Hatha Yoga is not a form of exercise. It is the mechanism of understanding one’s body, creating a positive aura around oneself, and using body postures to direct one’s energy in specific directions. It is one of the most common styles of yoga that beginners like due to its slow paced techniques and simple movements. And after months of practising Hatha yoga, complex asanas or postures may make others feel that you are some kind of a yoga guru. But the benefits that you will inculcate by practising Hatha yoga on a regular basis are more than your friends’ jaw-dropping reactions.
Hatha yoga comprises of a series of asanas or postures that strengthen your muscles and bones, and nourishes your skin. Although its physical benefits are the most immediate and obvious, but its mental and spiritual cures are the benefits that will transform your life.
Following are the seven health benefits of Hatha yoga for you to understand.
1- Build Immunity- Hatha yoga not only heals your mind and soul, your spine and other problems, but it also strengthens your immunity system. Every time you stretch a little further, gently slide into your posture, and slide out, your organs stretch with you. These subtle movements inside your body increase the release of lymph. Hence, Hatha yoga helps your lymphatic system to destroy unwanted cells in your body, and fight diseases.
2- Tones the Spine– All the nerves branch out from the spinal cord, connecting all the organs to our brain. And when you spine is rigid and not flexible, the nerve impulses don’t flow freely. As a result of this, we suffer from different kinds of diseases. Hatha yoga helps in stretching out and toning the spine and keeping the spine supple. This enables free flow of nerve impulses, and maintains a healthy connection between the brain and the organs.
3- Increases Flexibility- Hatha yoga is one of the effective ways for improving flexibility by stretching muscle fibre and stretching reflexes of the involuntary nervous system.
4- Mental Health & Concentration- Yoga overall is known for reducing anxiety and depression. Focussing on your deep breathing while stretching out your body in different asanas increases blood circulation to your brain, thereby improving your mental health and concentration level. Hatha yoga cultivates harmony between your mind, body and soul by laying a foundation of breathing awareness, safe alignment of your body postures, and mindfulness.
5- Stress Relief- Hatha yoga help in deep breathing, relaxing tight muscles, relieving tension and improving blood flow through the body postures or asanas. As a result of this, the nervous system is balanced out by turning on the ‘rest and digest’ response of your body, and turning off the ‘fight or flight’ response. Overall, Hatha yoga enhances your digestive system; you sleep better, reduce your blood pressure, increases fertility, and relieve you of stress.
6- Controls Cravings- When your body is out of balance, you crave for all things unhealthy. Different postures or asanas in Hatha yoga will help you balance your system, curb your unhealthy habits like overeating, oversleeping, sugar cravings, smoking, drinking, feeling lethargic, etc.
7- Spiritual Development- The two aspects of one’s being, that are, ‘ha’ meaning the sun and ‘tha’ meaning the moon, are balanced out by one another, thereby opening the energy channels inside the body. Hence, Hatha yoga overall enhances your spiritual development by releasing positive energy that flows through your body, resulting in spiritual awakening.
Regular practice of Hatha yoga requires only a small space, quiet environment and thirty minutes of your time. With this minimal investment, you can bring about remarkable changes in your lifestyle. Not only does Hatha yoga improve flexibility, tones the spine, improves body posture, reduces PMS, and brings about inner peace, but it also reverses coronary diseases and clogged arteries.
Stretching and breathing techniques of Hatha yoga provide nourishment to the cells in your body, making you feel rejuvenated and stronger from inside and outside.
You must remember that practising Hatha yoga is not about winning a marathon. Take it slow. Let your body get used to the asanas. The key principle of Hatha yoga is to letting your body move gently like a falling feather. Begin and end an asana slowly, and gently. Breathe slowly and frequently. But make sure every breath fills up lungs with oxygen. Deep breathing in Hatha yoga is beneficial.
Guest Post provided by Sravanthi
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