Yoga

As almost everyone knows today, yoga (Sanskrit, Pāli: योग yóga) refers to traditional physical and mental disciplines originating in India. The word “yoga” means to unite (in harmony). Yoga is a self-discipline to bring harmony in our lives. It provides tools to harmonize our being at all levels of our existence: physical, mental, social and spiritual.

The practice and study of yoga help to bring about a natural balance of body and mind in which a state of health can manifest itself. Yoga by itself does not create health; rather it creates an internal environment that allows the individual to come to his or her own state of dynamic balance, or health. Basically, yoga teaches that a healthy person is a harmoniously integrated unit of body, mind and spirit.

Today, most yoga practices in the west focuses on the physical aspect of yoga. However, yoga offers more than just harmony at the body level — it provides breathing exercises, meditation, relaxation, etc to harmonize the deeper levels of our being.

You’ve probably heard that yoga is good for you. Maybe you have even tried yoga and discovered that it makes you feel better. But what are the specific health benefits can you expect to enjoy from doing yoga regularly?

Physical Benefits

Flexibility: Stretching your tight body in new ways will help it to become more flexible, bringing greater range of motion to muscles and joints. Over time, you can expect to gain flexibility in your hamstrings, back, shoulders, and hips.

Strength: Many yoga poses require you to support the weight of your own body in new ways, including balancing on one leg (such as in Tree Pose) or supporting yourself with your arms (such as in Downward Facing Dog). Some exercises require you to move slowly in and out of poses, which also increases strength.

Muscle tone: As a by-product of getting stronger, you can expect to see increased muscle tone. Yoga helps shape long, lean muscles.

Pain Prevention: Increased flexibility and strength can help prevent the causes of some types of back pain. Many people who suffer from back pain spend a lot of time sitting at a computer or driving a car. That can cause tightness and spinal compression, which you can begin to address with yoga. Yoga also improves your alignment, both in and out of class, which helps prevent many other types of pain.

Better Breathing: Most of us breathe very shallowly into the lungs and don’t give much thought to how we breathe. Yoga breathing exercises, called Pranayama, focus the attention on the breath and teach us how to better use our lungs, which benefits the entire body. Certain types of breath can also help clear the nasal passages and even calm the central nervous system, which has both physical and mental benefits.

Mental Benefits

Mental Calmness: Yoga asana practice is intensely physical. Concentrating so intently on what your body is doing has the effect of bringing a calmness to the mind. Yoga also introduces you to meditation techniques, such as watching how you breathe and disengagement from your thoughts, which help calm the mind.

Stress Reduction: Physical activity is good for relieving stress, and this is particularly true of yoga. Because of the concentration required, your daily troubles, both large and small, seem to melt away during the time you are doing yoga. This provides a much-needed break from your stressors, as well as helping put things into perspective. The emphasis yoga places on being in the moment can also help relieve stress, as you learn not to dwell on past events or anticipate the future. You will leave a yoga class feeling less stressed than when you started.

Body Awareness: Doing yoga will give you an increased awareness of your own body. You are often called upon to make small, subtle movements to improve your alignment. Over time, this will increase your level of comfort in your own body. This can lead to improved posture and greater self-confidence.

I am too stiff and out of shape. Is yoga for me?

No one is too stiff or out of shape to do yoga. Being in harmony with oneself is not limited only to people who are in good shape!

With regular practice of yoga, you will experience well-being at the level of the body and mind, and develop a positive body consciousness.

How is yoga different from other forms of exercise?

Yoga strives for well-being across all levels of our existence: not just the physical body. At the physical level it harmonizes the body with postures, stretching, and dynamic movements. At the level of breathing, yoga offers techniques to use lung capacity fully, and to harmonize the rhythm of one’s breath. For the mind and deeper layers of our existence, yoga offers meditation, concentration and relaxation techniques.

Is yoga effective to manage high blood-pressure?

Yes, the relaxation and meditation aspects of yoga are ideal for tackling high blood pressure. Breathing techniques too help in reducing stress and induce relaxation, as they have a positive impact on one’s mental state.

Will yoga help me lose weight?

Yoga makes you feel in harmony with yourself, regardless of your weight. That said, yoga can help you slim down in a couple of ways. First, it offers dynamic exercises that will help you burn calories. Second, yoga postures regulate the hormones secreted in the body, including those that control the weight of the body.

How many types of yoga are there?

Many. Each type of yoga has something unique to offer. It would be best to sample classes of different styles to find out for yourself which is best for you.

Is yoga a religion?

No, yoga is not a religion. People of all faiths have enjoyed doing yoga. In fact, many people find that their yoga practice deepens their connection to their chosen religion by encouraging self-awareness and mindfulness in everyday life.

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Yoga, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yoga&oldid=335211212 (last visited Jan. 3, 2010).