Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Yoga training significantly improves lung functions and strength of inspiratory and expiratory muscles.
In a randomized controlled trial by All India Institutes of Medical Sciences , Delhi, it was reported that yoga postures, pranayama, and meditation improved several measures of pulmonary function in subjects having mild to moderate bronchial asthma and a decrease in exercise-induced bronchoconstriction. Yoga improved the quality of life , reduced rescue medication use in bronchial asthma, and achieved the reduction of medicines earlier than conventional treatment alone. Similar findings were reported by another study conducted in United States of America among patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Yoga May Improve Bone Health
Many postures in yoga are isometric contractions, meaning the length of the muscles holding the pose doesnt change, though they are fully engaged.
For example, in Plank Pose, which is an upper pushup position, the arms, trunk, and legs are all engaged, without shortening or lengthening as they would if you were moving through a pushup.
In Warrior II, you hold a position with the lead leg bent at both the hip and knee. Isometric exercises especially when performed with the joints in flexion have been found to increase bone density .
Yoga asana may also reverse the bone loss associated with osteopenia and osteoporosis. One study showed that just 12 minutes of yoga per day can significantly improve bone health .
That said, its important to note that the findings related to yogas impact on bone density have been mixed, and therefore inconclusive, so far .
Communities And Countries And Ultimately The World Are Only As Strong As The Health Of Their Women Michelle Obama
Women’s bodies are extremely nuanced and complicated works of art. There are so many things we as women experience with our health beyond just menstruation and pregnancy, and due to the parts we are given at birth, the changes and transitions our bodies go through are seemingly endless. Navigating them can be overwhelming. That’s where Yoga comes in.
Leah at Banyan Tree Yoga specializes in Yoga for Women’s Health, focusing on pelvic health issues in girls and women and how they affect anatomy, energy and accessibility in the practice of Yoga. She aims to assist you with customizing a plan for comfort and ease in your Yoga practice, no matter your physical limitations or capabilities. Additionally, she assists women through the entirety of their journey, including but not limited to:
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Menstruation
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Menopause
She takes a multi-faceted and tailored approach to her Yoga for Womens Health offerings.
Reach out to her today to build a plan that will enhance your life and help you maintain health and happiness!
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Improves Symptoms Of The Menopause
Studies have also focused on how yoga could help menopausal women cope with hot flashes.
54 perimenopausal and postmenopausal women made up the sample group, with each experiencing at least four hot flashes a day.
A huge 66% of women reported a reduction in hot flashes following just 10 weeks of classes.
Not only that, but they stated that their hot flashes were less intense than they had been previously.
Closer investigation in to all the research surrounding yoga for menopausal symptoms was conducted in Germany in 2012.
They wanted to understand whether the practice could help with the psychological symptoms of the condition.
Overall results showed improvements and researchers felt it should be recommended as a treatment option.
How Can Yoga Help With Endometriosis
I only know of one research study that looked at the effect of yoga on endometriosis related pain. Even though thats not much, I also dont think theres any harm in trying and seeing if it works for an individual. Of course, I dont mean doing yoga in place of seeking care from compassionate and competent healthcare providers, but in conjunction with medical care.
My gut and experience tells me it can and does help even though I dont have much research to point to that backs it up.
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Cpmc Womens Health Resource Center Online Wellness Classes
Sensitive, effective wellness classes can help you face chronic or recent health issues, as well as improve your overall well-being and relaxation. The Womens Health Resource Center at CPMC offers meditation, stretch and balance, and two types of yoga classes led by highly qualified faculty members. View our upcoming class and workshop schedule or call 600-0500 for more information or to register.
Note: Due to COVID-19, all of our classes are currently being offered online.
Yoga For Children And Adolescents
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends yoga as a safe and potentially effective therapy for children and adolescents coping with emotional, mental, physical, and behavioral health conditions. Yoga can help children learn to self-regulate, focus on the task at hand, and handle problems peacefully. Yoga may also improve balance, relieve tension, and increase strength when practiced regularly. Because some yoga poses are harder than others, the AAP cautions that even children who are flexible and in good shape should start slowly.
What Does the Research Show?
- In a 2019 study, 5-year-old kindergartners doing yoga twice a week in school in place of standard physical education showed less inattention and hyperactivity and completed a task faster than 5-year-olds doing physical education or no exercise.
- A 2016 review found that school-based yoga programs seem to help improve adolescents health.
- A 2015 systematic review of 16 studies for yoga interventions addressing anxiety among children and adolescents concluded that nearly all studies included in the review indicated reduced anxiety following a yoga intervention. However, the reviewers noted that because of the wide variety of study populations, limitations in some study designs, and variable outcome measures, further research is needed to enhance the ability to generalize and apply yoga to reduce anxiety.
