The word “Yoga “is derived from the Sanskrit word “yuj”, which means to unite or integrate the spirit and physical body. From the history of yoga, we come to know that it developed around the fifth and sixth centuries BCE, and the earliest accounts of yoga practices are found in the Buddhist Nikayas. It refers to physical, spiritual, mental practices or disciplines that aim to transform body and mind. Relieving exercises such as yoga and Tai Chi reduces stress and also helps us immensely to improve our strength and flexibility, and also aids in harmonizing our inner self with the world and bringing forth peace.
If you’re a passionate yoga practitioner, you’ve probably noticed some yoga benefits—maybe you’re sleeping better or getting fewer colds or just feeling more relaxed and at ease. But if you’ve ever tried telling a newbie about the benefits of yoga, you might find that explanations like “It increases the flow of prana” or “It brings energy up your spine” fall on deaf or skeptical ears.
Basic Benefits of Yoga for Health and Mind:
Our busy schedules and hectic lifestyles often leave us stressed and tired. Yoga enhances our physical and mental capacity, and prepares the mind and body for long term health. It enhances endurance, strength and flexibility of our body, and it also aids in improving posture, as well as in toning and strengthening the muscles. It lowers high blood pressure and reduces the risk of heart attack and strokes. You are truly healthy when you are physically, mentally and emotionally balanced, and yoga helps us to reach that state.
Yoga after pregnancy helps if you want a fast recovery and weight loss. It provides us beautiful glowing skin, peaceful mind, good health, a strong body and also helps reduce weight. Flexibility prevents everyday injury including muscle and disc strains that happen while turning over in or getting out of bed and it reduces back aches caused by long hours of sitting or standing, bending down to pick something up or walking up and down the stairs. Peace of mind is a state of mental and emotional calmness, with no worries, fears or stress, and yoga helps us to achieve this peaceful state of mind.
>> Bringing Inner Peace & Strength And Agility Are All Increased:
Inner peace refers to a specific state of being mentally and spiritually at peace with enough knowledge and understanding to keep oneself strong during phases of stress. Bliss, happiness and contentment are the basic components of a peaceful mind which refers to a disposition free from the effects of stress. Finding inner peace is associated with Hinduism, Buddhism and self-realization.
Many sports will give you strength. Others will give you more agility, but few practices will increase strength, agility, and flexibility all at once. In my years of teaching I’ve seen professional athletes overcome injury by increasing their range of motion with yoga, and victims of a double masectomy regain full mobility after debilitating surgeries that left loads of scar tissue in their bodies. Nothing really compares for repairing the body and making sure that the ligaments and connective tissues are just as strong and pliable as the muscles themselves.
>> Improving Overall Health & Memory:
There are various types of yoga asanas and benefits of yoga asanas are numerous. It provides us all round fitness, improves your sexual life, stamina and reduces the problems of migraines and insomnia. Migraine is a headache that affects the nerves of the head and is accompanied by sensory warning signs like flashes of light, blind spots, nausea, vomiting and increased sensitivity to light and darkness.
Sometimes, it may seem strange that a practice which involves breathing and stretching can enhance your cognitive functioning, but yogis could really be better at learning, have increased memory capacity, and retain high levels of concentration. Many of these benefits are attributed to meditation – arguably the goal of all yogic practice, but it can also help you at school or on the job by improving your brain functioning.
>> Weight Normalizes:
While doing an hour of hatha yoga, or even power yoga won’t likely burn as many calories as doing a high intensity interval workout, yoga has a way of normalizing body weight by restoring hormonal balance in the body.
By lowering levels of cortisol and our nervous system’s constant fight or flight response, not only are we less likely to overeat, or eat to suppress unpleasant emotions, we also train our brains to feel satiated more easily because we aren’t constantly in panic mode. Stress is known to cause obesity and fuel virtually all disease, and yoga is a perfect countermeasure.
