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Yoga has been described as a science which seeks to achieve the harmonious and balanced development of the body, mind and soul.  It is a system which allows us to bring culture, balance and happiness to ourselves.  It works via a need for strong mental discipline and the ancient theories, which it is based on regarding the interconnection between the mind and body, are now being regularly supported by modern scientific theory.  Yoga consists of a number of different exercises or poses.

Examples of these poses are the cat and cow poses.  Both are connected and begin with you on all fours on the floor.  Arching the back upwards like a cornered cat places you in the cat pose and the reverse, lowering the back puts you into the cow pose.

Another common form of exercise is a forward bend that will help in the stretching of the lower back and hamstring muscles.  There are a number of other advantages to forward bends:  They release tension in the back neck and shoulder as well as increasing the flexibility of the spine.  Forward bends can be uncomfortable if you have any injuries in the next or back area, but regularly performing will help assists in the recovery of these injuries and even strengthen the area for the future.

The counterpart of a forward bend is a back bend.  These open up the chest, hips and rib cage area.  As well as strengthening the arms, they also provide increased strength and flexibility to the shoulders.  This type of exercise is fantastic at increasing the stability of the spine, but is also useful for relieving built up tension along the front of the body and the hips.  The relationship between back and forward bends is a perfect example of the importance of the bodies balance in Yoga. 

Hatha Yoga poses were developed in India during the fifteenth century.  They are designed as an aid to relaxation and healing and usually introduced with a concept of “the contemplation of one reality”.  The result of using these exercises properly and in conjunction with suitable breathing exercises and meditation is an increase in vitality, physical health and a stronger mental health.  Hatha Yoga exercises have become a part of numerous different Yoga disciplines over the years and it’s quite common to see exercises such as the half moon posture, the bow posture of the salutation posture even if it is not Hatha Yoga you are practising.  This is because the principles of Yoga and the movements and balances required are fairly consistent from one discipline to another.
 
Another simple Yoga exercise is doing the twist.  Twists will strengthen and stretch your back or abdominal muscles and help to increase the flexibility of your spine.  They also aid in increasing your bodies circulation that brings oxygen supplies to your cells.  This fresh blood and oxygen supply that is released as you twist will improve the functioning of your bodies internal organs.

A yoga session will often begin with a standing pose.  These are a very good low impact, low stress starting point for a Yoga session.  Standing poses benefit the legs and hips and help provide a sense of centring, balance and of course strength to the legs themselves.  The end of a Yoga session is usually marked by a group of poses known as Relation and Restorative Poses.  This group of exercises is designed to give the positive energies and forces released by the Yoga session to move throughout your body and benefit you completely.

Author : Zul Affandy of (http://www.vikmall.com)

For a lot of people the first image that will pop into their head when they think of Yoga is a little old man in a loincloth sitting on top of a stone pillar with his legs crossed and his arms on his knees.  He’s probably chanting, humming or got a look of relaxation and serenity on his face.  I’m not a person who likes to sit still and I hate any minute that I feel is wasted so this idea of sitting around doing nothing all day was not something that appealed to me.  I’ve changed that initial perception quite a lot and in this article I want to tell you about the personal journey that taught me about the benefits of yoga for a very non-spiritual person.

The first yoga class I ever went to I spend a lot of time sitting in silence with a bored expression on my face and thinking, “This is so dumb”.  I listened to the instructor drone on about inner peace and harmony and balance and energy flowing through my body and I was pretty close to never going back again.  Then I got lucky.

One of the guys in the class was a professor at the local university and it struck me as a little strange that a professor of biology would be doing this spiritual Yoga thing.  I got an opportunity and speak to him briefly.  Actually he singled me out and observed I looked bored.  He explained he had felt the same way when he began and then he translated the instructors talk into biology terms and it was all very sound.

That hit me like a ton of bricks.  As I thought on it more and more I could see this from a purely scientific point of view.  For instance take the ‘energy’ that flows through our body.  A lot of people are turned off when they start to hear talk like that, but it’s a very core component of Yoga.  I substituted ‘blood’ for energy and looked at this thought process again.

