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Benefits of yoga

Yoga is a system that benefits the body, mind, and spirit by teaching self-control through a series of postures and exercises, as well as through breathing, relaxation, and meditation techniques. The ultimate goal of yoga is self-realization - so that each individual can attain his or her complete physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual potential.

Who need yoga ?

Every one should do yoga but Yoga is highly recommended for people in competitive, stressful working environments, for those who suffer from headaches, back and shoulder aches, allergies, and asthma; and for anyone over the age of 40 (although the younger, the better). Yoga also works to unite the split between the mind and the body. Anyone with a compulsive behavioral disorder knows firsthand what agony this split can cause. Anyone who has ever had a nervous breakdown, suffered manic depression, or has only felt himself or herself functioning on 'half-power' understands this as well. The regular practice of yoga helps us to accept whatever physical or mental conditions we might be suffering from by increasing our immediate sense of well being, concentration, and calm. Much healing can be done, but it takes practice and consistency

Another, and more limited, goal of yoga as a system of exercises is to restore the whole person to balance and to improve and maintain good health.

Yoga benefits extremely in:

Increasing flexibility - yoga has positions that act upon the various joints of the body including those joints that are never really exercised.
Increasing lubrication of the joints, ligaments and tendons
Massaging of all organs of the body - Yoga is the only form of exercise which massages all the organs and internal glands of the body in a thorough manner, including those that hardly get externally stimulated during our entire lifetime. This in turn benefits us by keeping away disease and providing a forewarning at the first possible instance of a likely onset of disease or disorder.
Excellent toning of the muscles – muscles that have become flaccid, weak or slothy are stimulated repeatedly to shed excess flab and flaccidity.
Detoxification of body - yoga ensures the optimum blood supply to various parts of the body. This helps in the flushing out of toxins from every nook and cranny as well as providing nourishment up to the last point. This leads to benefits such as delayed ageing, energy and a remarkable zest for life.

Studies show that yoga can relieve the symptoms of many common and life-threatening illnesses such as AIDS, arthritis, chronic fatigue, arteriosclerosis, diabetes, asthma and obesity.

Pshylogical benefits:

Concentration and effective treatment -Physicians have found that the addition of improved concentration abilities and yogic meditation together with the practice of simple postures and pranayama makes treatment more effective. Yoga practice also results in greater reduction in anxiety scores than drug therapy. Doctors believe that yoga practice helps patients by enabling them to gain access to their own internal experience and increased self-awareness.

Mental Performance
A common technique used in yoga is breathing through one nostril at a time. Electroencephalogram (EEG) studies of the electrical impulses of the brain have shown that breathing through one nostril results in increased activity on the opposite side of the brain. Some experts suggest that the regular practice of breathing through one nostril may help improve communication between the right and left side of the brain. Studies have also shown that this increased brain activity is associated with better performance and doctors even suggest that yoga can enhance cognitive performance.
Pride
Pride, and especially anxiety about pride, is something which Hatha Yoga seeks to diminish or eliminate. To one who has been dejected because he cannot do his work properly when he becomes tired, irritable, or haggard, any degree of refreshment may be accompanied by additional degrees of self-respect. Furthermore, one who has benefited from yoga may be moved to help his friends who are obviously in need, he may instruct others and be rewarded with appreciation due a to teacher.

But if one succeeds in achieving skill which provides health and self-confidence, one may justly raise his self-esteem simply by observing himself living the improved results as an achieved fact.
Mood Change And Vitality
Mental health and physical energy are difficult to quantify, but virtually everyone who participates in yoga over a period of time reports a positive effect on outlook and energy level. Yogic stretching and breathing exercises have been seen to result in an invigorating effect on both mental and physical energy and improved mood.
spiritual benefits
When you achieve the yogic spirit, you can begin knowing yourself at peace. The value of discovering one's self and of enjoying one's self as is, begins a journey into being rather than doing. Life can then be lived practicing "yoga off the mat".
Knowledge
Yogic theory and practice lead to increased self-knowledge. This knowledge is not merely that of the practical kind relating to techniques, but especially of a spiritual sort pertaining to grasping something about the nature of the self at rest .Knowing the self at rest, at peace, as a being rather than merely as an agent or doer, is a genuine kind of knowledge which usually gets lost in the rush of activities and push of desires. The value of discovering one's self and of enjoying one's self as it is, rather than as it is going to be, is indeed a value as well as a kind of knowledge.

Physiological benefits

Asthma
Studies conducted at yoga institutions in India have reported impressive success in improving asthma. It has also been proved that asthma attacks can usually be prevented by yoga methods without resorting to drugs.
Arthritis
Yoga's gentle exercises designed to provide relief to needed joints had been Yoga's slow-motion movements and gentle pressures reach deep into troubled joints. In addition, the easy stretches in conjunction with deep breathing exercises relieve the tension that binds up the muscles and further tightens the joints. Yoga is exercise and relaxation rolled into one - the perfect anti-arthritis formula.
High Blood Pressure
The relaxation and exercise components of yoga have a major role to play in the treatment and prevention of high blood pressure (hypertension). A combination of biofeedback and yogic breathing and relaxation techniques has been found to lower blood pressure and reduce the need for high blood pressure medication in people suffering from it.
Pain Management
Yoga is believed to reduce pain by helping the brain's pain center regulate the gate-controlling mechanism located in the spinal cord and the secretion of natural painkillers in the body. Breathing exercises used in yoga can also reduce pain. Because muscles tend to relax when you exhale, lengthening the time of exhalation can help produce relaxation and reduce tension. Awareness of breathing helps to achieve calmer, slower respiration and aid in relaxation and pain management.
Weight Reduction
Regular yoga practice can help in weight management. Firstly, some of the asanas stimulate sluggish glands to increase their hormonal secretions. The thyroid gland, especially, has a big effect on our weight because it affects body metabolism. There are several asanas, such as the shoulder stand and the fish posture, which are specific for the thyroid gland. Fat metabolism is also increased, so fat is converted to muscle and energy. This means that, as well as losing fat, you will have better muscle tone and a higher vitality level.

Yogic practices that reduce anxiety tend to reduce anxious eating. In addition, yoga deep breathing increases the oxygen intake to the body cells, including the fat cells. This causes increased oxidation or burning up of fat cells. Yogic exercises induce more continuous and deeper breathing which gradually burns, sometimes forcefully, many of the calories already ingested.
Back Pain
Back pain is the most common reason to seek medical attention. Yoga has consistently been used to cure and prevent back pain by enhancing strength and flexibility. Both acute and long-term stress can lead to muscle tension and exacerbate back problems.

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