Why Yoga?

posted in: Yoga | 0

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Everyone heard at least once how important it is to do some kind of exercise and that sedentary life is unhealthy. Even if yoga ever crossed your mind, maybe you still ask yourself why yoga? There are a lot of reasons and benefits why.

What is yoga?

Yoga is a science that has been studied for thousands of years based on observation and principals about body and mind connection. In all yoga books you will find that yoga aim to unify mind, body and spirit. With the right environment and tools one can find harmony and therefore it is considered therapeutic. Although I have found that most people believe that it is for hippies, by no meaning, one does not have to practice any religion or be a hippie to do yoga, no, yoga can be a wonderful alterative to find peaceful place in our modern and hectic society.

There are a lot of benefits that can be achieved through yoga. I will name a few:

It makes the body more flexible, increases strength, energy level, immunity, balance, coordination and stamina. If you ever saw anyone doing a yoga posture and thought that you are not flexible enough to do that, here is the thing:

“You do yoga to get flexible you don’t do yoga because you are flexible.”

It helps improve posture, alignment and patterns of the movement. It develops better concentration, learning efficiency, social skills, awareness and self-esteem.  Reduces stress, tension, depression and anxiety.

“With a clear mind it is easier to release stress and tension, this allows to increase the feeling of fulfillment, which helps to boost confidence.”

Decreases respiratory rate, blood pressure and pain. Let me add a short explanation why you should consider practicing yoga instead of another kind of exercise; ancient yogis noticed that animals with a slow breath rate such as pythons, elephants and tortoises have long life spans, while those with a fast breathing rate such as birds, dogs and rabbits live for only few years. With this observation you can see the importance of slow breathing for increasing the human lifespan.

“Those who breathe slowly and deep have a longer life”

On the physical level, this is because the respiration is directly related to the heart.A slow breathing rate keeps the heart stronger and better nourished and contributes to a longer life. Deep breathing also increases the absorption of energy, enhancing dynamism, vitality and general well being. Whatever is the reason you start practicing yoga, the bottom line is it makes you feel better.

Read also “What is your type of yoga”.

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