Yoga and Your Fitness

Yoga is an ancient science made up of various disciplines of mind and body. It has started in India 2500 years ago and is still compelling in conveying overall health and welfare to any individual who does it routinely. Yoga is based upon a Sanskrit verb ‘Yuja’. It denotes to connect, to culminate or to concur. There are many schools or frameworks of Yoga: through knowledge, through devotion, through action, supreme Yoga, and by balancing opposite principles of body.

Characteristics of Yoga:

1.  Yoga is not an exercise:

Yoga is not an exercise but bodily stretches and maintenance of stretches. You may depict Yoga in terms of Yogic stretches or Yogic practices – gaining a body position by stretching the muscles and then keeping this position as long as one’s body permits. Yoga necessitates very soft and regulated motions and a slow sound pace. For achieving this, one needs to have total concentration of mind while doing Yoga. The activities in Yoga are smooth, slow and well-ordered.

2.  Longer maintenance and fewer repetitions:

Benefits of Yoga are improved with the maintenance of a body stretch. Longer the maintenance better will be the effect. However, one cannot drive oneself into maintaining the stretch longer than the body can bear. Every position is pleasant and stable. The right position for you is that in which your body remains steady and which is pleasant and relaxed to you. The moment a stretch becomes intolerable and difficult and the body starts shaking, one needs to come out of that position in a very slow, smooth and controlled manner. There will be more repetitions and shorter maintenance for a beginner. With more practice, the repetitions will be fewer and maintenance will be longer. After having Yoga one should only feel pleasant and fresh and nothing else.

3.  Trust your body. Apply minimum efforts:

With the practice of Yoga, you also learn to trust your body’s capability to progress in terms of flexibility without conscious efforts. Providing the aim is in mind and the body is stretched only to its current capacity, the flexibility develops on its own. One needs just to focus on breath, focus on the present state of the body pose and enjoy that pose as long as it feels comfortable. Though there is a perfect position explained and desired for each asana, no one is forced into attaining the ideal position.

4.  Focused stretching:

The ability to stretch or pressure one muscle group while relaxing the rest of the body is called focused stretching. As an example if a certain Asana is grounded upon stretching the stomach as the main muscle group then the rest of the body is relaxed while the stomach is stretched or pressured. One has to watch for unnecessary straining of those muscles that are supposed to be relaxed. Primarily this is hard to follow; nevertheless, it becomes easier with some practice. This custom of differentiating between different muscles for the pressure becomes very useful in other areas of life as well. It allows you to relax better while driving during rush hour. While doing normal daily tasks, it makes you aware of the pointless tension on different parts of your body.

5.  Breathing:

Monitoring your breathing is a significant part of Yoga. Usual mistakes such as holding of breath or breathing deliberately occur during Yoga. Both these mistakes must be avoided. Holding back on breath gives headaches, fatigue and thus the benefits of Yoga are lost by wrong or inadequate breathing.

6.  Merging with the Infinite:

Last goal of Yoga is the incorporation of self into the greater self. Yuja means to combine or to connect. A connection of Atma and Parmatma is the merging of the body and the spirit. Yoga is a way of life. It is a total integration. Two things define Yoga postures: a stable and comfortable body posture and Anantha Samapatti (according to Patanjali). Therefore, you cannot separate bodily postures from meditation. Truly, a body that has become bendable and steady through practice of various postures becomes a good basis for the ultimate transcendental state of mind (Samadhi). The kriya (cleansing processes) purify the body. The spirited vital of mind and concentration for both Mudra and bandha carry, initially on one’s breathing and then on God. Initially the mind wanders a lot and that is fine. One should let it wander. After that someone should compute his breaths and should observe the inner and outer flow of air through the air passages. This will let him to assemble better on himself. In the beginning it will be difficult to concentrate since the body postures are not that steady but it becomes far better with practice. For this one must wittingly take away one’s mind from body posture and concentrate it on to the breathing process.

Benefits of Yoga:

1.  Stress relief:

Stress, tension, fretfulness are the unavoidable features of modern life. Yoga offers many techniques to cope up with the stress and anxiety. A stress-free mind lessens the chances of catching a disease to half; this has been widely known by now. Very active breathing and relaxing methods to achieve this are taught by the Yoga.

2.  Feeling energized and refreshed:

Adequate breathing plays a great role in rejuvenating and refreshing mind and body. Breathing practices in Yoga supply bountiful supply of oxygen to the lungs, cleanse nasal passages and sinuses and thus help feel refreshed.

3.  Flexibility of mind and body:

The relaxing effect – yoga also consists of many body stretches. It also maintains and gives a wonderful flexibility to our muscles.

4.  Relief from chronic disorders:

Yoga is mainly good for having power over breath and spine. Breath and spine are like wild animals. You force them to do something they pounce on you. You coax them, be calm with them, they can be tamed to any extent. Many Yoga stretches make the spine strong and flexible. Yoga has proved to be a blessing for all kinds of disorders of the back.

5.  Focus of mind:

Practice of Yoga helps in getting better focus of mind. Meditation, being part of Yoga, teaches you how to concentrate and achieve more from any activity.

6.  Benefits at not-so-perfect level:

Even if one cannot achieve perfection in an Asana, the benefits of an Asana are still available at a not-so-perfect level such as calmer mind, better flexibility, better blood pressure, lower pulse rate and better endocrine function. Whatever state of Asana one is in, if one keeps the pose comfortably, body gets the necessary massage and stretch. There is a better secretion of endocrine glands as a result of the steady and sufficient stretch. The brain cells get the necessary signals and mind becomes calmer. Breath is more controlled and as a result feels relaxed. All of this happens regardless of the level of perfection. It is the steadiness and level of comfort that is more important than perfection.

Hopefully, you have found this article useful in understanding the origin, characteristics and benefits.