Yogas

Yoga is good for your health. If you have tried yoga you will already know that it makes you feel better. If you practice it regularly it will bring you specific health benefits. These range from the physical to the spiritual. You will get benefits in all areas but knowing what is possible can help you focus on the areas of your health that you want to develop or improve.

Stretching your body in new ways using yoga moves will make you become much more flexible. This will bring a wider variety of motions to muscles and joints. Over time, this will improve your overall physical health and regular exercises will help you to maintain these benefits.  Many poses require you to support your own body weight in new ways. Exercises include balancing on one leg and supporting your body weight with one or two of your arms. In some exercise routines you have to move slowly between poses which helps to develop your strength. As you get stronger and follow the programme regularly your muscle tone will also be greatly improved.

This increased strength and flexibility can help keep you fit and prevent the causes of some forms of joint and back pain. Just the regular process of doing yoga exercises can be a huge benefit to this because many people who suffer from these sort of problems spend a lot of time in one position during the day. Building a carefully planned and structured exercise programme into your life can be a huge benefit. Yoga is particularly good because it improves strength and body alignment.

It also greatly improves body awareness so that during the day it teaches you to hold your body in a much better way and avoid potential problems. Doing yoga will give you an increased awareness of your own body. You will need to often make small and subtle movements to improve your body alignment. This increases the comfort you feel with your own body. This can lead to improved posture and greater self-confidence. The increased strength allows you to do this more easily. Breathing exercises add to all these health benefits by allowing you to move and exercise much more efficiently. They help you feel more awake and alert in daily life.

As well as the physical benefits yoga is famous for the mental peace and calmness it promotes. The concentration involved helps reduce focus on your daily problems. This is the case because focussing intently on what the body is doing brings peace to the mind. It also involves meditation techniques, including concentrating on your breathing and respite from your everyday thoughts. This has the effect of resting and calming the mind.