Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Benefits of Yoga

By: Michael phillips

Contrary to popular belief, yoga is not a form of exercise but is a form of meditation. The term ‘yoga’ is derived from the Sanskrit term ‘yog’ which means to “add” or in simpler terms to be in oneness with god. Yoga relaxes a person and allows him/her to enter a deep meditative state. Although, there are numerous physical benefits of yoga, but the primary purpose and ultimate goal of yoga is to help a person reach a relaxed and spiritually elevated state. Yoga is a complete exercise that helps improve body tone and also helps relieve tension and anxiety.
Yoga is now recommended by many physiotherapists as a means to improve muscle tone and to improve the flexibility of joints. People that are recovering from muscle injuries are often prescribed easy yoga exercises to help improve blood circulation to damaged or injured ligaments and muscles. Yoga is also believed to be a strong detoxification exercise, and the body is detoxified by improving blood circulation and draining way built up toxins from body parts.
Yoga is also a great way to increase the flexibility of the body, there are various levels of yoga exercises, and as and when a person improves his yoga skills he can move on to complicated yoga exercises. Yoga allows a person to exercise not just the body but also exercise and strengthen internal organs. Yoga is perhaps the only form of exercise that has asana (exercises) that are designed to stimulate internal organs like the stomach. Although there is no scientific evidence to support the fact that yoga can stimulate and strengthen internal organs, people all over the world have reported much better health after regular yoga.
Yoga is also believed to be a great way to ‘lubricate’ joints, ligaments and tendons. Yoga is a result of thousands of years of research, and people that indulge in yoga regularly have reported fantastic muscle tone even in muscles they were not ‘working on’. Yoga is a complete exercise that works on muscles, body organs and the mind.
Yoga is one of the few exercises in the world which is designed to give the entire body a work out. Apart from physically strengthening and relaxing muscles and tendons, yoga also helps people relax their minds. Yoga was originally intended to be a spiritual exercise and was designed to help a person gain control of all his ‘senses’ and yoga can help an individual curb aggressiveness and control anger. People the world over are now turning to yoga to relieve tension and stress, and unlike other exercises yoga has exercises that are specifically designed to relieve stress and help a person relax both mentally and physically.
Although, yoga claims to offer numerous benefits; scientific studies have shown that not all benefits can be verified, however even physiotherapists and doctors recommend basic yoga exercises for recovering patients. In conclusion, Yoga is one of the few forms of exercise that is designed to exercise both the body and mind.
For more yoga exercises visit www.yogaonlineguide.com

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Michael phillips is the author of this article on Benefits of Yoga For a Better Health. Find more information about Yoga Book Onlinehere.

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