The festive season will be soon upon us and the sparkly dreses will ne dust down and brought out again for the office party.

But as you try it on…yikes, the zip just doesn’t quite get to the top and its a little tight. Oh no I hear you cry, what do you do with no time to go shopping for a new one, and the party in less than a weeks time…fear not Yoga is apparently the key.

Actress Rachel McAdams has sweared by Yoga to help her fit into the dresses she has to wear in the new SHerlock Holmes series.

So there you go no needs to starve yourself for the next few weeks – just stretch a bit and you’ll soon fir into your LBD and look amazing!

Now I know that Yoga is good for you and that it’s all a matter of mind over matter and breathing and finding harmony an dpeace within your inner mind. But to me if I’m going to spend time exercising I need to feel like i’ve done something – so I need to be dripping with sweat and out of breath at the end of it.

Yoga – chilled session of stretching your muscles, no rise in your heart rate, nothing to strenuous that all can join in with.

V’s

Trip to the gym – increase in heartbeat, dripping in sweat, out of breath, adrenalin rush of completeing a 5 mile uphill run???

The gym’s by choice what’s yous?

So you want to get fit, lose a couple of pounds ready for that work’s Christmas do, but you don’t quite fancy a trip down the gym for yoga class.

Well now the latest craze is Wii Fit and it comes with a Yoga instructor in built, so you don’t need to worry about showing yourself up in front of a roomful of strangers. You get the choice of a male or female instructor to talk you through a variety of moves, which develop as you learn more over time.

I think the laid back approach and doing it in the comfort of your own house has helped with the popularity of it. To date Nintendo has announced sales of in excess of 20 million units worldwide of Wii Fit alone. This can be put down to the fact that it is also fun as well as being a healthy activity.

The main benefits of yoga are related to the improvement in core stability that will not only aid weight loss and general fitness, but will also improve posture which will help all areas of life. Maybe you will find yourself feeling less lethargic at work, thus making you more effective in the working day.

All in all, yoga has many positives and is a worthwhile activity for young and old !!!

Can you imagine a room full of men (tasty in my mind) all in comprimising positions whilst practising yoga? And, so it seems following some research recently carried out in India it’s all in the name of a healthier heart and a stronger nervous system!

The explanation of how they’ve achievd this result gets a bit too technical and confusing my my little brain but as yoga concentrates on regulating breathing, your posture, actually being able to realx and mediation, many yoga practioners believe this is why Yoga can improve your health.

So lads – time to get your joggers on, your yoga mat ready and egt ready for your first yoga stretch!!

My question is though this research has been done for men – what about women? Is it as healthy for us too?

I’ve never tried Yoga before, well I tell a lie really – I have tried Yoga before but only for 10 minutes and then watched the rest of the DVD whilst ironing. I think I got more out of Ironing than I did trying out Yoga.

I’m all for keeping fit but I personally enjoy going to the gym or out in the fresh air for a run where I can feel my bottom wobble back to some kind of shape and end up in a sweaty out of breath mess!

If it is for you though and you alsoa fan of Jarvis Cocker – why not join him in his 3 day workshops in London, which are starting today (November 9). You can choose to join in with Yoga or you can even shimmy your way round and a go at pole dancing!