Many people think that yoga is something that people do for spiritual enlightenment. Or they think it is soft and gentle seated meditation to soothing music and incense. Then there are others who believe it is for the super flexible. The truth is that yoga is a discipline that allows the body to heal itself and keep fit. In turn you will spend less for medical care.
The poses are usually sequenced in a way that your body can get deeper into the joints and muscles and ligaments. You use gravity to help as you stretch and bend your body between the poses. A regular practice of 3 to 4 times a week for an hour each time will help you build strength, flexibility, focus, and stamina. Even the most basic poses will give you as much work as you find with some of the more expensive gym equipment.
Your medical care costs are a direct result of the amount of care that you need. If you exercise at all on a regular basis you will find an increase in your health. You will have lower blood pressure and cholesterol. I've even heard of people who have been able to ward off diabetes doing a regular fitness routine.
What makes yoga different than all the other fitness programs out there? Yoga is an ancient tradition of poses for the body. It is not designed to build bulky muscles or flat abs. These things can be obtained. But the main objective of the poses in yoga is to bring your body back to its original state. All of our lives our bodies are acted upon by external forces. Gravity, sitting for long periods, carrying heavy things, or lifting heavy loads can all have an impact on the structure of our bodies. The lunges and transitions between these poses have an effect of stretching and lengthening the spine. Once the spine has been lengthen, the poses work on developing the supportive muscles around the skeleton. While you improve your posture, you strengthen the muscles to maintain the good posture that yoga provides for you.
When breathing exercises are attached to the movements you can get a bigger cardiovascular workout as well. It is not as cardiovascular as things like running or swimming or cycling. But it will help to improve endurance for all of those things. Deep, slow, and smooth breathing techniques also help develop calm and stress free minds in difficult situations. The practice of yoga will improve your health in many ways. Anyone can do it at any age. It is not competitive. It is time for your body to heal itself and get back to its natural state of being.