Train Your Mind and Body at The Same Time!

An ancient Indian practice has been building itself into people’s fitness and wellness regimes globally. Yoga is characterized as an activity to achieve relaxation, get fitter or have a spiritual experience. However, in the last five years yoga has undoubtedly become widely popular, with yoga studios opening everywhere and gyms including group yoga classes in their training. The great part about yoga is that there is no need to practice it in a gym or studio, but it can be done in your own backyard or even bedroom!    While some people still feel yoga as a practice for people looking for inner peace and meditation, yoga is rapidly being embraced globally to improve their fitness and body tone.

Yoga is known to improve the body and mind connection. This results in reduced stress, and hence an overall better mood. From ridding one’s anxiety to brightening the day, there is much that yoga can do for your mind. Yoga helps body functionality by improving the ability to interpret and respond to signals sent between the brain and various muscles. This increased connectedness of mind and body results in more fluid actions and faster reactions to unexpected situations.

Practicing yoga is done by stringing together different asanas or body postures. These different stances concentrate on breathing exercises and focus on developing your body strength. Today there are many types of yoga to try out depending on the goals you would like to achieve. Some of the major types to try out are:

• Vinyasa – also known as flow yoga, this form links slowly synchronized movements and breathing which is ideal for beginners.
• Hatha – is designed to improve your strength and flexibility with a mix of poses, meditation and breathing exercises.
• Kundalini – designed to stimulate life force energy which is believed to be at the base of your spine, through chanting and breath work.
• Iyengar – a more static form of yoga that utilizes props like blocks and straps. Due to its less strenuous nature, this type of yoga is good for elderly practitioners or people with physical limitations.
• Power yoga – usually the more demanding school of yoga done at a much quicker pace, aiming to keep the brain engaged while working on different muscle groups.

There are plenty of other types of yoga to try out, but the consensus is that it is a great activity for people looking to work on both their physical and mental side. Ultimately yoga has undoubtedly a great many benefits and with so many different kinds, anyone is able to practice it, anywhere!