Chapters
Yoga is an activity that combines physical exercise and meditation. One of the best features of yoga is that it challenges your body without making you feel overwhelmed. Meanwhile, the mind is made to focus on breathing exercises and is invited to learn to fully accept oneself until one feels calm.
There are many methods available in order to learn, practice and master yoga. However, before you start learning, stop and ask yourself why do you want to learn yoga. There can be multiple reasons for you to learn this ancient art. Your motivation to learn yoga will determine which type of yoga classes you want to join.
You can learn yoga using the various videos on YouTube or even download suitable apps that will teach you many aspects of yoga such as meditation or breathing techniques. There are also many yoga classes that teach many different types of yoga all over Malaysia.
Yoga includes breathing exercises, meditation, and mastering a number of poses designed to support relaxation. A number of studies prove that the combination of breathing, and physical and mental exercises in yoga can provide benefits for the body. Let’s look at some of the benefits of yoga for better physical and mental health.
What are the Different Types of Yoga?
If you are thinking about taking up yoga, you may wonder which type of yoga is the most suitable for your needs. Let’s have a look at some of the common types of yoga:
Hatha Yoga
Practising Hatha yoga will give you the ability to recognize basic postures and names of poses or yoga movements easily. It also teaches breathing techniques. This yoga is mainly focused on attaining spiritual perfection.
Ashtanga yoga
Ashtanga yoga is very dynamic, intense, and often feels very athletic as it involves a series of poses that you must follow which is commonly referred to as the Ashtanga series. It is an athletic version of Hatha yoga. It has fixed postures over the course of six levels.
Vinyasa Yoga
his type of yoga usually flows dynamically between poses and requires coordination between the body, posture, and breath. It is said to be one of the best starting points for people who want to learn yoga. It helps with losing weight because it increases your heart rate which in turn boosts metabolism.
Hot Yoga
Hot yoga is a type of yoga performed in a hot room with a temperature of 30 to 40 degrees Celsius with a series of 26 movements. This type of yoga helps reduced stress and increases flexibility. Since people actually sweat a lot in hot yoga, it is said to help with losing weight as well.
Aerial Yoga
Aerial yoga allows you to achieve more challenging poses such as headstands more easily. This yoga challenges you as it keeps you off the ground. This in turn is an effective way to not only improve your strength but also your flexibility.
The different types of yoga incorporate many different yoga poses or asanas such as mountain, cat cow and tree.
Please make sure to wear comfortable attire that does not restrict your movement when you are practising yoga moves. If you are learning yoga from home, please ensure that you have a yoga mat that will serve as a base to perform yoga movements. Clean yoga mats regularly as you tend to sweat on them.
Having yoga blocks can help support your body while doing yoga and a yoga strap is a tool used to perfect body posture when doing yoga. Having all the necessary equipment when practising yoga will help you feel comfortable and have better focus.
Good for the Heart
A study shows that yoga can help improve heart health while reducing the risk factors of heart disease. In the study, the blood pressure and pulse rate of people who regularly practised yoga for five years were lower than people who did not do yoga.
It is known that high blood pressure is the main cause of heart disease and stroke. Therefore, lowering high blood pressure helps reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Another research proves that yoga practice routines combined with dietary changes and proper stress management can slow down the development of heart disease.
People with heart disease or high blood pressure may need to modify some poses and avoid postures that place the head below the heart.
Improves posture
Having good posture is a huge benefit of yoga in a world where many of us are hunched over desks, typing on keyboards, and craning our necks down to look at our phones.
Maintaining good posture can help reduce neck pain, increase energy levels, and improve digestion. Yoga can help straighten your spine. Poses such as downward facing dog, dolphin, wheel, and forearm stand can strengthen the muscles that stretch in the neck and shoulders to improve posture and lengthen the spine.
In a study of 80 women published in the Journal of Physical Therapy Science, a programme of intense, short-term yoga posture sessions contributed more to improving spine mobility – especially bending – than any other conventional exercise programme.
Boost Brain Function
Regular exercise and training can stimulate brain function and give a boost to energy levels, according to several studies.
A 2017 study showed that Hatha yoga improves the brain's executive function, as well as people's moods. Executive function is brain activity related to goal-directed behaviour and controlling emotional responses and habits.
Research from 2012 found that a single yoga session improved the speed and accuracy of working memory more than a single session of aerobic exercise. However, the effect occurs only after training, and it is short-lived.
Other research shows that yoga can improve mental flexibility, task switching, and recall of information in older adults.
If you want to know to learn more about yoga, check out: All You Need to Know about Yoga
Overcome Fatigue
A recent study looked at burnout among hospital workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers concluded that yoga-based meditation helps reduce the effects of fatigue by increasing interoceptive awareness.
Interoceptive awareness is the ability to pay attention to internal signals and respond appropriately. This means that yoga can help people become more in tune with, and even more likely to listen to, their body's signals. The results of this research were published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
Lower Stress Levels
Yoga can help reduce the level of stress experienced by a person. Yoga is known for its ability to relieve stress and increase relaxation.
In fact, many studies have shown that yoga can reduce the secretion of cortisol, the primary stress hormone. The research was conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India.
A study by the Department of Integrative and Internal Medicine V, Kliniken Essen-Mitte, Germany showed the strong effect of yoga on stress with 24 female respondents who considered themselves emotionally depressed.
After the three-month yoga program, the women had significantly lower cortisol levels. They also have lower levels of stress, anxiety, fatigue, and depression.
Establishing a consistent yoga routine is the best way to experience the difference yoga can make.
Improves Quality of Sleep
Poor sleep quality has been linked to obesity, high blood pressure, and depression, among other disorders. Studies show that incorporating yoga into your routine can help improve sleep quality.
In a study by the Swami Vivekananda Yoga Research Foundation, India, 69 elderly patients were assigned to practice yoga, take herbal preparations or be part of a control group. The yoga group fell asleep faster, more soundly and felt calmer in the morning than the other group.
Another study by the Department of Behavioral Science, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center looked at the effect of yoga on the quality of sleep in patients with lymphoma. They found that yoga reduces sleep disturbances, improves the quality and duration of sleep and reduces the need for sleeping pills in patients.
Although how it works is still unclear, yoga has been shown to increase the secretion of melatonin, the hormone that regulates sleep and wakefulness. Yoga also has significant effects on anxiety, depression, chronic pain, and stress - all common contributors to sleep problems.
Reduce anxiety and depression
Yoga can increase your awareness of your current experience and make you more focused, and as a result, will be able to help you become more aware of negative moods.
Yoga activities are designed to increase your ability to solve and move against life's challenges, even in stressful situations, help fight fatigue, lethargy and agitation related to depression and anxiety and can maintain and support participation in work, social relationships and intimate relationships. Therefore, practising yoga can help overcome depression and anxiety.
Yoga is also especially helpful because of its gentle, calming, and fluid nature. Each pose is flexible, so people of all levels can practice. Your instructor will emphasize breathing, concentration, and smooth movement. They’ll also encourage you to focus on positive images to calm the body and mind.
Since there are many different types of yoga available and so many benefits that you can gain by learning it, start learning yoga with a Superprof instructor today!
The platform that connects tutors and students
Enjoyed this article? Leave a rating.
Loading...
