Essay on Yoga Day Essays

Essay on Yoga Day Essays Essay on Yoga Day Essay Essay on Yoga Day Essay I walked in the room on my first day of yoga class and soon enough the motivation was evident . The air was pregnant with tranquility which was necessary for an environment being setup for a series of mind stimulating exercises. The yoga instructor, who had an extremely well-proportioned body, started off with a routine which became one of my favorites throughout the semester. Aimed to sooth the tension in your lower back, the cat stretch immensely improved my posture which in turn helped me get rid of a few back problems that I had been dealing with recently. Rounding off the spine with the four limbs flat on the floor, we were taught to place our body in a cat like pose while breathing deeply. Another routine which had a beneficial strengthening effect on my thighs was the mountain pose or â€Å"tadasana†. Like most other yoga exercises, it not only claims to improve one’s posture but it also helps to relieve sciatica as well. We were guided to anchor the balls of the feet on the floor and then to lift the body up. The thighs were the main focus of this routine, were kept firm while pushing the sternum up towards the ceiling, with arms hanging on the side like that of a rag doll. The pose was to be maintained for around thirty seconds to a minute. One of the classical yoga poses, the cobra pose or â€Å"bhujangasana† did wonders to relieve stress and fatigue which had been bottling up inside my body on a daily basis. It made my back more upright and had a very firm stretching effect on my shoulders and chest. This particular pose made all the participants lay chest down on the floor and aimed on pushing the sternum upwards. This pose, we were told, was therapeutic for respiratory issues such as asthma and for increased amount of blood circulation. The plane pose aimed to tone the abdomen, was pretty welcoming for me as I had been trying to get rid of a little extra flab in that area. It helped to fortify the muscles of my back and spine. We were directed to stand erectly and to follow by lifting up one leg, with the chest parallel to the floor and arms held out like wings of an airplane. This worked like magic on my abs because at the end of the semester, I noticed nicely toned up abs which I was immensely ecstatic about. Not only that, but my ankles also felt much stronger to bear the weight of my body. Over all my experience doing yoga was incalculably rewarding as I ended up with an upright, healthy posture and the few minutes of meditation everyday made me reflect on how much I had ignored myself in the past few months. I was thoroughly rejuvenated and blissfully in peace, both physically and mentally. References Carillo A. , Neuhaus E. , (2005), Iron Yoga: Combine Yoga and Strength Training for Weight Loss and Total Body Fitness. USA: Rodale, 137-140. Simpkins, C. A. , Simpkins A. , (2003), Yoga Basics. Boston, MA: Tuttle. Watts, A. (1983). Help for Hay Fever. Yoga Journal, 50, 25-26. Airplane Pose Exercise Demonstration. (2010). In Spark People Retrieved May 31, 2010 from sparkpeople. com/resource/exercises. asp? exercise=118 Cat pose (2010) Yoga Journal Retrieved May 30, 2010 from yogajournal. com/poses/2468