Added: 03/15/2006 |
Physical Yoga Benefits Include Exercises That Tone the BodyIn Buddhism there is a concept of enlightenment - the highest state of the soul when there is no difference between a human being and god. The Buddhist texts read that enlightenment can be reached by practicing spiritual and physical exercises and also by meditation. The complex of these exercises is often called yoga. There is a huge variety of yoga styles however the major ones are Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, Raja Yoga and Jnana Yoga. Enlightenment can be given not to everybody and some Buddhist monks spent all their life to achieve the highest state of the soul.
Today yoga is extremely popular however spiritual practices are less widespread than physical exercises especially in the West. In the West people practice postures of Hatha Yoga most of all. Hatha Yoga is popular in the United States and Europe as fitness exercises. So let's get to know how it is possible to tone the body and learn about physical yoga benefits. Traditional Hatha Yoga is a holistic yogic path comprising moral disciplines, various physical exercises called "asanas", meditation and breath control.
Hatha Yoga represents opposing energies such as male and female, cold and hot, negative and positive. Hatha Yoga stands for seeking a balance between mind and body through physical exercises (postures), breath control and relaxation through meditation. The postures or asanas are necessary to tone the body and has a lot of benefits as they improve one's physical health and prepares the mind for meditation in order to get closer to higher states of the soul. All these stages in Hatha Yoga have the following names: Asana or Pranayama is breath control, Pratyahara is sense withdrawal, Dharana means concentration, Dhyana is meditation and the last stage Samadhi is the experience of unity with God. As for physical exercises there are traditional directions for performing Hatha yoga.
Yoga health benefits can be reached by observing the following postulates. First of all a glass of fresh water should be taken before doing postures. Stomach should be empty - at best, postures should be performed eight hours after a meal, two hours after a glass of milk and one hour after eating an apple or another fruit. The most convenient time for performing asanas is early in the morning. If it is impossible then we recommend performing them in the evening around sunset. You can practice asanas in other times but physical yoga benefits will be reduced.
A diet is very important if you want to take advantage of yoga at full. Too dry, rich, fat or very hot food is not recommended. One of the most important things in a physical yoga is breath control - the breathing should be always through the nose. Physical yoga benefits will be increased if Pranayama is performed simultaneously. Light physical exercises, followed by pranayama, yogasana and meditation is the most desirable sequence.
After performing asanas you will certainly experience physical yoga benefits such as utmost relaxation, stress removal and increase of self-reliance.
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