking into a sweat with pushups. In any case, it can’t hurt, if done in moderation and with proper guidance.

Turbaned gurus, sing-song mantras and bodily contortions . . . the promise of true enlightenment and omphaloskepsis (contemplation of the naval) completes the cliche. But don’t knock yoga till you’ve tried it, and then only with respect.

Yoga means to bind together — variously joining sun and moon, left and right, male and female, and any number of yins and yangs — through ascetic techniques of meditation and exercise. The goal is physical and mental balance. 

Indian Hatha’ yoga is best known to Westerners. Double-jointedness isn’t a prerequisite, but the classic lotus position, cross-legged on the floor, soles-up on the inner thigh, either comes naturally or doesn’t.

Then there are more magical/mystical varieties of yoga for which people quit jobs and polite society and retreat to the Himalayas. But not everyone follows a spiritual guide beyond the Beltway; they’d rather take up the discipline at a local ashram or the Y.

Committed practitioners claim yoga leads to intuitive awareness, spiritual harmony, perfect concentration. Others use it to lose weight or quit smoking. Some just like the lift they get from yoga asanas (positions) better than breaking into a sweat with pushups. In any case, it can’t hurt, if done in moderation and with proper guidance.

Nicholas Tan

Corporate yoga has increased in popularity as it is a relatively accessible form of exercise that can easily be accommodated in the workplace. During stressful times such as these, an initiative such as in-house yoga classes can be an effective, low cost method to help improve the wellbeing of your employees. If you are considering a corporate or in-house yoga session for your workplace, this article outlines what you will need to get started.

1. Find An Empty Space

The first thing that you will need to consider is where you will hold the sessions. Yoga does not require a huge amount of space per person but it needs to be comfortable for those participating. The space will need to be empty for the session and preferably carpeted for floor based exercises. If you can find a space that is also well ventilated that would be ideal. Most companies would typically use a meeting room or a vacant office area to host their sessions.

Once you have identified your space, then you will start to get a better understanding of how many employees can attend each session and appropriate times of day to hold the sessions so as to limit workplace disruption.

2. Assess Employee Interest

This is really simple. All you need to do is send an email or post an article on your intranet so that your employees can express an interest in the service. It is important to remember that not everyone wants to be working out with their colleagues so you need to ensure there is sufficient interest prior to committing to a yoga provider.

This is also the point where you will need to decide the payment method for the sessions. This varies by workplace from fully subsidized through to user pays with many variations between the two.

3. Find A Yoga Provider

Search for a yoga instructor that suits your requirements and is willing to come to your location. It is worthwhile shopping around to find a yoga instructor that fits your price bracket and has an appropriate level of experience. You should also ensure that the yoga instructor has the appropriate insurances or professional indemnities that your workplace requires for onsite instruction.

You may also want to consider which style of yoga will best suit your workplace. Make sure that you cater to your audience when making this decision so that the yoga classes are accessible but challenging for everyone that gets involved.

4. Organize Mats and Equipment

Lastly, you will need to ensure that you have access to the right equipment. Most yoga instructors only require their clients to have a mat. These can sometimes be provided by the instructor but be certain to check if there are additional charges for this service.

Once you have organized all of these logistics, then you are ready to get started with your in-house or corporate yoga sessions. All you need to do is let people know when and where to attend. Once you have completed your first series of sessions, it is also a great idea to get some employee feedback on both the sessions and the yoga instructor so that you can identify improvement opportunities and ensure there is continued interest. I hope this article has been useful and good luck with your corporate yoga sessions!

Kareene Koh
http://www.articlesbase.com/yoga-articles/how-to-organize-a-corporate-yoga-class-714808.html

Yoga for Children is great, 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. Regular attendance provides a wonderful opportunity for the child to learn life skills that can be incorporated into their daily routine.

The skills they improve take place across a very wide range they are all useful and almost all are uniquely well taught within yoga, from breathing and relaxation techniques, helping the child to focus, concentrate or be calm, and this extends into postures that will help their endurance, flexibility, balance and coordination.

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.

Kids get to prowl, growl and wiggle through yoga animal poses from Alligator to Zebra! Certified children\’s yoga instructors are available, and they are well able to introduce stretching, breathing, standing poses and simple meditation to their young pupils.

Kids yoga also provides away into the psyche of children who are harder to reach and may not respond well to less physically based tuition, although we do apply our creed which states that every child has an good heart down inside them. There is a great capability within yoga to allow a child to deal with daily stress, and this speaks very deeply to them. Kids need a way to manage all of their stress and anxiety and yoga definitely helps in buckets with that. It is not healthy for a child to feel so much anxiety over any given situation and thank heavens for yoga to be able to match the challenge.

Yoga for children is certainly one way to ensure that our children grow up healthy and happy. There many schools of yoga. For example, the principles Yama and Niyama reinforce the universal values such as Truth, Non-violence, Cleanliness and contentment. The Asanas help a growing child develop physically, emotionally and psychologically.

Yoga for children comprises of dynamic movements, postures, breathing exercises and meditations and many more. Is it any surprise that the easy and simple stages of yoga tuition for children has proved to help the attention-deficit and hyperactive child far more than you would expect..

At its best yoga for children employs varied imaginative exercises, games, stretches, relaxation and breathing techniques to enable your children to become more confident and more aware of themselves and their bodies.

Through Yoga they are also encouraged to think in a caring, sharing way about each other and the world around them.

Yoga for children should always be at its simplest level a safe, fun and easy stretching class using the principles of yoga. Each class teaches the participants about the benefits of physical activity, how the body functions and the importance of posture and balance.

Children could start learning yoga from the age of five. Initially, it could be a session of fifteen to twenty minutes that could be gradually increased to thirty minutes for older children. Children who bring their own model tractor for the tractor parade will receive free admission to the museum. Children’s yoga however do give a thought to whether yoga may not be suitable for your child if it suffers from physical illnesses or physical defects.

Steve Evans
http://www.articlesbase.com/wellness-articles/peaceful-kids-the-effect-of-childrens-yoga-720595.html