Guest post from Lyndsey McLaughlin

Benefits of Yoga

Yoga is a form of exercise which is fantastic for toning the body, improving health, and creating inner peace. The meaning of yoga is ‘union’ and it is followed as an ancient practice, dating back as far as 5,000 years ago and originating in India. The great thing about yoga is that it can be practised by people of all ages and levels of fitness, as the main principal of it is stretching and holding poses. Many people do not enjoy high impact cardio exercises, particularly those with health problems, overweight or older people, as these can prove very difficult, so yoga is an ideal alternative to this.

There are various types of yoga, including integral, which essentially focuses on the breathing side of yoga with meditation and even chanting featuring as part of the classes. Hatha is another type of yoga, which focuses on slow stretching, with some meditation involved. There is even a laughter yoga class which, as the name suggests, involves laughter techniques to create a sense of happiness and wellbeing throughout the body. There are a variety of other types of yoga which share the same principal.

All yoga classes require participants to undertake poses which vary in difficulty. Moves start as basic positions for beginners such as the sun salutation, downward facing dog and the bridge pose. With practice, these can quickly progress to more challenging positions, as the partaker advances, with poses being held for longer periods of time.

Yoga can really benefit people who have conditions such as arthritis, as the positions stretch the muscles and improve the core of the body, whilst increasing the blood flow and circulation throughout the body. It can also help to prevent other conditions such as osteoporosis and boost antioxidants throughout the body. In addition to this, yoga relies heavily on specific breathing techniques which are carried out as the moves are composed. These entail inhaling and exhaling at specific times throughout the pose, and holding the breath as required. This can really have a calming influence on the body, akin to taking part in meditation and allows the pulse to decrease and the mind and body to relax. This can also help people have a better quality of sleep and promote energy throughout the day.

Yoga has become increasingly popular throughout the years, and classes can usually be found in leisure centres and gyms. Yoga is also available on the popular wii fit, which means you can take part in the exercises in the comfort of your own home.

There is a more recent alternative to yoga called Pilates, which involves movements to focus on building core strength. Unlike yoga, Pilates is more about exercise than mind and body. Both are fantastic for completely toning the body and vastly improving flexibility.

Lyndsey McLaughlin is a freelance writer. She is currently a resident writer for Online Schools, which researches areas of higher learning, how to pick an online school, and education. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, writing and socialising.