• Have you ever noticed yourself sitting hunchback at the computer, completely unaware of your posture?

"Did you know the human head weighs 8 pounds?" - the cute kid from Jerry Maguire.
Actually its 8-12 pounds, but think about it, that's a bowling ball. Think of holding a bowling ball in your hand; when you have it aligned with your wrist, it's easy to support it. Roll it several inches forward, however, and you start to strain those muscles. Try that for 12 hours a day and it's no wonder you're tired. Poor posture not only fatigues you but can cause back, neck, and other muscle and joint problems. Yoga can help fix that!

• Does stress lead to mindless eating in front of the TV?

Yoga is an amazing way to get you in tune with your body like no other practice. The asana practice gives you better body awareness and in turn you become more mindful of what you put into it. From there you can then begin to make some changes that leave you in a better state of mind, ie…not overeating until you feel sick and bloated.

• Are you the person reaching for the 5th cup of coffee by 4:00 hoping for some clarity in your foggy brain as you look at another stack of files placed at your desk?

Breathing techniques taught in yoga, drive oxygen and blood towards the brain hence making the mind a more tranquil place. Increased serenity will invigorate our mental functions and activities. Meditation and conscious breathing are a proven means to reduce stress and produce relaxation. A new study from Massachusetts General Hospital has made headlines by showing that as little as eight weeks of meditation produces changes in various areas of the brain associated, not simply with feeling calmer, but with improved sense of self, empathy, and memory.

• Can you imagine feeling limitless in your activities, or at least not feeling out of breath after vacuuming?

You probably know yoga leads to flexibility and when you stick with it, that flexibility causes the reduction and possible elimination of chronic aches and pains.

• Wouldn't it feel freeing to hop up onto the counter like a kid, instead of dragging out the step stool when reaching for the top shelf?

Yoga is amazing—even if you only practice for one hour a week, you will experience the benefits of the practice. If you can do more than that, you will certainly experience more benefits. I suggest starting with two or three times a week, 20 minutes sessions. and work your way up to an hour or an hour and a half each time. If you can only do 20 minutes per session, that's fine too. Don't let time constraints or unrealistic goals be an obstacle—do what you can and don't worry about it. You will likely find that after awhile your desire to practice expands naturally and you will find yourself doing more and more.

• Has it been a while since walking into the doctor's office without concern about your cholesterol levels or high blood pressure?

If you've got high blood pressure, try yoga. Two studies of people with hypertension, published in the British medical journal The Lancet, compared the effects of Savasana (Corpse Pose) with simply lying on a couch. After three months, Savasana was associated with a 26-point drop in systolic blood pressure (the top number) and a 15-point drop in diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number—and the higher the initial blood pressure, the bigger the drop. That would be viewed as excellent results from medication.*

• Do you wish to ease yourself off anti-depressants but don't see an end?

One of the first things a depressed person stops doing is moving and regular exercise becomes unbearable. To create a shift in your mental state, start with just a few yoga poses a day. Yoga exercises put pressure on glands and organs, producing the soothing, healing chemical balance that helps create the feeling of well-being. Depression can also helped be relieved when you regularly get your heart rate into the aerobic range. While not all yoga is aerobic, if you do it vigorously as in a Vinyasa flow or Ashtanga class, it can boost your heart rate into the aerobic range. Studies show that the yoga practice can lower your resting heart rate, enhance endurance, and can increase your maximum uptake of oxygen during exercise—all signs of increased aerobic conditioning. It has also been concluded that in physical activity your brain releases serotonin, the "good feeling hormone" which can also improve the symptoms of depression.**

• How would it feel to enjoy your gardening, kneeling easily in the earth without feeling pain and discomfort in your knees or back?

Toned muscles not only look good, those strong lean muscles protect us from conditions like arthritis and back pain. Yoga is also one of the few practices that build strength in combination with flexibility, leaving you less susceptible to injuries.

• Does your family's history of cancer and disease leave you feeling helpless?

Want to stimulate your ability to fight infection, destroy cancerous cells, and dispose of the toxic waste products of cellular functioning. Yoga does that by increasing the drainage of lymph (a viscous fluid rich in immune cells) this dramatically helps the lymphatic system, your main defense against infection, cancerous cells, and toxic waste products of cellular functioning.

• How different would your life look if you were able to soothe yourself in a stressful day without relying on food, shopping, alcohol and more addictions?

Yoga lowers cortisol levels. Not impressed? One of the jobs of the adrenal glands is to secrete cortisol in response to an emergency, which temporarily boosts immune function. If it's not regulated back down they can compromise the immune system. Chronically high levels undermine memory, possibly leading to permanent changes in the brain, even though temporary boosts of cortisol help with long-term memory. Other not so good stuff linked to excessive cortisol; major depression, osteoporosis (it extracts calcium and other minerals from bones and interferes with the laying down of new bone), high blood pressure, and insulin resistance. Scientists have found in rats, high cortisol levels lead to what they call "food-seeking behavior" (the kind that drives you to eat when you're upset, angry, or stressed). The body likes to focus those extra calories as fat in the abdomen, contributing to weight gain and the risk of diabetes and heart attack. FUN! Remember Yoga lowers cortisol.

• How often does your mind race, especially when you are trying to fall asleep?

An important component of yoga is focusing on the present. Studies have found that regular yoga practice improves coordination, reaction time, memory, and even IQ scores. People who practice Transcendental Meditation demonstrate the ability to solve problems and acquire and remember information easier—most likely because they're not distracted by incessant thoughts, which for most of us play over and over like a broken record. Yoga helps you to slow your breath and focus on the present moment, shifting the balance from the sympathetic nervous system (or the fight-or-flight response) to the parasympathetic nervous system. This shift creates a calming and restorative effect; slowing the breathing and heart rate, lowering blood pressure, and increasing blood flow to the intestines and reproductive organs—comprising what Herbert Benson, M.D., calls the relaxation response.**

• Is going to the bathroom on a regular basis turned into a super human feat?

Ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, constipation—all of these can flair up with stress. Like other exercise, Yoga can help ease the symptoms of constipation—and theoretically lower the risk of colon cancer—because moving the body facilitates quicker transport of food and waste products through the bowels. Concentrating on simple abdominal twisting postures and forward bends can provide a soothing effect with a hyperactive bowel and even though not studied scientifically, may be helpful in moving waste through the system. **

• Do your children have to continually repeat themselves when sharing their day?

Yoga is about being in the world, experiencing all of it. Even though you may begin practicing yoga focusing on yoga postures, breathing and meditation, the tradition also encompasses love, compassion, wisdom and presence.
As we become more aware of our body, learning to listen to the body's feedback, we're more easily able to calm the mind in an upset moment, creating more clarity and mindfulness in our every day moments.