Pierrette Mulumba
Yo-what?
Yoga is a Sanskrit word which can be translated to mean union- harnessing together. It emerged in Hindu when people realised that during their long hours of meditation, they rarely paid attention to their bodies. Essentially your body and spirit are one so neglecting one affects the other.
Yoga poses range from forward bends to standing poses as well as incorporating various breathing techniques.
Why Should I Bend My Body That Way?
So why should you try touch your toes and learn to breathe though your nose? Well yoga has a lot of benefits.
In regards to your body, it increases your flexibility whilst strengthening your muscles and tendons. It also teaches you how to properly use your lungs. You learn to breathe while exercising and this skill is important when you find yourself in stressful situations. It helps develop balance and coordination.
It’s not just the outside- yoga improves function of internal organs when it fixes your body’s posture so they’re held correctly and through internal compression, it stretches them out for better functionality. It excites the immune system and decreases cortisol levels-limiting your chances of diabetes and heart diseases. You can also burn150-400 calories per hour when doing yoga. On the fun side- you can learn how to do a split.
It’s All In Your Mind
Yoga is not all about learning how to put your foot behind your ear. The state of your mind is important. Yoga can increase both your happiness and energy. It then improves your discipline and boosts your focus skills. It can give your mind a better awareness of where your body is and how it moves- Proprioception. With it reducing stress and tension, you can sleep much better. Lastly, you feel pretty great and special after a yoga class because you’ve accomplished poses you didn’t think you could. Bravo.
A great benefit of practicing yoga is that you can practice it anywhere- on the edge of the Drakensburg or in the corner of your office. All that you need to do is decide how you’d like to take the class. Examples include;
· Group – This’ll include a teacher who will walk you through the class and help out if you can’t get your body to bend that way.
· Videos- These can be watched whenever-wherever. However, there’s no one there to answer any of your questions or fix any bad poses. Also- YouTube can be a very scary place.
So let’s get stretching. Namaste.
