Yoga is a 5,000 year old practice (probably even older!) and is about a lot more than just physical movement. Originally the physical yoga practice was just one part of a path to enlightenment and its main purpose was to prepare the body to sit in meditation for a long time.
5,000 years later and you seem to hear about yoga mainly in connection with exercise. Personally, I love yoga so much because it is a lot more than just an exercise. There is so much philosophy behind it and I will dive deeper into that at a later point.
Although I believe that yoga creates a feeling that needs to be experienced, I also like to understand what it actually does to my body.
I am a very analytical person and before I start anything I will read a lot about it – get all the theory before I start practicing. After practicing yoga for a while now, I started to let go of thinking too much and enjoy the emotional side of yoga. But it is good to understand why something is good for you. So what benefits can yoga bring to you??
There are many different types of yoga. Anything from very strong yoga classes to restorative yoga classes and each type of yoga has specific benefits. But there are some general benefits that most of them have in common.
Let’s have a look at some of the general benefits of yoga:
- Reduced stress
- Improved lung capacity
- More oxygen to brain
- Improved metabolism
- More grounded and better focused
- Improved Flexibility
- Improved Strength
- Better posture
- Peace of mind
- More awareness
- Deeper understanding of the body
- Improved self care
(*and many more!)
Have you noticed three main groups??
Mind – Body – Spirit
Yoga combines all three areas! And that’s why I love it so much. No matter why you started yoga, you will eventually dive deeper into all three areas and notice its benefits.
In the end we all want to be happy and healthy. To me, yoga has been the way to open up that journey to happiness and being healthy.
So, when will you give it a try?
Lots of love xxxx
Fabienne Belgardt 