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Sunday, December 9, 2007

Yoga For a Beginner

yoga for a beginner is an exciting time when you start to discover all of the wonderful benefits that yoga has to offer. When you first begin yoga, there are several things you can do to make your experience positive.

The following are ideas you might want to consider as you begin your yoga journey.

Types of yoga
It is a good idea when you are doing yoga as a beginner, that you choose a style that matches your fitness level, personality, and health condition. Review what each type of yoga has to offer so you can choose a class that is best suited to you.

yoga instruction
yoga for a beginner is best practiced under the supervision of an experienced teacher. It is important to maintain proper body alignment. A good teacher will make corrections so you dont injure yourself and can also offer modifications if you have any physical restrictions. A teacher can also help you go a little deeper into a pose so you get the most from your practice.

You can find beginner yoga classes at many studios and gyms. Often the first class is free, so you can try different classes to see which ones you like best.

yoga Attitude
An important point to realize about yoga for a beginner is that it is non-competitive. You are not trying to stretch farther than other people in the class or even keep up with them. You are paying attention to your body, and while you want to challenge it, you also want to listen to it. If, at any point during your practice, you begin to feel pain, either ease up a little, or come out of the pose. It is more important to honor your body than to try to do a pose perfectly.

Breathing
The most important point in yoga for a beginner is to breathe correctly during the postures. In yoga you breathe in and out through your nose in order to allow yourself to breathe more deeply. Breathing helps you get relaxed and it also helps you move more deeply into the poses. If you feel an area of tension in your body, you can direct your breathe to that spot to help it release. If, at any time during a pose, you find that you cannot breathe deeply, either ease up or come out of the pose. Breathing correctly is one of the most important goals in any yoga practice.

yoga for a Beginner Kit
You might want to get a beginner yoga kit, which usually includes a sticky mat, a strap, and one or two yoga blocks. Some also include a yoga video so you can supplement your classes with practice at home.

Preparing for Class
Do not eat a heavy meal fore several hours before your class. yoga is best practiced on an empty stomach. Do drink water, both before and after your practice in order to keep your body well hydrated.

yoga for a beginner is the first step on a journey of ever increasing self-awareness, a greater level of strength, endurance, and flexibility, and a deeper sense of peace. Have fun and enjoy everything along the way!

Della Menechella is a yoga and fitness enthusiast who has been involved in fitness for over thirty years. Here website http://www.beauty-fitness-yoga-source.com is filled with practical information about how you can make yoga and fitness a positive part of your life.

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Calcium, What's The Big Deal?

The big question about calcium, exactly what is calcium and why is calcium so important to you and I?

What is Calcium?

Calcium is one of the most abundant micro-nutrient found in our body. 99% of our bodys total calcium is stores in the bones and teeth. The remaining 1% of calcium is then found throughout our body in blood, muscles, and the fluid in between cells. calcium is also needed for muscle contraction and the secretion of hormones and enzymes. There are much more usage of calcium, but to put simply, calcium is important for Bone repair/formations and the contraction of muscles. calcium is also the answer to strong and dense bones.

Different Types of calcium, Which is Best?

calcium is an element and it comes in various forms. Theres calcium citrate, calcium phosphate, calcium Gluconate, calcium Carbonate, and e.t.c. The list can go on and on, but which is the most common one that is best absorbed by the body?

There is something called the elemental weight. calcium phosphate has an elemental weight of 31-38% whilst calcium carbonate has an elemental weight of 40%. Lets use calcium Carbonate (Most common form of calcium found in the market) as an example, if you take 500mg of calcium carbonate, only 200mg of elemental calcium is available for absorption. Ill make things simpler by giving you an analogy; lets presume that youre now going down to the fuel station to pump some petrol for your car. There are 2 types of Petrol and both are mixed with water. For every liter of petrol, Petrol X contains 20% petrol whilst Petrol Y contains 40% petrol. We do know that cars require petrol to move and not water. So the obvious choice will be Petrol Y. The same goes to us, our body can only utilize elemental calcium, and therefore, calcium Carbonate is one of the better choices of calcium supplements to take.

Vitamin D & calcium Absorption
Taking calcium alone is not as effective taking calcium with a good dose of Vitamin D. Vitamin D helps improve calcium absorption. To put things simply, lets imagine things this way. Before calcium is absorbed by our body, it needs go through a door which is locked and requires a key to open it. Vitamin D is the key to opening this door to allow calcium into your body and from there allows the body to utilize the calcium.

What NOT to Consume calcium With
We should not be consuming calcium with Zinc and Iron. This is so as our body prioritizes calcium over the other two minerals. I advise you to take Zinc and Iron at a time when your body has little calcium, preferably 30mins-60mins after drinking your milk. When purchasing multivitamins, do also look at the Nutrition fact sheet to see if any of this minerals are stashed together.

How much calcium is Needed?
If youre just an average adult, I would recommend taking anything from 800mg 1200mg of calcium a day. However, if youre an athlete or bodybuilder, you should be taking up to 2000mg 2300mg of calcium a day. Good sources of protein include milk, yoghurt, cheese. Taking more than 2500mg of calcium may cause you to get wet stools.

Benefits
calcium will help you maintain a healthy bone mass, delay the onset of osteoporosis and recent research articles have also shown that calcium aids weight loss.

Reference
Hartman TJ, Albert PS, Snyder K, et al. The association of calcium and vitamin d with risk of colorectal adenomas. J Nutr. 2005 Feb;135(2):252-9.

Shi H, Dirienzo D, Zemel MB. Effects of dietary calcium on adipocyte lipid metabolism and body weight regulation in energy-restricted aP2-agouti transgenic mice. FASEB J 2001; 15:291-293.

Zemel MB, Thompson W, Milstead A, Morris K, Campbell P. calcium and dairy acceleration of weight and fat loss during energy restriction in obese adults. Obes Res. 2004 Apr;12(4):582-90.

dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov/factsheets/calcium.asp#h7

Darcy is currently studying and researching into Sports and Exercise Sciences. He Co-Owns http://www.Supplementtracker.com Contact: Darcy[at] http://www.Supplementtracker.com
"Our body is like a delicate piece of art, every portion and every detail has to be sculpt carefully and patiently to get what we want" -Darcy

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