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Yoga is a system of physical exercise, which originated in India centuries ago. The practice of yoga has proven health benefits. It increases the efficiency of the heart and slows the respiratory rate, improves fitness, lowers blood pressure, promotes relaxation, reduces stress, and allays anxiety. It also serves to improve coordination, posture, flexibility, range of motion, concentration, sleep, and digestion. It can be used as supplementary therapy for conditions as diverse as cancer, diabetes, arthritis, asthma, migraine, and AIDS, and helps to combat addictions such as smoking. It is not a cure for any medical ailment, but as part of the well-known Dean Ornish program of diet and exercise, it has contributed to the reversal of heart disease.
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A typical session of Yogic exercises include three disciplines, breathing exercises, body postures, and meditation. You may also be given advice on nutrition and lifestyle. Many proponents feel morning is the best time to practice yoga, but it can be done at any time of the day. It is recommended that eating should be avoided one hour before the session.
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Each session usually begins with a set of gentle warm-up exercises. You will be required to focus on your breathing, and do several breathing exercises. Then it's on to the yoga postures, a series of poses that typically must be held for periods of a few seconds to several minutes. Unlike the routine in calisthenics or weight training, you will not be asked to repeat postures more than three times, and some will be done only once.
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Many postures may seem extremely complicated or even contorted. Despite the difficulty of such postures, however, contortion for its own sake is never the point. Instead, the goal is to mildly stretch all the muscle groups in the body, while gently squeezing the internal organs. To balance the muscle groups, the postures follow a specific order.
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As you assume the various postures, you'll be asked to move gently, without jerking or bouncing. Breathing techniques remain important. You'll need to focus on exhaling during certain movements and inhaling during others. Likewise, as you hold certain postures, you may be instructed to inhale through one nostril and exhale through the other. You'll be allowed to rest after every three or four postures, and at the conclusion of the exercises, there's usually a period of rest or meditation. You should remain comfortable throughout the session, and should leave with both body and mind relaxed. Regular practice, even if brief, is recommend for the best results.
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Although the yoga we know today is practiced mainly for its health benefits, it is rooted in Hindu religious principles some 5,000 years old. Derived from the Sanskrit word for "union," the term yoga refers far more than exercise. In fact, it encompasses a variety of disciplines designed to ultimately bring its practitioners closer to God. Dynana yoga, for instance, seeks union through meditation, while Jnana yoga entails the study of scriptures, and Karma yoga calls for selfless service to God and mankind.
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The exercises we now call simply "yoga" are actually Hatha yoga, a discipline intended to prepare the body for the pursuit of union with the divine, while raising the practitioner's awareness of creation a higher, keener state. Through controlled breathing, prescribed postures (called Asanas), and meditation, Hatha yoga seeks to enhance the prana, or life force, that resides in the body and achieve a state of balance and harmony between body and mind. Each of these three disciplines contributes to the search for union in its own unique way:
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Breathing: The life force Prana is believed to enter the body through the breath, and much of Hatha yoga is concerned with helping you control your breathing properly. Shallow, hurried breathing is believed to inhibit the life force, and affect mind and body adversely. Deep, slow breathing is encouraged.
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Postures: Some yoga postures are intended to stretch and strengthen muscles, others to improve posture and work the skeletal system, while others aim to compress and relax the organs and nerves. The underlying purpose is to perfect the body, making it a worthy host for the soul.
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Meditation: Meditation supplements and reinforces the disciplines of Hatha yoga, focusing the mind and relaxing the body. Closely linked with focused breathing, it aims to produce a quiet, calm frame of mind. Many people find that it reduces stress and increases energy. The interplay of this and the other two facets of Hatha yoga, is considered key to achieving yoga's benefits.
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Despite its use of physical exercises, yoga is perhaps most closely related to the mind-body family of therapies, which includes meditation and biofeedback. Research shows that, like other mind-body practices, yoga produces measurable physiological changes in the body, including a decrease in the respiratory rate and blood pressure, and an alteration in brain-wave activity reflecting increased relaxation. Yoga has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety, both immediately and over time, and is often recommended to relieve the pain and anxiety of chronic illness. When practiced regularly, it promotes relaxation and enhances the sense of well being. It also improves physical fitness and circulation, and some advocates say it improves memory. When combined with a low-fat diet and moderate aerobic exercise, it has been found to reverse the build-up of plaque in the coronary arteries. The more it's practiced, the greater the improvement. |
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AYUCARE AND HASF 
Yoga 
