Why should I practice Yoga?

The benefit of yoga is that it provides both instant gratification and lasting transformation. Yoga is not just about working out, it’s about working in. There’s the mental clarity only om-ing can bring. When you step out of a yoga class, no doubt you feel better from head to toe. Your muscles feel more relaxed, you may feel stronger. Yoga is not just good for your physical health but also mental health and overall wellness. Yoga has been used in the treatment of anxiety conditions, depression, insomnia, eating disorders etc.
   
Yoga takes the edge off

With all of those broad benefits, one potential reason for yoga’s big impact is how it helps in dealing with chronic stress. As we are aware stress is a very fertile ground for many physical and mental ailments, and evidence shows yoga in general can help improve mood and emotional regulation, both of which are associated with reductions in the stress hormone cortisol. Even taking a single class of yoga makes you feel better. Pranayama, the vital part of the yogic science can be called as the art of breathing for healthy living for the miraculous health benefits it offers. Yoga and Pranayama makes you capture the zen vibe because yoga is working on a higher plain which helps you to deal with the not so good things coming your way.

Ageing and yoga

Everyone ages, it is an inevitable process that all human beings must go through. When we age, different parts of our bodies and muscles degrade in their performance. This is something that everyone experiences. Taking care of ourselves and or learning to take care of our bodies and listening to them is a very important part as we get older. Incorporating Yoga in our daily lives would be quite beneficial in enhancing the body’s performance and or curing various ailments that come as a result of these natural occurrences in our bodies. Practicing Yoga helps us take care of our health, and help with lessening the effects of other health conditions that could occur in the later stages in our life, that is commonly so, as the body gradually degenerates. Certain yoga positions massage the internal organs to help improve functions and to boost your circulation. This helps with your immune system and also can help with fighting off common ailments. Another great benefit is the increase in flexibility and the increase of lubrication to the joints, ligaments and tendons which help prevent rheumatic disease and arthritis. Also it massages all the organs of the body that helps the keep them functioning well.

Makes you happier

Yoga doesn’t just lift our spirits. It lifts our lives. It opens our eyes to the essence of who we are, and therein lies peace. Therein lies the happiness. The peace and happiness we access on our mats is no accident. Although many write it off as just another exercise-induced dopamine high, yoga goes deeper than that. The mind-body connection created in yoga facilitates change at a cellular level. Cellular memory is the idea that our bodies hold our histories.  Much of our unhappiness as humans comes from our thoughts or feelings. We judge our experiences in terms of good or bad. We experience feelings of inadequacy, powerlessness, embarrassment, humiliation, and we often keep track of what we don’t have more than what we do have. A full practice of yoga, including meditation, gently removes these weights from our minds and our bodies. Not only does it remove them, but with time it can begin to reshape our attitudes, views, and thoughts. Physically, yoga asks one simple thing of us: Show up. These are things we can skimp on in other areas of life. Perhaps we show up in body to work or a conversation, but our minds are somewhere else. At times we show up mentally to a project, while our bodies slouch for hours, forgotten. The integration in yoga of all these parts creates the prerequisite unity and connection required for happiness to bloom. Once we feel unified and connected, we will access a deep well of joy that does not diminish when shared. Yoga doesn’t just lift our spirits. It lifts our lives. It opens our eyes to the essence of who we are, and therein lies peace. Namaste!