What Is Yoga, And Is It Right For You?

If you pay any attention to health and fitness, then you’ve heard of yoga. If you’re only dipping your toe into the world of exercise, you’ve probably still heard of yoga. You just may not have any idea what it is or why it’s supposed to be helpful. This is especially true if your only knowledge of yoga comes from television and movies.

Yoga is several different things all wrapped up in one. It’s exercise, it’s meditation, and it’s even spirituality for those who use it as such. If you’re curious how one form of exercise can be all those things, then keep reading!

The Basics Of Yoga

In simple terms, yoga is a form of exercise that involves holding various poses for a short period. As you hold these poses, your muscles are stretched and worked. The result is that you get a full body workout that none the less manages to be low impact.

Yoga was created as a meditative art in Southeast Asia. Monks would meditate upon their existence as they stretched and held their bodies in uncomfortable ways. As they forced their body to move, they would empower themselves to have a mind that controls their body as opposed to the other way around. They would train themselves to control and ignore their physical desires, and in doing so seek spirituality.

While there are still plenty of people who use yoga as a spiritual tool, the practice spread throughout the world. There are plenty of people who use yoga as meditation but aren’t necessarily spiritual, and much more who use it as a form of exercise without any thought to meditation. People simply use yoga as a tool, practice it for their reasons, and enjoy the greater physical strength that comes from working out.

Is Yoga Right For You

Now that you have a basic understanding of yoga and the benefits of doing yoga, it’s time to decide whether or not you should take yoga classes. There are a few questions you’ll need to ask yourself to decide whether or not yoga is right for you.

First, do you need a high impact or a low impact workout? A high impact workout is any workout that involves quick, forceful motions. Weightlifting is a classic high impact workout, as is most cardiovascular exercise. Yoga is a low-impact workout, which means it focuses more on building foundational strength. If at all possible, a good exercise program should contain a mixture of high and low impact exercises, which means you may want to supplement with yoga rather than replace.

Next, consider what kind of exercise you’ll actually do on a regular basis. It’s all well and good to feel as if bulking up and looking great is what you want, but that desire does nothing if it doesn’t get you to the gym. For some people, stretching in a calm environment could be the exercise pleasant enough that they keep going back.

Ultimately, yoga is a great exercise for most people. The stretches allow flexibility, and holding the stretches build muscle strength.

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