What is Yoga?

Calm your mind, increase your concentration, relieve tension, tone your muscles with the power of Yoga.

Developed in India, yoga is a psycho-physical discipline with roots going back about 5,000 years. Today, most yoga practices in the West focus on the physical postures called "asanas", breathing exercises called "pranayama", and meditation. However, there's more to it than that, and the deeper you go, the richer and more diverse the tradition becomes. The word "yoga" from the Sanskrit "yuj" means to yoke or bind and often is interpreted as "union". Traditionally, the goal of yoga is union with the true self. These days the focus is often on the more down-to-earth benefits of yoga, including improved physical fitness, mental clarity, greater self-understanding, stress control and general well-being. However, for some, spirituality is a strong underlying theme to their practice. The beauty of yoga is in its versatility, allowing practitioners to focus on the physical, psychological, spiritual or a combination of all three.

Regular yoga practice offers numerous benefits to body and mind including:

  • Toning and strengthening:

    Relaxation massage is essentially the same as a gentle Swedish massage that uses smooth, gliding strokes. The primary purpose will be to help you relax, and the massage therapist will probably move at a slower pace and use light pressure. There are still substantial health benefits to a relaxation massage, including calming the nervous system, promoting a sense of well-being, improving blood circulation and stimulating the body's lymphatic system, which carries away waste products.

     

  • Increase flexibility:

    Holding yoga poses at the edge of comfort stretch and lengthen muscles, tendons, and allow them to become more flexible.

  • Improves respiration:

    Deep breathing during yoga practice opens the chest and strengthens the diaphragm.

  • Improves concentration:

    Moving mindfully while maintaining awareness of body and breath develops focus, attention, and concentration.

  • Promote relaxation:

    The combination of stretching and breathing releases body tension and calms the nervous system and emotions. Giving sense of renewal.

  • Improves health:

    In addition to exercising the mind and body, yoga exercises and massages the glands and organs and increases circulation throughout the body, improving digestion, elimination of toxins, and the promotion of overall health.

  • Weight Control:

    Yoga can make you look and feel better, regardless of your weight. Regular yoga can help you change your body in a couple of ways. First, the exercises will help you burn calories (200 - 600 calories per hour), tone your muscles, and improve your posture. Second, yoga is also about healthy living, which includes a healthy diet. The most important part of weight loss is a commitment to maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

  • Getting started:

    Anyone can do yoga - young and old, male and female, athletics or non-athletics and people of any religion and belief. We can all benefit from yoga. So come in, get started and find out what yoga can do for you in the friendly and relaxing atmosphere of SHOONCH.