Yoga is a Sanskrit word which defines the uniting of an individual’s spirit with that of the universal spirit of God. It is a discipline which helps in improving the inherent power of an individual in a balanced manner to attain complete self-realization. The philosophical Hinduism traditions consider yoga as one of the 6 most orthodox practices and originates it back to the pre-Vedic era. The westerners today, practice yoga as a posture-based physical fitness and a relaxation technique to relieve stress. The UNESCO in 2016 has declared yoga as part of an intangible cultural heritage.
Systematic studies demonstrate that postural yoga helps with physical and mental health, and is effective in relieving stress and lower back pain. In addition it improves in building overall health and helps in building flexibility of an individual. The improvement of flexibility is an obvious benefit of yoga and practicing it regularly helps to loosen oneself and makes the once impossible poses doable. Further benefits of yoga includes :
Prevents Back Aches : Yoga helps in building muscle strength with flexibility. Lack of a correct posture has created neck and joint problems and a good way to enhance posture is through practicing yoga. Arthritis, can be manged effectively through yoga to reduce the disability and overall impact arthritis can have on the quality of life.
Improves Depression : Yoga can been found to be effective in improving the mood of individuals and helps in creating an anti-depressant effect. Individuals who have negative habits like alcohol dependency can be improved through yoga. There is a reduction in the stress hormone cortisol when one practices yoga relieving you from depression.
Reduces anxiety : Practicing of yoga helps in coping with anxiety pangs and is a clear benefit. Individuals can face severe anxiety following post-traumatic stress. This condition is relieved by following yoga sessions biweekly.
Improves Quality of Life : Yoga is becoming popular as an adjunct therapy helping to improve the quality of life of individuals. Yoga helps in slowing down the mental loops of frustration and anger improving stress. Stress is the cause for regular issues like insomnia, hypertension and migraines. Yoga helps to relieve these conditions.
Enhances inner strength and self esteem : Yoga can help you to improve your inner strength and self esteem, regular practice helps in overcoming inertia and change one’s dysfunctional habits. Thus, practicing of yoga helps in making a change in life. Yoga gives a positive approach towards life and helps to overcome chronic low self-esteem. By improving the spirituality of individuals, they are able to overcome negative habits like smoking and drug addiction. One is able to feel gratitude, empathy and forgiveness as well as wellness by practicing yoga.
Helps ease pain : Chronic pain affects thousands of individuals daily due to chronic and persisting conditions like injuries and arthritis. Yoga helps to subside the pain and helped in improving grip strength. It is also found to be effective in patients with osteoarthritis too, where the intensity of pain is reduced.
Promote Sleep Quality : Yoga provides body restoration and a calming effect on the nervous system. As yoga gives a deep calmness and relaxation to the body and soul it helps with deep sleep. Poor quality sleep affects the body in many ways and is associated with obesity and high blood pressure. Yoga is a great way to reduce these negative effects.
Yoga is certainly a great way to help with healing, cultivating emotional support among family and friends by improving not just individual health but the health of relationships too. A regular practice of yoga helps improve compassion and friendliness and the holistic effects of life. Thus, getting yourself started with yoga sessions will help your overall quality of life.
To get motivated into practicing yoga, it will be ideal to include yoga as a routine activity in your schedule. Also do check out, if you have the right attire, like loose fitting comfortable attire to keep you relaxed when practicing yoga. In addition, having a non-slip yoga mat would definitely help you to perform better. The most essential ingredient however for performing yoga is an open mind and patience with a pinch of determination.
If you are a first time yoga doer, it will be helpful to have some expert advice from a trainer. Joining yoga classes will help you to get trained in the yoga postures in the correct way. It is also important that yoga is performed in the correct way, so that the health benefits can be gained. Yoga postures performed incorrectly can be harmful to health and this is why an expert can guide you on who exactly it should be done.
A gentle sequence of yoga postures to fit the daily routine can help you get started with accessible yoga poses. Learning to control your breathing or pranayama is one of the first steps for a beginner introduced to yoga. Yoga is definitely an Art of Living which will help one to lead a successful life.
Image Reference :
Cover Photo : Photo by kike vega on Unsplash
