Yoga Benefits

Yoga is the perfect exercise blend for many active people. It is a balancing regimen that strengthens the body, focuses the mind, and helps create a felt sense of spirit. Yoga is an ancient philosophy of life as well as a system of exercises that encourages the union of mind, body, and spirit. In fact, the word yoga is derived from the Sanskrit word meaning “yoke” or “union.” The ultimate goal of yoga is to achieve a state of balance and harmony between mind and body.

Yoga is the only science that teaches us to introvert in both body and mind, emerge freshed.Yoga is a system of spiritual, mental and physical training that is suitable for people of all ages. It calms the mind, attuning us to the environment, and enhances concentration and mental clarity, thus reducing stress and anxiety. A true yoga practitioner tries to develop an attitude of humility. Health is a god given priceless gift. We need to protect it all time not to achieve worldly goals alone, but to serve the divine.

Purpose of Yoga

Yoga’s purpose is to strengthen the body and make it more flexible, as well as awaken the spirit – in effect, to provide a physical, mental and spiritual system of health. Yoga improves posture, increases the intake of oxygen, and enhances the functioning of the respiratory, digestive, endocrine, reproductive, and elimination systems. It does this through physical poses (asanas), breathing techniques and meditation practice. Yoga is gentle because your mind and heart are involved.

Yoga can help reduce blood pressure and improve the efficiency of the lungs. People of all ages can do yoga, almost anyone can benefit from yoga, including the elderly, children, pregnant women, and those with chronic health problems. Nevertheless, there is a mass of evidence to show that yoga can have a beneficial effect on a variety of conditions, for example, high blood pressure and diabetes. Usually obesity is one causes of Diabetes. Obesity and Diabetes are also termed as twin epidemics. Both Obesity and Diabetes is highly preventable through proper diet, exercise and lifestyle change. Yoga Lifestyle will be most suitable to facilitate treatment for this twin epidemic. Yoga cannot “cure” diabetes, it can complement the lifestyle changes necessary to keep diabetic symptoms in check, and it can help you feel more in control of your health and well-being

Benefits of Yoga Practice

Life today is full of stress and strain, of tension and nervous irritability, of passion and hurry. If man puts into practice a few of the elementary principles of Yoga, he would be far better equipped to cope with his complex existence.

Yoga brings in perfection, peace and lasting happiness. You can have calmness of mind at all times by the practice of Yoga. You can have restful sleep. You can have increased energy, vigour, vitality, longevity and a high standard of health. You can turn out efficient work within a short space of time. You can have success in every walk of life. Yoga will infuse in you new strength, confidence and self-reliance. The body and mind will be at your beck and call. Body is the temple of god. So it is our duty to keep it clean, fresh, and fragrant through developing compassion and love.
Yoga gives you the capacity to face up to life’s challenges. Similarly, when you respect your body, you tend to do things that will enhance its vitality. Many people who practice yoga become vegetarians and follow a macrobiotic diet. Apart from other exercise practicing yoga is more effective. It is not that we need to practice yoga daily try finding a once-a-week yoga class.

Yoga is highly recommended for people in competitive, stressful working environments, for those who suffer from headaches, back and shoulder aches, allergies, and asthma; and for anyone over the age of 40 (although the younger, the better).

How to practice Yoga

Yoga helps people feel calmer and more relaxed, as well as being mentally alert and energetic. Although yoga is an excellent form of self-help therapy, one would be well advised to begin by attending a course of classes run by a qualified teacher. Nothing prevents you from practicing yoga at home; there are many illustrated books on the subject. However, you will benefit far more, especially as a beginner, by joining a class.
When you’re starting up, you shouldn’t do anything your body isn’t ready for. No head stands, backward bending or forcing yourself into a cross-legged position. A typical beginners’ class works on freeing up the spine, shoulders and hips and will consist of five or six standing positions, some floor positions, then relaxation and breathing at the end. Part of yoga practice is deep breathing, which helps make the body more alkaline.

A good class should have a structure: the teacher should explain a pose and then come and correct you if you are doing it wrong. When you come out of the class, you should feel good, whole and stretched, never strained.
You can find yoga classes in cities and towns all over the world. Very little is needed by way of equipment, and a yoga session can be effective even the sessions are only for short periods of time. It is however, more beneficial if you can manage daily sessions of 30 minutes or an hour. It is recommended that sessions take place either in the morning or evening. Allow three hours to pass after consuming a meal before you practice yoga. Do not take a bath or shower for at least a half-hour before or after practice.

In life, it is necessary to learn how to relax after a period of activity. People spend approximately one third of their time in sleep, trying to recoup the energy and vitality they expended during the day. Pleasurable relaxation is often mistaken for the “true” type of relaxation. When we are calm, even soothing music is noise. Those who have practiced Yoga can appreciate total silence. Natural lovers are more sensitive to silence and one has to develop this quality from childhood. But mostly people now days think that relaxation and peace of mind can be got in clubs and pubs. After what they consider as a day of hard work, people go to drink and ultimately ruin them. Unfortunately, many never achieve this objective because they haven’t learned the essentials of relaxation. This can be achieved by practicing yoga.

