We all know that the body is designed to move and physical activity is one of the most important things we can do to maintain our health and longevity. At the outset, many people who start practising yoga do so primarily for physical reasons – to be more fit, to improve flexibility, to relieve stress, and enhance health. But over the long term, as their practice develops many practitioners initial motivation and reason for practising changes. There is a shift, where the motivation is turned inward, changing from a primarily physical desire to practise yoga to one that is more psychological and bring about a sense of fulfilling your life’s purpose.
Improves Mindset
Yoga is a philosophy with a scientific approach in its implementation. It offers many things, but at its core it is about self-observation and self-study, cultivating a practice of self-compassion along with continued growth and non-judgmental awareness.
When you practice yoga it improves your concentration and transforms your energy.
Improves Physical Health
The growing level of research on how yoga improves health points to tangible results and measurable health benefits. Those of us who practice yoga intuitively experience how yoga reduces depression and anxiety. Yoga practices help protect the brain from decline and brain shrinkage. This is important because as we age this part of the brain is responsible for our memory, cognition and emotional balance.
Please see – [May 2015 study published by Frontiers in Human Neuroscience]
Mental Stimulation
In addition yoga practices such as meditation stimulates the left hemisphere of the brain that is linked to the parasympathetic nervous system that encourages the rest and relax mode of the nervous system. This helps to bring about emotional balance as left hemisphere activity encourages emotions like deep-seated joy, a sense of peace and calm.
Ultimately the practice of yoga is not simply about improving health and flexibility, balancing the emotions and calming the mind, yoga is about transformation. It’s about being open-minded, it’s a practice that allows us to be present to who we are, and in order to receive and enjoy the benefits it requires hard work, self-study and meditation with a commitment to return to the mat.