The Spiritual Benefits Of Yoga

Yoga is a practice for union. When yoga is being practiced the participant becomes relaxed and tries to achieve a higher state of mind.(Fisher 80) There are different types of yoga that help achieve different states of mind. Raja yoga is the path to mental concentration and is used by meditative people. Jnana yoga is the path to rational inquiry which is done by rational people, and for naturally active people there is karma yoga which is the path of right action. “Yoga is known as the disconnection of the connection with suffering.” –The Bhagavad Gita (hinduwisdom.info) Hinduism also has a series of gods and goddess who Hindu’s pray to and worship. Durga whom is called the Ideal Warrior, Sita, who is the

They developed the different types of yogas to be pathways to realization that would lead to transcendence and knowledge of understanding. Smith also points out, “if you tracers the length and breadth of the universe saying of everything you can see and conceive, “not the…not this,” what remains will be God” (Smith,1991). This statement allows for one to understand just how vast the right direction in understanding God is.

Yoga is a comprehensive system of mind/body techniques that is thousands of years old. Its techniques are designed to improve physical and mental health and well being, and include such practices as physical postures and stretching, breathing exercises (pranayama), focused concentration, meditation, visualization, and chanting (mantra) (Desikachar, 1999; van der Kolk, 2014).

For many people with hectic, stressful lives, relaxation means zoning out in front of the TV at the end of the day or getting some extra sleep at the end of the weekend, but for a certain group of people relaxing does not include this. These people are called yogis; those who achieve relaxation through the art of meditation, breathing, stretching, and finding inner peace. In today’s fast paced society it is hard to find a way to fully relax because people are constantly being forced to push their minds and bodies to the limit, which can result in high levels of stress. Rather than fighting against life’s hardships, people who practice yoga value deep relaxation in order to be free of stress and live each day in peace and harmony

Previously discussed was a study centered on professionals using yoga as a technique for improving relationships with their patients, but this study emphasizes the importance of having compassion for yourself. In Newsome et. al (2012) study, thirty-one college students about to enter helping professions, including counseling, nursing, teaching, etc., attended a 6 week long mindfulness group which included mindful yoga. This research showed that after 6 weeks, the students' perceived stress levels had decreased and their mindfulness and self-compassion significantly increased. After the intervention, participants' feelings and thoughts pertaining to the impact of mindful yoga were recorded. One student claimed, "I am beginning to have more

Yoga is an ancient Hindu spiritual meditation practice that some believe dates back to 3300 BCE, during the Indus Valley Civilization. Modern wellness practices use yoga as part of a cardio routine and as a therapy to alleviate health disorders such as

The class attended for my Participant Observation Assignment was a forty-five minute yoga class at the Rowan University Recreation Center. During the class, the instructor demonstrated beginner yoga moves for participants to follow. The nature of the class comprised of slow, relaxing music while we performed these yoga moves, and was a very positive setting. The learning theories that were applied by the instructor to accomplish the moves were Bandura’s Observational Learning, B.F. Skinner’s Operant Conditioning and Direct Instruction Approach.

In order to save one’s self from bad Karma, Hindus practice the moksha, which is the liberation “from the wheel of life, death, and rebirth” (Halverson). In doing so, “one must strive to detach oneself from the desires of the ego” (Halverson). One way to do that is to practice Yoga, which is a “physical and mental discipline that is practiced for the purpose of spiritual liberation or empowerment” (Halverson). That way, by detaching from the physical world, Hindus can feel closer to

Different bodies have different degrees of flexibility and in this case one size does not fit all. For most of the complex yoga posture which require great flexibility to do, there are plenty of modifications which allow you to get the same benefits for those who are less flexible. In fact one of the original reasons I took up yoga because I was not flexible and wanted to improve this aspect of my physical dimension.

Yoga is a multibillion dollar industry. It is popular in the United States and is widely recognized for its therapeutic benefits. It lowers blood pressure and provides long-term relief from stress. Yoga is the perfect antidote for many people living stressful lives. This is likely an important reason for its rising popularity.

Yoga is a discipline both involving physical and mental control that originated in India. The word Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit word, "yug", meaning union and it means the joining of the individual spirit with the universal spirit. The type of yoga known as Hatha Yoga, ("Ha"- sun, "tha"-moon) is what is most commonly practiced and this yoga involves the path of the mind and body and is the most physical. There are eight limbs or steps of Hatha Yoga, the first step being the five Yamas. There are five yamas and these concern your behavior to the world.

Yoga is a practical aid, not a religion. Yoga is an ancient art based on a harmonizing system of development for the body, mind, and spirit. The continued practice of yoga will lead you to a sense of peace and well-being, and also a feeling of being at one with their environment. This is a simple definition.

The benefits of Yoga are endless. It effects the human mind and body in a variety of ways. Roughly 15 million Americans practice yoga, annually there is an expected increase of twenty percent in participants in the United States ("Yoga Statistics"). While Yoga is often thought of as a practice that involves circus like poses and seemingly impossible flexibility; it not. Even bedridden patients can gain benefit from imagining themselves going through the poses and practicing breathing techniques that are appropriate to them (Dickenson 24-25). Yoga is not something that you do at the studio and leave behind. It becomes a way of life; leading to healthier habits, improving psychological health, and encouraging spiritual growth. An article on

In today’s environment, many people are suffering with the stress and anxiety of day to day living and are finding themselves unable to cope with life’s little emergencies. Prescription drugs are on the rise due to the increasing need for people to deal with their stress and anxiety. However, many people are searching for ways to be less stressed and live a happy and healthy life without drugs. If stress and anxiety are getting the best of you, then think about grabbing a mat and giving yoga and meditation a spin. With that in mind, this paper will take a look at the benefits of yoga and meditation to create a more peaceful and healthy lifestyle.

My yoga journey started more than ten years ago with an intense and dedicated interest in learning yoga postures from Ashtanga, Hatha, Jivamukti, etc. In the beginning I practised most days of the week and imagined that I would never tire, in spite of long trips to the studio in the early hours of the morning. A pleasant reward was that my blood pressure dropped back to normal and I could stop taking medicines. So, from the start, I knew that yoga could provide health benefits as well as an enormous feeling of wellbeing. No matter how tired and fed-up one felt at the beginning of a session, the mental lift afterwards was deeply satisfying. Meditation, Savasana, or corpse posture, wound up every session so it also became clear that postures or asanas were only part of the remedy. Meditation and yoga practise from the very beginning fired my interest in searching for an inner consciousness. This is an easily misunderstood word and means many different things to many different people. Some will associate it with awareness, or mindfulness