|
The advent of Yoga can be traced back to 5000 years. Yoga is an ancient Indian body of knowledge. The Sanskrit meaning of the word Yoga is to unite or integrate. Yoga is about the union of a person's consciousness with the universal consciousness. Ancient Yogis in order to integrate the body, the mind, and the spirit, formulated a way to achieve and maintain the emotion, action, and intelligence balance of the human being. This was achieved through exercise, breathing and meditation, the three main practices of Yoga.
Yogic exercise improves circulation, stimulates the abdominal organs, and tones the endocrine system. This can generally result to better health. Breathing exercises were developed based on the concept that breath is the source of life. The heart of any yogic practice is the performance of yogic postures or asanas. Each asana has specific physical and mental benefits.
Yogic exercise i.e. meant for both the body and the mind. It takes willpower and perseverance to accomplish each pose and to practice it daily. But the prize for your perseverance is really worth all the hard work.
The practice of yogic exercise or Asana can improve your health, increase your resistance, and develop your mental awareness. Performing each yogic pose requires you to study each pose and execute it slowly as you control your body and your mind. The following are the different generalized yogic poses combining different asanas.
1) Warm up poses in general depends on the particular style of yoga that you are practicing.
2) There are different standing poses such as the triangle pose, hands to feet, standing side stretch pose, stand spread leg forward fold, warrior pose, tree pose, and sun salutation.
3) There are poses which can be done while sitting. There are various seated poses such as spread leg forward fold, hero pose, seated forward bend, and child pose.
4) There is various twist poses such as the half-spinal twist and sage twist. These poses tone and massage the abdominal area and improve digestion.
5) Supine poses or poses performed in a supine position. Examples are leg reclining lunge, locust pose, leg pulls, leg raises, and wind relieving pose.
6) There are certain poses that are inverted or based on balance. Theses poses like the shoulder stand, headstand, and plough can help increase circulation, stimulate the brain and relieve pressure on the abdominal organs.
7) Backbends are yoga poses which promote flexibility in the spine and strengthen the arms, legs, and abdomen.
8) Finishing Poses are performed as final relaxation at the end of a Yoga Session. Examples of these are the corpse pose and the final pose. These poses help you to achieve a state of bliss and mental calm even in the face of today's fast paced world.
|