Yoga

Can Yoga Boost Your Immune System?

Can Yoga Boost Your Immune System?

Thankfully the days are starting to get longer and there should soon be more sunshine to enjoy. But that doesn’t mean that cold and flu season is behind us just quite yet.  This time of year has many people trying to figure out what will keep them healthy and how they can avoid getting sick. At Mind to Body, we run many different yoga classes in Mississauga during this time of year as we know the benefits yoga offers when it comes to warding off illness.

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How Yoga Helps Athletic Performance

Athletes around the world are constantly focused on improving their performance and being the best at what they do.  Hours in the gym in addition to hours practicing their respective sport can certainly help boost performance, but more and more coaches and athletes are realizing that if they want more power, more muscle and more focus, they should turn to yoga.

Mind to Body yoga studio in Mississauga welcomes athletes of any caliber and can provide some great insight into which classes can help enhance athletic performance.  The benefits that athletes can achieve from regularly practicing yoga are:

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Yoga Is Perfect for Your New Year’s Fitness Plan

Yoga Is Perfect for Your New Year’s Fitness Plan

For some people, the simple mention of yoga has them cringing and thinking this type of activity is only for women or the elderly. Others think it is simply a passing fad, which will quickly fade away. However, what these people often do not know is first, yoga has been around for more than 5,000 years, so it is not a passing fad. Next, these same people lack the information needed to understand exactly how yoga works to help improve the body’s health and well-being.

A “total” yoga session is a complete mind and body workout. Yoga incorporates stretching poses, strengthening poses, relaxation, meditation, and deep breathing. Together, each one helps strengthen the body, build muscles,burn calories. Additionally, yoga also improves focus and concentration, and calmsthe mind and body.  There are more than a hundred different forms, ranging from slow, relaxing, and gentle to intense and quick-paced.

Among the numerous forms of yoga, some of the more common ones you can encounter includes:

  • Hot yoga –It is practiced in a temperature controlled room which is heated to at least 36 degrees Celsius and no more than 40 degrees Celsius. It is important to maintain the temperature within this range during the yoga session while progressing through the poses. Any of the below listed forms of yoga can be practiced in a hot room.
  • Hatha – This is the most common form of yoga you will typically encounter. Each form combines a series of breathing with movements.
  • Ashtanga – This form incorporates specialized breathing techniques along with a series of movements and poses.
  • Iyengar– Performing this form of yoga requires using various props, like chairs, blocks, and so on, as you learn the various poses and movements.
  • Power – Power yoga is fast-paced and designed to help provide a more intense experience which can help speed muscle development and strength building.
  • Vinyasa– Sometimes called “smooth yoga,” this form uses a series of poses which “flow” from one to the next in “smooth” transitions.

All forms of yoga are perfectly suited for targeting several key areas of the body people want to make stronger, like their glutes, arms, core, legs, and back. The poses used in yoga are designed to help increase flexibility, while tightening muscles and burning calories. It is worth mentioning, as calories are burned, they help reduce excess fat in various areas of the body, like the stomach.

In addition to help shedding excess fat and building stronger muscles, yoga also helps to strengthen our minds and provides numerous benefits:

  • Helps us sleep better and deeper.
  • Helps us deal with stress and tension in a positive manner.
  • Strengthens the body’s immune response system.
  • Makes us less prone to illnesses and diseases.
  • Helps address and resolve back pain.
  • Improves our bone health and postures.
  • Helps reduce blood pressure.
  • Increases concentration and improves focus.

The list goes on. Essentially as our bodies and minds become better connected and stronger through yoga, all of the systems within our bodies start working together in harmony. To learn more about yoga or to experience a yoga class in Mississauga for yourself, contact Mind to Body Yoga, Fitness, and Wellness at 905-712-YOGA (905-712-9642) today!

6 Reasons Why Yoga Practitioners Are More Successful

6 Reasons Why Yoga Practitioners Are More Successful

Success Through Yoga Practice

There are many reasons why yoga practitioners are more successful in whatever they do, but in this article we will talk about only 6 reasons.  In her famous poem, “Success is counted sweetest”, Emily Dickinson tried to explain what success is all about and who understands it the best.  But the real question is, what does it take to be successful?  There can be as many ways to succeed as there are people on the earth.  However, if you want to succeed in the real sense of the word, Yoga can be your perfect partner. No doubt it sounds like a bold statement, especially if you consider the number of businesses thriving solely on one product – teaching you how to succeed.  But the fact is, people who practice Yoga are more successful in life and whatever they do.

Yoga brings about a body-mind harmony

Yoga is an ancient Indian technique that uses simple breathing exercises and body postures to boost physical and mental health.  In Sanskrit, Yoga means “bringing together”, so all the different body postures and breathing exercises bring your mind and body together in perfect harmony.  When a person achieves this rare feat, success becomes just one of the blessings that come with it.

