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The benefits of yoga are that you can expect your back
and body to become stronger and much more flexible, and your
mind to become more settled and clear.
The postures are called asanas and
these are designed to produce beneficial effects in several
ways:
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The position of the asana causes an
increase in blood circulation to the specific target
organ or gland.
-
The position of the asana often produces
a slight squeezing of the organ or gland. This has the
effect of massaging the organ or gland and stimulating
it.
-
Deep breathing and visualizing the
target area sends an extra supply of prana (life energy)
to the area.
What Are "Asanas"?
As mentioned above, yoga postures are called asanas.
Asanas are gentle stretching movements
designed to help balance the mind and body. They develop suppleness
and strength, and rejuvenate the whole body including
the back and spine, brain, spine, internal organs and
glands.
As a result, it is likely your sciatica and
back pain will reduce and possibly even disappear.
Asanas work by increasing the blood and
prana (energy) supply to these areas and by stimulating them
with a gentle squeezing action
They were designed with economy of time and
effort in mind. Most of them work on more than one aspect of
the body at the same time.
For example, the twist asana benefits the
spine, adrenal glands, liver, pancreas and kidneys.
Where Did Yoga Come
From?
It is a philosophy that began in India an estimated 5,000
years ago (the Yoga Sutra scriptures are believed to be the
oldest source of the practice).
What Are The Most
Popular Yoga Exercises?
Salute
to the Sun - Surya Namaskara
Strictly speaking the Salute to the Sun is
not yoga, but it is almost universally used as a warm up to
a yoga routine, or as an exercise in its own right.
It consists of a series of 12 (or 24)
positions per round where a round is repeated a number of
times.
The exercise is designed to loosen up your
body and massage your internal organs, plus massage and
stimulate your nervous system.
Prana (energy) flow is freed up and
distributed and the exercise helps bring all the systems of
the body into balance.
It exercises the lungs, expelling stale air
and perspiration is encouraged which helps eliminate toxins.
More
information on Salute to the Sun yoga exercise
What Are The Spiritual
Aspects of Yoga?
Yoga is well known for the benefits provided by its physical
exercises, but this is just one aspect of the practice.
It provides a framework for spiritual
growth and mastery as well as developing the physical
and mental body.
Within the physical practices, yoga connects
the movement of the body and the fluctuations of the mind to
the rhythm of the breath.
By connecting the mind, body, and breath you
learn to direct our attention inward and through this
process recognize habitual thought patterns without
labelling them, judging them, or trying to change them.
You become more aware of your experiences
from moment to moment.
Yoga sometimes interweaves with other
philosophies such as Hinduism or Buddhism, but it is not
necessary to follow those paths in order to practice or
study it. Neither are you required to change your own
religious beliefs to practice it.
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