Читать книгу 10-Minute Yoga Workouts: Power Tone Your Body From Top To Toe - Barbara Currie - Страница 7

The word yoga means union of body, mind and spirit with the universal spirit. The yogis of ancient India realized that for perfect health and inner peace, both body and mind must work together in perfect harmony. Yoga’s combination of intricate physical postures, deep breathing exercises, balances, relaxation and meditation are the perfect discipline to relieve stress, calm the mind and tone the entire body, both inside and out.

In his quest to earn more, do more and have more, modern man subjects himself to increased physical and mental stress. The pace of life is now so fast that few of us have time to enjoy the present moment and just be.

Continued stress on both body and mind increases our vulnerability to disease. Unfortunately, although medicine has made many amazing breakthroughs in the West over the last hundred years, the focus continues to be on treating diseases and not their causes. This is where yoga can help us all so much. Stress or tension literally strangles our bodies, inhibiting blood flow to our tissues. Yoga’s beautiful physical movements, combined with deep breathing exercises, will carefully rid the body of tension and stimulate oxygen-rich blood to our cells, so providing them with the nutrients that they require. As well as toning all our muscles, the physical exercises will also strengthen our bones and keep our spine and joints flexible. The lymphatic system, which fights infection and carries away toxins, is inhibited during times of stress, but as yoga carefully smoothes away the tension, it can resume its natural functions.

Yoga’s calming balances necessitate tremendous concentration and so they take the mind off its day-to-day activities, giving it a rest. The most difficult thing to discipline, however, is the human mind. Here again yoga offers us many techniques, from breathing exercises to relaxation and meditation, which may be used to calm a turbulent mind. Gradually and with continued practise the combined discipline of the exercises together with the breathing and meditation will help us to achieve the peace and calm we desire. And just as stress inhibits our energy flow, a calm and peaceful mind will lead to abundant energy and that genuine ‘good to be alive’ feeling.

Eventually, we stop looking elsewhere for our pleasures and concentrate on ‘looking within’, disciplining our mind to search inside ourselves for our joy and happiness. We then start to enjoy the present moment, and listen to our gut instincts, finally achieving self-realization and finding the true health and happiness that is within us all.