WEIGHT CONTROL-- Yoga can help with weight loss by conditioning the abdominal and lower back region . When this core of the body is lean and strong, the stomach is smaller and firmer. Yoga heightens your sensitivity to the effects food has on your body as well as your emotional state as you eat. In choosing food you are consciously trying to energize your physical body and sub-consciously trying to balance your emotions. So, if you can calm the mind, you can calm the appetite¹. Yoga training will help you break unhealthy patterns naturally by cleansing and clarifying the body of toxins as it seeks to re-establish harmony within the frame of the body. A yoga teacher was once asked by a new student if smoking would interfere with her yoga. The teacher replied, No, but yoga would interfere with her smoking. 
STRENGTH-- Athletic yoga takes the heart rate to 60% to 70% of maximum effort which trains the body with perfect efficiency. Strength is gained when smaller muscles are engaged in postures (asana's) requiring them to hold a variety of weight. Larger muscles are lengthened and then used to stabilize and steady the body while contracting. This has the same benefits as strength training, while also realigning the body.
OTHER BENEFITS--Poses from yoga will de-activate the fight or flight response¹ and bring differences in everyday life. Stress related illnesses are on the rise. It's estimated that 60% to 90% of all patient visits to a physicians office are stress related and not easily understood or treatable³ so mind, body and spirit exercises are especially healing. Other benefits include increased immunity, more efficient digestion, positive energy, self-discipline, increased endurance, balanced hormone levels, and deeper, more rejuvenating sleep habits² You learn to care for your body in a healthy way.

Ultimately, the greatest gift yoga may bring you is the ability to build a body free of fear and repetitive negative patterns. Yoga will lay the foundation to transform your body with your own personal power and understanding. You will learn to feel inner peace and serenity in a challenging situation. How you use your body is an expression of your soul. Yoga creates beautiful expressions.

Copy only with permission from Corena Hammer (801) 294-5999.

¹Ralph LaForge, MS   ralphlaforge@msn.com    Physiologist at Duke University Medical Center; masters athlete; research editor for IDEA Health and Fitness Source

²Sue Hollingshead  btd@boulder.net    Yoga presenter/instructor

²Dr. Herbert Benson, M.D.    Professor of Medicine at Harvard School of Medicine

     Medical research estimates as much as 90 percent of illness and disease is stress related. A few of the many diseases and conditions that have been linked to an over active stress response include: cardiovascular disease, depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, some types of diabetes mellitus, some autoimmune diseases, colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, reproductive problems, and suppression of the immune system.

     What we feel as stress, is the product of the sympathetic nervous system or the "fight or flight" response: an almost instantaneous surge in heart rate, cardiac output, blood pressure, sweating, shallow breathing, and metabolism, combined with a tensing of muscles. Internally, the "fight or flight" response shuts down digestion and elimination and reduces blood flow to the internal organs. Short term, this stress reaction is a good thing. The "fight or flight" response prepares us to respond to any environmental threat by fighting against it or fleeing from it. But long term, continuous exposure to stress is harmful, placing excess wear and tear on the body's systems and severely limiting the body's natural maintenance and healing abilities.

     Chronic stress can lead to continuously high levels of cortisol. This hormone at normal levels helps to maintain an active, healthy body (including regulation of metabolism and blood pressure). But excessive amounts of cortisol can suppress the immune system and cause sleep disturbances, loss of sex drive and loss of appetite. High levels of cortisol can also increase your heart rate, blood pressure and your cholesterol and triglyceride levels (risk factors for both heart attacks and strokes). The byproducts of cortisol act as sedatives, which can lead to changes in mood, especially to feelings of depression.

     Fortunately, the body has a natural counterbalance to the "fight or flight" response, called the parasympathetic nervous system or the "relaxation response" The parasympathetic nervous system becomes activated when the threat or stressor has passed or ended, but it can also be consciously activated by deepening the breath and by relaxing the skeletal muscles. When activated, the parasympathetic nervous system lowers blood pressure, heart rate and respiration (the pace of the breath). Digestion and elimination are allowed to be stimulated, and blood is free to travel to the digestive, reproductive, glandular, and immune systems - systems necessary for the promotion of long-term health. The "relaxation response" is also known as the "rest and renew" stage, when the body has the time and resources to heal the body and to respond to illness. Obviously, by increasing the frequency, time and depth of the "relaxation response" we not only allow our body to recover from illness and disease, but we also practice preventive medicine by allowing the body to perform all of its essential maintenance tasks.

     Yoga's emphasis on long, deep breathing and conscious relaxation activates the parasympathetic nervous system and promotes its "rest and renew" functions. In fact, a recent study has shown yoga to decrease the level of the stress hormone cortisol in the blood. The meditative practices of yoga help to reduce the reactiveness of the mind to stressors and to lessen the intensity of the "fight or flight" response. Yoga also teaches us to see potential stressors as challenges rather than threats, enabling one to avoid the stress response entirely.

     Not only does yoga's ability to activate the parasympathetic nervous system reduce stress and allow the body to heal itself, but the practice of yoga also improves the body's inherent healing abilities. The inverting, twisting and compressing that occurs in yoga postures enhances the circulation of blood and body fluids. This increase in circulation not only improves the body's ability to deliver the materials needed to allow healing to take place, but also activates the lymphatic system to maintain normal functioning of the immune system and inflammation response.

     Yoga poses also improve muscle strength, flexibility and range of motion, all very important for the healing and prevention of musculoskeletal diseases such as arthritis and osteoporosis. Yoga's emphasis on deep breathing combined with backbends improves lung capacity and function. Practicing yoga also encourages one to lead a healthier lifestyle, through developing the self-awareness and discipline required for positive behavior modification.

     While yoga possesses such a strong support to the body's healing mechanisms, it is important to view yoga as an adjunct or complementary therapy, and not relied upon as the only therapy for healing disease.