Yoga

Yoga is a conscious process of gaining mastery over the mind, providing both physical and mental benefits.  It helps to understand your body and mind better.  One of the important aspects of yoga is asanas.

Asanas is to stay in a position firmly with ease. The purpose of physical postures is to use the body to gain health and move towards a subtler level – the mind.

Importance of Yoga

In the modern world, our unhealthy lifestyle, eating habits and behavior lead to many lifestyle diseases like diabetes, blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, stroke, arteriosclerosis and chronic lung disease, not to mention several forms of cancer. Not only have health problems increased but also stress related problems like insomnia, anxiety and depression have amplified drastically.

Regular practice of Yoga brings focus, skill in action and emotional balance in life. It also improves the flexibility of the body, calms and rejuvenates your mind. Yoga may not replace medicines completely to begin with, but helps to self-diagnose, heal, prevent ailments and maintain our bodies.

When we start practicing simple asanas regularly, we promptly find out what needs most attention. The effects of Yoga are instant and the results keep becoming increasingly apparent. Yoga is not magic, but a booster for life which unleashes hidden energies and precedes your inner robustness towards spirituality and intuitive strength.

When to Perform Yoga

Asanas should be done on empty stomach in the morning or at least one hour after a moderate/light meal. In the beginning, a student may find certain asanas difficult to perform, but regular practice will bring perfection. Patience and perseverance, earnestness and sincerity are needed as Yoga is a continuous process.

With increased practice, you will be able to concentrate and focus your mind during the asanas, in addition to simply getting the physical posture right. Having a steady posture will lead to keen meditation. Asanas should be performed according to your temperament, capacity and health requirement.

Benefits of Practicing Yoga

  • Enhances immunity, core strength and mental awareness
  • Improves digestion
  • Controls cholesterols levels
  • Reduces weight
  • Normalizes blood pressure
  • Improves concentration
  • Intensifies cardiovascular performances
  • Relieves stress
  • Improves interpersonal relationships
  • Increases self-confidence and self-acceptance
  • Enriches overall happiness in life

At Yoga Central

Asanas or physical postures are given due importance. Students are taught and made to practice following postures:

  • Loosening exercises
  • Surya Namaskar
  • Standing postures
  • Sitting postures
  • Prone posture
  • Supine posture

Loosening Exercises:

A flexible and strong spine is mandatory for a healthy body. A strong foundation is a must to acquire good stamina. The main principles of loosening exercises are to loosen the various joints of our body and flex the spine, by repeatedly stretching and relaxing the different muscles. These exercises help to remove lethargy and tardiness in the body, improve stamina and to coordinate body-mind complex.

Surya Namaskar

This is a combination of asanas and pranayam. It brings about the general flexibility of the body, warms up the body for asana practice and strengthens the lungs for breathing practice, improves efficiency of internal organs and endocrine system, lubricates and raises the blood supply to the joints and helps in the detoxification of the body.

Standing Postures

Standing yoga postures need strength, balancing and flexibility. Performing asanas steadily can bring tranquility of mind and clarity of thought. It brings more awareness towards all parts of our own bodies. The standing poses lay the foundation for the rest of the yoga poses. Increases the stamina, makes the spine flexible, strengthen the thighs, enhances blood flow to the head region, helps in menstrual problems, prevents back pain and improves the functions of internal organs like kidney and liver.

Sitting Postures

While sitting, we try to imitate many animal postures that help to stimulate various organs of the body. Sitting poses tend to be energetically grounding and focus more on flexibility than strength. Improves your posture, stretches your legs and opens your hips. Most of the sitting poses are meditative poses which allow you to keep your spine straight and stimulate the spinal nerves and back muscles. Also help to cure constipation and improve digestion.

Prone Postures

Prone poses build core body strength in the lower back, reduce abdominal fat, and provide good stimulation and flexibility to the back. They are useful in the management of bronchial problems and back problems. Tones up the kidney and energizes the body as these postures are back bending.

Supine Postures

Supine poses aid in good circulation in the brain helping the entire nervous system. They release stress, promote flexibility, and help to assimilate your practice. They enhance blood flow to the neck and influence the pelvic organs. Endocrine glands such as pituitary and thyroid get revitalized. Also improves concentration power remarkably which in turn improves memory.

 

Thus Yoga starts from the body level and seeps towards muscular level, then moves to the breathing level, further penetrating the emotional level to maintain the balance and calmness of mind, which helps in achieving the ideal state of body, mind and soul.

 

“People often come here for the stretch, and leave with a lot more”