What first comes to your mind when you hear the word Yoga? You would probably imagine a Yoga guru showing a group of people how to properly meditate with slow dance-like movements. Yoga exercises are basically that, plus much more benefits.
The most important skill that you need to practice if you’re thinking of practicing Yoga is mastery of different Yoga postures. Yoga is all about postures. In fact, it’s been believed that every Yoga posture is attributed to cure a certain disease.
Unconvinced? Try asking any Yoga teacher or practitioner and surely, he will attest to it. He might even offer to teach you how it’s done or give you proofs on how Yoga has cured a lot of diseases.
Testimonies on the various benefits of yoga are believable. A newbie can easily confirm how Yoga has improved the health of several Yoga practitioners. That is why, Yoga is considered to be one of the most popular forms of exercise.
There are actually several ways on how to practice Yoga, but all of them share a lot of similarities. For instance, good posture is very important in Yoga meditation. To be able to breathe properly and meditate deeper, a Yoga student must learn how draw his spine into the straightest possible line.
Most of the Yoga movements require a student to sit on the floor without any backrest. He must learn how to align his spinal cord and be comfortable to be able to go through a meditative state.
However, chairs can become props for some Yoga postures. Usually, chairs are used to support your lower legs while you are lying on a mat. Chairs with a good lumbar support are also useful for seated Yoga postures.
There are still a lot of Yoga postures you can try – too many to mention them all here. You might want to enroll yourself in a Yoga class if you’re interested with this form of exercise. For starters, standing Yoga postures are the most common.
The most basic type of standing Yoga posture is what we call the tree balance. This posture involves lifting up the balls of your feet and rocking your weight onto your heels. Then try lifting your arms and make both of your palms meet on top of your head. Of course, throughout the exercise, you would have to maintain a straight back.
This tree balance posture is said to strengthen your thighs, ankles, spine and calves. It also stretches your inner thighs and groins, and your chest and shoulders, in addition to improving your sense of balance.
The snake is an example of a floor Yoga pose. This is done by lying flat on the stomach with the hands on the shoulders. Lift your arms up and push your pelvis down. Your back should form an arch and try to focus your eyes as if they’re part of the arch. Like with other Yoga poses, you would have to keep the shoulders down.
At first, you might find it difficult to perfectly align your whole body, not to mention painful at times. However, with constant practice, you’ll soon be able to perform these postures effortlessly.
But performing these postures is not enough. You would need to be able to remain there for at least thirty seconds. In this way, you’ll learn how to balance your body. Breathing awareness is an important part of maintaining these postures.
Always take your time. Try to put away all the worldly distractions. Focus inward instead and perpetuate a positive attitude. Your innate ability to heal will then be activated. Yoga postures are slow and versatile enough to help different people relax their bodies, clear their minds and enlighten their spirits.
Slowly, you’ll notice some improvements with your body. Yoga enthusiasts also believe that you could be mentally stronger just by regularly doing Yoga. There will be no instant benefits, though. Don’t be in a hurry, besides patience is one of the virtues you’ll learn from Yoga.
Yoga is also associated with spiritual growth. Yoga does not only improve physical health but also draws the Yoga student closer to his spiritual side. Every Yoga posture relates to a specific spiritual aspect also. Yoga is based on a perfect understanding of how a human spirit relates to his body.
