The ankle is one of the most critical joints in the human body. It is here that various ligaments and tissues of the foot and leg connect thus giving us the ability to walk and move around. The unique feature of the ankle is its ability to twist and spin, allowing us greater flexibility and mobility. It is this trait, which allows us to perform many of our sports and daily activities apart from dancing and shaking a leg.

However the twisting motion can also instigate a serious foot injury. This primarily happens when unwanted force or pressure is applied on the foot and the ankle joint, which sparks an imbalance in the ankle region thus causing injury. This is termed as a sprain. This injury can hamper a person???s daily life as it severely restricts the movements of the leg and foot. Usually the injury is mild with the ligaments getting a little stretched however the injury can get serious when the ligaments are flexed beyond a certain limit causing them to tear.

Before getting into any Yoga class or position, it is absolutely mandatory to follow these fundamentals. Firstly take ample rest as this is best mode of recuperating your ankle. Apply ice at least twice a day for 15 to 20 minutes to the affected area. As the healing process continues make sure to wear an ankle supporter and comfortable shoes to get the right balance and prevent stress to the ankle. As excessive rest can also hamper healing get your ankle accustomed to motion gradually and once able enough walk preferably on a flat surface.

Although you can???t start with Yoga asanas (poses) but you can surely improve your situation by doing basic ankle stretching exercises. Start by taking a chair and placing yourself on the edge. Use props or cushions to support your back. Now stretch your legs with the heels positioned firmly on the floor. Slightly bend your ankle pointing the toe towards you and then slowly move it away from you, Follow the same procedure for 3 to 5 times. Another great stretching exercise would be the squats. Stand at least 12 to 15 inches from a wall with your toes pointing towards the wall. Slowly bend yourself in a squatting position and maintain this pose for at least 10 counts. Then slowly rise without putting too much tension on the ankle. Repeat this procedure for at least 10 times. If there is the slightest pain do not continue with this exercise. However, before embarking on any exercise regimen, always consult a physiotherapist.

Once recovery has already begun yoga may be used as a part of physiotherapy to further strengthen the ankle and promote healing. There are various poses for the ankle in Yoga, however give ample time and rest before you hit the Yoga class again. Also makes sure you have a qualified Yoga instructor who can guide you step-by-step for your ankle recovery and get you back in shape for some twisting and curling.

Yoga is a one-of-a-kind ancient art form, which has proved to heal the mind, body and soul. It???s been a tried and tested formula for people suffering from bodily imbalances over many centuries. Yoga has such great potential that even today modern medical science struggles to unravel many of its mysteries and therapeutic properties.

In today???s time due to the everyday turmoil, we have somehow lost our ability to stay attuned to our bodily functions. Pretty much like a computer or any machine our body too diagnoses problems in any of the bodily functions and makes us aware of them. Most of us however do not notice these warnings because we are not tuned in to our bodies and are too caught up in our daily busy routines. For example when we get a back strain, we take it lightly and resort to painkillers. It???s only when the condition turns a lot more serious that we attend to it. Anxiety too often turns into depression as we ignore the problem while still remediable. This is where Yoga comes in more than handy and can be the best exercise to the rescue. The Yoga school of thought says that to cure a problem in your body, you must first understand and attend to your body.

One of the major problems we suffer today is prolonged stress on our muscular-skeletal system, particularly our bones and joints. High-impact physical training might be good to certain extent but can prove to be a menace later in life putting tremendous pressure on certain joints of the body. To eradicate this problem, one can use Yoga to foster healthy bone growth and restrict the routine wear and tear of the various joints and bones.

Yoga is the ideal physical exercise for your body particularly your bones. The restorative properties of Yoga enhance bloody supply and also promote the secretion of synovial fluid, an essential lubricating agent for the bones and joints. The various asanas (poses) stimulate a healthy blood supply and essential nutrients for the muscular-skeletal system.