I know that blood carries nutrients and oxygen around our body.  I know that if our cells don’t receive these nutrients and supplements they become weak and we can become ill.  I know that people can become sick if they have high or low blood pressure.  The regular healthy flow of blood is clearly a very important factor in us staying healthy.  Of course, Yoga was first used many hundreds of years ago and while it would be arrogant to assume that we know everything about circulation and blood flow, we certainly know more than the average Chinese peasant from that time.  “Energy” is just a nice word that anyone can understand for blood flow. 

Yoga stretches out certain muscle areas and allows our blood to flow more freely and bring the nutrients to all parts of the body which need them.  That is a nice scientific explanation I am quite happy to accept.  You can do the same with the other ‘alternative’ terminology you don’t relate to when you hear the instructor talking about it.  Inner peace, oneness, emotional calm - it’s all just a very dressed up way of saying concentrate on one thing - your blood flow and the health it is bringing you, or your breathing and the supply of life giving oxygen it brings you.  Concentrate on that just for this one small part of the day and make being alive and healthy your only goal.  Forget about what’s happening at the office because you cannot do it from here.  Forget about what your husband or wife is doing or whether the kids are being bullied at school and just concentrate on being you, being alive and being healthy.

Now stress has been attributed as a major factor in over 40% of all medical issues.  Stress, in a nutshell is caused by thinking too much.  This practice shows us how to let all those worries be something we can think about later and leaves the brain free to concentrate on doing all it’s vital health giving functions. 

It’s strange that as I’ve done more and more Yoga I have developed a spiritual side that I never had before.  It’s not a religious thing but more a case of recognizing that my own health and wellbeing are important and worthy of being made a priority.  Whether the same happens for you is yet to be seen, but if you’ve been putting off learning Yoga or giving it a try because of all the spiritual talk I can assure you there are scientific reasons behind it and that if you give it a chance you may just be surprised.

Author : Zul Affandy of (http://www.vikmall.com)

Yoga is different things to different people, so what it means to you will depend greatly on how you were introduced to it and how you enjoyed your initial experiences with it. For some people Yoga is simply a method of exercising that ensures they have a healthy supple body.  For other people Yoga transcends a method of exercise and is a spiritual experience that allows them to find the balance and centring their lives need. This type of Yoga comes closer to a life philosophy than any other.

Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga is often placed in this final type when assessing it’s place as a Yoga discipline. It descends from a document known as Korunta Yoga which deals with the 8 spiritual movements which are described by Patanjali in Sutra Yoga. Today most Yoga disciplines are directly descended from the descriptions of Yoga exercises in these documents, and so most forms of Yoga are variations of Ashtanga Vinyasi. 

Getting a complete understanding of Ashtanga Yoga is important as it’s proponents treat it as more that a form of exercise. While it’s base is in physical movement it is suggested that it’s power in fact comes from the strength of spirit that is developed from regular and disciplined practice of the 8 stages of Yoga. Through the eight stages of Yoga the body and mind become pure, and so they are seen as a purifying discipline. 

Furthermore the discipline of Ashtanga Vinyasa deals with a profound and deep way of relating to others. The closest word to describe this aspect of the Yoga discipline is manners, but it really does go beyond that. Yoga is a discipline of balance, and the physical balance required to complete many of the exercises should be mirrored by an internal balance or harmony of the soul. It is said that a hyperactive person canot be successful with Yoga and this is true on several levels. Firstly they lack the discipline to sit calmly through the exercises, but they also lack the mental calm to focus wholly and completely on a single task. Yoga requires deep concentrating on the simple act of breathing and feeling the breath bring life to different areas of your body.

The power of Yoga is found in it’s combination of the physical strength and flexibility needed to complete movements and the mental discipline that is required to maintain them. Yoga is not just a form of exercise but most often it is thought of as a form of meditation. Meditating successfully with Yoga requires a pureness of thought and singularity of focus that is not found in most modern exercise programs. It seeks to bring the body back into balance and focus on maintaining that balance.

