The physical positions of yoga are known as asana. They are
divided into simple basic ones and more advanced. Before you
start it is always good to do warm up exercises before starting
on your regime and then finish with calming or cooling
exercises. Warm up exercises include; eye rolls, moving your
eyes without moving your head, neck rolls and shoulder lifting.

Here are a few common positions that will strengthen and tone
your muscles.

1. The cat position helps you to warm up.

2. A standing position like the Mountain will help you to
strengthen your spine and leg muscles. It will also help you to
prepare for other positions.

3. There are many sitting poses. Some will strengthen your
muscles others relax them. The hero pose and warrior position
are 2 common positions.

4. Muscle stretching is good for your muscle strength and
toning. The Seated Forward Bend is a common one that stretches
your back, shoulders, and hamstrings.

5. The most famous sitting posture is the Lotus position. This
will help you to relax your muscles.

6. A common muscle strengthening exercises is called the
Backward Dog.

7. Another position that strengthens the spine is the Half
Spinal Twist.

Other physical postures can help improve large motor skills,
when you balance for some positions and co-ordination. Many of
the exercises will also help you heal from injuries. Whenever
you do Yoga it is very important to have careful supervision
from a qualified yoga teacher.

Yoga can also relieve stress, its philosophy of calmness and
balancing the body’s energy can help you to relieve everyday
tension. Physical exercise can often help to relieve tension.
Many of the postures are designed to release energy and will
automatically lessen tension and stress. When you are less
stressed your overall health will improve.

There are also breathing exercises, called Pranayamas that can
energize and warm the body. Examples are Kapalabhati Pranayama
and Ujjayi Pranayama. Other exercises include cooling and
calming Pranayamas. An example of this would be Sit Cari
Pranayama. Different conditions of the body will need either
cooling or warming of the body in order to heal and improve
your health. These exercises will help to do this.

It is important to see the big picture when practicing yoga.
When you practice the different poses for your different body
areas you are in fact improving your entire body health. Your
daily routine should be made up of different exercises for
different areas of the body to improve your entire overall well
being.

A fun new way to practice yoga and improve your physical
conditioning is ball yoga. This is doing the basic yoga
positions with the aid of a ball. You can either sit or lie on
a rubber exercise, or Swiss ball, when you do yoga positions.
This can help beginners and can also serve to make exercises
more challenging for advanced users.

There are different sizes for different people. Adults 5′7” in
height or taller should use a 65cm ball. Smaller people should
consider a 55cm. Fill less air in the beginning and put more in
when you are ready for the challenge.

As you can see there are many ways to improve your physical
condition through the asana or postures of yoga. An important
thing to remember is to always learn from an experienced
teacher, who can advise you as to what is the best regime for
you. Yoga is a skilled discipline and needs some guidance
especially if you are new to this fascinating art.

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More studies are required in ways of improving breathing
control, say researchers at the Respiratory Medicine Unit, City
University, Nottingham. Western medicine, they say, has largely
ignored Breathing control methods.

Practitioners of yoga have believed for the longest time in the
benefits of =EBpranayama’, a breathing exercises for asthmatics.
But, this has been difficult to study in a formal, scientific
manner. A Pink City Lung is a device that imposes slow
breathing on the user, mimicking pranayama breathing exercises.
This device made it possible to measure, in a hospital trial,
the effects of controlled breathing.

Tests were done on two simulated pranayama breathing exercises.
The first was slow, deep breathing and the second involved
breathing out for twice as long you breathe in.

The airways of asthma patients become restricted, making it
difficult for them to breathe. It is well documented that
asthma is on the rise around the world, and especially in the
UK, having affected more than three million adults and
children. It is responsible for nearly 2,000 deaths in the UK
every year.

Standard clinical tests carried out by doctors to measure the
volume of air blown out per second by the patients and to test
their airways for irritability. Subsequent to yoga breathing
exercises, the patients’ airways were found to be less
irritable by about two times. This is a dramatic improvement,
which resulted from the yoga breathing exercises.

So, to conclude, asthma patients can certainly benefit by
experimenting with breathing exercises, although they should
not stop their medication. Simply by using some of the
controlled breathing principles taught in yoga, they can
instantly see a noticeable difference in their reliance on
inhalers. If you do know someone who is suffering from asthma,
make sure to inform them about some of the studies related to
yoga and its affects on breathing.