Hence Yoga is a wonderful tool for becoming better acquainted with your body, whatever your age, yoga can enhance your lifestyle. Yoga is a philosophy, not a religion. For some, the potential of union with a “supreme consciousness” is appealing; for others, it’s a supreme turnoff. Embrace as much or as little as you like … but keep practicing.

“I feel like I’ve just had my first yoga class, “says Fran, a mom of three and a well-toned yoga practitioner of some experience. “I feel great.” Fran is sensing the immediate benefits of her yoga practice, currently based at Park Cities Yoga on Lovers Lane.

As a mother of three, Fran is like a lot of people. Working moms juggle getting their kids to school on time, meeting deadlines, business travel, soccer practice, ballet, groceries, visits to the vet and dentist . . . you know the routine. All this running around doesn’t mean simply that they’re busy; it means that their minds are racing ahead or behind nearly constantly. It means worrying about the cascade of events triggered by your first grader forgetting his lunch. It means anticipating the necessary daily care for your invalid mother. It means fighting to maintain an even keel in the face of overwhelming demands and information.

For more than 16 million Americans, yoga is their not-so-secret weapon to help them do what needs to be done. Whether you are a working mom or a working man, whether you drive a Benz or a bus, whether you perform surgery or Beethoven, yoga is a way to simplify your life. For yoga devotees, yoga is the tool to transform regret and worry into the comfort of the here and now.

Take Elaine, also a Park Cities Yoga client, as another example. “I was a triple-A personality type. Now I handle situations differently. I take a conscious breath and I focus on the moment, not the what-ifs. Yoga has helped me be gracious in stress.”

One misperception about yoga is that you already need to be flexible and athletic to do it. That is not the case. Start with what you’ve got. Can’t touch your toes? Just reach for them and breathe. Can’t do a backbend? Place a small pillow under your back and breathe. Or just start with meditation coupled with conscious breathing. You can start with easy poses progressing to challenging feats of flexibility and strength, if you so desire. No matter your level of ability and experience, conscious breathing and personal guidance from an experienced yoga instructor can help you reach your goals.

That means you can practice yoga if you’re pregnant, middle-aged, retired, sick, recovering, injured, overweight, over-stressed, overbearing, or over-easy. You can practice mornings, afternoons, or evenings. Start simply.

The best way to begin your yoga practice may not be watching a yoga video. Thousands of yoga videos collect dust. And the simplest way may not be to jump into a session that demands too much too fast. The simplest way is to find the right class and the right teacher for you. If you don’t know all about the styles of yoga, then discuss your own limitations or conditions with the instructor and ask about how you might fit in to what they offer. Ask about pace, physical demand, level of intensity, etc. Call around. In Dallas there are yoga classes for all levels, ages, and conditions. With just a little research, you’re sure to find what’s right for you.

Fran started as a weightlifter. “That’s what got me into trouble. I was in so much pain in my hips. I went to my first power yoga class. I loved it. It was letting go, a big simplification. You don’t even need shoes for yoga.”

But is yoga enough of a workout? “The power yoga was an all-inclusive workout. I got cardio, cleansing (I was sweating like a pig), stretching and strength using my entire body.

Her story with yoga changes, however, as she grows into it. Fran’s friend Vashti agrees that a person’s yoga practice changes over time. “Yoga is an amazing form of exercise, but it’s something more, too. Look, people study 80 years or more doing this. They have gone into the mountains in their pursuit of yoga. I have to be a little reverent about it.”

That being said, yoga is not a religion or belief system. Yoga is a practice of “putting yourself together” in the present moment. It’s a system of exercises that unify breath, attention, and the body. In fact, the word yoga means “to yoke, to put together, a union.” You can practice yoga as a Catholic, a born-again Baptist, a Mormon, Buddhist, Hindu, Unitarian, Agnostic. Whatever your spiritual orientation, yoga can enhance your life by bringing it all together.

Fran observes, “After one year it became more than a physical workout. That’s when I began to progress. I began to see yoga as applicable to something more – life! I quit making things so difficult. Yoga led me to quit drinking. Yoga put that into action.”

Fran isn’t alone. Many of the clients at Park Cities Yoga report changes in their physical health and in their overall sense of well-being – changes they attribute to their yoga practice. It’s not surprising then that this thousands-year-old tradition persists, and continues to grow here in America.

The tradition first came to Texas in 1967 when Kumar Pallana, a performer and yogi, first opened the Dallas Yoga and Health Centre. Now at age 87 he has more energy than people half his age. You might recognize Kumar as the loveable old man in films such as Bottle Rocket, The Royal Tennenbaums, and Rushmore. Most recently, he charmed Catherine Zeta-Jones as the ring-juggling Gupta in Steven Speilberg’s The Terminal. As full of stories as he is wisdom, Kumar reminds his yoga students that “yoga develops strength, flexibility, coordination, balance, health, concentration, confidence, self-satisfaction, and peace of mind.” Kumar is a walking example of yoga’s benefits. After all, how many 87-year-olds do you know that follow up a six-week film shoot with nation-wide promotion tours and yoga seminars, interspersed with trips to visit family and friends in India?

Yoga may not turn you into a movie star like Kumar (but who knows? Maybe it will). At the very least, yoga will deliver what you put into it. Best of all, yoga can simplify your life.