How can yoga benefit your health?

The word yoga has derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Yuj’ which means ‘to unite’ so yoga means to unite with one’s soul completely. The root of all yoga is Hatha yoga and there are many health benefits of hatha yoga. It helps to collate the whole energy of the body in one place so that the body can function the whole day without any stress. 

Types of yoga

There are many types of yoga as it is an ancient practice that is now followed in almost every nation but the major types are following;-

  1. Hatha Yoga– It is the root of all the stems of yoga, which is widely recommended for beginners to start with. The poses or asanas of the yoga are comparatively slower and briefed so you get to know which pose you are doing and why by diving deep into the asana. It focuses on meditation and is highly concentrated on a few breaths at a time. The benefits of hatha yoga are immense and could help you in the yoga journey. 
  2. Vinyasa yoga– It is also known as flowing yoga as the poses are in a flow, one barely has to hold a pose for breaths. It is a flowing yoga where there is a cycle of poses and a pose seldom repeats, unlike the hatha yoga. The flow is in a speed so it is the eBay if you want to get a toned body. It also helps to build strength. 
  3. Ashtanga yoga– From the many different types of yoga ashtanga and vinyasa yoga are the same but the only difference is that the flow in vinyasa yoga the asanas in a flow can differ every day but in ashtanga one is supposed to practice the same flow every day until they get into your habit. As you keep rolling the same poses the difference in your poses when you start to when you become a yogi is pretty much visible. 
  4. Iyengar yoga– This yoga was named after the person who founded it B.K.S. Iyengar and is very helpful for those who want to work on their joints or recover from injuries. In Iyengar yoga, you get to know about the poses you make in more detail as hatha yoga but in a more precise way. The practice is comparatively slow and the breath has to be held for a while and the timings increase with the expertise. 
  5. Bikram yoga– Also called hot yoga and was again named after the person who invented it, Bikram Choudhary. The idea is to be rigid and challenge yourself in a room above 40°C and the practice takes about 90 minutes. But now Bikram yoga has been stopped to be taught by many yogis because of the one who invented it.

 

Bottom Line– Whichever yoga pose we are trying one has to start with the hatha yoga, as already mentioned hatha yoga benefits it is obvious that one has to start with something that teaches them to dive deep into the poses and the correct ones as well. 

Benefits of yoga

The benefits of yoga are immense, this is also the reason why people are following yoga practices for years and have come to love it more than any kind of physical exercise. Few of you might have as well tried and tested ways yoga benefits you or maybe you have suggested different types of yoga to different people as per their own needs but here is more about yoga, you need to know. 

  1. Improves flexibility All the asanas promote moving and stretching which directly affects one’s flexibility. A study shows that people have increased flexibility by 35% in just 8 weeks of yoga training. 
  2. Strength building The asanas of yoga are supposed to be held for a few minutes depending on the expertise but the benefit of it ultimately is seen in your strength as it builds gradually. 
  3. Posture betterment For maintaining a good posture, you need to rely on your core but before that, your core strength has to be built. And since yoga helps with your awareness, if you slouch it is easier to get noticed by you. 
  4. Improves balance It majorly comes from the lower body so when you start doing asanas like tadasana, trikonasana, and more like that your balance improves and when you do inversions as you grow in your practice it builds your core strength. 

Release stress– this is an obvious point that most of you are aware of. As you focus on the breathing patterns as you do your practice it increases focus and as you do meditation that is involved in some of the asanas, it releases all your stress.