To be a luscious goddess or an ageless vampire you must also be a yogi. Now, I am not saying you have to do it full time or spend a lot of money on classes. What I am saying, is that learning about the yoga practice and choosing to do a number of simple positions at home on a regular basis can have MAGICAL anti-aging results. Have you ever seen a dedicated yogi that did not exude a youthful aura – in body and spirit? One benefit of yoga vs a gym is that you can do it anywhere as it requires no equipment. If you don’t know the positions get a dvd until you do. Personally, I aim to do my exercise routine – which is half yoga – 5 days a week for one hour. I make the time by either getting up earlier or going to bed later. But I make it happen – and the results are there.
Because yoga calms me so much I am actually excited to go through the poses and feel VERY frisky afterwards!
Besides creating a lithe and leaner body, yoga can benefit the functioning of the endocrine system by calming bad hormones and pushing the release of good hormones.
Here is a small list of glands and organs and their corresponding hormones and functions:
• Adrenal – controls cortisol release, “flight or fight” and general stress response, and oxygen intake
• Hypothalamus – releases hormones to the pituitary to help those hormones function
• Ovaries – produce estrogen to help to maintain a pregnancy and control the menstrual cycle
• Pancreas – produces and releases insulin, which controls blood sugar
• Pineal – produces melatonin, which helps regulate sleep patterns – and as you read in my article http://simpleantiagingsecrets.com/2013/05/26/10-things-you-must-know-about-melatonin-a-good-hormone-and-critical-to-anti-aging/ is important to anti-aging
• Pituitary – good for overall wellbeing, regulates a number of hormones, including growth, thyroid-stimulating, testosterone, estrogen, and vasopressin
• Testes – produce testosterone, which helps with a number of factors in adults, including sex drive and building muscle mass
• Thyroid – hormones produced by this gland control your metabolism
Here are some poses (or in yogi speak ASANAS) and their beneficial effects to the endocrine system (see pics below or google for more!):
Pose to stimulate the thyroid and parathyroid. It also helps with depression
Rabbit Pose or Sasangasana
Combined with Paschimottanasana (below), these two poses balance blood sugar and stimulate the thymus, thyroid, kidneys, and pancreas
Standing Head to Knee or Janursirasana
Seated Forward Bend or Paschimottanasana
Slow, deliberate breathing re-routes hormonal signals and calms the adrenal gland to reduce stress hormone production and help alleviate post-partum depression.
Easy Pose or Sukhasana
Legs-Up-the-Wall pose
Childs pose
Poses to Help Human Growth Hormones Production (made in the pituitary gland)
Inverted poses such as Sarvangasana or Shoulderstand and Headstand (no pic but you know what it is!) stimulate your pituitary gland by bathing the area in a fresh supply of oxygenated blood.
Asanas balance the hormonal secretions from the various glands and affect the function of the pituitary; so do various breathing exercises that stimulate the brain. Any Asana where the head is lower than the heart will result in increased blood flow to the brain and benefit the pituitary gland and its functions.
Poses to Boost Hormones from the thyroid
Camel Pose
Sarvangasana or Shoulder stand
Again, if you want to CONTROL the aging process you MUST exercise as often as you can. If I was your coach I would insist on 5 days a week. You know you can find the time if it is important. People who exercise regularly are 8x less likely to get sick. The healthier you are, the more in balance your system is and the less you will age. Yoga poses have been shown to have an especially beneficial effect on the endocrine system – critical to anti-aging!
Follow me in the top left corner for a daily (usually!) anti-aging tip. You too can be as luscious as a goddess and as ageless as a vampire!
