Yoga for Disabled - An Exercise for The Disabled

Yoga has proved to be beneficial to all that have practiced it. Today, it is yoga that is considered as the best alternative therapy for many illnesses. However, the main purpose of yoga is to improve the quality of life of the people who practice it by improving both physical and mental health.

Exercise for Disabled

Yoga, in fact, has been proven especially helpful to the handicapped or differently abled people as they are popularly called. Yoga has never recognized any barriers of age, sex, religion, or creed. Yoga can quite simply be performed by anyonethose who suffer from chronic illnesses, those who are missing limbs, and those who have just had a surgery.

There have been an increasing number of polio affected individuals who have signed up for yoga and relate heartwarming stories of overcoming their handicaps. Accident victims too claim that yoga has helped improve their lives in many ways. Even those who are mentally challenged, enjoy the benefits of yoga.

Exercise for Handicapped

The postures of yoga for the differently abled have been carefully selected from meticulously designed yoga poses. These poses come from the different schools of yoga like Kundalini yoga, Hatha yoga, Karma yoga, Bhakti yoga, mantra yoga, and Jnana yoga.

Although the disabled might not be able to practice all of the yoga poses, there are many postures that are especially beneficial to them. Pranayama, a yoga technique that helps control breathing and regulates it into rhythms, is actually very beneficial for the disabled. This technique particularly improves the stamina, balance and strength, along with increasing flexibility and inducing better sleep.

Most of these postures can be modified for the disabled by an aptly trained instructor. In fact, if the instructor is good enough, they can teach their students to perform various poses without moving at all. There are instances of severely disabled persons who practice their yoga routine from their beds or wheelchairs.

Some of the poses that can be easily practiced by the disabled are:

• Snake pose or Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana): This pose is performed by lying face down on the floor. The hands are placed palm down on either side of the torso. Applying pressure on the hands, the upper body is raised. As the body is raised, deep inhalation is required.

• Half Tortoise Pose: One of the easiest poses, this pose is especially recommended for beginners. This is a seated pose in which you sit on the balls of your heels. Slowly, the arms are extended and you are required to bend forward until your forehead touches the floor.