Summary

Yoga is a combination of physical, mental and spiritual practices that involve mindful movements, consious breathwork and meditation to connect the body and mind.

Its health benefits include peace and welbeing, improved blood circulation, weightloss, reduced back pain, good posture and so much more.

Yoga exercises and poses are so broad and can comfortably be practised by beginners and even seniors.

BLOG POSTS

1.Definition of Yoga

2.Forms of Yoga

3. Asana or Yoga Postures

4.Yoga Poses that are also beginner friendly

5. Yoga and Pilates

6. Yoga Nidra

7. Physical and Mental benefits of yoga

Originally from India, Yoga is an ancient practice that combines mindful movements, controlled breathing and inner awareness/meditation to create a balance between the mind and the body. The word Yoga comes from a sanskrit word ‘yuj’ meaning “union or to yoke”

Practising yoga reguraly promotes strength, calmness.wellbeing and flexibility. It is a popular form of exercise around the world as one in seven adults in the United States practice Yoga to reduce stress.

Asanas or Yoga Postures

Asanas is a word used to refer to yoga postures . A yoga session tends to start with easy asanas and drasticaly improve to more vigorous ones. There are 84 types of asanas which mainly involve sitting postures, lying postures, standing postures and inverted postures. Learn more about asanas on Yoga poses.

Forms of Yoga

There are four forms of yoga.

1. Karma yoga : It is a way of selfservice, also known as yoga of action. People that practice Karma Yoga aim to achieve spiritual liberation by serving others.
2. Jnana Yoga: This is the most difficult path, as it seeks spiritual enlightment through meditation, contemplation and self study, also known as yoga of knowledge.
3. Bhakti yoga: Involves practices like prayong, chanting and singing. This practice is centered around devotion for a personal god. Its also known as Yoga of Devotion
4. Raja yoga: It mainly focuses on controlling the mind through meditation hence also kown as yoga of Meditation.

Types of Yoga

There are many different typesof yoga, each with a unique focus. Some of these include:

1. Hatha yoga: This is the most common of yoga postures, the movements are slow mainly focuse on relaxation, flexibility, strength and mindfulness. Usually perfect for yoga for beginners.
2. Vinyasa yoga: It consists of a series of poses that smoothly flow into one another, each movemenent synchronizing with your breathing hence being a great fom of meditation. Its perfect for people that are working on their minds and bodies or those that have trouble sitting down.
3. Bikram yoga: It is performed in a hot room mainly to detoxify the body through sweating.
4. Ashtanga yoga: It is a demanding and athletic form of practise that follows a specific sequence of moves. Helps to improve flexibiity and endurance. Recommended for people who are practising yoga for weightloss.
5. Yin Yoga: A slow paced type of yoga that focuses on the body connective tissues. The postures are held for five minutes or even longer. A good recommendation to people that want to stretch and relax their muscle.
6. Prenatal Yoga. Yoga during pregnancy is recommended compared to hig intensity workouts. It focuses on stretching, relieving stress and easing pain. Be sure to contact your doctor prior to practicing it.
7. Kundalini yoga: This is practiced to awaken your kundalini energy, it is a combination of postures, breathing exercises and chanting of mantras.

Yoga and Pilates

These two practices are mostly confused to be the same practice, but no they are not. Yoga is a holistic practice that focuses on the mind, body and breathing while pilates is an exercise that focuses on a good body alignment, muscular balance and core strength. If you want to practise the two then go ahead as it will have major benefits. Plates with tone up your body while yoga will work on you having a mental wellbeing. Thats a win, I mean who wouldn’t want that?

Know more about the yoga poses and the ones recommended for beginners on the article YOGA POSES.

To find out about the physical, mental and emotional benefits that yoga has refer on the artical BENEFITS OF YOGA.