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Yoga is an incorporation of physical, mental and spiritual practices that ultimately seek to liberate, bringing mind and body together. Yoga seeks to create harmony between your body, mind and spirit. This ancient tradition which has stood the test of time (more than 5,000 years) is a health booster, and its benefits have been backed by science. Yoga can be practiced by just about everyone - not only the extra bendy or flexible people, or those who want to meditate. Here are eight benefits that arise from practicing yoga: 1. Betters bone health : Many yoga postures require that you lift your own weight - exercises such as down- and upward-facing dog help strengthen the bones of the arm, which are more vulnerable to osteoporotic fractures. According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, women can lose up to 20 percent of their bone mass in the five to seven years after menopause. It is thus important that women start practicing yoga in their youth to prevent such severe bone m...

If you're a yoga lover or looking for some inspiration to kickstart your yoga journey, here are the badass female yogis to watch out for, on Instagram. 1. Laura Sykora Laura began her yoga journey almost 20 years ago. She had a background in gymnastics and cheerleading before embracing yoga. She and her husband, Edward, completed their Level 1 Acrovinyasa certification with YogaBeyond in 2015. Laura's been an official VIP Ambassador for Alo Yoga since July 1, 2017. Laura keeps her yoga classes fun and playful, yet challenging. She has 1.2 million followers on Instagram. 2. Kino MacGregor Kino tried her first yoga class when she was 19, after which she fell in love with the Mysore yoga style. She made frequent trips to India, where studied Ashtanga yoga from Sri K. Pattabhi Jois ("Guruji"). At the age of 29, Kino received the certification to teach Ashtanga yoga, from Guruji. In 2006, she and her husband, Tim Feldmann, founded Miami Life Center, wher...

Yogis, and aspiring yogis, for your daily yoga inspiration on Instagram, I have shortlisted a list of top male yogis that you can follow. These men are of varying backgrounds and they have made yoga their lifestyle. Take a look at these amazing poses, beautiful environments and follow them on Instagram. 1. Dylan Werner Dylan Werner is an inspiring, international yoga teacher who travels the world and shares his practice and love for yoga. He had his first yoga experience in 2001, when doing martial arts. He stopped practicing martial arts in 2004 alongside yoga. He rediscovered yoga in 2010 and become passionate of yoga, holistically. He has 558,300 followers on Instagram. 2. Mark Robberds Mark is a Certified Ashtanga Yoga teacher, trained and certified by the late K. Pattabhi Jois - Ashtanga master. Mark Robberds began studying yoga in 1997. He started teaching yoga in 2005. The focus of his classes is helping students reach their full potential. He has 104,900 f...

We spend the greater extent of our day bending forward. Think eating, typing, cleaning, driving, those are all regular unsupported forward bends we do all the time. We fail to realize that our backs are meant to move both forward and backward. Backbends can be intimidating and somewhat scary because they require moving our bodies in ways that we aren't used to. However the benefits outweigh the fear and intimidation. These are the reasons why you should incorporate backbends into your yoga practice. 1. They open up the shoulders and chest. Most of us hold tension in our shoulders and chest, which causes the shoulders to be rolled in. This causes breathing to be shallow and compresses the lungs. Practicing backbends will stretch the front part of the chest and assist in drawing the shoulders back, counteracting the forward slump. Backbends really are not about back bending, they are about front open. This means you open your shoulders, chest and hip flexors. When you open tho...

The benefits of yoga dwell beyond stretching and toning the physical body. Yoga poses, known in Sanskrit as asanas purify and heal the body. They also open the energy channels and psychic centers of the body. You can kickstart your yoga journey with fundamental poses carefully chosen from all categories (seated, standing, supine, prone).  Easy pose, sometimes called simple cross-legged pose, is a basic seated posture. Although Sukhasana is often translated as "Easy pose", it isn't all that easy. If you meditate, you can agree that sitting in Sukhasana for any length of time isn't easy and requires endurance and openness and stillness that comes from a balanced and regular yoga practice. In reality, the 'ease' in Sukhasana is that which is gotten from practicing it (a benefit), not the structure of the pose.  Sukhasana is commonly used in practicing breathing exercises (pranayama) and in practicing meditation. For yogis whose hips are still tight, Sukha...

The benefits of a healthy and regular yoga practice have been acclaimed in all spheres of life, music being no exception. A good voice may be your natural talent but everything good requires betterment. In order to sing well and with ease, you need to train your voice. There are various was of training your voice and body to enhance your singing and yoga is one of them. Adopt and maintain a regular yoga practice to keep your body in tune with your voice. Yoga will improve your concentration and focus when singing, make you relaxed, and enhance breathing and posture (alignment). Pranayama (breathing exercises) practice is vital, without breath there is no voice. In order to sing well, you must be able to control your breath. Ujayi breathing (victorious breath is one of the essential forms of Pranayama. According to Wai Lana, a Hawaiian yoga teacher, Ujayi Pranayama "tones the lungs and encourages the free and healthy flow of prana" and helps to regulate blood pres...

During your regular yoga class, you will commonly hear the instructor call certain Sanskrit terms. As a beginner you may feel lost when such terms are used and you are ignorant of their meanings. Some of those Sanskrit  terms may also sound pretty similar but mean totally different things, for example, bhakti and shakti , or dharma and kharma . Asana This refers to a physical posture. T h e purpose of asanas in yo ga is t he attainment of a mastery of t he body and an  en hancement of t he body ' s functions suc h as: Improving energy flow and circulation, Expanding muscles and joints; Cleansing the various systems of the body (digestive, nervous, reproductive, etc), Cleansing organs and Creating strength, endurance and balance. Ashtanga Yoga (eight-limbed union) This form of yoga was designed by Patanjali , it is an eight-fold system of yoga, encompassing: Discipline ( Yama ), Self-restraint ( Niyama ), Postrur...