Spiritual Benefits of Yoga

Yoga has gone a long way since it was originally introduced in the West in the nineteenth century, becoming the global phenomenon that it is today. Although its roots are obscure, a Rappler article states that yoga spread to a wider public when Hindu guru Swami Vivekananda established the practise based on the Yoga Sutras, a collection of aphorisms on the forms and practise of yoga.

Many individuals across the world practise yoga not just for its physical advantages, but also for the spiritual opportunity it affords. Here are several ways that yoga may help you not only get stronger and healthier, but also find yourself despite the rush and bustle of modern life.

Yoga heals both the body and your spiritual mind

It is indisputable that scientific data supports yoga and its physical health advantages; nevertheless, yoga also provides mental and spiritual benefits.

Advantages of Spiritual Yoga

Yoga’s Mental Advantages

Yoga mental advantages are attributed to the breathing and relaxation exercises that are integrated into the physical practises. These are some examples:

  • Reduced stress levels — Yoga stimulates the release of feel-good neurotransmitters such as serotonin while decreasing levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
  • Increased focus – Because the mind and body are inextricably intertwined, it comes as no surprise that greater physical health will also boost mental function.
  • Greater awareness – Learning to accomplish one thing with complete conscious control will lead to an increased awareness of all activities over time.

If you are looking to begin your yoga journey, we suggest you check out Yoga Intuition, a Christchurch yoga studio providing yoga classes for beginners through to those more experienced.

Yoga’s Spiritual Advantages

Some yoga schools lay a significant emphasis on the physical postures, while others focus on the mental and emotional components of the practise. If you ask twenty different yoga practitioners what the aim of yoga is for them, you’ll probably hear twenty different replies. However, virtually everyone will agree that yoga is a type of exercise that can have spiritual health advantages. Yoga is basically about integrating the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual selves, and the most appropriate translation of the term itself is ‘union.’

Those who believe that the spiritual aspect of yoga is as vital as the physical refer to the seven spiritual rules of yoga. They are as follows:

Pure potential – When you recognise that you are a part of the cosmic field of awareness, you know that your creative potential is limitless.

Giving and receiving – In order to keep love and all that is good in the world circulating, you must both offer yourself to others and take the gifts that come your way.

Karma – The energy you send out into the world will be returned to you in kind. So, in all of your activities, you should strive towards compassion.

The least amount of effort — Fight the universe, and life will be difficult. Accepting the unfolding of life and going in the path it takes you will undoubtedly bring you to your ultimate destiny.

Intention and want – By clearly defining your pure intentions and passing them on to the unlimited potential of the world, you increase the ease with which your heart’s real wishes can be accomplished.

Detachment entails learning not to be bothered by the petty and, at times, perplexing unfolding of life. Everything will be OK in the end.

 

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Dharma – Everything in life serves a higher purpose, or has Dharma. Yogis think that the greatest joy and fulfilment may be achieved by discovering and sharing their unique gifts in order to make the world a better and more loving place.

Increasing Consciousness With Yoga

Our spirit is the one constant in our lives. It pervades all we do. It is our higher consciousness: the cause for our ideas, motivation, and driving force. We may become more conscious and in tune with the unchangeable spirit inside us by practising yoga on a regular basis.

Many people’s lives are hectic and full of distractions that muddle our capacity to grasp what’s best for us, why we’re here, what our next step should be, and how we fit into the world. Yoga instructs us to sit in solitude with ourselves in order to become aware of our surroundings and accept life as it is in the present moment.

This self-awareness will have a big impact on how you live and interact with others. This is how yoga on your mat gradually improves your life off your mat.

Relax Your Mind

Often in life, individuals are preoccupied with their performance and dissecting their behaviours rather than simply being. You must make the time and space to connect with your inner self in order to gain awareness.

Yoga is an excellent venue for this. Some yoga techniques (such as vinyasa) emphasise a lot of strenuous postures. These can be an excellent technique to prepare the body to sit motionless without distracting the mind.

If sitting in a comfortable position is difficult for you, feel free to use a block, blanket, or bolster. When you can sit comfortably, you’ll notice that it’s lot simpler to concentrate.

After you’ve put yourself at ease, softly close your eyes or look at a fixed point in front of you. Then comes the technique of focussing and quieting the mind.

Be kind with yourself. Our minds are used to processing a lot of information and aren’t used to being motionless. It is beneficial to concentrate on your breathing. When your mind wanders, and it will, simply bring it back to observing your breath.

Try not to get attached to the sensations or thoughts you have. Recognize that they are not you and allow them to come and go without defining them as a part of you.

Be mindful of, and appreciative for, the practise. Yoga will be a spiritual practise for you if you approach the mat with appreciation and surrender, liberating yourself from daily life.