Why Do Yoga?

Karma Yoga: The Path of Action

Why Do Yoga?
Written By: Jerry Smith-Guidry

In trying to keep up with today’s crazy pace, many citizens of the world are feeling overtaxed and overstimulated. Many are searching for something to help them slow down, breathe, and calm the chatter in their minds. For many, the answer is Yoga.

Yoga is not a belief system or religion, but a profound way to improve and enhance the quality of life. It is a totally system of health and fitness, and a noncompetitive form of exercise.

Yoga is an 8,000-10,000 year old Eastern discipline with a holistic (body, mind, and spirit) focus, which has constantly evolved as a form of fitness. Yoga routines work on creating effective levels of smooth breathing, gentle stretching, strengthening, and a lot of relaxing. When presented in its complete form, Yoga will assist someone in reaching his maximum potential in all areas of life.

In the caveman days, life was generally easy going. The parasympathetic nervous system kept the heart rate at a slow, even pace. The breath flowed deeply and effortlessly. The digestive system ran as smoothly as nature intended. It was only during times of emergency ( running for life, fighting off wild animals) that the sympathetic nervous system would take over (fight or flight syndrome). The heartbeat would increase, the respiration would hasten, and the blood flow to the digestive system would cease and be re-routed to the legs and arms for running or fighting.

The heightened state of being is intended to be a temporary condition, just in the times of stress or emergency. What is happening is that more and more people are spending more and more of their lives in this anxiousness. It appears that the recovery rate, where the parasympathetic nervous system is once more in control, is taking longer and longer. Just as a doctor of medicine looks at how quickly one’s heart rate returns to normal after a stress test, the same type measurement could be used in this situation. It is vital that people arm themselves with the tools for quicker recovery and greater relaxation.

One of the best available tools is Yoga. The benefits are many: A well-proportioned body, strength, flexibility, reduced stress, mental clarity, cardiovascular fitness, improved posture and health, and joy and harmony in living.

Yoga is both a practice and a goal. Many of the benefits depend on the manner in which the asanas (postures) are performed. Forcing the postures may cause aches and strains. The student must be content to progress gradually.

The form of Yoga that most Americans have heard of is “Hatha” Yoga. Ha=Sun and Tha=Moon. This is the physical form of Yoga (the word Yoga is described as ‘union’ or ‘yoke’ – so Hatha Yoga is the union of bodily mastery). If one is able to bring the physical body under control, there is more likelihood that the mind can become still. This is known as “Raja” Yoga (the Royal Way). Raja Yoga is union by mental mastery. This calms the mind through techniques of meditative awareness.

There are breathing exercises used in Hatha Yoga. These are called Pranayama. Prana=the vital principle in the universe or the universal life force (similar to what the Chinese call Chi and the Japanese call ki). The Sun and Moon of Hatha Yoga symbolize the positive and controlled and balanced in Pranayama.

The more physical benefits to practicing yoga surprise many people. Just about every bodily system is affected. Osteoporosis is slowed down, and sometimes avoided completely, because of the bone density that is improved by the pushing against gravity that occurs in so many of the Yoga postures. Many of the twist and rotation postures stimulate the digestive and elimination systems. The twist postures are thought to feed the nerve roots found along the spine, thus improving the immune system. Many of the inversion postures can bring down the blood pressure and are considered beneficial to the endocrine (glandular) system.

No longer are Yoga classes comprised of students considered to be new age or hippies. Progressive corporations are providing Yoga classes to their employees as one way toward healthier living. These companies are realizing that everyone benefits from healthier, less-stressed employees. They are more productive, happier, and fewer medical claims are paid on their behalf.