Why Yoga is for YOU
What is YOGA?
Yoga is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India. Yoga is one of the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophical traditions. There is a broad variety of yoga schools, practices, and goals in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The term “yoga” in the Western world often denotes a modern form of Hatha yoga, yoga as exercise, consisting largely of the postures called asanas.
Is Yoga beneficial to me?
Anxiety:
Practicing yoga incorporates breathing exercises which have been shown to help reduce and manage anxiety.
Attention:
The increased attention required for focus on breathing exercises and asana development helps regular practitioners gain sharper focus.
Calmness:
Yoga requires intense focus on precise movements and controlled breathing, which help a practitioner maintain calm. Meditation techniques often utilized during practice also help to intensify calmness.
Concentration:
Scientific research has shown that practitioners develop better concentration skills within 8 weeks of beginning their practice.
Depression:
Yoga helps to alleviate depression in a number of ways, from allowing traumas to surface through the therapeutic alignment of certain postures to the increased mindfulness that aids in decreasing negative self-talk and obsessive, unhelpful ruminations.
Hostility:
Yoga is recommended by doctors the world over for mediating hostility and anger. It’s commonly thought that the increased mindfulness and positive self-awareness prevalent in a consistent practice helps yogis defuse hostility and anger.
Memory:
Practicing yoga increases blood circulation, which improves memory.
Mind-body connection:
Yoga practice emphasizes a mind-body connection that few, if any, other exercises can develop. Yogis with consistent practices reap the benefits of this connection with increased calm and serenity, greater peace and more expansive awareness.
Mood:
The development of a healthy body, improvement of the mind-body connection and increased self-awareness all help yoga practitioners stabilize and improve moods.
Positive outlook:
A consistent, regular yoga practice helps bring into balance many bodily hormones and processes, helping yogis achieve a more positive outlook on life.
Self-acceptance:
By turning one’s focus inward and striving for progress, not perfection, yogis are better able to enjoy self-acceptance.
Self-control:
Yoga emphasizes the importance of control in maintaining deeply fluid, ever-evolving asanas. This focus on control is easily conducted into a yogi’s daily life. This recent study in particular demonstrates the importance of yoga in achieving effective self-control.
Social Skills:
How does a practice that involves such deep introspection help with one’s social skills? Glad you asked. Yoga’s teachings of the interconnectedness of life compels yogis to deepen their connectivity with all life forms, especially those already close such as friends, family and colleagues. This can be especially helpful in working with populations with developmental disabilities, such as Autism.
Stress Reduction:
Yoga requires intense focus to practice successfully, so yoigs are used to concentrating on matters in the here and now and not allowing outside issues or problems they cannot resolve immediately upset them. This helps reduce stress substantially and translates into life in myriad ways.
360 Fitness offers a handful of yoga classes each week led by the best in the business. We offer a non-intimidating yoga practice that caters to all levels. From the most experienced to the beginner yogi, Jim Mussomelli and Kathryn Vieth will guide you with the best of intentions and make you feel at home. Stop in today or contact us at full360fitness1@gmail.com for more information. “Meditation is hanging out with your soul”