Four Yoga Poses For Your Diabetic Health

Practicing yoga is a fantastic way to use exercise to manage your type 2 diabetes. Low impact yoga is always easy on your body and helps overcome some of the stiffening that comes with diabetic complications. Your good diabetic health depends on maintaining as healthy a lifestyle as possible. Practicing these poses daily will lower your stress levels because it works to relax the mind and body as well as stretching and strengthening joints and muscles.

• Easy Pose (Sukahasana) This is the best pose for meditation and stress relief, bringing inner calm. Your diabetic health depends in part on flexibility. This pose helps with tiredness; it begins to open the hips by stretching the joints, and also straightens the spine. Sit on the floor “Indian style”, crossing your legs in front of you. Place your hands on your knees, holding them. Keep your head and body in alignment, sitting up straight. If you are just starting to exercise you could sit on a pillow or thick cushion.

• Shoulder Stretches. This is great for relieving shoulder tension and strengthening your shoulder joints. For this exercise you can kneel, sit cross-legged or in any other comfortable upright position that will allow you to move your body. For this you will need a yoga strap, or something that you can hold between your hands. Hold your arms out straight in front of you; extend them over your head as you inhale, then as far behind you as possible while you exhale. Keep this a smooth movement, while you breathe. Make sure the strap is long enough that you can keep your arms straight while you move them.

• Half Spinal Twist. Rotating the spine is necessary for true flexibility. This exercise has a positive impact on your digestive system and helps keep the ligaments and nerves in the spine toned and working well. This is important for managing your diabetic health. Kneel on the floor then slide off to the right. Bring your left knee up, placing the left foot on the outside of your right leg. Keeping your spin straight stretch out your arms and rotate your body to the left. Place your right arm on the outside of your left leg and exhale as you press into the stretch. Look as far to the left as possible to stretch through your neck as well. It is important to keep your back as upright as possible. Stretch slowly and enjoy feeling it tone your spine. Repeat on the other side.

• Double Leg Raise. This exercise strengthens your abdominal muscles as well as your lower back muscles. It trims your waist and your thighs because those are the muscles that do the work. Keeping your knees straight and your back on the floor; inhale and raise both legs straight up. Exhale as you lower your legs. It is hard to keep your back on the floor, but keep trying until you can do the exercise without strain.

Your diabetic health can be maintained and the disease controlled through proper diet and exercise. Enjoy these exercises, knowing that in the long run they will make your lifestyle better.