This aspect of Yoga is often misunderstood, but balance plays a huge role in Eastern Medicine and the purpose of Yoga and similar meditative techniques is often no more than to achieve and maintain the level of balance that keeps our bodies healthy. Yoga teachers will often talk about one-ness and inner harmony, and this can be mis-interpreted by people who lack a holistic understanding of what Yoga seeks to achieve. Simple the harmony that is achieved through Meditation and Yoga is a self-contentment or acceptance of oneself. This shows that the first step to becoming completely happy and healthy is to be content with yourself and your life.

Author : Zul Affandy of (http://www.vikmall.com)

There are a great many people who are in the unfortunate position of having to live with painful aches and pains caused by severely damaged or inflamed joints.  For some people it is a discomfort, and that is bad enough, but for others arthritis can turn them into a virtual cripples.  Arthritis has been something that has affected people throughout history since prehistoric times, but it is only recently that we have begun to understand it.

Arthritis is a join disease that can cause problems in any area of the body where two or more bones intersect.  The arthritis itself can affect the join in a number of different ways, targeting different areas such as the synovium, the muscles or tendons or the cartilage.  Cartilage is the soft protective material that protects the ends of the joints from rubbing against each other and the entire join is encased in a type of capsule that is lined with the tissue synovium.

Arthritis is a broad term which we use to describe a group of over 100 disease that effect these area of the body.  Wherever there is a problem involving inflammation around the joints and associated discomfit in movement we refer to it as arthritis despite the multiple different causes that can lead to this.  The other common name that is used in the same broad fashion is rheumatism.

Because it affects so many people arthritis is a very public problem and is discussed openly and frequently.  Roughly one in every seven Americans is thought to have arthritis in some form and relieving the pain of Arthritis is a primary concern for all people suffering from it.  Some people take medication, but others have found relief from the pain in exercises performed at a gentle pace and intensity.  Yoga is the perfect example of this type of exercise.

Yoga is a very old art originating in India up to 4000 years ago.  It uses poses or postures along with deeply controlled breathing exercises that lead to benefits to the body mind and spirit.  Yoga is a very versatile form of exercise and meditation and it is used, in different forms, to treat a very wide range of medical conditions and injuries including such diverse areas as fibromyalgia, arthritic, migraine headaches, chronic pain, and sports injuries.
 
The common misconception with using Yoga for arthritis pain is that it will mean contorting and bending the body in unnatural ways in an effort to force the body to accept the pain and develop some level of comfort.  The core attributes of a Yoga for Arthritis Program are still going to be breathing and meditation but the exercises are specially catered to the individuals level of movement and comfort.  Stretching will still be involved but they are a part of Yoga’s core statement of developing balance and harmony between the body and mind and enhancing the bodies strength and flexibility.  Each pose or position assumed during a Yoga workout has a specific purpose and a specific physical benefit.  Sometimes the poses will be done in rapid succession to create heat in the body, a style known as Vinyasa Yoga, and sometimes they are performed more slowly to increase the level of stamina, perfection in the pose and core strength through holding the pose.  The poses themselves remain the same but how they are entered and approached will vary greatly from discipline to discipline and teacher to teacher.

The Yoga poses can be tailored specially for specific joints or combinations of joints.  For instance a common area for arthritis to strike is the hands and knuckles and in this instance there would be a series of poses that straighten and lengthen the fingers, although the level of comfort in the arthritis sufferer always dictates the extent of this.  Stretching the hands also feed energy to that area of the body and over time will assist the arthritis in the fingers.  The heat generated by these movements is proven to be very beneficial for sufferers of arthritis.

Author : Zul Affandy of (http://www.vikmall.com)

In today’s society carrying excess weight is becoming the norm rather than the exception.  Lifestyles are increasingly sedentary, peoples diet is becoming increasingly processed and fatty and food contains more and more calories, additives and preservatives.  Children prefer television over playing with their friends, which is perhaps a direct reflection on parents who prefer television over socializing or even making time for their children.  This only scratches the surface of the social move towards a sedentary and unhealthy society which is making more and more people fat. 

