The Yoga rules

Make progressively larger circles until you have completed 7 circles. With each rotation, stretch and lengthen through your arms and fingers as you bend forward, sideways, and backward. Bend fully in each direction until you feel your waist and back muscles begin to work.

Hip Rotation

Benefits

Nourishes and opens up the hips fully

Tones the muscles of the waist

Focus

Keep your legs strong, so that you feel steady to rotate your hips as widely as you can without upsetting your balance.

Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Inhaling, circle your arms overhead, and bring your palms together. Interlock your fingers, with index fingers pointing up.

Look up at your hands. With your pointed fingers, "draw" a small, imaginary circle on the ceiling in a clockwise direction. Move your hips at the same time, also in a clockwise direction.

Make a slightly larger circle, with your arm and hip movements still coordinated.

Make progressively larger circles until you have completed 7 circles. With each rotation, stretch and lengthen through your arms and fingers as you bend forward, sideways, and backward. Bend fully in each direction until you feel your waist and back muscles begin to work. On the last rotation, your interlocked fingers should come low to the floor as you bend forward.

Pause and rest.

Start "drawing" large circles, close to the ground, in a counterclockwise direction. Make progressively smaller circles as you come back to the starting position, with your arms directly above your head.

Repeat the sequence in reverse, starting with small counterclockwise circles that get progressively larger, then making large clockwise circles that get progressively smaller.

Drop your arms to your sides, shrug your shoulders, and relax.

Liver-Stimulating Exercise

Benefit Increases the circulation and flow of prana to the liver to improve its function

Focus Firmly massage your abdomen.

Stage 1 Stand with your feet hip-width part. Place the palm of your right hand on your right upper abdomen, at the base of your rib cage.

Stage 2 Press your palm across the middle of your abdomen along your lower rib bones.

Push your palm up to your breastbone, to the left about 6 inches, down your lower rib bones, and back across to the right lower rib bones. (This pushing from right to left and back again constitutes one repetition.)

Repeat this movement firmly 36 times.

Kidneys This simple Chinese exercise should be done in the morning.

Benefits Stimulates the adrenal glands and the kidneys by increasing circulation and the flow of prana

Improves eyesight

Keeps the skin smooth

Strengthens libido

Focs Imagine the heat and energy flowing from your hands into your kidneys to promote healing.

Kidney Massage Stand with your feet hip-width apart, and lean forward a little. Rub the palms of your hands vigorously together to bring warmth into your hands and fingers, then place your hands over the small of your back.

Massage the small of your back by rubbing up and down, then in a circular motion around your lower back for 1 minute.

Pummel Kidneys Clench your fists, and pummel the small of your back for approximately 1 minute.

Repeat this alternating massaging and pummeling action for 1 minute at a time until you have completed 5 minutes, total, of both movements.

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Yoga, as a discipline, can lead to the rejuvenation of your spirit and this in itself is a worthwhile pursuit. However, this is only the beginning and through the practice of developing basic yoga exercise positions and postures (and then advanced yoga positions) it is possible to achieve a fusion of spirit, body and mind. This all takes time, however, and there are no short cuts. If you are new to yoga, you must start out slowly and learn basic yoga positions for beginners before you attempt to strengthen your body or try more advanced practices such as improving blood flow throughout your system. Start slowly and avoid the temptation to run before you can walk. Slow practise of these different yoga positions for beginners, however, can provide immediate spiritual, mental and physical benefits.

Be like the tortoise, not the hare!

Yoga exercise positions can take some getting used to. Don't forget that when you first start trying out the various yoga positions, your body will be relatively inflexible and so vulnerable to injury if you attempt too much, too soon. Speed up later on, but get the basics right from the outset. Trust me, your body will thank you for the patience! You will need to learn the correct stretching postures from the outset and also develop the correct mental skills - remember, yoga is good for the whole system. Be realistic, you WILL feel slightly awkward at first, but this is natural and is not a reason to quit. Gradually, the wonderful physical and mental benefits will start to manifest in all areas of your life. Isn't that worth waiting for?

So, what can you expect?

Well, these different yoga positions for beginners include such positions/poses as standing and sitting. Sounds simple, doesn't it? However, these basic positions are essential in correcting any imbalance in your posture and must be mastered before moving on to more advanced yoga positions. These first, basic steps also help to strengthen the entire back and hips. Balance is also very important and so you will need to perfect a series of forward and backward bends. Again, they aren't particularly difficult, but these poses also have the added benefit of developing flexibility in your body and will enable you to release tension from your entire system.

Essentially, you must learn to 'listen' to what your body is telling you; don't push too hard for too long. Your capabilities WILL improve over time but if you initially attempt too much then injury could result and this will set you back even further. A yoga instructor is necessary to provide a daily routine for you to follow. Yes, yoga books have their place, but you simply can't make as much progress as with the guiding hand of an experienced practitioner of the art. Join a class, see what problems and benefits other beginners are experiencing and then go for it.

Remember, yoga positions for beginners are simply that - a stepping stone to more advanced techniques which will yield even greater physical and mental benefits.

Here's to speedy progress!

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Americans are increasingly looking for alternatives to prescription medications to promote health and prevent disease. I previously wrote about the effects of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) on promoting mental health and reducing anxiety. What about other alternative approaches? Yoga is a discipline derived from India combining mental and physical exercises that is increasingly catching on in the U.S. Not really knowing how to describe it I looked up the handy online dictionary for a definition of the word.

Yoga (noun); the word yoga derives from the Sanskrit, literally, yoking, from yunakti ("he yokes").

1. a Hindu theistic philosophy teaching the suppression of all activity of body, mind, and will in order that the self may realize its distinction from them and attain liberation

2: a system of exercises for attaining bodily or mental control and well-being

Assuming that people were practicing yoga to promote their physical and/or mental health as well as sense of well being, I followed my tradition of relentless questioning, and asked, is there any evidence that this stuff actually works?


Studies comparing yoga to exercise such as swimming show that yoga reduces anger, depression, and fatigue to an equal degree as swimming (and better than doing nothing) and in some cases yoga is better than swimming. Controlled studies have shown that yoga is equally efficacious as exercise and better than doing nothing for reducing fatigue and promoting energy in patients with multiple sclerosis. Yoga has proven beneficial in promoting health in patients with asthma, diabetes, breast cancer and epilepsy.

Yoga has also been shown to be useful in the treatment of major depression, with one study showing a response rate of 67% in patients in yoga compared to 73% for patients treated for a month with an antidepressant drug. Other studies showed yoga to be effective for reducing anxiety, although studies in this area were not well controlled.

There is increasing evidence that interventions promoting mind-body relationships are a good alternative to prescription medications. So limber up and get those moves going!

J. Douglas Bremner, MD, is a researcher and physician and author of
'Before You Take That Pill: Why the Drug Industry May be Bad for Your Health: Risks and Side Effects You Won't Find on the Label of Commonly Prescribed Drugs, Vitamins and Supplements.' http://www.beforeyoutakethatpill.com
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