Yoga: Benefits to the Mind and Body

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Yoga has been around for over 5,000 years. Originally developed to embrace spirituality and to gain awareness of the mind and body, yoga has remained a popular practice. Today, it’s used as a workout for people of all ages, yet it is still rooted in spirituality.

You may think of yoga as a series of stretching movements and complicated poses that many mothers like to do.  What many don’t realize is that yoga is far more than a stretch; the sacred practice was developed in India long ago to activate and integrate one’s inner self. The practice of yoga can be used to create mindfulness, achieve balance, strengthen muscles, or simply relax the body. Each person can take the poses at their own speed and to their desired intensity to get exactly what they want from the course.

On a physical level, yoga is beneficial to strength, balance, and the body's organs. The practice of yoga also positively affects a person’s mental state. At the start of each yoga class, the instructor encourages the class to focus on their breath, specifically ujjayi breathing. Ujjayi breathing is a breathing technique where one breathes in through their nose and out through their mouth. People control their ujjayi breath on the inhale by tightening the throat to create a small sound. 

While challenging to harness at first, using the ujjayi breathing technique helps bring people peace. It creates clarity and calmness in the mind of the yogi, allowing for stress release and a clear mind. Ultimately, it opens up space in the mind and allows yogis to concentrate and be mindful beings. 

Each yoga pose embodies spirituality through an animal, story, or part of nature. On a biological level, yoga helps to cleanse and detox the organs. Many poses consist of balance, strength, and twisting components that help aid the detoxification process your body goes through. The poses speed the process up and make it more thorough through all the twists and turns of the practice. 

After a successful yoga practice, yogis are left in a positive state. The body is physically relaxed while the mind is clearer. Both physically and mentally, one is left feeling “opened up.” Through the stretching of sore limbs and challenging poses as well as the empty and mindful headspace, one can achieve the ultimate peace that yoga is known to bring. 

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