>> Naturally Reduces Chronic Back Pain:
Lower back pain is considered to be chronic when it has been present for more than three months. Chronic back pain can originate from an injury, disease or stress. This type of pain can be felt as bone pain and nerve pain. Yoga stretches act magically for those whose back pain is directly related to depression. Yoga breathing techniques are really effective in the circulation of oxygen throughout the body and breathing also provides an opportunity for meditation which many people consider as the key to overcome pain. Sphinx, pigeon, two-knee twist, spine hamstring stretch, threads the needle and legs up the wall are the important postures of yoga that reduce chronic back pain.
>> Boosting the Immune System:
Yoga boosts our immune system by enhancing the circulation of blood cells, decreasing stress hormones and stimulating the lymphatic system that aids to protect our body from the evil effects of toxins. Toxin is an antigenic poison of plant or animal origin, especially one produced by microorganisms and causing disease when present at low concentrations in the body.
Yoga poses improve our breathing technique, strengthen our muscles and organs, stimulate changes in gene expression and improves our immune system. Adho mukha svanasana, urdha mukha svanasana and bhujangasana are important yoga asanas which boost our immunity.
>> Improving Posture and Flexibility:
Yoga practice tones our body muscles and also makes them strong which helps improve our body posture when we sit, sleep, stand or walk. Stronger muscles help prevent sports injuries and other injuries caused due to overexertion. It can help us move better and felt less tired. It has been proven that people improved their flexibility up to 35% after only 8 weeks of yoga.
Athletes consider it really effective which help them to avoid injuries over the years. When you become stronger and more flexible, your posture also improves at the same time. The disturbing pain in the neck or back could result from something like using one side of your body more, and the imbalance can be identified and corrected with the help of yoga.
>> Improving Heart Health:
Yoga plays a pivotal role in protecting us from different kinds of heart diseases and also improves cardiovascular health. Cardiovascular disease refers to conditions that involve blocked blood vessels that can lead to heart attack, chest pain and stroke.
Yoga asanas help reduce blood pressure, reduce symptoms of heart failure, increase cardiac rehabilitation, lower cholesterol, blood sugar and stress hormones. The deep breathing yoga exercises help slow the breathing rate, which reduces blood pressure and soothes the nervous system that generates stress hormones.
>> Controlling Diabetes:
Diabetes refers to a condition in which there is too much glucose in the blood, and it damages kidneys, nerves, teeth, eyes, feet and blood vessels which can lead to heart attack and stroke. When you follow a regular yoga schedule, your body commences responding to insulin that helps immensely in the reduction of blood glucose and it is also an excellent way to fight stress.
Effective postures of yoga for diabetes include pranayam, setubandhasana, balasana, vajrasana, sarvangasana, halasana, dhanurasana, chakrasana, paschimotasana and ardha matsyendrasana which also improve blood circulation in the arms and legs where diabetic patients mainly complain of pains.
>> Relieving Depression:
Depression is a mental illness that causes a constant feeling of sadness and lack of interest. It affects one’s thinking, behavior and feelings too. It is the accompanied by headache, chest pain, fatigue, irritation, restlessness, anxiety and insomnia and releases harmful free radicals that damage our immune system.
Effective postures of yoga for stress includes balasana, bhujangasana, anulom vilom, and shavasana. Yoga can be a great way to get rid of depression because it preoccupies our body and mind. Child’s pose, bhujangasana, dog pose, warrior pose, reverse warrior pose, bridge pose, supported corpse pose are the important postures of yoga for depression reduction.
>> Yoga Prevents Degenerative Diseases:
The ways in which yoga prevents disease are astounding. When you really understand how, it can be more evidence than you would ever need to take to the yoga mat, stat! Here are just some of the reasons yoga helps to keep you young and healthy longer:
* Glucose decreases
* Sodium decreases
* Total cholesterol decreases
* Triglycerides decrease
* HDL cholesterol increases
* LDL cholesterol decreases
* VLDL cholesterol decreases
* Cholinesterase increases
* Catecholamines decrease
* ATPase increases
* Hematocrit increases
* Hemoglobin increases
* Lymphocyte count increases
* Total white blood cell count decreases
* Thyroxin increases
* Bioavailable Vitamin C increases
* Total serum protein increases
* Oxytocin increases
* Prolactin increases
Remember, yoga is a continuous process. So keep practicing! The deeper you move into your yoga practice, the more profound are its benefits.
Health Benefits Of Yoga:
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