Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Yuj,’ meaning “to unify” or “to yoke.” It is one of the best methods of achieving the union within, within, and on the ultimate ground. Human beings have diverse emotions, thoughts, and energies. Yoga helps in self–integration.
“Yoga does not just change the way we see things, and it transforms the person who sees.“ ― B.K.S Iyengar.
Yoga history has been uncertain. The early writing related to yoga was done on palm tree leaves 5,000 years ago. But many others believe that it may be up to 10,000 years old. But the history of yoga can be divided into the following categories as pre-classic yoga, classic, post-classical and modern period yoga.
Tirumalai Krishnamacharya was one of the yoga teachers in India. He was one of the most critical and influential gurus in modern yoga. His father was called the ‘father of modern yoga. He influenced many people through his techniques which revolutionized modern yoga techniques. The ultimate aim of yoga is to control the mind to witness the conscious thoughts of the mind. Yoga has been very beneficial for the mind, health, and body.
- The four yoga:
The four yogas are described as follows:
- The yoga of knowledge, i.e., “jnana yoga.”
- The yoga of action, i.e., “karma yoga.”
- The yoga of emotions, i.e., “bhakti yoga.”
- The yoga of psychic control, i.e., “raja yoga.”
- What’s better- yoga or exercise?:
- Yoga helps in promoting peace, happiness, and contentment. It increases flexibility while the movements are less dangerous than the other workout. Other workouts may cause joint or backbone injury.
- Yoga focuses on steady postures and relaxes the muscles. The breathing is synchronized, and the movements are slow. While in a workout burns more calories and the movements are rapid.
- Yoga Asana, once attained, can relax the body, and the heart releases stress. While in exercise, a strain on the muscle is put. The blood circulation is increased, so the blood pressure increases the workload on the heart for pumping it faster.
- Yoga decreases the stress level as the movements are slow and controlled. While exercise may increase the cortisol level as the body perceives the exercise as stress.
- Look more young by trying out yoga exercises:
Yoga can be very good for anti-aging face. It helps present fine lines, saggy skin, and puffiness. Start doing face yoga as it provides anti-aging results, and you look young than your actual age. Yoga benefits in easing tension, strengthening facial muscles, and tightening the skin. Do face yoga for 20 minutes daily, and you will probably see the results in six weeks. Avoid practicing yoga on affected areas such as active acne, an open wound, or eczema. Some of they include:
- Cheek sculptor
- Releaser for neck tension
- Eye softener
- Smoother for forehead
- Firmer for lower eyelid
- Best yoga for belly fat:
Yoga exercise for reducing belly fat and for burning those extra calories are as follows:
- Child’s pose
- Downward-Facing Dog
- Plank
- Four-Limbed Staff Pose
- Cobra Pose
- Triangle Pose
- Seated Half-Spinal Twist Pose
- Bridge Pose
- Corpse Pose
- Tree Pose
All these poses have proven to be the best yoga exercises for reducing belly fat. By making it a part of their daily routine, one could get toned.
- Yoga in helping you get toned:
Yoga is excellent while getting you toned by losing those extra calories as they are considered the best yoga for belly fat. The slow and gradual movements being practiced daily can help you in the long run. It improves balance, flexibility, and muscle strength. Yoga for anti-aging face is helpful in making you look younger. For a healthy- toned body, try keeping your workout sessions challenging. Yoga for a flat belly is a goal for which you need to be consistent. Start with the beginner exercise, and then gradually, when your body gets used to that, try other more complex exercises. This way, the flexibility and heart rate gets increased. Yoga will not only tone the body but also improve overall mental and physical health.
- Improving health with yoga:
People who practice yoga in their daily routine are more fit and healthy than those who don’t. Here are some of the ways yoga improves your health.
