yoga health benefits
Yoga used to be viewed as an exotic, "Eastern" form of spiritual practice that requires austere discipline in the practice of hard-to-achieve postures. When yoga was first introduced to American audiences, it was taken up by the Ram Dass crowd but viewed somewhat askance by the average person. That has all changed. Visit yoga health benefits for details. These days, yoga is considered one of many mainstream forms of exercise and relaxation, and most people would agree that yoga provides an experience of enhanced well-being and physical comfort, while more enthusiastic supporters of yoga claim that it can provide deep, long-lasting relief from chronic disease, pain, premature aging, and will generally elevate one's level of chi or life-force.Anyone who has taken a few yoga classes will attest that even the gentlest series of yoga postures, if gone through under the guidance of an experienced teacher in a pleasant environment, can make you feel much better at the end of a yoga session than you did at the beginning. What causes this feeling, which can actually border on euphoria? Recent science points to several causes of the "feel-good" effect.First, for the average sedentary person, just putting one's body through a series of gentle stretches can release endorphins and initiate a "back-in-one's-body" awareness that is a pleasant change from the more familiar "in our heads" state. This is a simple point but an important one. Many Americans experience themselves primarily as thinking beings, and we identify ourselves with our thoughts (likes, dislikes, etc). Meanwhile, our miraculous bodies hum along quietly underneath and alongside our thinking consciousnesses. In fact, many people don't even recognize that they have bodies unless they fall ill or bark their shins on a coffee table.What yoga does for the typical desk-bound or "in their head" person is that it gives them a sense of movement for movement's sake that is entirely pleasurable (as long as they don't push themselves too hard). Some people refer to this experience as "making friends with the body." Slogans aside, the end result is that at the conclusion of a yoga session, one simply feels better-more relaxed, mentally clearer, calmer, more focused, and less hurried and worried.In fact, most people have little interest in the modern science of mindfulness or the ancient tradition of the spiritual practice of yoga. Instead, they have found that when they show up for yoga class (or follow tapes or videos in their home) at least once a week, when they go through a series of yoga poses and let themselves breathe a little deeper for a time, they just feel better-physically and mentally.But there's only one way to find out for yourself, and that's to actually try it. My advice is to Google "gentle yoga" or "beginner's yoga" along with the name of your city of town, find a studio that looks appealing, and just show up for a class. If you keep an open mind and come willing to experience something new, you just may join the millions of other Americans who have come to view their yoga practice as an essential part of a healthy, happy, vibrant life. Check this link for more.