Firstly, a complete Yoga workout will help you align your body and get your balance right. This helps in promoting a healthy bone and joint structure. Secondly, the yoga postures are designed in such a manner that they provide strong resistance to pressure applied thus increasing bone mass and stamina in various positions. There are numerous stretching exercises in Yoga, which promote mobility, flexibility and eliminate or reduce stiffness in various parts of the body. Yoga complements the endocrine and adrenal glands, which help in promoting skeletal formation and at the same time relax various muscle groups and joints in the body. One can only understand the limitless potential of Yoga by a regular and disciplined exercise of this art form.

Yoga works by giving you full control not just over your body but also your mind so you need to learn it properly and gradually. It involves a lot of stretching of different parts of your body, which might not be very easy for a beginner. So you would need to start with the basics and then gradually move on to the advanced postures or yogasanas. You would need to keep the following points in mind while starting yoga:
Practice yoga early in the mornings. If you can???t manage to do it in the mornings then you may practice it in the afternoon but you need to follow some restrictions regarding your food timings and intake. Yoga should be practiced on an empty stomach so you need to consume solid food at least three and a half hours prior and liquids at least an hour before you start.

• Do not consume spicy and heaty foods

• Do not practice yoga on a bare floor; do use a yoga mat or a carpet. Ensure that the place is clean and airy or practice in an open space where there is lots of clean fresh air.

• Wear clean comfortable loose clothes that would allow your body to stretch easily without causing any strain.

• For better results practice yoga daily for at least 30 minutes to an hour.

The following are some basic asanas (yoga postures) for beginners:

• Kanthasanchalana ??? This is practiced to increase the strength and flexibility of the neck muscles

• Skandhasanchalana ??? This is practiced to increase the flexibility of the muscles in your shoulders and back

• Hastasanchalana - This is practiced to increase the stamina and flexibility of the muscles in your shoulders and hands

• Padasanchalana - This is practiced to increase the strength and flexibility of the muscles in your hips and legs

• Janusanchalan - This is practiced to increase the strength and flexibility of the muscles in your waist and knees

Yoga does not involve any fast movements but is gradual and consists of slow smooth movements that give a natural and easy flow to your body. It makes you aware of every limb in your body and thus helps you slowly control it by improving your balance and concentration. It also helps to reduce the stress levels by increasing the flow of blood and oxygen to each and every part of your body. Practicing yoga regularly keeps your mind sharp and active, and your body healthy and well toned.

Yes yoga does help with anxiety and low self esteem as it does with all other problems. Yoga is beneficial both for your body and mind. The gamma-aminobutyric (GABA) levels are the brain’s primary inhibitory neurotransmitters that are responsible for your moods. Practicing yoga helps to increase the GABA levels and thus treats anxiety. The feelings of anxiety and low self esteem come in our mind when we are isolated and depressed and involved in too much of worry and stress. Yoga involves your body in the asana or the yoga posture and your breathing, so you concentrate only on that. Thus it takes your mind away from the stress and anxiety. The endorphins released in your body after the yoga exercise help to make you feel happy naturally. And as you stretch your body a little more every time you learn and practice a new asana (yoga posture), it increases the control and confidence in yourself.?? Thus it helps to increase your self-esteem. Yoga benefits your mind and body in a number of ways like:

• Improving your posture that naturally makes you look confident.

• Increasing strength and stamina by giving you more control over your mind and body.

• Relaxing and rejuvenating your body by helping in healthy blood and oxygen flow to every organ in your body.

• It also helps you to lose excess weight and tones your body naturally making you look fit and feel great at all times.

• It also makes your body more flexible as you stretch yourself more and more with every new asana. It gives you great control over your mind and body that helps you to block out negative thoughts which cause anxiety and low self-esteem. A person who practices yoga regularly has good control over his mind and body, feels great because of his excellent health and a well-toned body. And a good looking healthy individual would rarely ever feel depressed, anxious or suffer from low self esteem.

You can learn yoga from books and videotapes but the best way to learn would be to learn from a qualified teacher. When you practice yoga don???t just imitate your teacher but understand and feel how your body responds to it. You need to feel the effect it has on every part of your body. When you start doing this you would naturally improve in your postures and feel the positive effects sooner. Yoga is best practiced early in the morning preferably in a open space like a garden or a beach.

