Yoga’s Role In An Excercise Regime

Practiced in India for literally thousands of years, yoga is a system that has the potential to transform an individual at every level: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual! It works at the very root of a problem and helps the body to bring itself back into equilibrium.

The goal of yoga is a state of ‘samadhi’ (a state of bliss). Although this may seem abstract and strange at first, yoga does not teach abstraction. It simply takes you to the first step in the process, knowing that you will automatically progress. We start by being aware of the body, after which the concentration shifts to the breath, then the mind takes priority. With some effort and devotion the practice of yoga helps one to ultimately move beyond the mind to a state of constant awareness and bliss!

Yoga can easily be adapted for any person at any age and in any physical condition. Yoga has become more popular in recent years due to the many benefits that can be had from regular yoga exercises.

One of the great things about yoga is the fact that it is very powerful at relieving stress. For those people who are aware of how stress affects the condition of the skin and the aging process, it is easy to understand how powerful yoga can be to help wind back the clock.

By releasing stress from the body energy levels increase and allow you to participate in more activities. This in turn increases your physical fitness and mental fitness. With the ability to perform more physical activities the body becomes healthier stronger and effectively younger.

The suppleness that comes about from doing regular yoga exercises reduces the amount of aches and pains that we suffer as we get older. Having constant pain, and the energy that this saps from your body, is very often mirrored on the face, making you appear older.

Anti-Aging and yoga are very closely connected. Yogis look young even when they turn old because yoga involves less wear and tear of muscles. The muscle tone remains untouched, leading to a very healthy skin. The immunity of the body is increased because there are less toxins in the body leading to the body falling sick less often. Yoga works at all levels of the body to ensure that every aspect of the body’s functioning is smooth, balanced and in equilibrium!

5 Anti-Aging Tips Every Women Must Know

1. Relax

Think you are stressed out? Your body would react negatively to the stress and the end result of chronic stress is premature aging. Your DNA is affected over time. The part of the DNA associated with aging, the telomere, protects the DNA from damage. Well your telomeres fray away with aging and with the protection gone, the cell dies. Stressed out individuals display more badly damaged telomeres as compared to their peers who are better able to cope with stress.

If your work is too stressful, maybe a less stressful job might be in order. If you are overwhelmed at home, consider getting help from friends or relatives, or hiring help.

Find ways to cope with stress. Release tension with a run or a swim or go out for a walk to get away from it all, temporarily.

2. Quit smoking

Cigarette smoke ages your body prematurely in too many ways to list in this one article. If you smoke, quit. If you don’t smoke, don’t start. Stay away from smoking areas and keep away from smokers when they puff their cigarettes as second hand smoke is just as damaging.

3. Use Sunscreen at all times

Go for an SPF15 for full protection. The sun’s UV rays damage your skin at cellular level. Though your body rapidly repairs the damage, if the damage is too much, your skin gets red and blisters form as you develop a sunburn. Even a tan is a sign of skin damage as the darkening of the skin wit melanin is a defense mechanism against sun damage. UV rays damage the skin’s collagen

Sunblocks have chemical or physical sunscreens to block off the UV rays. SPF or Sun Protection Factor tells you how much longer you can stay in the sun before you burn. For example, an SPF 4 sunscreen allows you to stay in the sun 4 times longer than if you had gone without any protection.

For optimal protection, go for at least SPF15, and reapply frequently if you sweat a lot or get into the water.

4. Eat your fruit, veggies and nuts.

These are rich in antioxidants. To cut the long story short, we are constantly bombarded by free radicals. These could be the by product of oxidation within the body, through the body’s natural processes, or could be due to environmental factors.

Either way, free radicals wreak havoc on out bodies. Free radicals are unstable and steal electrons from their neighbors, rendering them unstable too, leading to a chain reaction. In this way, cell membranes and even the DNA of cells get damaged which in turn, speeds up the aging process.

Antioxidants neutralize free radicals by donating electrons to them and stabilizing them, even while they stay stable themselves. In this way, antioxidants eliminate the threat.

By eating your fruit and veggies and some nuts, you get the antioxidants your body needs to beat those free radicals.

5. Sleep at least 8 hours every night.

When you sleep, your body repairs itself most effectively, producing new cells to replace the old, worn out cells. By depriving yourself of sufficient sleep, you do not allow your body to regenerate itself properly and end up aging more quickly than you should. No doubt, this regeneration of cells is ongoing even when you are awake, but when you sleep, the natural renewal process is at its peak. When you don’t get enough sleep, your body produces more stress hormones that interfere with your skin’s collagen production. Collagen is what supports your skin and as collagen levels decrease your skin begins to sag and wrinkles form. Look at yourself after a sleepless night. Lack of sleep gives you puffy eyes and dark rings which makes you look much older.

So grandma was right after all. Eat your veggies, stay out of the sun and sleep early every night to preserve your youth.