The Three Big Benefits of Yoga
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It seems that everywhere you look these days, someone is doing yoga. They range from famous celebrities right down to the person who works with you. If you have never practiced yoga and want to find out what all the fuss is about and how yoga might be of benefit to you then read on and I will explain some of the main benefits of yoga.
Before I get into the most important reasons for practicing yoga, it would be good to have a basic overview of yoga itself. Yoga was developed in India several thousand years ago and it is a system of physical, mental and spiritual development. It consists of physical postures, deep relaxation techniques and meditation exercises. These days the physical postures (called “asanas”) are the most widely practiced form of yoga and you can learn them in studios and clubs around the world.
Now that you have a basic overview of yoga, let’s look at why you should think about beginning the practice of yoga.
1. Yoga will bring you greater overall physical health. The first benefit that most people are interested is physical, and yoga really delivers in this department. Yoga postures combined with a good diet can help you to avoid diseases and maintain your health and vitality. This is especially important for your digestive system, as the yoga postures will help it to work properly and help you to avoid problems such as constipation, acidity and indigestion which are often the cause of more serious problems. In addition, the yoga postures when combined with deep relaxation and meditation also help to lower blood pressure which is enormously important as you grow older.
2. Yoga can help you to look better. It is common knowledge that a lot of people practice yoga in order to lose weight and look more attractive. Can yoga really be of help in this? Simply put, outer beauty is but an indication of inner health. If you take steps to improve your health, you will look better. The biological explanation of “beauty” is useful here. According to modern biology, animals (and humans) choose partners who appear to be able to produce offspring and successfully spread their genes. A beautiful appearance here means an appearance that is a sign of inner health and vitality. You may not be thinking about spreading genes when you see a beautiful man or woman but this is where our conceptions of beauty originate according to the biologists. Thus, the ability of yoga to make you feel better and have better overall health, will also give you an outer appearance that is more pleasing to everyone around you.
3. Yoga will help you to manage and relieve stress. Modern life is stressful. Whenever we feel a threat from the outer environment, our body goes into a “fight or flight” mode. This was extremely useful to primitive humans who had to run for their lives or fight for their lives, but for modern people it only leads to inner problems. Sweating and turning red is useful when you are running, but when you are standing in a business suit and being chewed out by your boss it is not particularly desirable!
As our civilization gets more complex, it also becomes a more stressful place to live. The reason for this goes back to our primitive ancestors. When they were threatened by the dangers of the environment, their bodies started to pump blood and hormones started to work so that they would be ready to either fight with all their might or run as fast as they could. We have inherited the same biological system but this is often very troublesome for us. If you are fighting or running it doesn’t matter if you turn red or sweat profusely. This kind of “fight or flight” response is not so useful when the danger that confronts you is a hostile boss at work! If you practice yoga postures and supplement them with deep relaxation and meditation you can attain a state of inner mental balance and peace that will enable you to remain calm even in the face of extreme provocations and stress.
I could go on with more benefits of practicing yoga but the three things I have just mentioned should be enough to pique your curiosity and either find out more about yoga or to begin practicing it today.
