How Yoga Affects Health 1

How Yoga Affects Health

Assignment Two

Erika Calix

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

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Introduction There has been a huge trend in the world for quite a while now known as the stretching, and mind-healing activity called yoga. People around the world are expressing their love and support to the healthy results that come along with this activity, but the thing that most of them even though it appears to be all the yoga lovers- are no quite aware yet, is that sometimes it can actually provoke some negative outcomes with their bodies such as hyperextension and headaches based on more advanced yoga classes. To make a contradiction to this, experts and scientists have shared their studies that show positive effects being more powerful and constant than anything else. In my case, yoga is not present in my life to decrease any illness, but on the other hand, I decided to incorporate this activity in my schedule for the simple fact that it makes the stress go away. It might not keep it away forever, but it provides peace and tranquility for at least a period of time. It helps me to leave all the other problems behind, and clear my mind from school work, drama, complications, and insecurities. Also, when this is constantly practiced, it has been said that some possible health problems happen to decrease, maybe by improving the heart rate, or fixing that back pain that has been a bother for years now. Everyone is invited to join the yoga community, adults, teenagers, or even children could be seen having a good time at the gym or classes where different activities are taught; availability is the best thing that yoga has to offer. It could be an interesting way to strengthen the relationship with family or friends, or even better, with yourself, by accomplishing the perfect connection between body and mind. Throughout this paper we will investigate the implications of yoga on physical, mental and emotional health.

Literature Review

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Terms: Yoga: Many documents state that yoga emerged a long time ago; for example, the article Yoga in Cardiac Health mentioned that yoga was evolved approximately 5000 years ago in the Indian Peninsula and when that occurred, around 840,000 different postures were created along with it. Yardi (2001) defines yoga as a traditional psycho-philosophicalcultural method of leading ones life. At the same time, she implies that it helps with stress and the achievement of relaxation becomes easier. On the other hand, based on Chayas (2006) opinion, yoga can be used to obtain mental, spiritual, and physical wellbeing by trying to balance the internal and external environments. Also, working different parts of the body like the right and left, the front and back, the passive and active, and at last the overwork and underworked parts of the body just like Collins (2006) describes.

Pranayama: This particular word is used to describe the breathing control when individuals perform yoga (Yardi, 2001).

Asanas: Yardi (2001) also tells the readers that this word is used to refer to the different type of physical postures used in yoga.

Dhyana: Many methods are used in yoga; for instance this one is applied to the concept of meditation instead of the physical aspect (Yardi, 2001).

Yuj: Collins (2006) specifies through her article the meaning of the word yoga; she explains that this particular word is the Sanskrit root which has the significance of yoke, to join, to be able to concentrate and direct the attention.

Figured World: figured world can be define as a cultural interpretation on which certain people are recognized based on their abilities to succeed and accomplish bigger things in

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life. Each figured world is composed of different and specific ways of actions and responses based on the social environment (Calix, 2014). Clinical Trials on Yoga There have been many different types of clinical trials performed to identify the effects that yoga has on people. Not too long ago, scientists conducted an experiment that consisted on grouping female adolescents that appeared to have a painful menstrual cycle. The study was done at the Azab University by Zahra Rakhshaee; he mentioned in his article that the proper name for this type of problem is called primary dysmenorrhea and it affects around 50% of young females (Rakhshaee, 2011). The experiment incorporated a control group as well as an experimental group. The participants in the experimental group had to fill out a questionnaire for three of their menstrual cycles. At the same time, they had to do yoga by doing specifically three different asanas. The end result showed that the pain intensity and duration of the adolescents had a drastic decreased (Rakhshaee, 2011). Chaya (2006) reported on an experiment that the basal metabolic rate of individuals can be decreased by doing combined yoga for approximately six months. Another clinical trial was performed on college students; the purpose for that study was to conclude if yoga had an effect on lung function and cardiovascular endurance. The 15 week experiment resulted on a good number out of 287 students with improved lung and cardiovascular functioning (Raud, 2004). A drastic improvement in pain and relaxation was experienced by certain breast cancer women that decided to participate in a study. All they had to do to feel better was practice yoga for one hour per day (Carson, 2007).

