Yoga is an ancient Indian athletic practice. We have evidence that suggest the origin of yoga being approximately 3300 years before AD in the Indus Valley Civilizations. However, this subject is still debatable amongst scientists and yogis.
Nonetheless, yoga practice provides us with ancient wisdoms concerning our physical and mental health. It teaches students to reach inner peace while also giving them the perfect stretching exercises.
If you are doubting yoga; here are 5 reasons why you should try it:
1. Improves Posture
The most popular and difficult yoga exercises are the ones which involve back bending and inner twists. With doing bends and twists you stretch your body in the most unimaginable ways. It is not a coincidence that a lot of doctors recommend yoga classes for posture problems. It hasn’t yet been scientifically examined, but yoga has proved to heal kyphosis and straighten other backs with abnormalities. It also strengthens the muscles and bones around the spine.
2. Gives Freedom
A wise yogi master once stated that yoga exercises, especially those concerned with our breathing; take us back to times we were our purest selves – childhood and infantry. Admittedly, it was the time we were most flexible and least frightened of ourselves and our surroundings. At the beginning of doing yoga we feel pain while doing the poses, but with time we overcome the obstacles and thus gain stability and more confidence. This frees our bodies from misconceptions and fears we have about ourselves.
3. Stress Relief
The deep breathing included in yoga gives you a sense of calmness that cannot be experienced with other athletic practices. This is because yoga focuses on mental health as well as on physical. It is said that by doing the difficult yoga poses and experiencing the pain, you get to release stuck emotions and bad karma. If you aren’t that keen on spirituality then you should consider the biologically proven benefits that yoga has on stress. There are cases where people with insomnia, anxiety, cholesterol and heart problems have dealt with their issues just by doing yoga exercises.
4. Increases Awareness
Yoga teaches us to become more self-aware. The exercises require rhythmic breathings which accompany the stretches. Each movement you make has to be done either by breathing in or breathing out. Also, the meditation techniques we learn at yoga classes teach us to constantly be aware on our breathing, posture and inner state. This increases awareness in our daily lives which enables us to have more control on actions that can be damaging to our inner peace.
5. Improves Libido
With increasing blood flow, you enable proper or accelerated production of hormones and vitamins in your body. The higher production of testosterone in your blood will make your libido go through the roof. Yoga also reduces ego and frustrations. This makes people become more playful and relaxed. It makes our minds more focused and appreciative of present activities rather than goals and future problems.
