Is Yoga Really A Type of Exercise?

Yoga is known to be India’s oldest cultural gift to the world. The word Yoga in Sanskrit literally means "to unite", which can be considered as meaning the unity of discipline.

Yoga is used for mental and moral development and helps engender whole health - Yoga practitioners call this "arogya". Yogic exercise also develops "chirayu", which is longevity. Yoga in its entirety aims to engender inner peace and positive, perennial happiness. Consequently, Yoga is thought of as being essential for an individual's ultimate completion in life.

Yoga is really a kind of science that not only affects the consciousness of oneself, but also one's subconscious. Yoga's physiological training practice (Kriya Yoga) when practiced correctly, can lift students to a supra-mundane level.

Yoga teaches people how to live life. It teaches mental discipline and self-development and brings forth the noble in any human, thus removing the ignoble in any human. Yoga is relevant to all beings regardless of their belief system, race, religious inclination and sex. There is no doubt that everyone can benefit from Yogic techniques – the sick and the healthy, the bad and the good, the non-believer and the believer, the educated and the ignorant and the old and the young. Age is irrelevent; anyone can reap the advantages of Yoga.

Yoga began as wandering Hindu monks searched for solitude in the forests to practice meditative techniques. These monks (Yogis) passed on their knowledge with keen students who resided at ashrams (Hindu hermitages). The Yogis were very possessive when it came to the teching of Yoga, and they did not consider popularizing the technique. Yogic postures along with the different stages of the Yogic techniques were only handed down to students who deserved them, so the art of Yoga remained in remote caves and forests and was not shown to anyone but the Yogis and their students.

Practicing Yogic techniques (such as the Asana - a sitting position) accelerates the circulation of the blood. Other techniques (such as Pranayama - controlled breathing) reduce carbon dioxide in the body, and this ensures good health: Yoga gives myriad benefits to people.

Many doctors prescribe air baths, sun baths, shower baths and steam baths to maintain blood purity and toxin elimination. Yogis have developed the "Neti" (nasal cleansing), the "Dhouti" (stomach wash) and the "Vajroli" (purging of the intestines, reproductive organs and bladder).

Yoga can also have major benefits on one’s nervous system. The physiological activities are non-tiring and also engender composure of the mind and body. Almost every other form of exercise centers more on muscle activity whereas Yoga focuses on looking after every part of the being’s anatomy.

Yoga is not some "reach down and touch your feet" exercise: for example, asanas is an all over therapy that impacts one’s mental and physical body function.

The effects of Yoga are:

- Physical – through strengthening, healing, relaxing and stretching the muscular, skeletal, cardiovascular, nervous and digestive systems.
- Spiritual – the preparation of meditation.
- Mental – developing a tranquil and calm mind, concentration and alertness.

Yoga truly offers something for anyone.