- Yoga improves flexibility:
Yoga helps in improving the flexibility of a person. You might initially feel that the moves seem complicated, but as you get used to it, you start becoming more flexible and healthier daily. And eventually, all the impossible seeing poses will gradually become more accessible. Trying belly fat yoga helps you a lot in burning those extra calories and is effective yoga to flatten belly. - Muscle strength is built:
Yoga aids in building strong muscles. People who are used to doing yoga have more muscle strength. Yoga protects us from conditions including back pain and arthritis. And makes you fit and helps in preventing falls in older adults and building muscle strength with yoga balances with flexibility. - It prevents cartilage and joint breakdowns:
By doing yoga, your joints go through a full range of motion. All this helps prevent degenerative arthritis, and squeezing and soaking can even mitigate a disability. Yoga helps in preventing joint and cartilage problems. - Yoga protects your spine:
People tend to do their routine tasks by sitting at a desk for long hours rather than straightening their posture. All this causes scoliosis, back pain, and forward bends, backbends, or twists. Try out doing yoga after 2-3 hours of a hectic schedule. You’ll be less likely to have back problems and be able to do the routine task more productively. - It perfects your posture:
A poor posture can cause neck and back and can cause joint and muscle problems. Yoga helps in improving posture. The poses in yoga help straighten the spine and thus aids in making the posture perfect. - It helps in bone health:
Some workout poses are there where the bone and spin health gets damaged. But yoga is one of the exercises which is one of the weight- bearing exercises that strengthen the bone and helps you ward off problems like osteoporosis. There are different poses in yoga. Some of them include lifting your weight or Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, also called Upward-Facing Dog, or the Adho Mukha Svanasana, also referred to as Downward-Facing Dog. All these poses help improve bone health and can be very effective for people with osteoporosis. It lowers the stress hormone and keeps calcium in bones.In a study from California State University, all the yoga practices help increase bone densities in vertebrae.
- Yoga increases blood flow:
Yoga helps in regulating continuous circulation, especially in the feet and hands. It provides more oxygen to the human cells. Inverted poses such as the Headstand, also called Adho Mukha Vrksasana, or the shoulder stand encourages the blood from the legs to flow back to the heart, where it is oxygenated. Yoga boosts the levels of hemoglobin and red blood cells, carrying oxygen to tissues. It also held in decreasing the rate of heart attacks and strokes. - Heart rate increases:
Yoga helps increase the heart rate and lowers the risk of a heart attack. The Ashtanga classes help boost the heart rate, release depression and help make you happier. - Boost immunity:
Yoga helps in stretching and contracting the organs and increases the drainage of lymph. This helps the lymphatic systems or fight against infection, destroying the toxic waste products of the cellular functions of destroying the cancerous cells. - Improves the balance:
Daily yoga increases proprioception, which is the ability to see what the body is doing and whether it is in space, thus improving balance. - Helps in preventing digestive problems:
Most digestive problems like ulcers, constipation, or helicobacter pylori are exacerbated by stress. Yoga helps a lot in reducing the stress hormone and helps in improving digestive health. - Helps in keeping viruses and allergies at bay:
A yoga pose known as Kriyas, also called cleansing practice, is another element of yoga that includes rapid breathing exercises. While the other one Jala neti entails a gentle lavage of asal passe with salt water, which helps remove the pollen and viruses from the nose, ultimately resulting in dreaming sinuses problem and keeping other allergies at bay. - Yoga helps in sleep:
According to Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. Yoga helps in quieting the fluctuation of the mind. It slows the loop of anger, regret, fear, and frustration. It helps prevent migraines and insomnia, thus quieting your brain and helping you sleep peacefully. Yoga like the Savasana, yoga Nidra, and pranayama provides downtime for the nervous system. All these things help in sleeping deeper.
- Conclusions:
Yoga benefits constitute both the physical and mental health. Suppose you are not okay or feeling depressed. Try doing yoga, as it helps in boosting your mood and release depression. Start doing backbend or soar royally into the King Dance Pose. You can improve the flexibility of your body gradually. And being consistent, you can see the improvement in yourself as you’ll have a better perspective of life. Doing yoga consistently decrease the levels of monoamine oxidase and cortisol and increases serotonin, thus improving coping with depression. In a study at the University of Wisconsin, Richard Davidson revealed heightened activity in the left prefrontal cortex of mediators.
At the same time, there was a greater level of dedicated people who had practiced it for a long time with an improved level of happiness. Yoga can be beneficial in adapting to a healthier lifestyle. It resonated through different areas and helped in performing routine tasks more productively. There are many institutes. Through different yoga courses and yoga training, you can improve your lifestyle. Students who need to focus and often have difficulty learning things can try doing yoga and making it a routine. As studies have shown, yoga can improve in increasing memory and coordination and then achieve good grades.
It could also be helpful for many other people as yoga increases the ability to cope with different problem-solving techniques. It increases feelings of gratitude, forgiveness, and empathy and increases a person’s self-esteem. It helps you relax, slow down and enjoy the present moment.