Yoga is a discipline designed to make the body strong and flexible and enhance the overall health of the digestive system as well as the hormonal and circulatory systems.  It also assists us in controlling mental stress and achieving peace and clarity of mind.  Yoga also has strong spiritual benefits which will see you becoming more content with yourself and more comfortable with who you are, all aspects which will lead to emotional stability.  This mental component is often neglected in a physical approach to weight loss, but it is critical and should not be overlooked.  So called “Comfort food” is a frequent problem for people who yo-yo diet(rapidly lose and gain weight) and the ability to be happy with your health and who you are reduces the need for this.

Yoga is based on deep and controlled breathing which is a method for enhancing our oxygen intake.  This allows oxygen to travel to the fat cells in our body and assist in their processing.  One has to ask given the benefits why more people don’t practice Yoga?

Many people think of Yoga as a passive or mystical discipline - something for hippies - not them.  This is a shame as Yoga improves the physical body as well as our mental health.  While it is practiced by a great many people in Eastern Populations only about 2% of the population in the United States has clicked on to the many benefits.

Yoga considers all the aspects that contribute to obesity - not just the physical but also the mental and spiritual reasons behind them.  regular Yoga is not only relaxing but it does bring the body back towards it’s ideal weight and at the same time enhance strength, flexibility and stamina.  Yoga nuts tend to end up slim, agile and efficient in everything they do and what’s more it is suitable for people of all ages.

A more active form of Yoga, Kundalini, was introduced to America in 1969 by Yogi Bhajan.  It is a more active form of Yoga combining different methods of breathing, meditation and movement to compensate for the fact the American population has been conditioned to see exercise as requiring sweating.

Yoga can also be used to resist the temptation of snacking between meals.  techniques learned from yoga can be used to suppress impulses such as that we think of as hunger between meals(if you eat proper meals you cannot be hungry between them - merely bored or restless). 

Yoga is not just a method of losing weight, it is actually a method which restores a natural balance to our body and moves us towards our natural state.  This has an interesting consequence with weight.  It we are overweight then yes, regular Yoga will cause us to lose weight.  However if we are at our ideal weight we will not drop weight, and if we weight too little we will gain weight until we are at our biologically natural size.

Author : Zul Affandy of (http://www.vikmall.com)

In a corporate environment one of the things that makes a critical difference for employees is a relaxed congenial environment.  The headquarters of Google is one of the most productive places in the world and every idea that comes out of the Google thinking tank seems to be another winner, yet this is achieved in a building that is filled with slides, relaxation equipment, staff libraries, canteens and even beds.  The message is clear - we care about the results not about how long or hard you work.  Not surprisingly the results come and the staff are happy to work long hours in a relaxing environment knowing that they will not be harshly judged by their co-workers for taking a relaxation break.  In less ideal environments the opposite of this is often true with stress levels high because every decision, every move, everything could have the future of a company hanging on it.  Successful businesses recognize that this stress is not productive and that if it can be reduced the level of accomplishment will rise proportionately.  Google is the extreme of a trend that has been developing for a long time - providing recreation facilities inside corporate buildings.  One of the most successful and popular is a Yoga centre.

The stress of the modern corporate world is usually a counterproductive thing, it puts people on a knife-edge and frequently leads to mistakes that a calmer more relaxed person would not make.  Yoga is known to be one of the most effective forms of stress relief.  Yoga is a special type of discipline that can be utilised on a number of different levels, places and situations.  A perfect example is the Yoga breathing exercises such as Anulem and Vinolum.  These are used to calm the thought process and allow you to maintain focus when overwhelmed with too much information or too many thoughts and problems at once.  And because they are merely a deep and focused way of breathing they can be performed sitting in a chair, standing in an elevator or even while driving a car.  Cramps and bad back posture are also often treated with nothing more than a steady breathing exercise with some quite spectacular results in some cases. 

The simplicity of being taught to breath properly may strike some corporates as strange.  Nobody teaches us to breath, or sit or even stand. These are simple things that we spend our whole day doing, yet at no point in our lives are we actively taught them. Incorrect posture when sitting is a very serious problem if you are in front of a monitor all day, but simply learning the correct way to breath can align your body properly and solve many of the problems associated with this bad posture.  If you take deep breathes and focus on them your body is pulled in to shape by this most natural of human movements.

