What Exactly Is Yoga?
Frequently Asked Questions About Ancient Technique
Though its roots trace back perhaps 5000 years to the physician-philosophers of ancient India, yoga is widely accepted as a beneficial form of stretching and relaxation in the West today. More than 12 million Americans, young and old, male and female, are currently involved in some form of yoga practice, and the numbers just keep growing. So if you’re one of its practitioners, stop reading. You know all this stuff already.
Simply defined, yoga is a comprehensive system of exercises designed to develop physical and mental discipline. It combines low-impact, stylized body postures with deep rhythmic breathing. The postures, which are done slowly and in series, work all the major muscle groups and joints affecting the body’s skeletal alignment, flexibility, and balance. More advanced poses, achieved only after some study, are intended to massage the internal organs.
This first component deals with the physical aspects of yoga, and has prompted many Americans to swap their gym workouts with the intensity and physical challenge of yoga classes. There’s definitely a lot of sweat and discipline involved, and this is one of the things that the notion of “simply sitting around and meditating” doesn’t cover.
The breathing component of yoga, practitioners believe, provides the body and mind direct access to a life energy, or prana. Proper breathing, which requires concentration and control, increases oxygen flow to the brain and body. This in turn is linked to progressive relaxation techniques, which can release physical stress to produce a profound state of physical and mental well-being.
For yoga practitioners, the ultimate goal of all the physical postures, stretching, and breathing is to arrive at a meditative state of inner peace or “bliss”, but whether you attain this sort of spiritual evolution or not, yoga’s discipline can be powerfully therapeutic.
In fact, many people don’t even meditate, yet use yoga to turn on their metabolism and stay trim and fit. So it comes as no surprise that yoga can also lower blood pressure, regulate heart rate, reduce chronic pain, and increase a personal sense of well-being, among other identified effects.
You can practice yoga at home without any special equipment, but beginners benefit from a period of initial training with a professional. The teacher provides encouragement as well as guidance in technique, which can help you avoid incorrect positions, or movements that might cause injury. There are different forms of yoga that offer variation in the emphasis of training, so if you’re not comfortable with your first foray, try a different class and teacher to find a better fit.