When you do your poses at home, start with a minute or 30 seconds, use your breath as a timer for how long you should stay in the pose. Your breath should be steady, start with 5 breaths for each pose and over time work up to 1/2 a minute to one minute per posture. Visit our beginner Yoga classes for a good start to a healthy yoga program.

Isn’t yoga for those people who like to sit around, chant, and meditate about this and that or, like toy “bendies,” put themselves in such pretzel-like positions that most people wonder how they are going to extricate themselves?  Well, it is true that there are some branches of yoga which focus more on breathing, and incorporate chanting into their classes in order to increase the meditative state.  There are also those who have been practicing yoga for so long that what seems like a pretzel position to you and me, is just a comfortable opening pose for the Yogi.  But where does that leave the rest of us who have heard about yoga and yet still don’t know what it is or what are its health benefits?
 

Yoga is many things to many people.  The more people you ask about their yoga practice the more reasons and stories you will find about why people practice it.  Now that we are into the twenty-first century, many different branches and styles of yoga have emerged, and it can be challenging to know just where to begin, because each style and branch has developed due to different needs of individuals with a desire to express and share their solutions. 
 

Listed below are just a sampling of the types of people who could benefit from yoga and how it will help.
 

Athletes:
Improves posture
Elongates muscles which leads to less chance of injury
Increases endurance by improving oxygen intake
Increases stamina mentally and physically
Improves coordination
 

Businessmen and women:
Improves concentration
Helps to decrease stress
Teaches you to work gracefully through pressurized situations
Improves posture
 

Mothers:
Helps to decrease stress
Dedicates time to take care of self
Teaches you to handle pressurized situations gracefully
 

Young adults and Teens:
Teaches body awareness
Increases concentration and discipline
Improves coordination
Helps with stress
 

Dancers:
Strengthens core
Increases flexibility
Improves posture
Improves coordination
Helps with balance

Name: Laurie Seitz

Date: May 13, 2008

 In what kind of program are you currently involved?

Pilates and Yoga

What were your goals before you began your program?

I had suffered a disabling accident which required a long hospital stay. I wanted to return to being active but needed to learn new ways of training.

How has The Body Sanctuary,Inc. helped you to acheive those goals?

I dropped a size in my clothes- my husband has put an extra hole in all my belts! I feel fit and energized.

Would you recommend this program to others?

Totally! And I have….It’s also been a great place to make new friends, we do coffee and even went on a trip to Atlanta. The staff is excellent and always helpful too.