Where specific problems such as Obesity or joint pain are present, a Yoga class can be specially tailored to address them. Blood pressure problems and ailments of the kidney can be treated with Yogic Kriyas.  Poor agility is a result of poor balance and this issue is frequently confronted and quickly overcome with a range of balance-enhancing Yoga exercises.  Some people who have reported daily occurrences of problems like anger, tension, hypertension, stress and headaches have achieved very good results simply from using Yoga to it’s full potential.  The increased flexibility that Yoga provides is a godsend for people in sedentary job environments.

The mental advantages of Yoga are also quite clear.  Yoga has an ability to redirect our thinking to a more positive frame. The most common form of Yoga used in corporate stress management is Hatha Yoga because it is a particularly potent form of physiological and psychological cleansing.  In any environment stress is a normal occurrence, what differentiates a successful person from an unsuccessful one (and by extension a successful business from an unsuccessful one) is how we deal with that stress.  Hatha Yoga, and Yoga in general provide executives with the tools they need to deal with stress on a daily basis.

Some businesses will go as far as getting a staff medical done and passing the results on to a Yoga instructor who will formulate a customized program for an individual based on their health needs.  Different Yoga techniques deal with different problems and a qualified instructor will be able to find those best suited to an individual’s personal situation. Through recognizing Yoga’s ability to deal with the individual needs of employees and incorporating it into part of the daily work schedule businesses are creating a happier work environment and being rewarded by their employees by increased productivity and a greater loyalty and appreciation of their employer.

Author : Zul Affandy of (http://www.vikmall.com)

Yoga and office workers don’t usually mix, but they should.  When you work in an office you will usually be spending a lot of time hunched over a keyboard and sitting in a seat.  It can also be an environment that is prone to produce a whole heap of stress and very few outlets to release it.  In this article we examine how these things are bad for your general health and how Yoga can help.

Let’s start with a little bit about what Yoga is.  At it’s simplest level it is a very effective form of exercise.  It involves flexing the body into static poses and holding them which is a fantastic method of increasing blood flow and circulation through various choke points in the body. 

Yoga also puts a lot of emphasis on the correct patterns of breathing which allows you body to get the most benefit from each breath of air we take.  Expanding from this we take care to un-clutter our thoughts when we are performing Yoga and the more advancement someone makes with the discipline the more focussed and calm they will become.  Have you ever told someone to take a breath to calm him or her down?  With Yoga it is the same principle.
So how does this all help our office worker?

An office environment is usually neither a calm nor a healthy place.  Most office workers will spend the majority of their day stuck in a chair and often staring at a computer screen or hunched over paperwork or a keyboard.  This causes a lot of tension to well up, particularly in the back and shoulders.  The legs are also often denied a supply of fresh blood by the long hours spend sitting down. 

Yoga forces the body to move in ways it would not usually do in an office environment.  This can be a very effective way of clearing choke points and allowing circulation to resume it’s normal flow.  The blood takes valuable supplies of oxygen and nutrients with it wherever it goes and without these supplies the organs cannot operate properly.  The more starved the organs become the sicker we will become, so clearly restoring blood flow to the areas that are being deprived of it is an important health priority.

Did you know that most diseases are directly caused or antagonized by stress?  It’s true, and it’s a much more serious problem than most people ever know.  In an office environment this is even more so.  The pressure of deadlines, the constant activity and the need to constantly be on the move are all primary factors in escalating stress levels.

imagine for a moment - stopping.  Forget about all the things that you need to get done in the next week.  Forget about the rent payment and the assignment you have to finish.  Forget about your boss and your family and concentrate on one thing.  Breathing.  Yoga is as much a mental discipline as it is a physical one and it will teach you to clear your thoughts and focus on the activity at hand.  While you will certainly benefit from the health benefits of Yoga, the mental benefits can be truly life changing.  People who learn Yoga usually deal with stress better and are able to calm and centre themselves when there is turmoil all around them.

