Yoga, has become increasingly popular in today’s busy society. For many people, yoga provides a retreat from their stressful and busy lives. It also provides many other mental and physical benefits. Below we are going to discuss different types of Yoga and how it’s beneficial for our mind and bodies.
Yoga Terminology
Hatha Yoga: is one of the most popular styles. It is a more physical type of yoga rather than a still, meditative form. Hatha yoga focuses on breath-controlled exercises. Hatha is a general category that includes many other types of yoga styles.
Vinyasa Yoga: is sometimes included in the umbrella of Hatha Yoga, but it is a slightly faster, flow-style yoga where the movement from one pose to the next is more continuous.
Asana: is the term for a yoga posture or pose, including some like savasana also known as corpse pose, often used at the end of a practice as a resting period.
Namaste: loosely translates to “the light in me bows to the light in you” and is generally said at the end of a class as a closing phrase.
Benefits of Yoga
- Body Awareness. Yoga develops inner awareness. It focuses your attention on your body’s abilities at the present moment. It helps develop breath and strength of mind and body.
- Weight Loss and Maintenance. Researchers found that people who practiced yoga for at least 30 minutes once a week for at least four years, gained less weight during middle adulthood. Overall, those who practiced yoga had lower body mass indexes.
- Improving Fitness. After eight weeks of practicing yoga at least twice a week for a total of 180 minutes, participants from a small research group had greater muscle strength and endurance, flexibility and cardio-respiratory fitness.
- Heart Benefits. Yoga can help lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar.
- Mindful Eating. Practicing yoga has been shown to increase mindfulness not just in class, but in other areas of a person’s life. Someone practicing Yoga is more aware of how their body feels and can carry over into meal time.
Overall, Yoga has some great benefits. It helps you become more aware of your body and mind, while also helping improve your muscular system, skeletal system, cardiovascular system and much more. Make sure to try out a Yoga class, so you can start your Yoga journey.
–Olivia Callan
Health Fitness Specialist
References:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/yoga-benefits-beyond-the-mat