Yoga is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or methods that originated in ancient India and aim to control (enjoy) and calm the mind, realizing a consciousness of enlightenment. Prepared for all life sufferings with the sense of learning.
About 5,00 years back Yoga was religiously practiced in ancient India where Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras around 200 BCE laid out the Eight Limbs of Yoga, shaping its framework. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Swami Vivekananda and Paramahansa Yogananda introduced the Western world with yoga. From then, its popularity increased.
The best thing about Yoga is that anyone from any fitness level can get into yoga whereas in conventional physical practices not everyone can perform all types of exercise.
There are two models followed in Yoga practice, one is the linear model and the other is the synthesis model. The linear model is followed by Hindu and Buddhist religious scholars and the synthesis model is followed by the Western world as posture-based physical fitness, stress-relief, and relaxation techniques.
In Synthesis practice is easy and for everybody, in yoga physical practice and movement of the body can lead to increased fat loss, develop muscle tone, and build flexibility, leading to a lean-looking beautiful body. Here your body is the only weight you are carrying. By different ‘asanas’ means postures. Your muscles will be properly aligned and tone strength will be gained. Simulating plenty amount of oxygen to release tension and stretching out. Some other benefits are achieved through yoga-like:
- Improvement of balance and mobility. ( Mountain Pose, Chair Pose, Eagle Pose)
- Remarkable improvement in posture
- Lungs will be functioned at full capacity. ( Cobra Pose, Bridge Pose, Camel Pose)
- Maintaining weight without going through diets. ( Warrior Poses, Plank Pose, Twisting Poses)
- Improvement of flexibility.
These are physical benefits anyone gets from practicing yoga.
Now, let’s start with mental yoga practices. Yoga strengthens parts of the brain that play a key role in memory, attention, awareness, thought, and language. Think of it as weightlifting for the brain. It reduces anxiety and stress. By examining we have found that regular yoga practitioners have a thicker cerebral cortex and hippocampus which helps to process responsible pieces of information and improve memory capturing. As hormones get balance through yoga moods get improved, and impulsive changes of moods get better. Yoga is beneficial, especially for ADHD and PCOS-diagnosed people.
Some poses in yoga are for mental well-being, they are:
- Butterfly pose
- Garland Pose
- Cow pose.
Now let’s find out how to start practicing yoga.
- Find an online or offline instructor. They must be certified.
- Stretchable clothing and a bed are needed.
- Start with beginning poses then to shift advanced poses.
- Find a group who want to do yoga, better to do yoga in nature with less noise.
- As charity begins at home, we start practicing yoga first with our family members.
Some online channels for yoga are
- Yoga With Adriene
- Yoga With Tim
- Yoga with Kassandra
There are some books for practicing Yoga and they are:
- Autobiography of a Yogi
- Yoga Anatomy
- Science of Yoga
By getting into the world of yoga one has a massive shift in both mental health and physical health, improvement of emotional intelligence. We know Leonardo da Vinci, and Nelson Mandela who practiced yoga in their daily life. The results of their works are present in front of us. Yoga has a positive influence on their work.
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Writer :
Adri Sen
Intern,
Content Writing Department,
YSSE.