Yoga originated 5000 years ago in India. It got inducted into the daily regime as a way of life. The aim was to render holistic health and wellness of the body, mind, and soul. Currently, yoga has come down to just being an option among several other free-hand fitness regimes such as pilates, Crossfit, aerobic, Zumba, and more.
Experts suggest that yoga should be a part of our daily regime, irrespective of any other fitness routine we might be following. You can even see people preferring offline/online yoga classes to learn some healthy ways to kick start their day. Why? Read this article till the end to find out.
1.Enhance our overall productivity
Most people – students or working professionals – have a sedentary lifestyle. Our minds are running around more than our bodies. Ideally, it should be the other way round. It leads to uncalled-for stress and strains on our muscles, joints, and minds. Add to this the pressure of completing the unending to-do list at our workplace and home.
Yoga helps to balance it out. It helps to de-stress our minds and boosts our energy levels. It makes us more complacent and resilient so that we can find better solutions for our day-to-day problems.
Yoga also boosts our energy and physical strength. It helps relieve back pain and other health issues triggered by a sedentary lifestyle. It helps us to look good and feel better. Thus, it boosts our confidence levels. Eventually, the summation of all these leads to enhanced productivity in work and life.
2.Get a better sleep-cycle
Our bodies grow, heal, and recover while we sleep. Having a good night’s sleep is the best health supplement for us. But do you think we have a good sleep every time we hit the sack after a long and tiring day? No. Our bodies might fall into a state of unconsciousness. But our minds are still active. If you monitor your sleep, you will find that you have been in a proper restful state in your mind and body for maybe over a couple of hours. That’s the reason why you never feel fresh when you wake up. Doing a few stretches and breathing exercises before going to bed will ensure a good sleep all through the night.
3.Relaxes the body after other fitness exercises
We can do strength training thrice a week, pilates, Crossfit, or cardio on the other days. But, if you want optimum results from your workout, you must practice yoga daily.
We can’t jump into work or any other daily activity right out of the treadmill -smeared with sweat and our heart beating against our chest. Right? We have to give our body some time to cool down, our muscles to relax, and allow our breaths to become normal. Yoga helps you to do that.
4.Yoga aids the healing process of our body when combined with music
Yoga practice involves synchronizing your breath with the stretches, restraints, and body postures that drive the oxygen supply to certain targetted areas of our bodies. It helps to heal sprains, injuries, fatigue, or any other medical condition. Additional benefits of yoga with music, it helps us get inner peace and calms our minds & soul. It relaxes the mind by letting go of all the worries. Yoga also helps to enhance the capabilities of all the internal organs and thus, attain optimum benefits from your fitness regime.
5.Yoga helps to manage auto-immune diseases
Medical conditions such as diabetes, thyroid, hormonal disbalance, cardiovascular diseases, infertility issues, and even terminal diseases such as cancer have been on the rise in the past few decades. No amount of awareness campaigns or preventive measures can stop them from spreading. The only way to turn the table around and eradicate all such threats to our health is by making yoga a part of our daily routine.
6.Yoga helps to fight mental health issues
Just like physical health issues, mental health issues have also emerged as a cause of concern. The rise in the suicide cases of highly successful and accomplished individuals in the recent past indicates aspects we have ignored in the mad rush to achieve success.
Just like our bodies, yoga helps to calm our minds as well. Just like it relaxes a sprain in the muscle, it also soothes a stressed-out mind. Regular yoga practice would help to control overthinking and teaches us to become more mindful.
7.Reverse cognitive degeneration
Till a few decades back – having a few grey streaks, deteriorating eyesight, hearing aids, or having a pair of dentures – used to be the marks of old age. However, more heinous issues such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease – are lurking around the corner. Several medical research shows that 50% of the people who are currently in their active years will be affected by these two diseases if they live past 70 years of age. Yoga has proven to ease the lives of many such patients. Health professionals recommend yoga as a preventive measure for the same.
Conclusion
Yoga aims at healing the diseased ones and helping healthy people attain higher levels of fitness and well-being. However, while choosing a fitness regime, the target-driven millennials aim at tangible goals such as – running a marathon or losing weight. In the face of such high demands, traditional yoga practices seem slow-paced and less exciting. Hence, the ardent practitioners and advocates of yoga had to innovate ways to make it marketable in the fitness sector. Such innovations have pulled gym-goers off the treadmills and brought them to the yoga mat.
Lately, there has been news that fitness trainers are inducting yoga into the fitness regime of athletes. Yes, yoga is also helping in the weight loss journey. It is also helping to enhance lung capacity and muscle strength required for running a marathon. Besides, it is being opted for post-surgery recoveries and dealing with several other medical conditions.
The best part is that it does not require much. A good quality yoga mat, a couple of blocks, and a strap – are all that one needs to practice yoga. Of course, the role of an able instructor to guide through all the complicated moves and postures with ease – is significant.
So what is stopping you from starting your daily yoga practice? Just spread out your yoga mat and get started.