Yoga boosts overall health

When you practice Yoga regularly, the oxygen levels in your cells goes up.  This condition translates into better health and ability to ward off pathogens.  By taking yoga classes and doing this low-impact exercise, you can easily keep chronic ailments like blood pressure, diabetes, osteoarthritis and back pain in check.  As a result your productivity reaches its peak and you are able to achieve your short and long term goals in time. This cascading effect leads you to succeed in everything you do.

Yoga keeps you energetic

People in pursuit of success have to go that extra mile in everything they do and hence require more energy.  When the outer sources fail, the last resort is to rely on the inner storage.  Yoga unleashes your internal energy by improving blood flow and expelling the toxins with every breath. The result? More energy.

Yoga sharpens your imagination

Through books, it is only your intellect that gets enriched; however, for real success you need a perfect combination of intellect and imagination.  For your imagination to grow, you need to be at peace with yourself.  Yoga not only makes your body healthy, but also enriches the faculties of your brain by settling the chaos of thoughts in it.  When you practice Yoga regularly, you are able to focus better and solve complex problems easily by applying imagination.

Yoga keeps stress and depression at bay

You have to overcome new challenges on a day-to-day basis on your way to success.  This constant pressure to perform creates stress.  When you are not able to handle stress, it leads to depression.  However, Yoga is the perfect remedy to keep these stumbling blocks at bay.  This is because Yoga strengthens you from inside by reducing anxiety, panic attacks, stress and depression.  Based on Yoga, psychologists in the UK have developed a stress management program known as MBCT (Mindful Based Cognitive Therapy.)

Yoga Makes you self-aware

Being aware of one’s self is the mark of a successful person.  It means that they accept themselves without being judgmental or overly self-critical.  This is a quality that develops on its own when you are meditative.  Yoga facilitates this state of mind with breathing exercises and Yogic postures.  While rhythmic breathing halts the constant traffic of unwanted thoughts in your mind, the different postures make you aware of your limits.

Conclusion

Yoga is not merely a set of breathing exercises and body postures; rather, it is a lifestyle that facilitates physical well-being, mental peace, better focus and self-awareness.  Therefore, people who practice Yoga are more successful in everything they do.

Why Mind to Body Yoga Mississauga is for everyone!

Why Mind to Body Yoga Mississauga is for everyone!

Yoga Mississauga for everyone!

Are you a business person, a pregnant woman, a college graduate or a working mom? No matter what you do, how old you are, or what your physical condition is, you can practice yoga.  Yoga is a universal exercise that is designed for everyone. While most workouts are suitable for different age groups, and people with different health conditions or fitness goals, yoga practice is beyond all such limitations. In fact, yoga is not just a form of exercise; it is a way of staying healthy both mentally and physically. Yoga Mississauga is open to all generations and fitness levels.  Yoga classes can be experienced by all whether you are an athlete, fitness buff, body builder, young teen, stay at home mom, or a person young at heart.  Yoga studio’s welcome everyone with open arms and the moment you step in you will feel accepted and included.  With regular practice you can lose weight, become more flexible, have peace of mind, and have a healthier body.  Yoga has wide variety of postures that are suitable for people with different goals or physical strength and conditions. Mind to Body Yoga Mississauga can help both Brampton and Mississauga residents improve their overall health and well being.  We offer hot yoga classes, regular temperature yoga classes, or dance fitness classes, choose what fits you best.

Physical and Mental Benefits of  Yoga Mississauga

The relaxation techniques of yoga can help reduce chronic pain including headaches, lower back pain, arthritis and more. It can even help control blood pressure and improve sleep. Yoga Mississauga has many different types and levels of classes that can help you reap many physical and health benefits:

  • Weight reduction
  • Increased flexibility
  • Improved muscle strength and tone
  • Improved energy
  • Maintaining a balanced metabolism
  • Protection from injury

 

Other than physical advantages, yoga also provides you various mental benefits. It will allow you to manage stress. According to health experts, yoga can be very useful in developing coping skills and having a more positive outlook on life. Meditation and breathing techniques in yoga can help increase a person’s mental well-being.

Everyone can benefit from mental clarity and calmness.  Regular practice of yoga can help relax your mind as well as improve concentration. Studies show that countless people suffer from mental stress which affects their physical fitness as well. With the help of yoga, such mental issues can be managed.  Join yoga Mississauga classes to practice on a consistent basis.

Yoga – a Positive Lifestyle

Yoga is simply a positive lifestyle which everyone can adopt. It will help you have both physical and mental health that is essential for every individual. Wait no more and discover the endless benefits of yoga!  Connect with other yogis of Mind to Body yoga community in a warm and welcoming environment, thereby experience growth and positivity in your own life!

Namaste from Mind to Body Yoga & Fitness