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Yoga
Benefits in Physical and Mental Health
Hatha
yoga benefits our mind and emotions on many levels and in many aspects.
1.
Asanas Strengthen the Body
This is important because, after all, the body is a temple for the
spirit. Physical health and mental health often go hand-in-hand.
Yoga postures have been perfected through thousands of years of
experience and experiments by the yogis. They are different from
other forms of exercise both technically and philosophically. They
build the body from within, starting from proper alignment of the
inner structure of the bones and the healthy state of the inner
organs. They tone the outer muscles of the body, like athletic training.
But more importantly, they also condition the deeper muscles that
maintain the structure of the body.
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2.
Yoga Postures Regulate Emotions and Moods
Even regular fitness activities promote mental health. Many people
exercise to boost confidence along with reducing anxiety and stress,
all of which contribute to psychological health and well-being.
According to a report in the "Mental Health Journal" on
therapistfinder.net "Researchers at Duke University studied
people suffering from depression for 4 months and found that 60%
of the participants who exercised for 30 minutes three times a week
overcame their depression without using antidepressant medication.
This is the same percentage rate as for those who only used medication
in their treatment for depression." Another study "found
that short workouts of 8 minutes in length could help lower sadness,
tension and anger".
Asanas
are special positions of the body that strengthen, purify and balance
the endocrine, nervous and circulatory systems. Compared with other
kinds of physical exercises, ansans reach deeper into the body and
mind and have more pronounced healing properties. When practiced
regularly, you will have more pleasant thoughts and fewer negative
emotions and your overall mood will improve.
3.
Breathing Exercises Lead to Psychological Well-being
Through scientific techniques, yoga breathing exercises (e.g., Ujjayi,
Dirgha and Nadi Shodhana pranayamas) calm and focus the mind, relax
the body, oxygenate the blood, purge the lungs of residual carbon
dioxide, soothe anxiety and stress, balance left and right hemispheres,
and promote clear thinking. When doing breathing exercises, the
yogi must exercise intense concentration and precise body control,
which also contributes to freeing the mind from mental disturbances,
reduction of nervousness, irritability and confusion, depression
and mental fatigue.
Further
more, both yoga postures and breathing exercises generally leave
practitioners feel more connected to their body and mind and more
aware of their well-being.
4.
Yoga Induces Relaxation
Hatha yoga, especially the restorative kind, integrates physical
exercise and relaxation, which in turn relieves depression, exhaustion,
anxiety and pain. During yoga practice, more than one type of relaxation
is induced. For example,
- Differential
Relaxation - some muscles, those that are necessary to maintain
the posture, are active while other muscles remain relaxed. It
can also be used during many daily activities that do not demand
our full muscle support for safety reasons.
- Cue-controlled
Relaxation - can be induced very quickly by the practitioner's
associating the state of relaxation with a cue or signal, such
as a word (e.g. "relax") or a posture (e. g. shavasana).
5.
Yoga Contributes to Peak Psychological Experience
According to renowned humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow, the
following constitute what he calls the "Peak Experience":
-
The whole universe is perceived as an integrated and unified whole.
- The
perception is exclusively and fully attended to.
- External
objects, the world and individual people are perceived as being
detached from human concerns.
- Peak
experiences are ego transcending.
- Peak
experiences make life worthwhile by their occasional occurrence.
They give meaning to life itself.
- There
is lack of consciousness of time and space. Sometimes this may
even mean disorientation in time and space.
- The
concepts - good/bad, become blurred and may even cease to exist.
Pain, diseases and death are perceived to be in the rightful scheme
of life. This particular peak experience is difficult to explain
to non-experiencers.
- The
peak experiences leave one with feelings of awe, reverence, humility,
compassion and an inner tuning towards truth, integrity and the
discriminatory faculties.
- There
tends to be a loss of anxiety, guilt, fear, inhibition, confusion,
conflict and other negative human features. Instead these are
replaced by profound experienced so great that often they are
interpreted in the form of religious conversion or spiritual uplifting.
- The
real Self is experienced, in which a person is: more real, more
creative/spontaneous, more self-determined, a free agent of own
destiny, selfless and relatively egoless, more innocent and honest,
more subject to higher laws, unambitious in the normal sense.
- Dichotomies
are resolved, for example, humility vs. pride or ambition vs.
relaxed life.
- A
feeling of being the recipient of "Divine Grace".
Yogic
teachings share many of the ideological principles and practical
lessons in Marslow's theory.
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