Yoga Benefits - Balanced Health

Yoga has numerous benefits however, the benefits of yoga depends on how regularly you are practicing and also how you are practicing (example are you practicing only yoga asana (exercise)? Or  along with yoga asana, are you also integrating pranayama (breath),  Dhyana (prayer/meditation), karma yoga (service)? When looking for yoga in Flagstaff, be sure to find a yoga teacher who integrates all these elements into your yoga class.

Laboratory studies show that Yoga meditation produces the ‘relaxation response’. In physiological terms the Relaxation Response shows as a marked decrease in the breathing rate and in oxygen consumption, a lowering of the heart rate ,a decrease in blood pressure in meditators whose levels had been higher than normal, and the production during meditation of Alpha waves in the brain which are associated with mental relaxation.”

Following are the benefits of yoga when practiced regularly:

Yoga for Flexibility and Strength
Yoga postures stretch and strengthen muscles and ligaments and put joints through their full range of movement.  This allows for good posture and longer, leaner look. Firm muscle tone, bright eyes and clear complexion contribute to the radiant appearance of the yoga student.  More important than physical flexibility and strength, is the inner flexibility and strength that regular practice of yoga can lead to.

Breathe Smoothly and Efficiently With Yoga Breathing Exercises
Yogic breathing strengthens the diaphragm and encourages deeper, freer breathing.  Flagstaff is at 7,000 feet. At such a high altitude, learning to maximize oxygen intake is very helpful.

Sleep Peacefully With Yoga Relxation Exercises
Scientifically studied relaxation techniques help yoga students to achieve both a peaceful waking sleep, as well as sound nightime sleep. This leads to a refreshed mind and body.

Concentrate Fully With A Integrated Yoga Practice
Yoga Postures, yogic breathing, relaxation and meditation all help to calm and still the mind. When your mind is calm and still you develop higher concentration for your work.

Yoga Helps People Cope Well with Stress
The improvements to your health and the ability to relax deeply that come with yoga make you more resilient. Even in times of crisis you can learn to cope well without getting as stressed as you would if you did not have a yoga practice.

Massage ALL Organs of the Body
Yoga is perhaps the only form of activity which massages all the internal glands and organs of the body in a thorough manner, including those – such as the prostate - that hardly get externally stimulated during our entire lifetime. Yoga acts in a wholesome manner on the various body parts. This stimulation and massage of the organs in turn benefits us by keeping away disease and providing a forewarning at the first possible instance of a likely onset of disease or disorder.

Cleanse and Detoxify With Yoga

By gently stretching muscles and joints as well as massaging the various organs, yoga ensures the optimum blood supply to various parts of the body. This helps in the flushing out of toxins from every nook and cranny as well as providing nourishment up to the last point. This leads to benefits such as delayed ageing, energy and a remarkable zest for life.

The Real Jesus

This photograph is a reconstruction of what a Jewish male from Jesus’ time and geographic region is believed to have looked like. This is waht the REAL Jesus is thought to have resembled - very different than the fine boned, blue-eyed Jesus that many people have grown up with.

In the yogic tradition students follow a Guru who teaches them about the mysteries of the universe, and help them reach enlightenment.  I guess you might say that Jesus is my Guru.  Well, he is actuallly my God, but he is also my teacher/guru.

What Jesus looked like is not relevant to who he was. What is relevant is his teachings and his command to love all, even those we find unlovable.