Open AccessHatha yoga - an alternative form of supporting the health for the adapted physical activity (APA)
Author(s) -
Danuta Palica,
Anna Zwierzchowska
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
postępy rehabilitacji/advances in rehabilitation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.14
H-Index - 6
eISSN - 1734-4948
pISSN - 0860-6161
DOI - 10.2478/rehab-2013-0023
Subject(s) - hatha yoga , flexibility (engineering) , trunk , physical therapy , physical medicine and rehabilitation , balance (ability) , medicine , physical activity , psychology , mathematics , ecology , statistics , biology
Introduction: The benefits of physical activity have been repeatedly verified and documented in many research. That is why the fundamental problem lays not in a question “if” but “how” to stimulate physical activity specially among people with disabilities. On this field one of many problems to solve is selection of appropriate, effective and interesting forms of physical exercises.The main aim of this study was to verify the efficiency of hatha yoga as a health promoting tool. Material and methods: Experiment involved a group of young women who exercised for 15 weeks to practice hatha yoga. The influence of hatha yoga on selected measures of functional health in accordance with the concept of Health Relations Fitness (spinal flexibility, balance, muscle strength and trunk strength and functional). Results: The presented results indicate that hatha yoga has significant effect on the development of all the rated motor skills. Conclusions: Hatha yoga exercises have proved its value as a tool to enhance the ability to maintain a balance, followed by trunk strength, flexibility and functional strength. That is why, we can conclude that hatha yoga exercises can be recommended for people with disabilities as a safe and healthy form of physical activity and be used as alternative form of adapted physical activity.