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Lovely Lets Jump Right Into The Questions What Makes Fertility Yoga Or Womens Health Yoga Different From Regular Yoga
I get this question all the time. Its not that theres a different set of poses or anything. What makes fertility yoga or womens health yoga different is the intention. Its the purpose behind the poses that influences the approach and the effect.
When Im teaching yoga for PCOS, fertility, or general womens health, I focus more on how the poses feel than how they look. The pace also tends to be slower allowing for opportunities to develop interoception . And the purpose is to soothe the nervous system and move blood, lymph fluid, and energy to and from the reproductive organs.
How Many Days A Week Should I Do Yoga
The amount of yoga you do in a week will depend on your lifestyle, responsibilities, fitness level and goal. If you’re trying to lose body fat, you may practise yoga multiple times a week. If you’re trying to supplement your current workout routine with calming flows, perhaps only once or twice.
There’s no hard and fast rule as to how much you should do but Espinosa has some advice if you’re trying to create a routine:
‘You can make yoga a daily practice especially if you enjoy it. I usually recommend establishing a regular practice of at least three times a week and combining it with other types of exercise.’
‘Start with a yoga mat that has a good degree of thickness to protect your joints, a yoga belt, 2 cork bricks and a bolster or a cushion. Props allow you to find greater ease and support in a pose and can make a huge difference in how you enjoy the yoga practice.’
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Yoga Helps With Back Pain Relief
Yoga is as good as basic stretching for easing pain and improving mobility in people with lower back pain. The American College of Physicians recommends yoga as a first-line treatment for chronic low back pain.Try it: Cat-Cow PoseGet on all fours, placing your palms underneath your shoulders and your knees underneath your hips. First, inhale, as you let your stomach drop down toward the floor. Then, exhale, as you draw your navel toward your spine, arching your spine like a cat stretching.
The Golden Years And The Glow A Blissful Companion
A womans golden years of life has its unique challenges. With age, the practice of complex asanas reduces. Asanas aimed at improving blood circulation and a healthy nervous system will help the body to extend and eventually fully relax. The aim of yoga at this stage, as always, is to maintain both physical and mental health, therefore bringing about balance and harmony. With continuity, the practice of yoga matures and women learn how to accommodate the physical limitations brought about by increasing age.
TheSri Sri Yoga is a relaxing experience and carries with it an overall sense of well being. Your Sri Sri Yoga routine is exclusively time for you. Take a break from the demands of being a career woman, wife and mother and be yourself!
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Scientific Research On Yoga Benefits
The U.S. military, the National Institutes of Health and other large organizations are listening to and incorporating scientific validation of yogas value in health care.
Numerous studies show yogas benefits in arthritis, osteopenia, balance issues, oncology, womens health, chronic pain and other specialties.
Yoga Benefits Heart Health
Regular yoga practice may reduce levels of stress and body-wide inflammation, contributing to healthier hearts. Several of the factors contributing to heart disease, including high blood pressure and excess weight, can also be addressed through yoga.Try it: Downward Dog PoseGet on all fours, then tuck your toes under and bring your sitting bones up, so that you make a triangle shape. Keep a slight bend in your knees, while lengthening your spine and tailbone.
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Health Benefits Of Yoga For Women
Yoga is growing more and more popular, with 36 million yogis now stretching out across the US.
There are so many advantages to practicing, such as improved mental clarity, better posture and a higher level of self-esteem.
However did you know yoga has specific benefits just for women? If youre a woman considering taking up the practice then the list below might just convince you to get started:
Yoga Poses Every Woman Should Practice
By Bipin Baloni | Published 12/18/2018 6
Yoga has been healing people for generations. Originating in the Indian subcontinent, it has provided physical, mental and spiritual support to humans. Throughout these years and eras, the yogic science has served people from all age groups and genders equally. However, there are some exercises that are of immense benefits for women in particular.
Women, according to the yogic philosophy are the manifestation of Goddess Durga, are the source of life on the planet and the union of all kinds of energy. A woman advances through multiple phases of life, from childhood to puberty and from motherhood to menopause. Yoga helps you deal with all these phases, changes and challenges coming into your life.
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What Do I Need To Do Before Going To A Yoga Class
Yoga Helps You Manage Stress
According to the National Institutes of Health, scientific evidence shows that yoga supports stress management, mental health, mindfulness, healthy eating, weight loss and quality sleep.
Try It: Corpse Pose Lie down with your limbs gently stretched out, away from the body, with your palms facing up. Try to clear your mind while breathing deeply. You can hold this pose for 5 to 15 minutes.
