Truth about Yogasana and Step by Step Guide for Beginners
It is a very common misconception among people that yoga is a kind of physical exercise that improves flexibility of the body. Another thing is people find Yoga to be uninteresting and boring when compared to aerobic exercises because of slow movements. What they miss here is any fast paced activity is not going to calm the mind, now let us break the myths, yoga is not a physical activity, what is followed by many as yoga is just Yogasana which is a small part of yoga.
Yoga is a science of self awareness, self discovery and self-transformation. The purpose of yoga is to improve the quality of life of the individual and to improve the overall society. So, if you belong to that category of people who just consider yoga a fix for headaches, arthritis, back pain, blood pressure and acidity then please stop reading the article. Yes, all these benefits are real and people will get these benefits if they practice a few yogasanas, but they are just the by products, the purpose of yoga is much higher.
While it is really difficult for people to learn yoga from a couple of webpages, it is not impossible. There is a wide spread misconception that yoga should not be learned with out a proper guru, that is absolute rubbish, people keep saying this because yoga is a big business in itself. While a good guru is important to develop spiritually it is not a prerequisite in learning yoga. Yoga originated in India nearly around 7000 years before (some say it originated around 5000 years before) and there were no written languages then, everything people learnt was through word of mouth in a gurukul (residential school). So, the concept of learning from a teacher originated because of the educational setup and nothing else.
It is always better to learn through good sources and books rather than a third rated teacher (anyone can get a certification in yoga these days). Saying that let us have a better look at Yoga and how a beginner should start. Yoga is not a religious practice (It requires some chanting, if you are ok with that then you will not have any issues in learning yoga). The important thing is the food that you eat. The food should invariably be Sattvic (learn more about sattvic foods).
Preparing the Body and Mind for Yoga:
If there is one single crime that 90% of the world is committing then it is the way they breathe. Good breathing technique is often underestimated, but it is a critical building block of good health. Slow, deep breathing gets rid of carbon dioxide waste. It takes plenty of clean, fresh oxygen to your brain and muscles. Experts estimate that proper breathing helps your body eliminate toxins 15 times faster than poor, shallow breathing.
There are three things essential for survival food, water and oxygen. A person can survive without food for couple of weeks and can survive without water for a week. This is because the body is created in such a way that it stores the nutrients and water in the body to be used during such conditions. But a person cannot survive without oxygen for more than 10 mins, this is because the body don’t have the facility to store oxygen. Our body is created in such a way, because oxygen which is the elixir of life is also poisonous. Oxygen creates free radicals and our body requires anti-oxidants regularly to neutralise those free radicals. Oxygen also creates a lot of toxins while oxidizing, so it is important to get rid of these toxins. The three ways of getting rid of the toxins are
1) Taking bath twice a day, to open up the pores and to get rid of the sweat
2) Drink lot of water (around 15 glasses a day)
3) Proper deep breathing. (this is the most important part of all, it supplies the body with sufficient oxygen as well as remove all toxins).
Like I said before around 90% of the people have incorrect breathing habits. While breathing, the lower torso should be used more than the upper torso. The diaphragm should move up and down, and the breathing out should start with the lower abdomen.
When the air is brought down to the lower portion of the lungs, where the oxygen exchange is most efficient, heart rate slows, blood pressure decreases, muscles relax, anxiety eases and the mind calms down. This is the basis of pranayama. If there is one simple exercise that can cure all the common diseases the it is the correct breathing technique. Each breath should expand your belly, your lower back and ribs. Relax your shoulders and do not breathe with your chest. Put your hands on your stomach and feel them rise and fall with every breath. You don’t need to be in any particular posture to develop good breathing habits.
Yoga 1: Savasana – Corpse or Death Pose:
Weight Loss Geeks often talk a lot about metabolism. Metabolism is of two types anabolism and catabolism, where anabolism is the building up process and catabolism is the breaking down process. All the aerobic exercises are catabolic in nature and will spend energy, but yogasanas are meant to save energy, however there are asanas that are catabolic in nature, the very essence of yoga is to build on the life energy. Savasana is the most basic of asanas.
Lying on the back (always use a mattress, never do it on a floor), the arms and legs should be spread. As a thumb rule any asana that done lying down should have the eyes closed. Now practice the breathing technique that is taught above. The whole body should be relaxed onto the mat, focus all your awareness on the chest and abdomen rising and falling with each breath. Just scan your body and find out if you are holding any of it with stress. If you find stress at any muscle relax them slowly. Often the shoulders will have stress for the beginners. Don’t try to meditate, just focus on normal deep and slow breathing using your abdomen, no need to meditate or do something that is not required. You can do it for 10 mins, this will remove stress from your body and mind and we can start off with other yogasanas based on your requirements and flexibility.
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Category: Yoga
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