Effects of Yoga

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Yoga can have an unexpected effect on particular individuals with different types of diseases. For example, based on Tiffany Field (2011), there are distinct health areas that yoga can affect positively and some examples of them can be psychological conditions such as depression and anxiety. Field (2001) also mentioned the possibility of yoga poses helping with pain syndromes, cardiovascular, immune and autoimmune conditions as well as women in the pregnancy state. This particular statement is examined more by Collins (2006), she states that the musculoskeletal consequences of pregnancy are ease thanks to particular stretching poses conducted during yoga. Nowadays, it can be seen the big amount of individuals having to deal with different illnesses that have appeared but also there are various methods of healing. Yoga has become one of the main medicines used by people to try to cure an illness; for example, yoga meditation is being used to help those with epilepsy and seizures (Yardi, 2001). Other serious diseases that have been decreased or have been completely cured on people are muscular relaxation, respiratory rate and most importantly the calming of the mind (Chaya, 2006). Scientist are not the only ones accepting the fact that yoga can help better the life of individuals; doctors are also agreeing with the fact that yoga have helped some of their patients by lowering the brain activity by conducting repetitive yoga postures and decreasing heart rate and blood pressure (Marcinkowsk, 2003). Blood pressure can be controlled by practicing yoga for about 11 weeks but the best part is that it only have to be for 1 hour per day (Jayasinghe, 2004). High blood pressure can result from not exercising or eating accordingly, therefore, many individuals around the world have become overweight. To fight this problem, people incorporate yoga into their everyday exercise as a way to lose weight slowly and to create a better life style (SUTHERLAND, 2013).

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Different postures Yoga is made up of different asana (poses) with the whole purpose of helping every part of the human body. Different yoga poses aid people in different ways but the following posesCobra, Cat, and Fish help women with painful menstrual cycles (Rakhshaee, 2011). Based on Jayasinghes (2004) article yoga also proves to be a natural remedy to heart problems and even lowers blood pressure. If yoga is practiced over a long period of time then considerable differences in the human body can be seen which are beneficial. Furthermore, yoga is a positive thing and is most helpful to pregnant women and children as expressed in Collins (2006) article. Yoga helps ease muscles and joints and strengthens the mind and in pregnant women yoga can make childbirth less painful and an easier transition. Raubs (2004) article talks about how yoga can improve symptoms that are caused by repetitive movements such as Osteoarthritis but most importantly yoga consists of resting poses that relax the distressed areas. Cobra pose: this type of pose is a back bend that stretches muscles in the upper body and is performed to make the arms and shoulder stronger (photo1). Cat pose: this position is started by getting on the hands and knees and then turn the hips into a tilt pose (photo 2). Fish pose: for this particular pose begins by lying on the back with the hand alongside the body and the legs extended then an arch should be created in the upper back by lifting the chest (photo 3). Photos on page 10 Entering the conversation

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Most of the time, people who perform certain activities for the first time will be more challenged versus those who are already familiar with the action. The only reason for becoming more experience about something is the fact that individuals might practice that specific activity more and they also might have a bigger passion for it. I have seen people trying to be more involved in different activities such as dance lessons and sports; they participate in those activities because they want to experience something new or want to better their lives but most importantly they want to better their health. Often people presume that they can perform an activity easily especially when they do not have the time or desire for that activity. On the other hand, nothing should be said or assumed until being able to have had the opportunity to experience certain activities. For example, it can be assumed that yoga is one of the most easily performed exercises that exists but that is not the truth, yoga can be difficult in every single aspect of it, starting with the poses. At the end, just like everything else, it is possible to find a way to start an activity to later become familiarize with it. When something new is about to be incorporated in the life of someone, most of the time it is better to start with the basic parts. For instance, for someone new in the figurative world of yoga it might be very difficult to perform the positions directed by an instructor. Therefore, it is recommended for individuals that think about making yoga part of their lives to first start a stretching routine every morning when they wake up. This particular activity helps the tendons and joints in the body as well as making the body a little more flexible as time goes by. Starting with activities like this one can really benefit a person with the main postures involved in yoga later on. After a couple months of stretching, other procedures need to be follow to keep getting prepare and not feel or think that yoga is a hard exercise to perform.

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Preparing the body for different movements and actions is very important but preparing the mind by obtaining knowledge about a particular subject is good as well. In yoga, people are going to come across words describing a particular position and sometimes those words will be expressed in a different language. Most of the time, the yoga instructor will assumed the students are accustomed to that type of spoken words. Consequently, for a beginner student it would not be a bad idea to do research, especially on the names and descriptions of the different position but most importantly on the positions that are popular in yoga sessions. One important word known mostly by everyone that has entered the world of yoga is Namaste and it means the respect and gratitude involved between the instructor and the students (Calix, 2014). The basic poses that should be known by beginners are the bridge, mountain, downward and upward facing dog, and warrior; I could keep going and going with the list if we were talking about all the poses that have been created in yoga but for someone that is about to start a yoga class those poses mentioned are the ones that will be helpful to know. All the procedures and ideas mentioned are the ones that will help someone in case they want to initiate yoga but have no idea how to start. Just like everything else, there are instructions that have to be follow specifically to accomplish something in life, the only thing that is needed is determination and passion. It is very clear that today nothing is accomplished easily, therefore, if a change in health or life in general is wanted every single person individually has to find an adequate way to get to that goal. That does not mean that they have to do everything alone without the help of others, instead they have to take initiative about the situation and seek for help, if it is needed.

