Yoga 101 Yoga Poses For Beginners You Should Try In 2021:
Table of Contents
Introduction
Yoga has its origins in ancient Indian spirituality that sought to bring the body and mind into harmony. Yoga is a deep-rooted lifelong practice that can be used for both physical fitness and mental relaxation. The word Yoga means connection or union. Its a mind-body practice that incorporates physical postures, breath work, and meditation.
Yoga has been practiced for centuries. Today, the practice is more popular than ever. The many benefits of yoga include improved flexibility, strength, and control. Yoga was originally practiced in India, and its first recorded practice was in the Vedas. The purpose of yoga is to unite the mind and body, or to bring about a state of perfect, calm bliss.
There are many schools of yoga, but the most commonly practiced in the United States is Hatha yoga. Hatha is a combination of physical postures, breathing, and meditation. The primary aim of Hatha yoga is to keep the body healthy and to maintain a balance between the body and mind. The Hatha yoga postures are designed to promote flexibility, strength, and centering. There are many benefits of Hatha yoga, such as improved health, stress relief, increased flexibility, and more.
Yoga poses are the physical postures that are part of Hatha yoga. The poses are designed to stretch and strengthen various parts of the body such as the arms, legs, torso, neck and head. There are many different types of yoga poses.
Some examples of yoga poses are the sun salutation, the warrior, and the tree. There are also different types of breathing exercises that are used in yoga. Breathing exercises are used to focus your attention, bring about a state of calmness, or for relaxation. There are breathing exercises for strength and power, focus and concentration, self-awareness and insight, relaxation and sleep.
Yoga is a very powerful practice that can be used to achieve many things. Yoga is a combination of physical and mental exercises that have been proven to bring about a state of perfect calmness. If you want to be healthy, have more energy, or just want to be at peace with yourself, then integrate yoga into your daily life.
Chapter 1 Benefits Of The Concept Of Yoga
What is yoga?
Most people see yoga as a form of physical activity that involves some unusual or silly body movements.
If thats the case, then what is yoga if its not about the movements of your body?
Well, yoga is a form of physical and mental exercise. It is a physical activity that involves discipline, mental control, breathing techniques. and physical well being. In simpler terms, yoga involves some physical moves, which are combined with mental control and meditation. It celebrates what experts call the mind-body connection.
You may have heard that people who have serious illnesses such as cancer tend to heal more quickly if they maintain a positive attitude. This phenomenon has been studied many times, and it proves that it is possible to affect your physical health if you learn to control your mind.
A female yoga practitioner is known as a Yogini while a male yoga practitioner is known as a Yogi. You may think of these terms as titles that apply only to master practitioners, but you may certainly refer to yourself as a Yogi or Yogini if you practice yoga regularly.
So how did it come into being?
While yoga has gained in popularity in recent years, the truth is that the practice of yoga dates back over 5,000 years. It was first developed by the Indus-Sarasvati civilization, which was based in Northern India.
The term yoga was derived from the word yuj which literally means to join, to yoke, or to control in Sanskrit. When you think of it in terms of the body, mind, and soul, yoga portrays the joining of the physical body, mind, and soul or spirit. It may also be helpful to think of yoga as a connection, a way of strengthening every part of you by joining them all together into one.
One of the best things about practicing yoga is that it benefits your entire being. When your mind and soul are strong, it strengthens your body. When your body is strong, it strengthens your mind and soul. The bottom line is that practicing yoga can help you to reap a wide array of benefits that can improve your health.
So how is practicing yoga going to benefit you? Lets discuss some of the benefits that you stand to gain through this practice.
Why Yoga?
We have established at this point that yoga transcends physical movement, and includes mental and spiritual exercises as well. It works your body, mind, and spirit at the same time. This means that the benefits of yoga practice will be more than just some physical health benefits. Let us examine some of the benefits of yoga practice.
It Helps in Weight Loss
When many of us think of exercise, we think first of aerobic exercise the kind of exercise that increases our heartbeats, makes us breathe harder, and requires a great deal of energy to do. Yoga cannot be regarded as an aerobic exercise, although there are some very athletic types of yoga poses such as the power yoga, the kapal bhati, and the sun salutation poses that, when done properly, can increase your heartbeat, make you sweat, and help burn excess fat in the body.
What that means is that if you are looking for a low impact way to burn extra calories and lose weight, you should consider making time to engage in yoga moves daily. The benefit of doing yoga poses is that they improve your balance and build muscle. The higher the percentage of muscle you have in your body; the more calories you will burn even when you are sitting still.
The good thing is that you dont need to spend hours on your yoga moves to get results. Simply doing 20 minutes of yoga per day can help you achieve your desired result in a short while. Besides weight loss, these athletic yoga poses are also good for people with some serious health issues such as diabetes and high blood pressure. For a diabetic, yoga helps to make the body cells to be more sensitive to insulin in order to regulate the blood sugar level. People who have high blood pressure can benefit because yoga decreases stress and can help improve circulation.
It Encourages a Holistic Wellness
Holistic wellness or fitness transcends physical fitness. It involves the emotional and mental well being of your body, mind, and soul. In other words, it is a kind of wellness that takes your whole being into consideration. A person who has holistic wellness is healthy physically, mentally, and emotionally. They are well equipped to handle any challenges that life sends their way.
The physical postures, meditations, and breathing techniques also known as pranayama give you holistic fitness. Holistic fitness or wellness gives you an inner peace and leads to self realization in the long run. It can improve every aspect of your life, including your work and your relationships.
It Helps to Reduce Stress
Many people today are in a constant state of stress. Stress of any kind, whether it is physical, mental, or emotional, triggers the bodys fight-or-flight response. The fight-or-flight response is something we share with all animals. It helps to protect us when our lives are in danger by releasing stress hormones such as adrenaline, cortisol, and norepinephrine. These hormones work to increase our heart rate, speed up respiration, and give us the mental clarity required to get out of a dangerous situation.
The problem with the human stress response is that it is not able to differentiate between a real physical threat, such as a charging bear, and non-life-threatening stress such as that caused by an argument with someone we love or a high-stakes meeting at work. The physical reaction is exactly the same. Over time, having a surplus of stress hormones in the body can lead to a variety of serious health problems, including high blood pressure, heart disease, anxiety, depression, and more.
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