For several years now - and even more so since the health crisis, where the need for well-being and reconnection with oneself is so keenly felt - not a day, a post, an article has not praised yoga as a panacea.
So, is it a fad or universal benefits? Yoga, a practice reserved for bobos who listen to their chakras, or a life posture for a top physical and mental state? Have we failed in life if we are not a master yogi at 40?
A philosophy of life
Originally, in India, yoga is a true philosophy of life, benevolent and positive, which goes far beyondphysical exercise ; it is also a spiritual quest that allows the alignment of the body, the mind, and the surrounding world, for an overall harmony. Yoga in Sanskrit means "union between body and mind", and it combines breathing (prayanama), meditation and postures (asana).
Fabulous anti-stress , here are 5 unstoppable arguments to convince you to roll out your mat and make yourself a fan.
1 – A practice for all
Yoga is suitable for everyone. You just have to choose the version that best suits your case, from the gentlest to the most dynamic, from the most spiritual to the most muscular. Everyone has their own pace and level of flexibility, and everyone holds the posture for as long as they can. It is yoga that adapts to you. Even if you don't move much, at least you breathe, and you take care of yourself to recharge your batteries. In all cases, yoga provides serenity and a feeling of peace.
2 – Feel good about yourself
A yoga session soothes the mind and makes the body light. It is time for yourself, which allows you to know yourself better physically, intellectually, emotionally, and to regain confidence. It is like a bubble where you learn to calm your mind and control your breathing, which massages the different organs and oxygenates the body. Yoga contributes to general well-being, you feel balanced, de-stressed, in a good mood. You sleep better and can concentrate again.
3 – Feel aligned
Reconnecting with yourself, your body and others... at a time when we live at a frantic pace, we end up forgetting our bodies. Yoga allows you to reconnect with it, to become aware of each of its parts, and all the emotions and sensations linked to it, to be able to better channel and manage them. This practice reduces muscular and nervous tension, the pressure decreases, we relax. Stress and associated ailments, such as the usual back pain, disappear as if by magic. Here and now, we anchor ourselves in the present, we let go and this new balance opens you up to others.
4 – Soften up gently
Even those who are stiff as stakes gain flexibility session after session, millimeter by millimeter, at all levels of the body, from the wrists to the back to the hips. After stretching, we will seek for each posture the maximum amplitude that we can achieve. Ah! what joy to finally put our hands flat in front of our feet, when we could not even touch the ground with the tips of our fingers ☺ and to feel the incredible sensation that all our limbs are more elongated, more slender! We feel grown and invincible.
Being more flexible means improving your joints, being more mobile and comfortable in all the movements of the day.
5 – Build deep muscle
Yoga postures allow for surface and deep muscle work, but gently, without any trauma. All parts of the body are worked, the upper limbs, lower limbs, the trunk and the pelvis. Yoga tones the muscles, sheaths and sculpts the body, providing a smooth and harmonious appearance. It helps increase the level of muscular endurance depending on the type of yoga chosen . For example, Ashtanga yoga, the most acrobatic for those who have too much energy, quickly chains postures together while changing pace. While the gentlest, Vishranta yoga, is essentially made to relax and unwind .
A healthy mind resides in a healthy body
Yoga may be a current trend, but it is above all an age-old art of living, particularly suited to our times for its benefits on the entire body. It contributes to our quest for meaning and a return to the essential. This discipline of life strengthens us a little more each day because beyond the postures, yoga includes breathing, meditation,diet , attitude towards others, positive thinking… So everyone to your mats ☺
Namaste (I salute the divine within you)
