benefits of yoga
Yoga for children - Children are typically born already flexible. Yoga helps children maintain flexibility and develop better body awareness, self-control, focus and coordination.
Golf - Golfers who begin a yoga practice report better focus in the game and an improved range of motion that allows them to achieve a deeper back-swing. With a regular yoga practice, golfers will build the endurance to play a strong game. There are a series of postures that help to lengthen both sides of the body, improve hamstring flexibility, build dynamic strength in the quadriceps, and increase the range of motion in the hips and shoulders.
Tennis - John McEnroe and Jeff Tarango, two of the most fiery characters to ever smash a tennis racquet were recently featured in the December 2000 issue of Tennis magazine. According to Tennis, a number of tennis players are turning to yoga and meditation to pick them up when their backhand lets them down. The physical benefits of yoga - increased strength, stamina, balance, and flexibility - help tennis players meet the rigors of the game. Tennis is a game that can jolt the body physically out of balance and the joints in a player’s body are often compromised. Sudden twists and lunges make this sport often brutal on the body. Yoga can help condition the body for tennis by helping players become more flexible and strong.
Runners - Running can be difficult on joints, feet and hamstrings. If you bring your body into balance through the practice of yoga, you can run long and hard for years to come. Yoga's internal focus centers your attention on your own body's movements rather than on an external outcome. Runners can use yoga practice to balance strength, increase range of motion, and train the body and mind. Asanas, or postures, move the body through gravitational dimensions while teaching the runner how to coordinate breath with each subtle movement which is often the key to getting into the zone. The eventual result is that the body, mind, and breath are integrated in all actions. Through consistent and systematic asana conditioning, one can engage, strengthen, and place demands on all intrinsic muscle groups, which support and stabilize the skeletal system.
MS - Physical activity is extremely important for individuals with MS, and yoga is now recognized as an excellent means of MS management, whether the individual manifests little or no outward signs of the disease, or whether they spend most of their time in a wheelchair. The benefits of yoga postures (asana), working with the breath (pranayama), and meditation may include increased body awareness, release of muscular tension (thus relieving spasticity), increased coordination and balance, increased flexibility and strength, control over fatigue, increased tolerance to heat, improved circulation and breathing, improved organ function (including bowel and bladder), enhanced alertness, better management of stress and an overall feeling of well-being.
