Yoga – The Couch Potato’s Way to Health and Fitness!
Have you been called a “couch potato?” Does the title “cream puff” fit? Never exercise? Then there is a simple solution to get you back into shape. It’s called Yoga. I know what you’re thinking! You have to stand on your head, twist yourself into a pretzel, or have incredible strength to do Yoga. Those are myths that came about because Yoga originates in India, a place greatly misunderstood by most Americans. The exposure most of us have had to the ancient culture and exercise forms of India is what they see in movies and TV shows. That view of Yoga is design to entertain people watching films and sitcoms and not to inform them about the truth. Many people who have seen factual information on India in a documentary don’t realize that the Yogi presenting the art form was a master and doing poses that show off his prowess or excite him the most. Also, the amount of information presented was only a small portion of what is actually available on the subject. Thousands of books, instructional videos, and classes have been created in the more than 1,000 years since Yoga was first practiced. Finally, any experts touting the benefits of Yoga as an exercise form seem intimidating because they have transformed themselves into super humans with years of hard work and dedication. When these instructors show previews of their training secrets in an infomercial, they combine a wide variety of poses to excite the experienced as well as the novice.Take away the ancient names and the poses for experienced practitioners and you have a great starting point for the average Joe or Jane. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, breath in while extending your arms above your head, and looking up to the sky until your back is arched. That starts most peoples Yoga workout. The routine continues by slowly leaning forward and exhaling until your finger tips are pointing at the ground and your face is pointing toward your legs. Getting the picture? Yoga has a beginning for the novice practitioner that involves nothing more than the ability to follow simple instructions, be able to breath in and out, and a desire to improve one’s fitness level. Also, because Yoga novices need only shorts and a t-shirt to get started, anyone could get off the sofa right now and begin improving their health. Go to “Free Zone” in your cable on demand section and look under health and fitness. Yoga workouts are their in a wide variety of styles. Many of them are for beginners.If the choices available on demand aren’t palatable then look for free Yoga instruction on the internet (yogaclass.com). It is also easy to purchase a DVD (amazon.com) or download a Yoga workout that instructs beginners (exercisetv.tv). Some cost as little as $1.99! Yoga is also a great starting point for the newcomer to health and fitness because of the variety. Many people stop exercising because of the boredom involved in doing long and repetitive workouts. Who enjoys chugging along on a treadmill or pedaling a stationary bike for an hour or more? Not most people. It is estimated that Yoga forms from around the world include a total of 20,000 unique poses. Since one hundred carefully and gently employed poses more than make up a good beginning workout it is to see how a newcomer can find stances that are easily executed and enjoyable. Currently a lot of fitness professionals are talking about plateau. That simply means doing the same workout for too long causes its effectiveness to decrease over time. One hundred divides into 20,000 two hundred times if you create each workout from poses not used in another workout. Start mixing your favorite poses with stances you haven’t yet used and you could probably exercise everyday of the rest of your life without doing the same workout twice.Another advantage to Yoga is its effectiveness. Strength, flexibility, and balance are all being worked simultaneously. Most other forms of exercise, like weight lifting, only work one aspect of fitness at a time. A second reason people quit exercising is the lack of results. Why bother if no improvement is occurring? It’s a waste of time! One of the modern world’s top complaints is not enough time to get everything done. Avoid weight loss pills and their side effects. Give up on those useless exercise contraptions that promise miracles. Stay away from Doctors too willing to do complicated and dangerous procedures. Get in far better shape with a simple, enjoyable, and effective method known as Yoga. Copyright Paul Weiss 2009