Why is yoga my favorite activity?

I have mentioned a couple of times that yoga has become my favorite activity. But it was not always so. In the past I tried yoga several times but I didn’t fall in love with it. To me it seemed like a bunch of exercises and that was it. Later when yoga helped me to relieve migraine or improve my mood, only then I started to believe in it. In other words I needed personal experience to find out what yoga benefits mean for the body and soul.

I read some interesting books about yoga to get to know more about how yoga can cure or help people. However, I also found out some facts that yoga can also sometimes cause some injuries. And it has nothing to do with fun or relaxation. We all like to speak about benefits but nobody wants to see disadvantages. I started looking at yoga much more seriously.

Yoga is a very powerful tool but if we don’t have information about how to use it then it can be very dangerous. For example, some poses (standing on the head, shoulders or sudden neck rotation, etc.) can disrupt blood vessel activity and cause certain problems such as a stroke. If you want to do yoga at home, I recommend you read this wonderful book: The Science of Yoga: The Risks and the Rewards by William J Broad.

But since yoga is such a very useful activity, let‘s talk about it. There are a lot of yoga styles from hot yoga to fitness yoga. Some recent ones are very different from the first ones. My favorite style is VINYASA because this style is active, dynamic and there is a smooth transition from pose to pose. I probably like it because it’s like a dance, just slower. Or you may call it yoga ballet. Maybe I will try and find other styles in the future. I think I will write another article and dedicate it to describing yoga styles.

So, here are the benefits yoga gives me:

• Better mood. Several times I started yoga with very bad mood and after it I had a much better mood. After the workout, I always see everything differently so that‘s why I like this activity. I read that yoga stimulates the production of endorphins – hormones of happiness.

• Energy. This is also a very good benefit. After yoga I feel pleasant circulation in the body and this sensation is different compared to how my body feels after other workouts. I have more energy to do more work.

• Body flexibility. The poses require a lot of stretching, so step by step I am improving how flexible my body is.

• Mind freedom. When we do a pose we need to breathe deeply. Breathing relaxes and poses keep our attention that‘s why we don‘t have time to overthink life. It comes as meditation. So we can feel freedom in our mind after a yoga workout.

• Better self-awareness. Yoga exercise is like time for myself, which I use to feel my body and to understand my thoughts. Doing the poses I can reach my full potential and extend it.

• Pain reduction. My example shows how yoga can help to relieve a migraine. Of course, I cannot say that yoga always helps and it’s a solution to all the pain. No. Firstly, the cause of pain can be completely different. What I can really confirm is that in my case yoga softens or reduces a migraine.

• And a lot more…

Now I see these benefits and think it‘s normal to fall in love with something if you can experience so many good things from it. And it’s not just about the body. For me it isn’t just an activity it is so much more. It is my lifestyle, relaxation and a way to better know myself.

If you can change your mental health with yoga it means you can change your attitude about life. Then a lot of things change in other areas of life. That‘s great!

I know this is only the start. I want to learn more about yoga and do it more often. But as I mentioned it is important to evaluate the risks and practice yoga safely. Because yoga has not only a beautiful side but also a dangerous one. And to know this is very helpful.

Have you ever tried yoga? Do you like it? Share your opinion about benefits in the comments field.