Yoga is a combination of a series of postures and controlled breathing exercises. It can be considered a type of alternative medicine that addresses both mind and body. It brings together both the physical and the mental aspects of the body to realize peacefulness and help your body relax.

Research has shown that yoga helps you manage or control anxiety and reduces stress and tension as well as helps reduce depression and generally improve your health. It helps you draw your focus away from the stresses of life and makes you focus on your movements and your breathing. It gives you an overall sense of relaxation and well being.

Yoga is also great exercise for your body. It improves circulation, muscle tone and flexibility. It has also shown to lower blood pressure and help physical ailments such as carpal tunnel syndrome, back pain, multiple sclerosis, arthritis and even asthma and epilepsy.

The key to yoga is the movement along with the breathing. The postures, also called poses, are a series of movements that were created to increase your strength and flexibility. The names for many yoga poses are taken from nature like the firefly pose and the dolphin pose. The poses range from simple and relaxing poses where you lie flat to more difficult poses that require you to bend and stretch your body. Do not be afraid to do the different poses. Anyone can practice yoga. There are many poses for beginners. There are also specific classes for children, pregnant women and the elderly.

Being able to control your breathing is very important to doing yoga properly. If you can control your breathing you can control your body and quiet your mind. Your instructor, whether it be in a class or from a video will show you the proper way to breathe. It’s important that you never hold your breath during any of the movements. You should always either be inhaling or exhaling. Our bodies eliminate almost half of our waste through breathing. Not breathing correctly will keep the toxins inside our bodies which can cause illness.

It takes time to relearn how to breathe and to master the poses but your efforts will be rewarded. Your mind and your body will be stronger, you will stand a little taller and you will have a calmness about you that you didn’t even know you could achieve.

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...