No, you do not have to sit in any special posture when you???re doing Sahaja Yoga meditation. This meditation can also be done at any time and in any form. According to Sahaja Yoga practitioners, through this meditation technique you become one with the Spirit and then you do not have to meditate more than ten minutes to enjoy the benefits. There aren???t any particular restrictions in this form of yoga. You can even sit in any posture while doing meditation.

While practicing Sahaja Yoga, you have to get into a state of thoughtless awareness, which is known as Nivichara. While doing this, you have to sit quietly in one place and stop entertaining any thoughts that drift into your mind. When you can control your mind and become thoughtlessly aware, then you have to meditate for five minutes. This isn???t too complicated and even a few minutes of medication through Sahaja yoga can work wonders for you. Sahaja, which means simple, is actually an easy form of meditation.

Through this you can attain self realization and can awaken the Kundalini within you. A good method of becoming integrated and balanced, Sahaja Yoga can increase your self awareness and work on your nervous system. It makes you more spiritual and unifies your mind, body and soul through a few minutes of practice.

You connect with your inner self and your spirit in those few minutes of thoughtless awareness and this makes you feel that you are so much more than just an ego, a body or emotions. This state of self-awareness, used to take several years and tough meditation, before the sages who practiced yoga could attain unity with the Spirit. But now, in an age when time is in short supply, a few minutes of Sahaja Yoga is all you need to de-clutter your mind and achieve self-realization.

Sahaja yoga also eliminates all negative thoughts from the mind and helps to calm you. This also replaces anger and negativity with happiness and positive thoughts. Sahaja Yoga is said to awaken your kundalini quickly.

Some of the benefits of Sahaja yoga include, increasing your concentration and self-awareness; reducing stress; strengthening the immune system; making your mind calm; and, unifying your mind, body and spirit.

Thus, with hardly any time required and through any posture, you can attain self-realization by doing this simple yet fulfilling form of Sahaja yoga.

Yoga is not the only cure or preventive measure when it comes to infections and infectious diseases. But it is believed that regular practice of yoga can keep your body and mind healthy, thus, helping prevent and even cures certain disease.

Yoga can prevent infections and diseases in several ways:

• Stress can be the major cause for several diseases, even infectious diseases. Stress erodes and weakens your immune system, thus, making you more prone to all sorts of infections. Through the stretching postures of yoga and through pranayama breathing techniques, you can relax your body and mind and de-stress. This de-stressing method will keep your immune system in better shape and will help you fight those infections.

• Through yoga you can strengthen your lymphatic system, which in turn will help your body flush out the toxins. Inversions such as headstands, plough position, shoulder stands and legs up the wall position are good for the lymphatic system, which is the main producer of immune cells. You should also try twists and hip openers that will work the lymph nodules in the armpit. Some of the postures that you should try are seated twist, prayer twist, pigeon and bound angle to get maximum benefits. You can attempt the lion pose or Simhasana to activate the lymph nodes in the neck. This pose is also good for the immune glands in the tonsils.

• To prevent nasal infections, try doing Jal Neti or nasal irrigation, which will drain out the infections in the nasal passage.

• Then there are chest-opening postures which concentrate on the chest and the respiratory system and help to prevent infectious diseases related to the chest. Positions like pigeon posture, cobra posture, boat posture, bow posture and upper back bends massage the thymus gland. This gland is located in the center of the chest.

• Yoga is not just about regular exercise; it is also a way of life. If you follow yogic ways, you can benefit more from the entire practice of yoga. A balanced diet with lots of green vegetables, whole grains and fruits are important. You should also keep yourself hydrated by drinking enough water and avoid caffeine, alcohol and refined sugar, since these can harm the immune system.

So, yoga can help combat infections and can prevent you from falling sick too. While, yoga is extremely beneficial for your health, it isn???t an instant medicine that can cure you in a jiffy of infectious diseases. Practicing yoga regularly will help to strengthen your immunity.

