If you are a woman weighing more than 300 pounds, you may have despaired of ever finding a way to be fit.
There is no reason, however, to think you cannot improve your fitness levels.
Even if you weigh as much as 500 pounds, you can improve your fitness.
The first step is to take an assessment of where you are and what you are capable of doing. If you can only walk from the bedroom to the living room, that is a start.
If you can’t walk, but you can move your arms, you can exercise while sitting in a chair, which will strengthen your upper body and increase your fitness level. Wherever you are in terms of movement, there is a place for you to begin.
When you are a supersize woman, you must take extra care to begin slowly. The weight of your body already taxes your muscles. You must allow them to build additional strength gradually. Chances are you did not become unfit overnight; the process cannot be reversed overnight either.
There are special classes and exercise DVDs for large, overweight, and super size women. A good exercise program will include a warm up, exercise, and then some gentle stretching to cool down. If you are just beginning, you might want to focus on gentle stretches as your beginning step.
If you do not want to take a class or purchase a DVD, you can begin to improve your fitness just by doing a little more of the things you currently do every day.
Try walking just a bit farther, standing just a bit longer, or performing some gentle stretches. Remember to take it very slowly and increase the length and intensity of your exercise over a period of time.
Yoga is an integrated means of synchronizing mind, spirit and body and is an essential way of life.
Yoga is an ancient Indian body of knowledge that dates back more than 5000 years ago.
The word “Yoga” came from the Sanskrit word “yuj” which means “to unite or integrate.”
Yoga is an art and takes into consideration your mind, body and soul in reaching divinity. Your body must be purified and strengthened through various practices.
Yoga focuses on harmony and body. The aim of yoga is to strike the balance between mind and body to attain self-enlightenment.
To achieve this, yoga uses breath, movement, relaxation, meditation and posture in order to establish a healthy, balanced and lively approach to life.
Yoga offers various modes of effective physical therapy that can help alleviate painful conditions such as stiffness of neck, improved blood circulation, arthritis, constipation, back and feet, improving respiratory conditions, increasing lung capacity and relieving insomnia.
The basic idea of yoga is to unite the individual or atma soul with universal or paramatma soul. By cleansing your mind and controlling your thought process, you can return to that primitive state when you are nothing but a part of the divine self.
The three main aspects of yoga are:
Asanas or poses:
The various poses of yoga give your body flexibility, strengthen the muscles and reduce the fat. Many asanas are aimed at improving the blood circulation and functioning of specific organs in your body.
Pranayama or breathing:
Pranayama is the important aspect of yoga which purifies the subtle energies flowing through the body. The breathing techniques of yoga are an effective tool to energize, harmonize, calm and tranquilize the body and mind. All poses are to be properly coordinated with exhalation, inhalation and holding of breath.
Meditation:
Meditation is a way to control the mind’s restlessness. Regular meditation trains your mind to be calm, relaxed and detached. It is extremely helpful in stressful situations. It controls overreaction, losing temper and emotional outbursts.
Meditation and pranayama have capacity to reduce the stress inducing hormones. It restores calm, promotes positivism and encourages patience. It will keep you fresh and rejuvenated both physically and mentally.
The aim of yoga is knowledge of the self. Yoga outlines methods of achieving this.
eternal vows or yamas
observances or yamas
yoga postures or yogasanas
breath control exercises or pranayama
withdrawal of senses from distractions outside the world or pratyahara
concentration on an object, place or subject or dharana
continuance of this concentration meditation or dhyana
ultimate stage of yoga meditation or samadhi
Benefits of Yoga:
There are numerous benefits of yoga. Some of the benefits of yoga include improvement in mental health, anti-aging, development of personal and social values, increase in knowledge and wealth, balance and flexibility of the body. Yoga also helps in improving sexual life, weight loss, and strength.
Yoga is a good way of relaxation. It can ease the tension building in your muscles and joints without experiencing overexertion and fatigue. Yoga makes you look younger. Yoga provides inner peace and radiant health.
Healing benefits of yoga are enormous that you feel better at the end of recovery. Yoga enhances your understanding of life. Yoga changes your perspective about life.
You can see positive effects of yoga as you practice it. The sense of feeling good envelops around you.
The driving force of yoga is aimed at monumental, life changing discovery of who and what you actually are. Yoga gives you the strength to unravel the truth with which you will begin to live with security, confidence and inner psychological peace. Yoga changes your life.
Before starting yoga remember these points:
If you want to enjoy don’t push too hard. You may hurt yourself in the process.
Know your body limits and workout.
It is recommended to start with a yoga teacher.
consult a health care professional before starting the yoga exercises if you have any medical conditions
Partners:
