Many people know of yoga but fewer have attempted it. Most people who try it find it is wonderful and they receive a wide assortment of benefits out of it. Others attempt it and for some reason they have the wrong instructor about them at that moment, or it’s a type of yoga that doesn’t work because of their body and they give it up. Other do not attempt it at all because they feel apprehensive about attending a course by themselves or if yoga is something somewhat weird and mythical.
Why not to try it?
For the men and women who find Yoga the travel just gets better for the regular practice of yoga brings a load of health benefits. You usually sleep better, breathe better, have more energy, tone your body and calm down – everything from the normal practice of doing some postures. Of course having a great teacher that will help you perform the postures, or asanas as they’re known within yoga circles, is a excellent gift.
Teachers are well trained and they’ll compile a beautiful flow of asanas designed to carry your body through a range of motions like a forward bend, backward bend, spinal twist, an inversion and the ever popular relaxation posture. It’s harder to achieve this sort of flow when you’re taking yourself via a series of postures. A well run course will leave you feeling relaxed, refreshed and ready for the day – or the night if it’s a later class. Good teachers will change their patterns based on the time of day.
Origin of Yoga
Yoga came from the tradition of self realisation where monks wanted to make contact with the divine and desired to develop strong, flexible and healthful bodies to be able to do the quantity of prayer and meditation required to travel in their psyches and achieve somewhere wonderful and religious. Because of this it’s always very useful in helping people calm, centre and create a greater degree of self awareness. Most people nowadays use Yoga as a fitness programme and it works well in that format.
Doing some of the active types of Yoga such as Ashtanga or Bikram or Lyengar will keep you healthy and fit. Other more gentle forms of Yoga are both valuable and have slightly more effect on the mastery of the mind and calming of the soul than the active ones do but nevertheless maintain a body toned and supple.
Holistic method
For folks who had a more negative experience with yoga or who are concerned about attending a course in case it’s ‘odd’ I recommend you to think again. Yoga is a holistic method to work with your body and health and is well worth pursuing. Give it another try. Find another class. Speak to people who attend other courses and I am positive you’ll get a Yoga to suit you. Then you can really enjoy the advantages of a historical practice but with a modern twist. Learn about Restorative Yoga by attending workshops like the ‘Rising of the Phoenix’ and then use it yourself in your home within your self help regime. You’ll find it quite amazing in its consequences.