As parents we wonder if our children are listening. We encourage them to make good choices and pray that they find their way. This is the persuasive essay my 12-year old daughter wrote for 6th grade. She's a budding yogini.
Yoga
By Katie
You’ve had a long day. You spilled you
coffee, lost your car keys, screwed up at work, and you still have to get your
exercise in. What you need is a stress reliever. What’s the best way to relieve
stress? The answer to that is yoga.
Yoga
is a calm, quiet outlet for relieving stress. In almost every yoga class,
you’re going to meditate. Most people think of yoga as a complex of poses and
exercises that improve strength and flexibility. But what they don’t know it
that meditation is a huge part of yoga. Meditation really rounds out the
benefits of stress relieving in yoga. It trains your mind to slow down, relax,
and stay positive. Yoga actually
improves your mood. Scientists at the University of Maryland have proven that
yoga increases pleasure in the neuro chemicals in your brain that elevate your
mood. Different types of breathing are exhibited in yoga. Pamela Quinn, owner
of her own successful yoga studio as well as a trained ayurvedic specialist,
makes sure her students put the anuloma viloma breath in full spin. Anuloma
viloma is Sanskrit for alternate nostril breathing. This is where you breathe in through one
nostril and out the other. The breathing
balances out your brain to help keep focus and release stress.
As well as a stress reliever, yoga is a
wonderful form of exercise. Who wouldn’t want to be relaxed as well as healthy?
Yoga supports your digestion. You see, with stress certain chemicals are
produced that compromise your digestive system. As stress is relieved, through
yoga, of course, your digestive system is greatly improved. Yoga has better
results as a workout then other forms of exercise. Scientists at the University
of Maryland also compared yoga to other forms of exercise such as running or
aerobics. It outperformed them in improving strength, flexibility, balance, and
reducing pain or menopause symptoms.
Yoga also helps you focus. Meditation not
only dismisses stress, it also focuses you. With a clear mind after a
meditation session all your thoughts aren’t scattered. Yoga helps ground
you. Nothing gets you more in touch with
your body and mind than an hour with nothing to think about but yourself. All
the different types of breathing in yoga help focus you. What’s great about the breathing is you don’t
have to be in a class to use it. You can breath in your car, at school, or
anywhere else. There is many different kinds of breath such as breath of fire
or the one I mentioned earlier, anuloma viloma breath.
Yoga
is easily one of the best stress relievers out there. Ask anyone who has
experienced a class for themselves. It’s wonderful and also a workout that gets
you focused. Give yoga a try. You won’t regret it.
That is so awesome!
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