It’s that time of the year when you put exercise high up on your list. I was looking for something new to try since I can only devote 20 t0 30 minutes a day to focused exercise. Now mind you, I was looking for a workout that would have my body moving about to work off calories. However, my spirit kept sending meditation and yoga.

To me, meditation and yoga means I’d have to sit still for a period of time and or move my body at a slower pace that I wanted it to move. This is not a bad thing, it’s just that over the years, I’d always gotten great results when I kept my body in motion. I began to realize that I can’t keep pounding my body by running and jumping all over the place. My knees don’t like this activity anymore.

Yoga and Stretching for Ethnic Beauty

We went to visit my husbands 94 year old aunt and on her book shelf was a book on Yoga and Stretching. Message? What I realized is that Yoga is more than just a series of moves and breathes. You can actually become a very toned individual when you apply the techniques used in Yoga.

As I began my research to learn more about what I was considering as a new form of exercise, I came across a young man by the name of Keith Mitchell. He’s a former football player that was injured playing a sport he loved and making plays that he’d used for over 10 years. This time he couldn’t move after he was hit.

During his rehabilitation, he was introduced to meditation and Yoga. He says it saved his life. With the practice of Yoga and meditation, he went from not being able to move, to holding his own body weight while posed on two hands. I’m not ready for any type of hand stand, let alone holding my body weight while posed on two hands.

What I can tell you, is how much better I feel just from doing deliberate and calculated stretching moves. I don't feel rushed or anxious.

Yoga’s Ethnic Beginnings

There are different styles of Yoga and it might help to know that Yoga has it’s beginnings in the world of Ethnic people. It’s best known as a product of India. However, Yoga has ties to all of the major ethnic countries, especially Africa and the Indigenous People of The Americas. Bikram Yoga, Hatha Yoga and what’s known as Power Yoga are all forms of yoga that are practiced all over the world.

Yoga dates as far back as 10,000 years with beautiful poses being found in the Vedic Scrolls.

Benefits of Yoga

In the Vedas there’s a phrase known as ‘Yoking the Mind to the Highest Truth.’ It is said that an awakening takes place, in which your chakras - the body’s energy centers- are aligned. Not only does Yoga awaken us to the universe within and around us, it provides a set of exercises that when done properly allows you to burn fat and tone your body at the same time.

I begin my journey into the world of Yoga. Let’s hope I find solace and fortitude in sitting still for a period of time and communing with the oneness.

That's it for this week, If you like what you've read, share it with a friend. Don’t for get to visit the Ethnic Beauty forum.


Dedicated to Your Beauty

Juliette's Website
http://www.nyrajuskincare.com