About The Author: Shumam Fasi is involved with an online yoga
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well-written articles. Discover the timeless wisdom of Yoga
meditation, breathing, & positions, as well as reviews on Yoga
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- Physical condition of the individual: usually, it is
recommended that people with normal health do yoga practice.
But if you are suffering from some physical problems and are
using yoga to cure it, you need to follow certain precautions
since performing yoga practices without proper precautions may
lead to harmful effects on the body. This is because the
internal organs like the heart, lungs, kidneys etc. are
involved and may get harmed if you do not practice yoga
properly. Hence it is recommended that you follow the yoga
techniques under expert guidance.

- Right advice: it is important for you to get the proper
instructor to teach you the yoga techniques. Usually, people
who choose the profession of a yoga teacher do not understand
the scientific basis behind the yoga practice and just impose
their opinions and likes and dislikes on the students. They
bring an element of mystery, charge exorbitant fees and
introduce rites and rituals which are not a part of yoga.

- Age and sex: yoga can be practiced by anybody irrespective of
age and sex. However it is important to note that certain yoga
techniques should not be followed under certain circumstances.
Women, who are pregnant or menstruating, should avoid the poses
which lay a great stress on the abdomen. Children below eight
years should not practice any yogic technique but yogic
breathing should be introduced only after twelve years. Very
young and old should avoid the poses with the intense twists.
After a certain age, avoid strenuous practice but you can
practice pranayam, dhyana and simple postures.

- Place and surroundings: The place for yoga should be well
protected from, animals, rodents and insects. If you choose the
indoor room, keep it well lit and it should be airy. If you
choose the outdoors, the surroundings should be quiet. But
avoid the outdoors if it is cold, rainy or very hot.
The ground chosen should be plain and flat.

- Time: Morning is the ideal time for practice since it
incorporates regularity, but evening time can also be chosen
since the body is already warmed up. Your stomach should not be
completely full. So if you have had a meal, you can perform yoga
after five hours.

- Diet: Take simple and nutritious diet. Do not overeat. Keep
chillies and spices to the minimum. It is not important to be
vegetarians but do not eat more than your body’s requirements.

- Interval: it is advisable to be regular but if for some
reason like a lot of work in office or sickness or any other
reason you need to skip a day or two, it is fine. But once the
reason is over, go back to your original routine. Avoid taking
long and frequent gaps.

- Clothing: Choose light and loose fitting clothes. If you live
in a hot climate, you can opt for the sleeveless shirt or a
vest. However, in temperate climate, your clothing should offer
protection against the cold weather but at the same time, they
should not hinder your movements.

- The seat: Always perform the yoga practice on a mat or a
carpet but never on an uncovered floor.

- The order of different techniques: When you are combining
different techniques like surya namaskar, weight training etc.
with yoga, keep a rest period of fifteen minutes between the
two. Within the yoga practice, start off by postural
techniques, followed by breathing techniques and the techniques
of mental concentration in the mentioned order.

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This yoga is made up of eight parts of which five are external and the other three are internal. Two of its parts, viz yama and niyama deal with types of behaviour that the student of yoga should avoid like lying, cheating, stealing etc. and those behaviours that he should cultivate like cleanliness, non-collection etc. Asanas and Pranayama are the next two parts of this yoga. Asanas are the physical movements that help in developing the suppleness of the body and thus cure any diseases. You can control your breath by using pranayama which increases the capacity of the lungs to take in air and thus increases the vitality of the body. The next part Pratyahara denotes the withdrawal of the sense organs from objects of enjoyment. The remaining three parts deal with intense mental concentration.

Patanjali maintained that practicing these eight parts of yoga faithfully and intensely will, over a period of time, erase all the impurities of the body and mind and thus attain knowledge that will liberate the person from bondage and ignorance. This yoga is called Ashtanga Yoga since it is made of eight parts. It is also called as Dhyana yoga due to its stress on mental concentration. Hence, whenever there is any mention of yoga, it is usually implied that the person is talking about Jnana Yogap.

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