Have you ever thought about giving your children some yoga lessons?

Studies have proven that kids who learned and use yoga regularly are calmer, more coordinated and handle day to day stresses better and children can begin at a very young age as the yoga classes are targeted to their age.

Usually tiny ones are encouraged to begin by introducing them to yoga through a Mummy (or Daddy) and baby yoga class and progress from there. Making yoga a game to play children are able to stretch, flex and learn how to lie quietly on the floor during final relaxation.

Studies have proved that kids who do yoga have improved concentration and focus, better self esteem and teenagers who do yoga find that they often lose weight. It can help with ADD symptoms and even irritable bowel syndrome.

Come on get started today, just like a play group, a yoga class can be arranged to suit you and your friends, if you are on the Sunshine Coast give us a call and see what we can arrange for you.

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Yoga Swing

If you’re not really into exercise, why not take up an exercise that tones your core, strengthens your arms and reeks of glamour. Yoga is fast becoming once again a favourite exercise and the best way to get into yoga is with a yoga swing.

If you are interested in yoga or if you are already involved in yoga, or any other type of exercise for that matter, then you are definitely going to want to at least consider getting one of these swings, because it is going to drastically improve the way that you are able to work out.

You will notice a difference in your exercise routine almost immediately, and so if you have never tried one of these swings before then you should definitely at least give it a chance, and you are sure to love it right from the beginning.

This is the most complete restorative, strength building exercise program to date. By mastering your own specific gravity you are able to build Core Power and perfect balance between each side of the bodies structure.

A Yoga Swing is also great because it provides the option of hanging both forward and backwards during inversion, plus you have the freedom to flex, extend or rotate the trunk while inverted, in order to accomplish stretching, strengthening and joint mobilization of the spine.

Many yogi’s already have their own yoga ropes, however using ropes can result in chaffing and can be uncomfortable, a beautiful yoga swing is the answer, it can double as a hammock, and can be used for inversion therapy which helps to relieve pressure on your spine and internal organs! Regular exercises will also help to eliminate with ease.

Image via Wikipedia

This interesting article in Science Daily, discusses research that proves that slower resistance training is better for women over 45 for restoring balance, and muscle mass. They talk about a certain type of exercise called ‘Superslow’. But, what I’d like to remind every one is that slow exercise for older people has been around for hundreds of years: Tai Chi has been keeping Chinese people fit for at least that long or longer, Yoga of various forms all over the East has been doing the same thing, whether you use traditional Indian Yoga’s or are like me and use the Tibetan Yoga exercises it all amounts to the same thing. Slow exercise has many merits and now is proven to be more effective for a certain age group than pounding the pavement or sweating in a gym. Come on and check out our Yoga and Pilates private sessions and classes here on the Sunshine Coast here at balancenoosa.

Dr Sänger’s research group has investigated two particular methods of physical training. Hypertrophy resistance training is a traditional approach designed to induce muscle growth whereas ‘SuperSlow®’ is a more recently devised system which involves much slower movement and fewer repetitions of exercises, and was originally introduced especially for beginners and for rehabilitation. “Our results indicate that both methods increase muscle mass at the expense of connective and fatty tissue, but contrary to expectations, the SuperSlow® method appears to have the greatest effect,” reveals Dr Sänger. “These findings will be used to design specific exercise programmes for everyday use to reduce the risk of injury and thus significantly contribute to a better quality of life in old age.”

The study focussed on groups of menopausal women aged 45-55 years, the age group in which muscle deterioration first starts to become apparent. Groups undertook supervised regimes over 12 weeks, based on each of the training methods. To see what effect the exercise had, thigh muscle biopsies were taken at the beginning and end of the regimes, and microscopically analysed to look for changes in the ratio of muscle to fatty and connective tissue, the blood supply to the muscle, and particularly for differences in the muscle cells themselves.

“The results of our experiments have significantly improved our understanding of how muscles respond to different forms of exercise,” asserts Dr Sänger. “We believe that the changes that this new insight can bring to current training systems will have a considerable effect on the lives of both menopausal and older women,” she concludes.

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Image via Wikipedia

When was the last time you went to Yoga class? Didn’t you come away feeling great! I know when I am not doing my Yoga, I really miss it. But, did you know that Yoga can be used to detox your body and clear up your lymph system and organs for a fresher, clearer, more energetic you?

This little post from Gaiam, I found this morning reminded me to tell you all about this effect that regular Yoga sessions can give you. Go find a class and get going today!

“Most forms of vigorous exercise stimulate all three systems of elimination to some extent, thereby helping the body in its quest to detox. But yoga, with its focus on systematically stretching and compressing every part of the body, is particularly well-suited to keeping the waste-removal departments of the body functioning well. “In a well-rounded yoga practice, every part of the body is pushed, pulled, twisted, turned and upended. This facilitates the removal of waste products such as carbon dioxide, lactic acid and lymphatic fluid from the deep tissues and extremities of the body that a jog or a bike ride just don’t reach,”

Gaiam

We all know we need to detox, and doing it regularly can make our lives work better, we will not wake with that feeling as if we are pushing our way through water instead of air, and we just might be able to take our occasional excesses with less kick back

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Image via Wikipedia

Have you looked at your arms lately and asked the same questions that Cameron Diaz and Christina Applegate asked in the movie, “The Sweetest Thing?” She held her arm in the air and jiggled it and asked “What is that?” As the saggy skin under her arm flapped back and forth. Having the arms of a Goddess is one of the things that seems to be on every womans mind. Yoga can help.

Resistance exercises can develop short bulkier muscles which helps, but they are not the long, lean defined muscles that yoga can develop. If you want to develop ‘touchable arms’ Yoga classes will help as your muscles become graceful and fluid as they grow longer and ’show-off-able.’

The biceps, triceps and deltoids are the most visual muscles in the arm and focusing on poses that engage these muscles will help to create a more defined and ’strappy’ look. In the age-old Vinyasa Flow where you use the  Salute to the Sun, you will work and engage the upper torso and arms to full capacity. In almost every Yoga pose you are working your arms, and many engage the natural resistance of your own body weight as you flow from one movement to the other.

Some Yoga poses that can activate your arm and upper torso are:

• Salute to the Sun
• Chaturanga
• Downward Facing Dog
• Plank
• Warrior 2
• Shoulder Stand Pose (advanced)

So get yourself off to yoga classes girls and get ready to wear those strappy numbers you have been avoiding until now. You won’t regret giving Yoga a try and you just might find that you love it!

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