It won’t be an exaggeration to call Yoga a must in our fast-paced and ultra-competitive world. One needs his mental and physical faculties functioning at their best to get the desired results while slogging it out almost every day to stay ahead of the competition. And that’s what yoga does — keeps a person on top of his mental and physical abilities, giving him the head-start over others.
So while the benefits of yoga are well known and appreciated, the challenge lies in getting started. But once one takes the plunge, it takes just a couple of classes for the body and mind to revel in the unlimited advantages of this ancient science.
People generally turn to yoga for fitness, more energy and leaner frame. But what they take back, in addition to all this of course, is peace of mind and far more positive outlook and approach towards everything in life. Anxiety and stress keep us from giving our best, and yoga is the perfect antidote for the twin problem.
The biggest malady afflicting even the best today is a distracted mind, the inability to focus entirely on a task at hand. But meditation, an integral part of yoga, work wonders on our focus and concentration and enables us to give our undivided attention to the job at hand. And we can only imagine what difference a fit body, a buoyant heart and stress free mind can make to our lives and those around us.
Effectiveness of Yoga
Yoga is a Sanskrit term which is mainly practiced to attain physical, mental, and spiritual peace and the disciplines have originated from Ancient India. Yoga is popularly defined as ‘the stilling of the changing states of the mind’ or ‘union with the divine’ in other contexts and traditions.
Just as the term suggests, Yoga can be effective in a lot many ways and is practiced all over the world. Let’s have a look at the effectiveness of Yoga:
Reduction of Stress: In a busy work schedule stress is a major problem for most of us. Yoga can help to overcome such problems as it emphasizes on deep breathing which offers immediate health benefits by lowering blood pressure, heart rate and a significant improvement in the delivery of oxygen to vital organs.
Flexibility: Yoga involves a lot of stretching which most people forget to include in their daily workout routines. Stretching helps to avoid injuries and can be very effective for athletes.
Poses like the cobra, downward dog and the butterfly are especially effective in improving flexibility in the hips, back, shoulders and hamstrings.
Maintenance of Weight: Yoga can be effective in preventing weight gain. It might not burn as many calories as compared to more traditional aerobic exercises but certainly keeps an individual in good shape. It might not lead to immediate weight loss but definitely a beneficial form of exercise which can have things under control
Pain Management: There are a lot people who suffer from chronic pain. Constant stress can lead to a lot of health related problems or a variety of painful diseases and conditions. As discussed earlier Yoga helps in reduction of stress which in turn makes an individual immune to stress related pain
Yoga helps to relax and release tension which can deal with chronic pain that leads to a healthy life. One can achieve a greater sense of well-being by just adding Yoga to their daily workout routine.
By Sumit Manav
Lifestyle yoga