If you think these benefits would make your life easier then you owe it to yourself to start learning Yoga as soon as possible.

Author : Zul Affandy of (http://www.vikmall.com)

This is a short quiz to see if the ideas you have about Yoga are correct.  Yoga is a very broad description that takes in a number of different types and styles so the questions and the explanations given for the answers are equally broad.

Question One:  What is Yoga?

a/  An Exercise Program.
b/  A Meditation Program.
c/  A Healing Program.
d/  All of the above.

If you answered (D) then you get a tick.  Well done.  Yoga can be any of these things and often is all of them at once.  At it’s simplest level it is an exercise program which, when practised regularly will increase strength and flexibility in the body.  Because of the speed that positions are changed and the emphasis on static exercise many Yoga classes put an emphasis on breathing and directing energy and thought to different parts of the body.  This aspect of Yoga is where it most closely resembles a Meditation program, though exactly what meditation means in each person’s individual case is going to be different depending on him or her.  Finally, Yoga is most definitely a form of healing.  It allows the increased flow of blood, which carries oxygen and nutrients to all parts of the body, greatly accelerating the healing rate.  The stretching actions are also good for healing tissue injuries providing they are done to the right depth.  Overextending can lead to re-damaging an injury, so it’s important to know your limits.  Yoga can also be a fantastic pre-emptive healing strategy and this is why Prenatal yoga classes are so popular.  They prepare a women’s body for childbirth and because of the strengthening of the specific muscles women who undergo prenatal Yoga find it much easier to recover and get back into shape after a birth.

Questions Two:  Yoga Exercises are________?

a/  Fast.
b/  Slow.
c/  Static.
d/  All of the above.

Yoga is usually a static exercise regime so (C) is your answer here.  However an argument can be made for (B) because the movements between exercises are also part of the Yoga equation.  Often an exercise will involve a long slow stretch, gradually pushing a little further, but ultimately the stretch needs to be held for a certain amount of time to gain it’s full benefit.  Fast exercise programs are all about getting the heart and blood pumping, whereas Yoga is about releasing blockages and getting the blood flowing to all parts of the body.  This difference is quite important and a key element in the success and popularity of Yoga.

Question Three:  Do You Have to Do Yoga In Classes?

A/  Yes.
B/  No.

The answer is no (B) - of course you don’t.  Yoga is something that can be a fantastic group activity, but it doesn’t need to be.  You are quite capable of doing Yoga sitting in your bedroom and no-one will ever know.  Other people go to the part to do Yoga in the sun with some friends.  Others will do Yoga in an airport between stopovers.  How and where you do Yoga is up to you.  What’s fantastic is you don’t need much room, and all it takes is a little time to work through your routine.  Also, if no-one sees you doing it, nobody is going to know, unlike going for a run you won’t be panting like a dog or sweating like a big at the end of a session.

Author : Zul Affandy of (http://www.vikmall.com)

Yoga has been practiced for 400 years and is a system of exercises which are very easy and effective at increasing a persons overall health ad well-being.  Yoga instructors and students alike will often talk about phrases like “being in harmony with oneself and surroundings” and indeed this is a primary goal of Yoga, to achieve a unity of body, mind and spirit in a oneness with the world around us.  Yoga will teach a person to stimulate internal organs including the likes of the prostate, which is practically never exercised by any other discipline.  It will teach you to apply pressure upon glandular areas of the body and it will combine this with meditation and breathing techniques that will grant you the ability to turn your concentration inward to examine your feelings and thoughts.

There are a number of different aspects in Yoga, but one of the most appealing is that this is a set of exercises that anyone can enjoy and benefit from.  It does not require any expensive equipment or a special setting, it can be practiced by anyone, man or women, rich or poor, young or old, healthy or ill.  Perhaps it’s greatest appeal has always been that it is a set of beneficial exercises that anyone can do at any time and in any place.  Yoga is even a safe form of exercise for pregnant women and prenatal Yoga classes are often recommended to expectant mothers.  A specially tailored prenatal yoga class will help prepare a women, physically and mentally to become a mother.  It gives her a number of useful tools for coping with labour and the strengthening of the body means that the recovery period after giving birth will be much shorter.

