Before we know the benefits of yoga lets first know what is yoga
What is yoga?
The definition of Yoga is different according to different Sagas.
According to Yoga Sutras of Patanjali Yoga is-
“Yogas Chitta Vritti Nirodhah”
that means Yoga is the calming down the fluctuations/patterns of consciousness.
In Bhagwat Gita Yoga is—
“Be equal minded in both success and failure. Such equanimity is called Yoga”
“Yoga is skill in action”
“Know that which is called yoga to be separation from contact with suffering”
that means When the five senses, along with the mind, remain still and the intellect is not active, that is known as the highest state. They consider yoga to be firm restraint of the senses.
So, The Yoga is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines.
The term “Yoga” in the modern world is a form of hatha yoga and yoga as exercise, consisting largely of the postures or asanas
Yoga in Indian traditions, however, is more than physical exercise; it has a meditative and spiritual core.
The word Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit root Yuj (युज्)which means “to attach, join.
So, the word Yoga means Union.
The union of the human spirit with the Divine spirit by performing the duties of everyday life.
Importance of Yoga in our Life :
Yoga is a combination of breathing techniques and meditation. To attain the full benefits of yoga practice it regularly. Practicing yoga improves balance, endurance, flexibility, and strength, while meditation helps keep the mind sharp, relieves stress and anxiety, and can strengthen your immune system.
Following a few simple poses, breathing techniques, and positive coping skills can help you to manage stress, improve mental clarity, manage chronic conditions, and promote a healthier lifestyle. To reap the benefits of yoga you should include it in your routine life.
Studies show that Yoga with deep breathing exercises sharpens skills like attention, memory, and emotional intelligence.
Yoga can be practised by anyone at any age. It is not limited to just one age group. The main purpose of yoga is to increase health and vitality. Many of the poses used in yoga are gentle and simple movements designed to ease the mind and soul.
Some people go into yoga for the reason that they want to have better posture. Others do yoga for the reason that they like to get into a meditative state during the practice of yoga.
The three basic kinds of yoga are Ashtanga, Vinyasa, and Hatha yoga. They all work on similar techniques that are designed to build strength, flexibility, and stamina.
Yoga is a great way to exercise your body and relax. Once you have mastered your form, you can then move on to the more advanced poses. A good yoga teacher will help you become familiar with all the poses so that you will be able to focus your practice on only the poses that you feel most comfortable with you.
Yoga and Meditation are different practices in their own ways, but both are grounded in spirituality and benefit the mind and body.
It is a practice that brings the mind’s focus to the body and the breathing in order to help improve concentration and promote open awareness of thoughts and feelings.
There are several styles of yoga that merge meditation with physical routines, which use controlled breathing throughout the poses of yoga. By simply unwinding, clearing the mind, and concentrating on controlled breathing, one can meditate without practising yoga as well. Both yoga and meditation have proven health benefits when practised regularly. Here are some of the significant benefits of yoga and meditation:
Benefits of Yoga :
To reap the benefits of yoga do it regularly. Following are the main benefits of yoga-
- Ease Back Pain
The main benefits of yoga are it increases the elasticity of the body. Studies have shown that stretching exercises and poses have improved spinal flexibility and helped ease lower back pain problems in people after just one week of yoga.
2. Fitness And Flexibility
Yoga gives energy and freshness to the body in daily busy routine life. It increases the elasticity of muscles that helps your daily movements such as lifting and bending. Many athletes include yoga in their workouts to maintain flexibility. Improved flexibility is one of the first and most obvious benefits of yoga.
3. Builds Muscle Strength
Regular yoga gives strength to your muscle. They also protect us from conditions like arthritis and back pain. Yoga maintains body balance and increases the flexibility of the body by increasing the strength of muscles.
4. Improves Heart Health
Regular practice of yoga reduces the risk of heart disease. It eliminates arterial plaque. Yoga with deep breathing exercises also helps to lower heart rate and improve blood circulation. Meditation relaxes you, reduces stress hormones, lowers your blood pressure, and allows for better blood flow.
5. Ease Asthma
Yoga increases the capacity of the lungs. Research has shown that in mild to moderate asthma regular practicing of yoga has a marked improvement. Pranayama is a type of yoga that focuses on breathing techniques that have shown to be especially effective against asthma.
6. Improves Digestion
Yoga gives a good massage to internal organs that helps food move along in your digestive system. It stimulates the internal organs and increases digestive power. Yoga also stimulates the lymphatic system that helps flush out toxins, making your body clean. To reap the benefits of yoga you should do it regularly.
7. Prevents IBS and other internal problems
Yoga eases conditions like Ulcers, Irritable bowel syndrome, and constipation—and lowers the risk of colon cancer—because moving the body facilitates the more rapid transport of food and waste products through the bowels. It removes the toxins from the body and detoxifies the body. Yoga makes you stress-free. All these benefits of yoga are easily attained by regular practice of it.
Meditation can also help with symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) by reducing the frequency of stress-related flare-ups.
