Yoga
Yoga comes from a Sanskrit Word meaning “yoke” or “bind”. It is the integration or binding of all levels of being; the physical, mental, social, intellectual, emotional and spiritual. The practice of yoga originates from ancient India and is believed to have been derived from the writings of an Indian sage Pantanjali. These writings also know as “Yoga Sutras” include 8 limbs and 195 “statements” and is what we experience in most of the yoga that is practiced today.
“Hatha” Yoga is the physical exercise practiced from the third limb, these include the asana’s/postures that today are taught from a standpoint of its many benefits to the body, mind and soul and as a system for achieving longevity and radiant health.
Benefits of Yoga:
Improves Breathing:
With the focus on breath awareness, you begin to take deeper breaths thus expanding your lung capacity. Throughout a yoga practice the focus on breathing techniques as well as Pranayama i.e regulation of breath through breathing techniques and exercises, your heart and lung function greatly improves. Many studies have revealed that the ‘complete breathing’ that is taught in yoga benefit people with congestive heart failure as well as lung problems.
Increases Circulation:
Yoga poses get your blood flowing and therefore gets more oxygen in your cells which allows your body to function better as a result. Poses that support twists thought to squeeze out venous blood from the internal organs allowing oxygenated blood to flow in once the twist is released. Poses that encourage inversions in Yoga also encourage venous blood from the legs and pelvis to flow back to the heart.
Improves flexibility, muscle tone and strength:
Our lives are restricted and inactive which in turn makes our bodies get lazy, muscles weaken and joints get stiff. Each yoga pose not only stimulates our joints and muscles to go through their full range of motion, they also encourage our muscles to release tension, lengthen and strengthen thus creating strength, flexibility and balance. This also helps to prevents cartilage and joint breakdown, thus helps prevent degenerative joint issues such as arthritis.
Promotes a healthy spine, improves posture:
The spine is supported by a network of muscles from the back and abdomen. These back and abdomen muscles helps the body support proper upright posture and movement. Many of the yoga poses gently strengthen the muscles of the back and abdomen which in turn affects our posture as well as creates a sense of balance from the head, shoulders and pelvis in proper alignment. There is also focus on elongating the spine, keeping the intervertebral discs healthier due to the stretching and position of the spine as well as the decreased weight-bearing during yoga practice. Many studies have shown that Yoga prevents many disc degenerative diseases.
Improves digestion:
Many yoga poses such as twists that occur below the rib cage where most of the digestion takes place as well as many of the Pranayama practices ( Breath Control) stimulate the stomach and digestive organs of the body. The breath awareness itself taught in yoga helps to alleviate any holding and stress in the belly, thus allowing each breath to flow freely and allowing the free flow of nutrients.
Fosters deep relaxation:
With the focus on deeper slower breathing and focus on the present, yoga drives a shift from the sympathetic nervous system ( i.e. fight and flight response) to the parasympathetic nervous system (calming and soothing). This in turn decreases your heart rate and blood pressure and creates a ‘relaxation response’ as described by Herbert Benson, M.D., an American medical doctor, cardiologist, and founder of the Mind/Body Medical Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. This deep relaxation attributes to improved sleep and increased sense of focus.
Increased Focus:
One of the most important element of yoga is becoming present. This helps to get in to the habit of being present in all you do and not allow your thoughts to adrift while performing daily tasks. With regular yoga practice you tend to become less likely to get distracted easy and in turn improve coordination, memory and the ability to solve problems.
Creates an overall sense of well being:
Life’s stresses such as bills, high stress jobs, balancing family and work and the natural highs and lows of life just causes turmoil on our health in a number of ways. This can lead to digestive issues, weight fluctuations, blood pressure, heart problems and weakened immune systems. Much research has been done and by speaking from experience, I can conclude that when you perform yoga, brain chemicals like serotonin are released and just make you feel good. Many yoga poses as well as the relaxation and meditation quietens your mind and gives your body an outlet to release energy blocks that may have your stressing out. Research done by Richard Davidson, Ph.D., found that the left prefrontal cortex showed heightened activity in in meditators. This finding has been related with greater levels of happiness and better immune function.