Yoga increases muscular strength. It reduces tension and stress. It has a low potential for injury, and it doesn’t even look like exercise. Why, then, don’t more people practice simple yoga?
Those who are uninitiated to yoga think that it’s mystical and passive, a “New Age” activity that doesn’t relate to everyday life. Oftentimes, these days, people experience a vacuum in their lives because most of their activity is directed outward. And just as often, to get back to health and balance, they’re going to have to redirect their attention inward, to go back to experiencing self.
Yoga is an Indian discipline that has been practiced for more than 5000 years. Yet in most western societies, it still has relatively few followers. About half of the American adult population swims, while about 25% run or jog, but only 2% practice yoga.
The word yoga comes from the Sanskrit “yuj,” which means to yoke or connect. With yoga’s various techniques, you can achieve mental and physical equilibrium, inner peace, and improved health. Indeed, yoga is commonly said to provide not just a workout, but a “work-in”.
There are at least eight main branches of yoga, with several variations of each. Essentially, though, only two are concerned with exercise. Those are kundalini yoga and hatha yoga.
Hatha yoga is most properly practiced in the Western world. Slow paced, it emphasizes control breathing and has practitioners assume a variety of physical poses. Proponents say that it helps the vital organs, glands, and nervous system.
Kundalini yoga, introduced to this country in 1969 by Yogi Bhajan, is more active than hatha yoga, and combines various movements, modes of breathing, and meditation. With kundalini yoga, the idea is that body energy is coiled below the base of the spine and this energy can be tapped so that it will travel upward through the different chakras or energy centers until it reaches the top of the head. When one arrives here, it is said that you have reached your fullest potential.
There are 84 basic yoga positions, classically speaking, also called asanas. These are done in tandem with special breathing techniques. The asanas or yoga positions can be simple twists and bends, or can be as complicated as pretzel-like contortions that only the most advanced practitioners are capable of. These various positions help build flexibility and make muscles longer. When used with proper breathing, they can help you rid your body of tension. The utilization of static holds helps isolate and strength in particular muscles.
Asanas have evolved over the centuries so that they now exercise every nerve, muscle and gland in the body. They can give you a fine and toned physique that is elastic and not musclebound, but strong. In addition, these asanas can help keep the body well and free of disease. Asanas can also help soothe the nerves and reduce fatigue. However, perhaps their real importance comes from the way they discipline and train one’s mind.
Tags: yoga, Fitness, stress management, exercise