8. Improve General Health
Modern life is full of stressful situations, exhaustion from long hours and less sleep, hypersensitivity, and anxiety disorders. Regular practice of yoga gives rid of these problems and runs life smoothly. Yoga improves the value and quality of your life. By improving your health, you can take part in more physical activities and simply feel superior in the things you do every day. All these benefits of yoga are easily attained by regular practice of it.
9. Increases your blood flow
The relaxation exercises you learn in yoga can help your circulation, especially in your hands and feet. Benefit of Yoga is it gets more oxygen to your cells, which function better as a result. It boosts the levels of haemoglobin and red blood cells, which carry oxygen to the tissues.
10. Combat Insomnia
The main benefits of yoga are to reduce stress and anxiety. It provides relief from the hustle and bustle of modern life. Meditation and breathing techniques give strength to your body and mind so you can relax and slow down your thoughts, allowing you the peace of mind to get a good night’s sleep.
Some yoga pose which is most effective in insomnia are—Yoga Nidra (a form of guided relaxation), Savasana, Pranayama, and Meditation encourage deep sleep which means you’ll be less tired and more fresher.
11. Mood Booster
Other benefits of Yoga and meditation have been linked with emotional health boosts. Studies have shown that yoga and meditation help improve cognitive-behavioural performance as well as aid with mood swings, menopause, schizophrenia, insomnia, depression, and anxiety. Practising yoga in a group setting also stimulates the production of oxytocin, which is the love hormone, and it also produces higher serotonin levels, which is the happy hormone.
12. EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING
Both yoga and meditation significantly improve the focus of the mind and give an overall sense of well-being. Studies show that those who do yoga and meditation regularly remain much happy, calm, and positive. Yoga and Meditation give emotional improvement through deep relaxation. But you should do yoga regularly to reap the benefits of yoga.
13. Combat Migraine
Other benefits of yoga are they reduce stress, and anxiety and calms your mind. Yoga especially “bridge pose.” relaxes the tension in your muscles from your neck and shoulders, which can be misaligned or stressed from hunching over a computer or phone all day long. In this way yoga ease migraine.
14. Provides Mental Clarity
Regular practice of yoga and meditation will keep your brain sharp and clear. It allows you to free your mind from “clutter” that trickles down to your physical well-being. Slow breathing and yoga poses will improve your memory and keep your thoughts more organized once you get rid of stress, anxiety, and negative thinking. Reaching a place of quiet peacefulness is the key to healthy brain functions.
15. FIGHT DIABETES
Regular yoga practice can help to decrease the level of sugar in the blood, and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and boosts HDL (“good”) cholesterol along with lowering blood pressure and keeping a check on weight. The practice of yoga reduces the symptoms and slows the progression of diabetes, as well as reduces the severity of further complications such as heart attack, kidney failure, and blindness. Stress is one of the most important reasons for diabetes as for most lifestyle diseases. It raises the secretion of glucagon hormones and increases blood glucose levels in the body. Yoga reduces stress in the mind and body which reduces the level of cortisol and adrenaline.
16. Increase Focus
An important component of yoga is focusing on the present. Studies have found that regular yoga practice improves coordination, reaction time, memory, and even IQ scores.
17. Boosts Immunity
Regular practice of Yoga and Meditation boosts your immune system. It keeps your blood flowing and stimulates your lymphatic system which increases the drainage of lymph (a viscous fluid rich in immune cells). This helps the lymphatic system fight infection, destroy cancerous cells, and dispose of the toxic waste products of cellular functioning.
18. Improve Lung Functions
Yoga and Meditation have been shown to improve various measures of lung functions, including the maximum volume of the breath and the efficiency of the exhalation.
19. Improve Body Balance and Posture
In this busy life routine, it is very difficult to maintain a natural posture without yoga and meditation.
Regularly practising yoga increases proprioception (the ability to feel what your body is doing and where it is in space) and improves balance. People with bad posture or dysfunctional movement patterns usually have poor proprioception, which has been linked to knee problems and back pain. The Benefit of yoga is to get rid of these problems through regular practice.
20. Provide inner strength
Regular practice of Yoga and Meditation makes you a disciplined man. It gives you rid of negative thoughts, stress, and anxiety.
It makes you disease-free and emotionally strong which increases your inner strength and quality of life remarkably.
21. Increases Energy
Exercise has proven to increase your energy. The less active you are, the quicker you fatigue and tire out, and the lesser energy you will have to tackle everything. Taking time to focus on yourself, even if it is for a short period is just the boost you need to tackle the rest of your day with vigour. These are the other benefits of yoga.
22. Builds Awareness for Transformation
Yoga and meditation build awareness. And the more aware you are, the easier it is to break free of destructive emotions like anger. Studies suggest that chronic anger and hostility are as strongly linked to heart attacks as are smoking, diabetes, and elevated cholesterol. Yoga appears to reduce anger by increasing feelings of compassion and interconnection and by calming the nervous system and the mind. All these benefits of yoga are easily attained by regular practice of it.