Discipline is an order within you. It is a way of life that can be brought about by a set of rules, by principles of a religion or by practicing yoga. While yoga may seem like just an exercise for your body and mind, it actually is a way of life. Patanjali, who wrote down the principles of yoga for the first time, mentioned the Eight Limbs of Yoga, each of which prescribes certain rules about leading life. It is a way of life and a discipline that helps people benefit more from the practice of yoga. Yoga also helps to discipline your inner self and calm the mind.

Physical Benefits Of Yoga:

• Yoga is good for overall fitness and health. It not only works wonders on the body, but is also good for the mind and soul. Regular practice of yoga is supposed to improve your health.

• Yoga is often used as a complementary therapy along with conventional treatment and medication, to help people cope with diseases. Cancer, sciatica, hypertension and joint and muscle pains are some of the problems that benefit from yoga.

• Yoga is also done to prevent certain diseases and health problems. Every exercise in yoga is designed to work certain parts of the body, improve the blood circulation, massage the internal organs and soothe the body and mind. These generally have a positive effect on the overall health and help to control varied diseases. Through yoga you can keep your body in a better working condition and can help to keep away stress-related diseases, joint and muscle pains, and several respiratory and digestive diseases.

• Yoga helps to combat stress. In today???s lifestyle, stress is an ever ???present factor with more work and money issues leading to tension and then stress-related diseases. Cardiac problems, hypertension and ulcers are cause due to high stress. Those who do yoga can keep their stress levels down by regular practice. Yoga calms the mind and relaxes all the muscles of the body. It helps you to cope with your daily problems better.

• Yoga flushes out toxins from your blood and brings in more oxygen into your system. The breathing techniques in yoga cleanse your internal system and rejuvenate your body through the extra intake of oxygen.

• The stretching exercises in yoga strengthen and stretch your muscles, make you more flexible and works on your body balance.

Yoga is also good for your mental health.

Yoga is a science that has evolved from vedic and tantric roots. Initially practiced by sages in ancient India to prepare them for further meditation, yoga has now become popular across the world. Now practiced for overall fitness and health, yoga is a precise form of exercise that combines healing, stretching postures and pranayama breathing techniques to balance the body and mind. Yoga also flushes out toxins and helps in total purification. Yoga these days is also used as an alternative therapy ??? therapy that doctors prescribe along with conventional treatment to heal patients. Yoga therapy is also used by companies as a way to manage stress.

Purpose Of Yoga: An ancient form of exercise that combines meditation, breathe work and physical exercises, yoga in Sanskrit means to join???. The principles of yoga were first written down by Patanjali. The main purpose of yoga in ancient times was to prepare the body and mind for meditation and to help sages attain union with God. Yoga is actually a way of life and practicing yoga in earlier times involved following certain life style principles. These days, the main purpose of yoga is for better health, to cope with diseases or aggressive treatments and for stress management.

Health Benefits Of Yoga:

• Yoga is good for one???s mental health. It de-stresses you, calms your mind and even works well with psychotherapy. Since stress can cause numerous diseases, some of which include hypertension, ulcers, and cardiac problems, yoga can reduce the chances of these.

• Yoga is also said to be good for the immune system. It stimulates certain glands that are responsible for the working of the immune system. This prevents frequent colds and other infectious diseases and makes one healthier.

• The stretching and bending exercises help to align the spine; stimulate the internal organs; and, make the muscles and joints more supple.

• Pranayama breathing techniques, not only help to calm your mind, these also help to enrich your blood with more oxygen and flush out the toxins by deep exhalation. Abdominal breathing techniques also keep the respiratory system in a good condition; help in pain management; and, relaxes the entire body.

• Yoga is also prescribed as a complementary therapy along with several physical as well as psychological ailments. These make the patients more receptive to the treatment and even reduce the symptoms of the diseases. Yoga is even prescribed as a therapy to cancer patients.

Yoga is good for your overall health.

