Yoga is an ancient 5000-year-old physical and mental discipline and branch of philosophy which originated in India. In Sanskrit, the word yoga means “to unite.” Nowadays, yogis encourage all level of yoga practitioners to experience the gift of yoga. Whether you are an experienced yoga practitioner or new to the practice, yoga practices are meant for everyone. Yoga is a long journey that can be enjoyed over the course of a lifetime. The main goal of yoga is to achieve unity of the mind, body, and soul. Here is some of the yoga information which the yogis want you to know when you think about indulging in yoga:
How does yoga work to achieve the unity of mind, body, and soul?
Yoga uses asanas (poses), focused concentration on specific body parts and pranayama (breathing techniques) to integrate the mind, body and the soul.
The Mind:
Yoga focuses on the mind by teaching you to concentrate on specific parts of the body. The focus is internal, between your head and your body. Yoga leads you through visual imagery to help you focus on how your muscles feel. The aim is to drift into a calm and relaxing state.
The Body:
The yoga asanas help to condition your body. Several yoga poses help to condition the body.
The Soul:
Yoga uses controlled breathing as a way to merge the mind, body, and spirit. It is believed that breathing techniques, called pranayamas, will control the energy flow in your body and lead to deep, inner calm and sense of relaxation.
Different types of yoga
A lot of times, beginners get confused with many different types of yoga exercises. Choosing the type of yoga depends on your goal of doing yoga. Therefore, before deciding the type of yoga to start with, the experienced and highly knowledgeable yogis say that it is crucial to study the different type of yoga.
Below mentioned are some of the yoga types and their role in your health:
- Hath yoga:
It deals with the physical aspect of the body and provides a better introduction to basic yoga poses.
- Restorative yoga:
The yoga poses in this type focus on body relaxation by restful poses. Additionally, this yoga type holds long poses, and so you will require a yoga mat, ball, blocks and other yoga equipment.
- Anusara:
This style can be practiced by people with disabilities starting from the beginners to the advanced yoga enthusiasts. It encourages yoga enthusiasts to look on the positive side in everything.
- Iyengar yoga:
This yoga type pays attention to body alignment. Also, the yoga poses in this type are longer as compared to other exercises. You may require a yoga mat, ball or other yoga equipment to assist your body alignment.
- Vinyasa yoga:
It is described as more vigorous as compared to other styles of yoga. It focuses on the stretching side as well as static yoga poses.
- Ashtanga or Power Yoga:
This type of yoga is considered as intense and fast as you will execute series of poses which are designed to challenge your physical and mental being.
- Bikram or Hot Yoga:
This type of yoga usually takes place in a sauna because the heat will help you become flexible and lose fat easily as you sweat during the practice.
What are the benefits of yoga?
There are many physical and mental benefits of yoga. Therefore, the yogis want you to know about yoga and its benefits so that you can start living a healthier life.
Yoga helps to:
- Reduce stress.
- Lose Weight.
- Heal injuries.
- Increase Strength and Flexibility.
- Improve concentration.
- Live fully.
All it takes to practice yoga is 15 to 20 minutes of your time each day. With regular yoga practice, the body’s respiration, circulation, and mental well being can all be improved. Hence, the yogis encourage people now to begin yoga practices themselves. You will surely be happy with the benefits of yoga for health once you start practicing it. Besides, you can also try getting a friend or two involved in your daily yoga practices and who knows, you may start a new trend in the neighborhood.