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Health Benefits of Yoga Our country is currently facing yet another health care crisis. Despite the spread of managed care medical expenses continue to surge. This rise has forced many companies to reduce or eliminate health benefits, increasing the percentage of the population that is not covered by insurance. In addition, overall satisfaction with the heath care industry is declining, and a larger and larger percentage of the population is critical of managed care. The dissatisfaction has grown so great that is has ignited a movement on Capitol Hill for a “patient’s bill of rights”. The Effect of Stress in the US
Numerous studies have identified the following factors have the most effect on stress in men:
A study conducted in Australia recently showed how well families function effects the quality of life and perception of illness for families with asthmatic children. The Yoga for Healthy Living program provides you with tools you can use daily to better cope with stressful events so you can maintain your own health and the health of your family by: Enhancing your own self understanding and thereby setting the tone for harmonious loving relationships within the family Improving your ability to adapt to changes and cope with special needs or challenges. Preventing family breakdowns by providing tools for you to use in coping with the changing roles and demands on your life, so that you can develop a loving attitude toward fulfilling your responsibilities to your family. Yoga can help lower these statistics and begin decreasing levels of stress. By relearning that authority and power are equated with productivity, integrity, and creativity in the workplace, employees will feel empowered and willing to embrace the organization's goals. As a result, customer relationships will improve and the organization will prosper. In many cases it’s not the individuals' lack of education or technical training that hinders the growth of a company but in their approach to dealing with customers and employees. Yoga and meditation can change the way we interact with others, not only at work but also at home. All will welcome the daily benefits from these improved relationships. Industries may come and go, so may businesses, but if we stay flexible we can re-create ourselves daily and develop the goods and services demanded by the marketplace. We need to learn not to fear change but to embrace it. By letting go of the fear we can become more effective in addressing the needs of our clients and customers and in motivating our employees to share our vision of the future. When we focus on giving, our family relationships will improve and our sex lives will be enhanced. Yoga can help transport you to a more calming and comforting reality. All you need is an open mind and the desire to make minor changes in your life. Your body is in a constant state of change. At the cellular level you are re-creating yourself every few months. Yoga can make you more flexible and adaptable to changes in your life and in the world around you. Back in the eighties I was pursuing a fast-track career in corporate America; when I came down with an ulcer that almost put me in the hospital, I knew I had to start making some life changes. Perhaps like many of you I had always associated Yoga with left-wing refugees from the sixties. I believed it was an escape from reality. But I found that Yoga connects us to the present by quieting the mind's thoughts about the past and the future. I found it difficult at first to train my mind to stop thinking about the past and the future. In a world focused on the bottom line, we become biased toward observable, tangible action. Practicing Yoga can help you overcome the bias of your senses and social conditioning at work and at home. Both men and women can learn to practice Yoga and meditation to improve the quality of their lives. The daily practice of Yoga can help you become more productive in your career and more peaceful in your personal life. Ultimately Yoga can help you enjoy your life more fully. What form of physical exercise does all this? What physical activity can you do anywhere, any time, without any investment in equipment? It’s like having your shrink, place of worship, and health club all rolled into one. The perfect combination for any man or woman. The International Association of Yoga Therapists prepared Table 1.1. For each physiological change associated with Yoga it lists corresponding psychological and biochemical changes. Table 1.1 Benefits Of Yoga
Also, weight normalizes, Concentration improves, Sleep improves, Memory improves, Immunity increases, Learning efficiency improves, Pain decreases, Symbol coding improves, Depth perception improves, and Flicker fusion frequency improves My first Yoga class was an accident. A friend invited me to her exercise class. When I arrived I realized it was Yoga, and I was the only male. It had already started when we got there so it was too late for me to leave. I figured I would just go along with it, and go to the gym for a real man’s workout later that afternoon. But in five minutes I was sweating and panting on the floor, while the other women in the class gracefully glided from one pose to another. How could this be? I realized that Yoga wasn’t for sissies. I had tried many other forms of exercise, but I never achieved my fitness goals because I was not breathing correctly. Yoga taught me how to breathe, and then I was able to achieve my physical potential. I may not be Arnold Schwarzenegger, but I have a better body now than when I was sixteen. Table 1.2 Advantages Of Yoga Compared To Traditional Exercise
Some people have the mistaken notions that Yoga is painful and that Yogis are just masochists in turbans. I too had these preconceptions but I soon realized that pain was a judgment I was placing on a feeling I was unaccustomed to. When I stopped judging that feeling as painful I began to excel. Now I think of it as surrender. When you reach advanced levels of Yoga you can stretch yourself into positions where you can finally surrender to something greater than yourself, and it feels great. In a way it's similar to orgasm. Do you consider the tension that precedes an orgasm painful? If you succumb to the feeling you judge as painful, you will never experience the bliss of inner peace that Yoga can provide. This book offers an introduction to various Yogic exercises, which you can use as the basis for your daily Yoga practice. It will take you through each pose and give you specific instructions on positioning your body and the focusing your mind. This book should be enjoyable and humorous. Various positions have been renamed and customs modified so you can enjoy the learning process. Chapter 7 offers a meditation I developed to help you incorporate positive changes into your life. The photographs show an advanced practitioner to give you an appreciation of your potential. In addition there are instructions for Yoga positions that can be performed in the workplace and modified positions for beginners and those with physical limitations. The Yoga practices in this book are somewhat eclectic and draw upon the ancient traditions of Hatha including: Ananda, Sivananda, and Tantra of which Kundalini is an integral part. I invite you to join me on this journey of self-discovery and personal improvement. With persistence and hard work you can achieve your peak physical condition, improve your performance on the job, and possibly better understand the purpose of your life. Is our souls' journey merely to accumulate material possessions, or is there a deeper meaning? Ultimately the goal of Yoga is to integrate your practice into daily living so that each step you make, each breath you take is done with mindfulness. In this way your life becomes a meditation in action and fundamental enlightenment is possible. I hope to inspire you with my words and encourage you to proceed. As you begin this journey I offer you this Hebrew blessing: "May the spirit of the divine be with you all of the days of your life." Love, Peace, Namaste © 2008, Bruce Eric Van Horn If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health. - Hippocrates
Author, CPA, MBA and
yoga instructor Bruce Van Horn founded Yoga for Business,
Inc., a company devoted to organizational and individual
wellness. He presents a daily Yoga Workout routine that
provides a complete physical, mental and spiritual workout.
He is the author of Yoga
for Prostate Health and
Yoga
for Men, designed for all
levels of experience with yoga.. He has renamed (Asanas)
positions in Yoga using terms from business to help you
identify with the movement and focus your attention. He is
the Chair of the Advisory Board for the Center for
Complimentary Medicine at the Cancer Institute of New
Jersey. Bruce also leads a volunteer yoga program designed
for cancer patients and healthcare workers at Beth Israel
Medical Center. He lives outside New York with his wife
Michelle who is a Reiki Master. Bruce has two daughters who
have asked that he refrain from headstands at the town pool.
His website is www.yogaforbusiness.com
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