Well, yoga of any kind is supposed to heal painful joints and stretch muscles. But if you???ve developed pain in your hamstrings, then you need check your postures and see if you???re doing Bikram yoga in the correct fashion. How you perform every posture is very important. It???s also very important to concentrate on every move and on your breathing, while doing yoga. Also, if you have performed some postures in an aggressive manner, then it is likely to have got hurt. Overusing your strength or improper alignment can cause pain in your muscles or can cause injury. Muscle imbalance is another reason for injuring your hamstrings. You also need to maintain your body balance while doing yoga.

Inhaling and exhaling in a correct way is also very important. When you inhale and exhale effectively, you breathe in more oxygen which will rejuvenate your muscles and make your body more supple. But if you do not breathe properly, then due to the lack of enough oxygen, your muscles may spasm or you may suffer from muscle pain. Also, you need to know when you need to stop or which poses you shouldn???t attempt. Pushing yourself to do a Yoga pose that you are not comfortable with, will only lead to more problems.

Also, you need to see if you are enjoying Bikram yoga. Bikram yoga is also known as Hot Yoga, since it is done under very high temperatures and with high humidity in the room. You need to keep drinking plenty of water to stay hydrated through the session. Each session of Bikram yoga is for 90 minutes and you are taken through a sequence of 26 postures. Each posture involves a lot of bending and stretching. Due to the high temperatures, several students feel they can push their bodies and stretch more than they should. This often causes muscle pain. So the key is to do as much as your body allows you too. You could begin with the simpler postures before moving on to the complicated ones.

Since Bikram yoga is done under very high temperatures and it is a robust form of yoga, many new students feel dizzy in their initial sessions. Also, since the body isn???t used to the cleansing effect of Bikram yoga, the initial session may cause dizziness and headache. But over a period of time, when the body gets used to the heat and the vigorous exercises, one generally begins to enjoy Bikram yoga. That???s the reason, it is very important to take each step at a time, without pushing yourself. Because doing more than what you can handle can only cause problems.

Jalandhara Bandha is a yoga exercise where the throat is contracted and the chin firmly placed on the chest. Due to this movement, the vocal organs are influenced. Let???s understand what Jalandhara Bandha is all about and how it affects the various parts of our body.

Jalandhara Bandha: This exercise is known to be the ???destroyer of old age.??? You can do this exercise in any yoga posture, though most people prefer to be in Padmasana or lotus posture to do this exercise. In this posture, the neck is bent a little to do the ???bandh???. In this all the muscles of the neck and throat are contracted and a force is exerted on the seven paths of the throat. That is how the vocal organs are influenced.

Physical Effects Of Jalandhara Bandha:
In this bandh, the spine is lifted a little bit because of the force exerted while doing this pose. And because of this, the blood circulation increases in the spine, thus, benefiting the entire body.

This bandha also has an affect on the ???Vidyan Nadi???, which is in the neck. It happens to be the only blood vessel that passes below the neck. This blood vessel has two parts and these are known as Carotid Arteries, which pass through the neck to the brain. The Carotid Sinus and Carotid Nerve is also located here and while doing Jalandhara Bandha, pressure is exerted on the nerve. This has a positive affect on a person???s health. The bloody supply to the brain is reduced and the body and mind become totally calm.

The pressure on the Carotid Sinus also helps in lowering blood pressure and this posture, when done by hypertension patients, can help them tackle their health problems.

Jalandhara Bandha is often done with Pranayama after Poorka. Kumbhaka is also done after Poorka. During Kumbhaka, there is an increase of pressure on the inhaled air and thus, the air tries to find an outlet. And since the nostrils are closed, the air tries to go out from behind the ear drums. This adds pressure on the ear drums is not good. So, if Jalandhara Bandha is done, the pressed neck position stops the air from entering here and this is good for the ear drums.

Precaution: Jalandhara Bandha takes a lot of practice and it is advisable to do it under the guidance of a yoga expert.?? Also, if you suffer from low blood pressure or respiratory problems, then you shouldn???t do this posture.