My senior year of high school was the most laid back as well as hectic year of my life. I would work everyday after a 6 hour day at school with 3 children until 7pm every weeknight. My days consisted of 12 constant hours of thinking or working. Due to my energy from moving around all day, once arriving home I couldn’t sit still. I took up yoga in hopes to relax my insane jittery body. Not only did yoga calm my physical body down, it slowed my mind. It made me think more about things that mattered and less about things that did’t. Yoga doesn’t only do wonders for me.
Yoga is unlike any form of exercise because it challenges not only your body physically and mentally but a persons soul. Yoga changes the brain by enlarging certain parts of the brain. A study done by Chantal Villemure and Catherine Bushnel gives yoga an explanation through a series of MRI conducted on regularly yoga students. These areas that were enlarged w
ere the areas of self in the posterior cingulate cortex. This is truly a one of a kind of practice.
Yoga mainly focuses on breath, mind, and soul. Throughout the classes the instructor will remind you that breathing correctly can make or break your class. It’s more a workout for a persons brain instead of physically. To understand the science behind yoga, a person must experience a true yoga experience. Yoga is an enlightenment for most because you practice to be one with nature and what to focus your bad tensions on. Body treatments usually treat depression or anxiety but yoga transforms all parts of the body with bad intentions to create a relaxed and independent person.
Scientists are now undergoing multiple experiments to test if yoga can fix trauma or ADHD. Rick Hanson, a neuropsychologist, said the brain clings onto bad experiences and loses happy ones quick. Meaning us as a society highlight the negative more than the positive because we were born with that instinct. Psychologists are in constant want to see actual results if yoga not only expands the brain but if it can heal damaged parts. (Huffington Post)
Yoga differs on many different levels as you change which practice you participate it. You can do classes that strictly focus on breathing or you can do an intensive yoga that focuses on the poses. Each class is made differently because each practice an individual experiences is different. This is a workout designed to please the person preforming it, not make it dreadful.
If you wanna read a cute and quick reasons as to why yoga is beneficial: http://www.yogajournal.com/article/health/count-yoga-38-ways-yoga-keeps-fit/
Yoga has definitely helped people who suffer from anxiety gain some relief. Here is a link to a study that reveals how yoga combats stress http://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/yoga-for-anxiety-and-depression. Really enjoyed your post.
I enjoyed your topic because I love yoga. It is also very relaxing and is a great way to manage stress. You should also try pilates reformer it has great benefits it can ease the pain of any part of your body and it can be sometimes even more relaxing than yoga. I actually find it very similar.
Here is a link that explains pilates benefits.
Also I agree with you, yoga challenges your body physically and mentally. I believe it is very interesting how breathing takes an important part of the relaxation process that this type of exercise brings.
Here is another link that explains further why breathing is so important while doing yoga.
I really enjoyed reading how yoga practically transformed you and your way of thinking. I looked into this article, http://seattleyoganews.com/15-yoga-poses-and-their-benefits-to-your-body/ highlighting different poses and their benefits. My personal favorite is the Chaturanga, what’s yours?