So what? ------- Conclusion

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Many individuals might ask themselves, why should I get engaged in exercise and other activities? The answer to that question should be fairly clear, especially now when the population is aware of the tragic situation happening in the U.S. And when I say tragic, I am referring to really bad habits that people have incorporated into their lives. This means having a sedentary life style and eating in excess which would later make them gain weight or even develop obesity. These can be considered as two health problems that are commonly occurring in the modern society. The problem today is that the United States has become a very lazy nation. We are constantly thinking of ways to shorten or decrease time and energy when it comes to performing a task. Our society does not move around enough to counteract the amount of food, especially the unhealthy kind that we consume- or to even support any of our other unhealthy practices. The solution to this is to simply cut back on bad habits, increase movement and activities such as yoga, walking, running and other sports but nowadays everyone has a mindset of stubborn convenience. For example, people would rather drive short distances than walk, or make one trip rather than two to the car when gathering groceries. Obesity has increased, and keeps dramatically increasing in this country, therefore, something should be but in practice to try to prevent it but that is not the only health problem that should be addressed. Also, there are other diseases and illnesses affecting the world so a solution can be found as well. Like it was mentioned earlier, yoga is a key performance to decrease existing diseases, to maintain a healthy body and to prevent any physical discomfort. So there is no valid reason for people to decide not to do something that will be beneficial for their own health. We all encounter difficulty and challenges throughout our lives, but that is what make humans appreciative, especially at the end when the goal is completed and all that can be seen are the positive results.

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Photos Cobra Pose (photo 1)

http://www.yogajournal.com/media/originals/HP_MAR06_Bhujangasana_248.jpg

Cat Pose (photo 2)

http://cdn.artofliving.org/sites/www.artofliving.org/files/wysiwyg_imageupload/marjariasana-cat-stretch2_0.jpg

Fish Pose (photo 3)

http://extendyoga.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/FISH-YOGA.jpg

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Works Cited Calix, E., (2014) Assignment One, How Yoga Affects Health, English 1102 Carson, J. W., Carson, K. M., Porter, L. S., Keefe, F. J., Shaw, H., & Miller, J. M. (2007). Yoga for Women with Metastatic Breast Cancer: Results from a Pilot Study. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 33(3), 331-341. Retrieved February 27, 2014, from the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management database. Chaya, M. (2006). The effect of long term combined yoga practice on the basal metabolic rate of healthy adults. BiomedCentral, 6(28), 1-6. Retrieved February 21, 2014, from the BioMedCentral database. Collins, C. (2006). Yoga: Intuition, Preventive Medicine, and Treatment. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing, 27(5), 563568. Retrieved February 27, 2014, from the Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing database. Field, T. (2011). Yoga clinical research review. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 17(1), 1-8. Retrieved February 21, 2014, from the Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice database. Jayasinghe, S. R. (2004). Yoga in cardiac health (A Review). European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention & Rehabilitation, 11(5), 369-375. Retrieved February 27, 2014, from the European Journal of Preventive database. Marcinkowsk, V. (2003). YOGA. Science World, 59(9/10), 28. Rakhshaee, Z. (2011). Effect of Three Yoga Poses (Cobra, Cat and Fish Poses) in Women with Primary Dysmenorrhea: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Journal of Pediatric and

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Adolescent Gynecology, 24(4), 192-196. Retrieved February 21, 2014, from the Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology database. Raub, J. A. (2004). Psychophysiologic Effects of Hatha Yoga on Musculoskeletal and Cardiopulmonary Function: A Literature Review. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 8(6), 797-812. Retrieved February 27, 2014, from the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine database. SUTHERLAND, P. (2013). Yoga XXL: A Journey to Health for Bigger People. Foreword, 16(4), 83-84. Yardi, N. (2001). Yoga for control of epilepsy. ScienceDirect, 10(1), 7-12. Retrieved February 21, 2014, from the ScienceDirect database.

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