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What Are The Health Benefits Of Yoga For Women
The benefits of yoga for women are as ancient as the exercise itself. With plenty of modern research available, the understanding of those benefits is better and broader than ever before.
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Although yoga lingo â from pranayama to vinyasa â may be hard for beginners to get a handle on at first, the wide range of benefits you’ll reap from regular yoga practice is easy to understand before you even set foot on the mat.
While many of yoga’s physical and mental benefits target everyday women’s health issues or are specific to women alone, the vast majority of its fitness perks apply to the whole gender spectrum. People of all ages can reap the benefits.
Tip
The health benefits of yoga for women range from muscular to cardiovascular to mental â and beyond.
The Pros Of Prenatal Yoga
If there’s a time in your life that you can really benefit from advantages like boosted strength, controlled breathing and a finely tuned ability to relax, it’s during pregnancy. For these reasons and others, the Mayo Clinic touts prenatal yoga as a safe and beneficial practice for expectant mothers .
Of course, improved strength, flexibility and muscle endurance will come into play during childbirth itself â as will a focus on deep breathing, a must during contractions. Yoga’s potential for reducing back pain, nausea and headaches will happily come into play for all nine months before the big day, too.
If that’s not convincing enough, the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine took a deeper dive into the topic in its August 2018 issue.
Read more:10 Best Yoga Poses for Beginners
After studying 200 women ages 20 to 35 from 30 weeks of gestation onward, researchers have found that prenatal yoga practice led to a decrease in induced labor, fewer cesarean sections, a shorter first stage of labor, improved pain tolerance and a lessened instance of low birth weight in babies.
It gets even better: The study found that “there were no adverse effects attributed to yoga,” and all of the women involved had no prior yoga experience. If those 200 women found their way into yoga practice from the ground up, it’s a good bet that you can too. Better grab a mat.
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Yoga For Older Adults
Yogas popularity among older Americans is growing. National survey data show that 6.7 percent of U.S. adults age 65 and over practiced yoga in 2017, as compared to 3.3 percent in 2012, 2.0 percent in 2007, and 1.3 percent in 2002.
Older adults who practice yoga should put safety first. Its a good idea to start with an appropriate yoga classsuch as one called gentle yoga or seniors yogato get individualized advice and learn correct form. Chair yoga is an even gentler option for seniors with limited mobility. And its important for older people with medical issues to talk to both their health care providers and the yoga teacher before starting yoga.
What Does the Research Show?
- A 2015 study funded by NCCIH compared 14 experienced yoga practitioners to 14 physically active control participants of similar ages. In the control group, the amount of gray matter was lower in older participants than younger ones. In the yoga practitioners, there was no relationship between gray matter and age. Among the yoga practitioners, the volume of certain brain regions increased with the number of years of yoga experience and weekly amount of yoga practice.
Can Help With Weight Loss
Yoga for weight loss can sound like a funny idea, especially if you’ve always thought of it as something to do mostly for mental clarity. However, the practice does and can help with weight loss and losing body fat, as well.
To lose weight safely, you should be in a calorie deficitthat’s appropriate for your age, height, weight and lifestyle as well as exercising to maintain muscle mass. A calorie deficit is when you consume fewer calories than you’re expending forcing your body to use fat for fuel, instead. You can achieve a calorie deficit through nutrition or exercise, like yoga.
Fi Clarke, head of yoga at FLY LDN suggests practising three to five times a week if your goal is to lose weight well in combination with a balanced, nutrient-dense diet and adequate stress management.
Read more of Fi’s suggestions at our full guide on how to use Yoga for weight loss.
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Caring Health Care: Urban Zen Integrative Therapy Program
The brainchild of Donna Karan, Rodney Yee, Colleen Saidman Yee, and Beth Israels chair of integrative medicine, Woodson Merrell, MD, the Urban Zen Integrative Therapy program seeks to strengthen the human element in hospital-based health care and to lessen the pain and anxiety many patients experience when undergoing treatment for cancer and other illnesses. Launched in 2009, the program offers a 500-hour training for yoga teachers and health care professionals in five healing modalities: yoga therapy, Reiki, essential-oil therapy, nutrition, and contemplative care. Included in the training are 100 hours of clinical rotations, carried out at participating hospitals and long-term care facilities in New York Los Angeles Columbus, Ohio and Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Were bringing mindfulness into arenas where there is often only anxiety, panic, stress, and crisis states, says Codirector Rodney Yee. We all realize mindfulness and meditation are so important to daily life. This is a way to bring this to patients in a medical setting, to support patients needs. For example, depending on the needs of the patient, a certified therapist might help patients do in-bed yoga poses, breathing techniques, and meditation that they can then repeat on their own.
Former Yoga Journal editor Katherine Griffin is a writer and editor in Northern California.
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