Why Is The Practice Of Yoga Good For You?
Posted on November 29, 2009
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Through the practice of yoga, a person can expect a uniting of spirit, mind, and body, as yoga is based on the belief that mind and body are a single entity, and that when the body reaches a state of harmony it can heal itself.
There are now almost 6 million Americans who are believed to have experienced the benefits of yoga firsthand. Awareness of the body is assisted through the practice of yoga, improving a person’s posture, their movement, and their alignment. Through the regular practice of yoga, people become centered and relaxed, less stressed, have more energy, and feel more peaceful, healthier and happier.
To start a typical class, breathing and mild stretching exercises are performed to prepare the participants mentally as well as physically. Most classes consist of performing the asanas (yoga poses) either individually or linked in flows (known as vinyasana). At the end of each class there is a short period of meditation or relaxation in shavasana (the corpse pose).
There are several forms of which can be practiced. Generally different forms of yoga produce different benefits. For example, Iyengar is for correct bodily alignment, and often utilizes props (including blocks, straps, or cushions). Bikram is also known as hot yoga, as it’s performed in a heated room. It generally consists of a set of 26 poses done in a particular order. These are both forms of Hatha yoga and are commonly practiced in the US, as they focus on the use of strengthening and breathing exercises.
What are the benefits of yoga for you? For starters, it promotes flexibility, and improves both circulation and muscle strength. It’s benefits, however, are more than physical, as it also helps promote relaxation and calmness. It is designed to balance a person’s life, with respect to physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health.
Yoga has been practiced for thousands of years, but in recent years it has been studied scientifically. Modern medicine has demonstrated that it is beneficial for the body. There has been a great deal of research done into the health benefits over the years, both of the asanas (poses) and pranayama (breathing). Yoga produces physiological, psychological, and biochemical effects on the body.
Some of the physiological benefits include: reduction in pulse and respiratory rate, decrease in blood pressure, increased cardiovascular efficiency, improvement in excretory functions, improvement in hand/eye coordination, normalization of weight, and decrease in pain. The psychological benefits of yoga are just as important and include: mood and subjective well-being increases, anxiety and depression decrease, concentration improves, learning improves, social skills improve, depth perception improves, and self acceptance increases. Finally, the biochemical improvements that yoga promotes include: blood glucose decreases, sodium decreases, HDL cholesterol increases, LDL and VLDL cholesterol decreases, hemoglobin increases, total serum proteins increase, and the total white blood cell count decreases.
Yoga is a simple and profound practice which does more for people than other forms of exercise, and just a few yoga sessions a week are all a person needs to greatly increase their overall health and well-being.
Writer and yoga instructor, Ana Paula Hernandez loves not only teaching yoga to her students, but spreading the yoga message far and wide, and promoting the teaching of correct yoga poses and postures to beginning students.
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