The goal may be to gain flexibility, calm the mind, relieve back pain, overcome insomnia or anxiety… Any approach to yoga is valid if it allows you to know this discipline to gain health.
Many people still associate yoga with the image of an individual dressed in orange, wearing a turban, incense, and chanting in Sanskrit… However, yoga can also be something much closer, practical and real, which provides countless benefits for both physical and mental health.
There are numerous types of yoga and each one applies different methods to achieve the same goal: to facilitate a form of self-knowledge that allows you to live harmoniously with yourself, with others and with the world.
Yoga is a tool that makes it possible to connect with the essential of the person. It is a way to introduce lucidity where there is confusion, peace of mind where there is tension or restlessness, and relaxation where there is tension.
It is not an easy task, nor something that is achieved from one day to the next, but it is consolidated over time when it is practiced on a regular basis.
THE VISIBLE BENEFITS OF YOGA
The benefits of yoga are innumerable. On a physical level, most variants of this discipline provide a healthy physical shape.
Through the postures (asanas) the muscles are toned and stretched, bad postural habits are corrected and endorphins are secreted, the so-called “hormones of happiness”, which produce a feeling of well-being.
By achieving a healthy and vigorous body, strength, flexibility and endurance are also indirectly increased, which facilitates the disappearance of tensions and pains.
A continuous practice of yoga eliminates impurities from the body, increases defenses, strengthens the different organs and improves the functioning of the immune, circulatory, digestive and hormonal systems.
MENTAL BENEFITS
On a mental level, yoga is an excellent tool to eliminate stress and any of its manifestations.
The practice of conscious breathing or pranayama (prana means vital energy, and ayama, control) automatically decreases anxiety, insomnia, headaches and digestive disorders.
In our day to day, we have very little awareness of how important it is to breathe; We inhale and exhale automatically and ungenerously, resulting in tensions (stress, anxiety, lack of concentration), a weak immune system, and other health problems.
Through deep breathing, the thoughts that wander through the mind are silenced, the heart rate is regulated, the heart is stimulated, the abdominal organs are massaged, the lymphatic system is activated, concentration and self-confidence are developed, and the mind is silenced.
Once learned, this breathing can be put into practice no matter what time of day, sitting, lying down or standing.
Anyone, regardless of their age, physical condition, elasticity or stress level, can start practicing yoga.
Its different branches and schools provide different scales of intensity ranging from almost static practices to very dynamic ones. Depending on what each one is looking for, it is convenient that you start in one or another style.
CHOOSE YOUR YOGA STYLE
- Stretching and relaxation. HATHA YOGA is the root of most styles of yoga imported to the West. It incorporates physical postures, breathing and meditation. Part of the physical to reach a state of mental relaxation. It has great preventive, therapeutic efficacy and is very useful for the rehabilitation of injuries, as well as to control stress.
- Good physical shape and serene mind. VINYASA is born from hatha and focuses on the coordination of breathing with movement. It is a dynamic variant of yoga that, through fluid sequences of postures, accompanied by rhythmic and intense breathing, helps eliminate toxins from the body, while toning muscles, providing flexibility and serene mind.
- Commitment and physical demand. ASHTANGA is also born from hatha. It is the most physically demanding style of yoga. It is a fixed series of postures with progressive difficulty, in which the practitioner advances according to the teacher’s instructions. Their breathing (ujayi) is intense, causing heat and sweating. The sessions are very athletic and energetic, so it is not recommended for people with injuries.
- Postural precision. The IYENGAR style was developed more than 60 years ago from hatha yoga. It promotes strength, flexibility, endurance and balance through coordinated breathing and body alignment in different postures. It maintains each posture for about a minute (more than other disciplines) and, after each of them, allows you to rest for a few breaths. Due to its slow pace, and its precision, it can be practiced by everyone.
- To awaken the energy of the body. The practice of KUNDALINI focuses, above all, on awakening the energy of the body from the base of the spine, upwards. It is an energetic style based on repetitive movements, and each of them is directed towards the release of energy. A typical kundalini class may also include chanting, meditation and breathing exercises. Along with hatha yoga, it is the most widespread branch in the West.
- Tradition. SIVANANDA yoga is a very traditional practice that includes the execution of physical postures, breathing exercises, study of Vedanta philosophy, recitation of mantras, chanting and meditation. It is a practice focused on the spiritual that incorporates techniques from different branches of yoga.
- Elimination of toxins. BIKRAM YOGA consists of a series of 26 postures that are repeated, in each session, within a room at 40 ºC. The purpose of the practice is to warm up the muscles quickly to detoxify the body through sweating. Its founder, Bikram Choudhury, was an Olympic medalist lifting weights and has made this type of yoga fashionable in the Western world through actors, models and singers.
- Alignment. ANUSARA YOGA was created in 1997 and places a strong emphasis on the alignment of postures. Its objective is, through the practice of asanas, to open the heart to connect with the divine that is within each one, as well as others.
- Restorative. YIN YOGA focuses on stretching the tissues that connect muscles with bones, since they are hard and have to be stimulated in a softer and more maintained way than muscles, soft and elastic by nature. Each pose is held for between two and five minutes. The practice of yin yoga provides deep relaxation.
WHICH STYLE TO CHOOSE?
To find both the teacher and the most suitable yoga variant and class for each person, it is advisable to try different studios and teachers.
It is best to leave the choice to your own instinct, taking into account the sensation experienced after each session. Listening to yourself, you know if the style, rhythm and intensity are right for you.
Do not be in a hurry and, above all, never force the body in any posture. Yoga is done neither “right” nor “bad.” The ultimate goal of this discipline is the well-being and balance of the practitioner. And there is no doubt that, with practice, these always come.