There is a preconception amongst many men that Yoga is a female pastime, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.  Yoga provides numerous benefits to men:  decreasing stress, assisting in relaxation and increasing power, stamina and flexibility across the board. 

Senior citizens can get a number of benefits from a yoga course and are often the first to praise the mental advantages such as an increased attention span and a better memory both long and short term.

Even young children will benefit from a Yoga regime by stronger bones, increased circulation and a better disposition resulting from breathing exercises and the relaxation of the exercise.

Regardless of the person Yoga has a number of lasting benefits and will aid in a wide variety of different health issues.  Regular practitioners of yoga will live an overall enhanced lifestyle, are more likely to have a strong memory and better stamina combined with a stronger sense of balance.  Even late starters can use Yoga to combat a range of health disorders from Blood pressure to arthritis to breathing orders.

It’s no wonder when you consider all the different benefits of Yoga how very popular it is, and the fact that it is a regime of exercise that is open to everyone is one more big advantage of it.  It means that families can stay fit and healthy together and include everyone from the youngest child through to the oldest family members.  The exercises can be performed at varying levels of difficulty and intensity, which means that two people at completely different levels of strength and flexibility can go through the same motions and both benefit.

Author : Zul Affandy of (http://www.vikmall.com)

Four thousand years ago Yoga was practiced in India, today it is popular all over the world and in numerous different styles and forms.  Not only is the popularity of this form of exercises remarkable, but so is the results and benefits that people are getting from Yoga every day.  The benefits can be broadly split into three different groups - physical benefits, mental benefits and spiritual benefits.  Which benefits are most important to an individual will vary based on their preconceptions and motivations, but anyone can experience beneficial results in all three areas from a prolonged use of Yoga.
Physical Benefits

The first types of benefits are those purely on a physical level.  Yoga is at it’s core a group of exercises.  Some disciplines will use these exercises to prepare the body for a deeper meditative process, but they will still experience physical benefits from performing them as exercises.  The deep breathing exercise has immediate health benefits due to increasing the intake of oxygen into the system.  This oxygen is transported by the blood to our organs and tissues, which will become sick without sufficient oxygen and nutrients.  Frequently these tissues and organs are starved of nutrients due to a number of reasons including poor air intake or quality, bad circulation or disease within the body.  Yoga increases the oxygen intake, removes blockages in the circulation to ensure it’s safe delivery and also stimulates the lymphatic system to aid in the removal of toxins from our system, leaving our bodies auto immune system more free to deal with invading disease or viruses.

Beyond this internal health which many people take for granted, Yoga will also greatly increase a persons balance, flexibility and muscle strength.
Mental Benefits.

Many people see this as the most import benefit that we can gain from Yoga.  It will of course depend on what your priorities are but the mental benefits of Yoga are certainly impressive.  The ability to focus on ones breathing has a natural consequence of allowing extraneous thoughts to melt away and a state of calmness to be introduced.  This is not a feat to be taken lightly as it provides a valuable skill in the ability to remain calm amidst turmoil.  A mother can use this when everything happens at once in the home, a businessperson can use it to focus on a single task despite everyone around him being panicked or a soldier can use it to block out the bullets and noise and focus on an important task.
 
Yoga also requires a high level of discipline from those practicing it - both the discipline required to perform the exercises themselves and the discipline needed to stick to a regular exercise regime.  Again this is something that comes surprisingly easy to people once they have mastered the basis of the Yoga breathing exercises.
Spiritual Benefits

Generally newcomers to yoga will not understand these benefits for some time.  There are a number of benefits that can fall into the ’spiritual’ category.  Yoga itself is built around a philosophy that includes it’s own set of ethics, but these are seldom taught as part of Western Yoga practise.  Instead the spiritual benefits we talk about tend to be a persona acceptance of yourself and contentment with your place in life.  For some people it goes beyond that but discussing spiritual feelings is always difficult to do so broadly.  Overall the level of spiritual satisfaction you get is likely to depend on your own personal beliefs.

Author : Zul Affandy of (http://www.vikmall.com)