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Anti-Ageing
A famous concept in Yoga philosophy explains that a person's
age is determined by the flexibility of his spine, and not the
number of years he has lived. Yoga helps in slowing down the
aging process by providing elasticity to the spine, firming
up the skin, easing body tension, strengthening the abdominal
muscles, eliminating the likelihood of a double chin, tightening
loose arm muscles, correcting poor posture and so on. Thus,
of the numerous benefits of Yoga, anti-ageing is an important
one.
Yoga is the key to longer life. It increases mental competence
and helps make one feel younger. Yoga possesses the power to
fight internal as well as external diseases. Hatha Yoga mainly
aims at making people live long. Some of the anti-ageing results
of Yoga are longer life, increased resistance to diseases, increased
vitality, rejuvenation of glands, younger looks and improved
vision and hearing, besides many other mental and emotional
benefits. The inverted Yoga postures often turn gray hair back
to its natural colour, delaying the onset of white hair, thereby
making a person look younger.
Balance
Improved balance refers not only to sharp physical coordination
but also to the balance between the left and right, front and
back and high and low aspects of one's body. Better balance
is one of the major benefits of Yoga.
Asymmetry and imbalance in different parts of the body create
stress and strain. Many times this leads to lead to injury,
pain, or just simple discomfort. Very few of us have proper
body balance. We may be stronger on one side but weaker on the
other. Similarly, we can turn our head or twist our spine more
in one direction than the other. We can bend forwards with ease
but not backwards.
Yoga improves balance and harmony by creating symmetry throughout
your body, making you strong, flexible and balanced. Yoga also
teaches the mental balance between the urge to push, control,
be assertive, and the impulse to yield, submit, be passive.
Thus Yoga helps in attaining a balanced attitudinal equilibrium.
Flexibility
Flexibility and Yoga go together. The more flexible a body,
the better it is for the individual. With increased flexibility
many tensions and conflicts are erased on their own saving one’s
body from unnecessary torture and pain. Pain and stress are
forms of blocked, jammed, misplaced and misused energy. Being
more flexible means opening these energy blockages and freeing
one’s energy circulation. As blocked energy is freely
circulated, one’s whole body feels clean and new because
the trapped parts are freed and released.
Yoga aims at making one’s body completely flexible and
comfortable. Neglect is the root cause of any pain. Problems
like toothaches, backaches, and headaches are all symptoms of
such neglect or abuse. These problems should be listened to
and not ignored. The healthier we are, the less concerned we
will be with our bodies. This frees one’s mind to rediscover
itself. At first, yoga makes us more sensitive and more conscious
of our bodies, aware of the pain caused by the neglect, misuse,
or abuse that go into them. But as we begin to take care of
our bodies, our awareness and self-definition are allowed to
grow. Thus, Yoga helps in making the mind and body more flexible
and athletic.
Personal Values
Yoga also helps in developing and attaining personal values.
Personal values are those values which an individual develops
and lives by all through his life. The main aim of life is to
enjoy every moment and Yoga plays a vital role in this regard.
We all strive for improvement throughout our lives –
an indication of our resolve to improve and remain fit. Yoga
is a continuous process and a lifelong thing, not a stopgap
solution. Practised regularly, it erases a variety of ills in
human beings, ranging from feelings of frustration, persecution
and insecurity. Yoga helps us to attain our goals. Yoga makes
life better.
Remember, our personal values are the foundation of our lives;
we need to continually nurture and tend to them our whole lives.
Personal values define one’s character and develop one’s
personality. Our personality is the way others see us. Respect
must be earned, not just by words but by actions too. If we
don't respect ourselves, no one else will. Yoga helps us in
our resolve to be better and to gain the respect of others.
Love
Yoga plays an important role in shaping one’s love life.
Our lives are shaped by our thoughts and the way we interpret
things and situations. All thoughts, feelings and emotions manifest
in one form or the other in our bodies and our lives. As we
become more sensitive to our inner feelings, we notice good
thoughts beginning to come to our minds, and good thoughts generate
good feelings. Thus we see that the primary and most important
theme of yoga is learning to love and be loved. Yoga helps the
energy of love to flow freely through us, once we start practising
it.
Today, in the world of cut-throat competition, Yoga assumes
a bigger role. The power of love is so strong that we begin
to see things in a different perspective. Through Yoga we can
preach love and its reality to people all around the world.
Yogic practices help one to develop a receptive mind to know
the charisma of love and care in life. We can visualize a whole
new world with the help of Yoga. Yoga gives us an optimistic
point of view, makes us feel that there is, indeed, genuine
cause for hope and joy. The more realistic we are, the more
optimistic we become. The power of love clears one’s mind
of all prejudices, beliefs and misconceptions. Another great
virtue of Yoga is that we learn to forgive others for their
mistakes.
Mental Health
Yoga and mental health are closely interrelated. Those who practise
Yoga experience tremendous changes that have a deep effect on
their mental health. The easing of tension and restoration of
flexibility are some of the mental health benefits derived from
Yoga. Yoga helps in freeing the mind from mental disturbances.
It steadies the mind, decreases nervousness, irritability and
confusion and eases depression and mental fatigue. The benefits
accrued through Yoga differ from person to person as the degree
of mental involvement differs.
Yogic exercises help in the renewal of mental agility. Yoga
possesses the magical power to revive alertness, attention and
willingness to tackle problems. Through generations of boundless
energy, Yoga rekindles enthusiasm in us almost throughout the
day. Yoga provides a backdrop or mood of well-being and assurance
that one naturally enjoys; a great healing power which proves
beneficial for the physical as well as the mental well-being
of an individual.
