Yoga

 

What is Yoga?

The word "Yoga" comes from the Sanskrit root "yuj", which means, "to yoke" the spirit and physical body together. Yoga has evolved over thousands of years to embrace a wide range of styles and disciplines.

A central premise in Yoga is “everything is connected.” That’s clear when looking at the health and fitness benefits of yoga that have long been reported by practitioners and are now being confirmed by scientific researches.

The advantages Yoga gives you

1. Stress relief

Yoga reduces the physical effects of stress on the body by encouraging relaxation and lowering the levels of the stress hormone, cortisol. Related benefits include lowering blood pressure and heart rate, improving digestion and boosting the immune system, as well as easing symptoms of conditions such as anxiety, depression, fatigue, asthma and insomnia.

2. Pain relief

Yoga can ease pain. Studies have demonstrated that practicing Yoga asanas (postures), meditation or a combination of the two, reduced pain for people with conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, autoimmune diseases and hypertension as well as arthritis, back and neck pain and other chronic conditions.

3. Better breathing

Yoga teaches people to take slower, deeper breaths.  This helps to improve lung function and trigger the body’s relaxation response.

4. Flexibility

Yoga helps to improve flexibility and mobility, increasing range of movement and reducing aches and pains.

5. Increased strength

Yoga asanas (postures) use every muscle in the body, helping to increase strength literally from head to toe.  Yoga also helps to relieve muscular tension.

6. Weight management

Yoga (even less vigorous styles) can aid weight control efforts by reducing the cortisol levels, as well as by burning excess calories and reducing stress. Yoga also encourages healthy eating habits and provides a heightened sense of well being and self-esteem.

7. Improved circulation

Yoga helps to improve circulation and, as a result of various poses, more efficiently moves oxygenated blood to the body’s cells.

8. Cardiovascular conditioning

Even gentle yoga practice can provide cardiovas- cular benefits by lowering resting heart rate, increasing endurance and improving oxygen uptake during exercise.

9. Better body alignment

Yoga helps to improve body alignment, resulting in better posture and helping to relieve back, neck, joint and muscle problems.        

10. More advantages of Yoga        

Yoga gives:

  • A boost to your immunity;
  • A downgrade of migraines;
  • You a sexual performances boost;
  • A better night rest;
  • You a focus on the future;
  • A good balance between body, mind and soul.

In simple words, Yoga is a fantastic system for physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health. It is a philosophy of the highest profundity; a psychology for understanding ourselves to the deepest possible degree. Moreover, the practice of Yoga is an exploration of us on every level, the physical, the mental, the emotional and the highest spiritual plane.

In the broadest sense, Yoga is a "Way of Life". It teaches us how to proceed in life with wisdom, awareness, and true understanding. It offers us the tools and the guidance to craft health on every level, and gives us the ability to live happily and in harmony with our natural environment, as well as with all of our fellow Beings.

But for the one who has the loftiest of goals, Yoga goes even further, revealing itself as the ultimate authority for uncovering the deepest mysteries of Life itself. Yoga, in its highest aspect, is the "guidebook" to the ultimate transcendental state of Self-realization.

Do you want to know more about my Private Yoga Lessons in Haarlem or do you want to know if Yoga is the right thing for you? Please don't hesitate to contact me to get more information or try a First Private Yoga Lesson for Free.

Other Yoga forms: