At some point between the first and fifth century in ancient period, the Hindu sage Patanjali began to codify the ancient, meditative traditions practiced through out India. He recorded techniques nearly as old as Indian civilization itself in 196 manuals called the Yoga sutras. These texts define yoga as the tool for restricting of the mind from focusing on external objects in effort to reach a state of pure consciousness. Yoga training is the link or the correlation between breadth, movement and consciousness. A sense of oneness and inner peace of mind and soul.
Overtime, yoga came to incorporate physical elements from gymnastics and wrestling. Today there are a multitude of approaches to modern yoga though most still maintain the three core elements of Patanjali practice. Physical postures, breathing exercises and spiritual contemplation. This blend of physical and internal exercise is widely believed to have a unique set of health advantages such as improving strength and flexibility, boosting heart and lung function, and enhancing psychological wellbeing.
But what have contemporary studies shown regarding the benefits of the ancient tradition is that it is the unique combination of activities which makes it difficult to determine which component is producing a specific health benefit. Additionally, yoga studies are often made up of small sample sizes that lack diversity and the heavy reliance on self-reporting makes the results subjective. However, there are some health benefits that have more robust scientific support than others. The one such is flexibility and strength. Twisting your body into yoga physical postures, stretches multiple muscle groups. In the short term, stretching can change the water content of the muscles, ligaments, and tendons to make them more elastic.
Over time regular stretching stimulates stem cells which then differentiate into new muscle tissue and other cells that generate elastic collagen. Frequent stretching also reduces the body’s natural reflex to constrict muscles, improving your pain tolerance for feats of flexibility.
Researchers have found that any form of yoga training improves flexibility. But unlike other low impact exercises, yoga reliably improves fitness and flexibility in healthy populations. The yoga practice has also shown to be a potentially powerful therapeutic tool. Yoga is more helpful at reducing pain and improving mobility.
Adding yoga to an existing exercise routine can improve strength and flexibility to treat conditions like chronic lower back pain, arthritis, and osteoporosis. Yoga mix of physical exercise and regiment breathing had proven similar therapeutic effect for lung health.
Breathing exercises found in yoga relax the muscles constricting those passage ways and improve oxygen diffusion, increasing he blood’s oxygen content of weak heart muscles in patients who have difficulty pumping enough oxygen throughout the body. And for those with healthy hearts this practice can lower blood pressure and reduce risk factors for cardiovascular diseases.
Yoga’s most widely celebrated benefit may be the most difficult to prove its psychological effects. Despite there is a longstanding association between yoga and psychological wellbeing, there are many evidence available that proves that yoga practice affects mental health.
One of the most effective importance of yoga is that it improves symptoms of depression and anxiety disorders. Since diagnosis of these conditions varies widely, as do their origin and severity it’s difficult to quantify yoga impact. However, there is evidence to suggest that yoga can reduce symptoms of stress and depression.
As well as meditation or relaxation yoga can be a wonderful practiced for destressing, connecting mind with body, improving body awareness and learning to love yourself.
yoga is a supplement to a healthy lifestyle. Stretching exercises in our daily morning routine to help us energize for the day. It helps increase blood flow to muscles and joints which can assist in the decreased of joint stiffness. Stress causes muscles to tense and this strain can negatively affect our body.
Stretching muscles alleviates tension and relaxes muscles which can help reduced stress and anxiety. Yoga relaxes our strained nerves and provide a sense of inner peace. It relives us from negative thoughts that occur in our mind regularly.
Our hectic lifestyle and work loads do not let us to live in a healthy way. The craving for junk food and stress filled environment gives us as unhealthy body. Yoga is a great way to lose weight if practiced regularly using the right form. Yoga is also one of the most effective workouts for fighting stubborn fat stores. This helps us to reduce weight and make our body physically fit.
Yoga has a positive impact on our body to gain strength and immunity. our immune system gets stronger. Yoga allows us to develop an even deeper relationship and understanding of the body. And once we get to know our body fully, it helps to strength weaker areas within the body. Practicing yoga regularly stimulates the normal functioning of the body and make an individual free from health problems.