Healing
Yoga possesses the beneficial power of healing. Yoga has been
used for healing disorders such as acidity, asthma, bronchitis,
cancer, constipation, heart disorders, hypertension, insomnia,
menstrual disorders, obesity, sinusitis and a countless other
diseases. The healing power of Yoga is so great that it is being
assessed for its potential in treating illnesses like sclerosis,
cerebral palsy and osteoporosis. With Yoga, one can control
a variety of body functions, including blood pressure, body
temperature, heart rate, metabolic functions and so on. Studies
have proved that people who practice Yoga regularly have reduced
anxiety, are more resistant to stress, have lower blood pressure,
more efficient heart function and overall improved physical
fitness.
Social values
Yoga and social values are closely related to each other. Social
values are a set of philosophies that an individual carries
for life, that go a long way in making a man complete. Yoga
possesses great power to inculcate these values. With Yoga by
one’s side one has the luxury of tackling any tricky situations
that one comes across in day to day life.
We all wish to be good but reality is somewhat different than
that. Many a time we all become so obdurate, demanding and insistent
that we are hard to get along with. If these irritants are removed
from an individual, one becomes less difficult to deal with.
The social effects of this changed behaviour upon colleagues
and clients, superiors and inferiors, public officers and service
specialists could be awesome.
Yoga inculcates in an individual the universally accepted social
norms of society. One becomes easier to get along with and others
follow this example. Faced with positive qualities and a change
in attitude, others tend to change and respond in the same vein.
Yoga accelerates our sense of duty and responsibility as human
beings. The power of Hatha Yoga is so strong that after several
weeks of practice, an individual is so immersed in it that he
no longer knows himself as he used to be, and each person causes
a conscious change in his own bearing and reaction. The biggest
virtue of Yoga is that the individual is finally in full command
of his own self.
Strength
At times we all feel heavy, down and out, tired and weak. All
the strength in our bodies seems to be lost. On the other hand,
when we feel energetic and strong, life doesn't seem so difficult.
It is very natural that the weaker we are, the lower we feel,
and the stronger we are, the better we feel. When practiced
regularly, Yoga makes one strong and light. Unbelievably, one
feels twice as strong as before and yet feels half one’s
earlier body weight. Yoga makes us feel totally different from
what we were earlier. Our everyday experience is completely
changed the moment we come within the fold of Yoga. With an
increase in strength we find the handling of our bodies more
easy and comfortable, even despite the increase in body weight.
Life becomes easier. Thus, Yoga has the power not only to increase
our mental but our physical attributes as well.
Beauty
Yoga not only increases physical strength but also the grace
and beauty of the face. Yogic practices bring beauty of figure,
a graceful carriage, a melodious voice, a glowing face and a
charming smile. There is hardly anything on this earth which
is not touched by Yoga.
If practised regularly, Yoga asanas help men and women to acquire
figures that enhance their beauty and give them flexibility.
Beauty coupled with flexibility gives a charm and elegance to
body movement. Individuals practising Yoga are endowed with
a particular glow on their faces. Yoga creates a certain aura
around an individual which attracts other people towards them.
Many film stars, industrialists and other famous personalities
have taken to Yogic practices over time to get themselves into
better and more beautiful shape, according to the demands of
their profession. To look beautiful one has to remain free of
all worries and tensions. Yoga helps an individual to attain
these attributes.
Knowledge
Yoga helps an individual not only to realize his own self but
also to understand other issues around him. Yogic theory and practice
lead to increased self-knowledge. Yogic breathing and posture
exercises help to attain and maintain physical and mental health
and relaxation. Knowledge gained through Yoga is not simply that
of the practical kind relating to techniques, but of a spiritual
sort, pertaining to grasping something about the nature, self
and such.
One can not be called a knowledgeable person until unless one
has a proper understanding of what is happening all around.
More than that, if we do not know ourselves, it is very tough
to comprehend the surroundings. Knowing the self at rest and
at peace as a being, rather than merely as an agent or doer,
is a legitimate kind of knowledge but unfortunately it is lost
in the mad rush of fulfilling our desires. The value of discovering
one's own self and of enjoying one's self as it is, rather than
what it is going to be, is undeniably worth as much or more
than any other kind of knowledge.
Weight Reduction
Another great benefit of Yoga is its ability to reduce weight.
Through different asanas of Yoga we can easily reduce extra fat
from our body. Some asanas stimulate sluggish glands to increase
their hormonal secretions. For example, the thyroid gland has
a significant effect on our weight as it affects body metabolism.
Asanas like the shoulder stand and the fish posture are particularly
for the thyroid gland. These asanas increase fat metabolism, converting
fat to muscle and energy. This is like killing two birds with
one stone. One loses body fat and gains better muscle tone and
vitality.
Yogic deep breathing helps in increasing oxygen intake to body
cells, burning up fat cells. Another amazing aspect of Yoga
is that it reduces anxiety which, in turn, reduces anxiety eating.
It is human tendency to swallow food without deriving much satisfaction
and pleasure from it, when we are tense or stressed out. In
the process we end up eating more. On the other hand, if we
approach our meals in a better mood, we are less likely to overeat
in a worried effort to calm our anxieties. Yoga plays an important
role in making us calmer.
Some of us have a habit of eating between meals. Here too,
Yoga helps to curb temptation, so much so that when regularly
practised, we may, in such situations, intentionally turn to
Yoga rather than food. The knowledge and power derived from
Yoga also makes us more aware of problems like obesity which
keep us from overeating. Such is the magic and charisma of Yoga
that one tends to balance weight, i.e. if one’s weight
is normal, it remains the same; if underweight, one gains weight
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