What Is Yoga? The Information, Basic Tips & Rules For Beginners

There is a famous and common saying “Health is wealth” it is true and Worth it. Without good health, one can neither enjoy the wealth nor enjoy happiness over life.
Good health defines as healthy by the physical, feeling of mental, social well-being, and a person free of diseases. To be free of body disorders as well as feeling good all time it is necessary that a person takes some precaution. However, it depends upon various things.

The answer to most of the problems can be “Yoga,” performing on a regular basis cannot only benefit in mental and physical health but also provide biochemical benefits.

What is Yoga Posture?

In yoga, an asana is a comfortably positioning of the body in a number of specific postures and holding it. Patanjali defines “asana” as “to be seated in a position that is firm, but relaxed. In other terms, Yoga is a combination of breathing techniques, meditation, and physical exercises.

Yoga is a fabulous way of keeping fit and healthy. If you practice it on a regular basis, it brings you relief from stress and makes your body flexible. It is a simple way to connect your body, mind, and soul.

It is strongly advised that if people feel discomfort or cause discomfort in any Posture, he or she should stop right away doing that specific yoga posture.

Why To Do Yoga?

There are different yoga postures for different parts for the body, each specific postures benefit that particular part as well as overall the system of the body. There are millions and millions of cells in our body, performing yoga regularly can make up our body’s need for constant repair and nourishment. Yoga not only nurtures the tissues and cells but also tones up the whole-body systems and improves proper blood circulation and removal of waste products.

Health Benefits Of Regular Yoga Practice

In today’s busy life, people do not have enough time to do lengthy and demanding activities to keep them fit and healthy. Regular practice of yoga can be divined for those people, as it can help you keep fit in body, mind, and spirit. It is an activity that can help one to keep fit by spending only 15 minutes to 90 minutes daily as per the availability of his time. Below are some of the benefits of yoga.

1. Improves your flexibility
2. Boosts immune system
3. Control your blood pressure
4. Increases your self-esteem
5. Boost the digestive system and prevents IBS
6. Supports your connective tissue
7. Gives your lungs room to breathe
8. Keeps allergies and viruses at bay
9. Eases your pain
10. Helps you to sleep deeper

Besides this daily yoga routine at home can help to decrease sodium, glucose, triglycerides, and cholesterol. It can also help in the reduction of bad cholesterol and promote good cholesterol. Regular practice of yoga can increase hemoglobin, lymphocyte count, and also helps to improve our immunity. Along with various benefits, it, furthermore, helps to keep joints and spine supple, strong and flexible.

Which Is Best? Yoga Or Exercise?

Both Yoga and traditional exercise can be benefited to the body in some way or another. But yoga can be much more beneficial in comparison to the traditional exercises. After doing yoga postures one would not feel fresh on the other hand traditional exercises can make you tired.

Yoga

• Regular practice of yoga can make your body flexible.
• There is no Age limitation for yoga practice.
• Yoga has the capability to overcome diseases and prevents it.
• The regular practice of Yoga can improve digestion.
• Yoga can remove all impurities from the blood.
• All parts of the bodies along with spiritual ones are benefited.
• The practice of Yoga can change people’s behavior for the good.

Traditional Exercises

• Regular exercise can make your body more stiff and inflexible.
• In traditional exercise, Old people cannot practice exercises.
• Through exercise, diseases can not eliminated.
• In exercise, digestion tends to become weak as blood supply to other parts of the body increases.
• Exercise does not impact the purification of Blood.
• Exercises can only benefit to Physical body.
• In exercise, no Integrity or behavioral changes are achieved.

What Is Pranayama? Why It Is An Important Yoga Asana

The term “Pranayama” means control of Breath; it is incorporated with two words (Prana+ayama) The word “Prana” means breath or vital energy to the body, a subtle level’s prana that represents the pranic energy responsible for life or life force and the word “Ayama” mean self-control.

In another word, pranayama can be defined as a “Control of Breath.”In simple terms, Pranayama is an exercise of breathing in and breathing out, and holding of the inhaled or exhaled breath from the lungs for some time is pranayama.

Pranayama has a hidden power, which not only gives a physical and spiritual benefit but can also enhance your life span, depending on the rate of your breathing. Faster the breathing period, shorter the life span may be in comparison with a person whose breathing is slower.

It is presumed that throughout the life span, one can have a maximum of 800 million breaths, so if your breathing rate is 15 per minute, you may live up to 100 years. So it is necessary for the person to control the breathing to once in one minute to live up to 1500 years.

It is a secret formula of longevity that ancient Rishi-Muni; Sages and Saints had, as mentioned in the many religious books in the world, including Geeta, Ramayana, etc., another important point is said for the yoga science is this pranayama cleanses 72,000 nadis or channels throughout the body.

Through this cleanse process it cleanses the blood and the respiratory system. When the breathing is deeper, the blood with oxygen goes in a larger amount in the brain, capillaries, heart, and lungs.

20 Advanced Yoga Poses and Names

Practicing advanced yoga poses needs more energy, elasticity, and power over the body than of the regular or simple yoga poses. It takes months or even years to get your body to get into flexibility for advanced yoga poses. If you have mastered essential balances, stretches, bends, inversions, twists, etc., then you are ready for advanced yoga postures. You can start with primary advanced yoga poses Sun Salutation and can carry on to another advanced yoga poses. Below are given 20 advanced Yoga Poses that you can begin with.

1. Head stand posture (sirsasana)
2. Shoulder stand posture (Sarvangasana)
3. Plough posture (Halasana)
4. Bow posture (Dhanurasana)
5. Peacock posture (Mayurasana)
6. Eight curve posture (Astavakrasana)
7. Eagle posture (Gurudasana)
8. Scorpion posture (vrscikasana)
9. Cock posture (Kukkutasana)
10. Foetus posture (Garbhasana)
11. Fish posture (Matsyasana)
12. Swan posture (Hansasana)
13. Camel posture (Utrasana)
14. Bow posture (Dhanurasana)
15. Wheel posture (Chakrasana)
16. Meditative crane pose (Bakadhyanasana)
17. One leg pose (Aikapadasana)
18. Tortoise pose (Kurmasana)
19. Cow’s face pose(Gomukkasana)
20. Locked lotus pose (Budda-padamasana)

Note: These yoga postures are difficult postures, it is necessary to take the advice of some yoga teacher to start the postures. Among all difficult yoga postures, you can get maximum benefit in Sun salutation (Surya Namaskar) yoga postures.

Thing Required For Doing Yoga

To begin with your regular session you may need your own yoga kit. Below are the lists of things that are needed for your yoga session.

• One plastic sheet.
• One thick blanket.
• One cotton bed sheet.
• One towel.
• Water bottle.

Note: Do not eat any heavy meals before three hours of yoga practice. One can have a little fruit until half an hour before performing yoga. Furthermore, do not drink more than a small glass of water half an hour before the yoga practice. If required drink very little during yoga practice. If one sweats while yoga practices, he must wipe it with a towel to energize the body; it can help to prevent germs from entering into the body through the skin.

How To Start Yoga At Home For Beginners

Before starting the yoga practice one should take care of few things.

• Place a plastic sheet on the ground.
• Place the blanket on the plastic sheet.
• Covered the blanket with a washed cotton bed sheets for hygiene and comfort.
• Then one should lie down on the floor facing upward; keeping the body straight in Shavasana (corpse posture), remember not to confuse with yoga Nidra it is somewhat different.
• Do not move any part from the body, concentrate on the breathing only for 3 minutes or 30/40 breathing.
• Breathing should be continued until the body is fully relaxed and ready for the practice.
• Keep your eyes closed while breathing, aim to the image of God, or some universal significance like the river, mountain, temple, church, ocean, cross, Saint, flower, clouds, etc.
• Ask for excuses from everyone or forgive me to everyone, even your staunch enemies, this, which will free your mind from anxiety and tension during the practice.

As soon as you finish the above producer begins with simple inhalation-exhalation yoga called pranayama. Inhale through nostrils slowly and steadily without making any sound and then exhale slowly continue this process silently and continuously.

Inhalation and exhalation time period should be the same suppose 10 seconds each. Practice this for at least 25 times. Performing pranayama will help to remove the basic cause that gives you discomfort or instability of the spine and joints.

To bring stability of spine and joints this yoga must be performed it can be the best joint freeing and the spine freeing exercises.

Basic Rules to Remember Before Doing Yoga

• Yoga and pranayama can be practiced in both morning and in the evenings. If the person doesn’t have time to do the practice at both times, they can do any time available to them.
• Practicing yoga at the same place and at the same time is the best, no matter what time of day or season your practice.
• It is important that you practice yoga on an empty stomach in the morning or after 4 to5 hours of lunch in the evening.
• The person habitual of taking tea or coffee in the morning or evening, they must do the practices after one hour of taking drinks.
• Yoga can be performed before bath, or you can even a bath after exercise, but remember there should be a gap of 30 minutes in between.
• While performing yoga your body must be relaxed in every posture after each posture, and one should feel fresh and relaxed.
• It is necessary that one should not overexert beyond his capacity for holding the posture for a long duration and tire himself.
• Daily practice of yoga is necessary for fast progress. Women should not practice during a menstrual period, after the third month of pregnancy and up to six months after childbirth.
• One must practice in the surrounding where one gets sufficient oxygen to maintain good health. The area should be clean, well-ventilated space, or open space.
• The place should be free from smoke, dust, bad odor, dampness, and excessive breeze.
• If you are practicing in a room fan or air conditioners should not be used.
• At the time of practice, one may wear clothes as per the season or weather. However, the dress should be loose and comfortable.
• The body must be kept free from ornaments and other items, one should keep a smiling face during yoga practice.

Yoga is not the discovery of recent ages, it is an invention of ancient sages and monks, and they have experimented on themselves for thousands of years.