New Age, Alternative,
Metaphysical Publication
Aquarius-Atlanta.com

Fitness

Why Do Yoga?

By David Aukamp

From high profile celebrities and athletes to television and magazines, just about everyone is buzzing about yoga. In the simplest of terms, yoga is another form of exercise, but to many it's a lifestyle. The numerous physical and mental benefits yoga provides are undeniable and the variety of different types and styles of yoga allow room for all ages and skill levels to reap the benefits.

Balance

Many of us are seeking more balance, both physically and mentally. Hatha Yoga, the physical part of yoga that begins with stretching and paying closer attention to breathing, helps create just that. A great place to start is learning to pay attention to our bodies through yoga, which becomes increasingly important in today's world. We rarely pay attention to our posture while sitting or standing, we dismiss aches and pains, and have become accustomed to limited movement throughout the day. Over time this lack of movement will create stiffness, which may eventually lead to a number of problems including a muscle strain or ligament sprain. In a typical Hatha Yoga class, the instructor will guide students to move almost every joint in the body to its full range of motion, while simultaneously learning to focus on a deeper breath. Practicing Hatha Yoga consistently will teach you to pay attention to your body in addition to increasing flexibility in the muscles and the connective tissues surrounding the muscles, which will help prevent common mishaps and conditions resulting in chronic soreness.

Why Stretch?

What happens when we stretch and why should we do it? According to H. David Coulter, PhD., author of Anatomy of Hatha Yoga, “The individual muscle fibers... can grow in length by the addition of little contractile units called sarcomeres. A matching expansion of the connective tissue within and around the muscle is also what happens.” Sarcomeres are the part of the muscle that performs work. By creating more sarcomeres we increase muscle length and strength at the same time. Since we lose muscle mass as we age, practicing Hatha Yoga can help prevent America’s overwhelming problem of diminishing lean muscle mass that directly relates to many disease processes including obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. Moreover, because the sarcomeres are the functional unit of muscle tissue and actually do work, these muscles require more calories to survive, even at rest. This increases caloric expenditure and, assuming the number of calories a person consumed stayed the same, could help someone lose weight. In a typical yoga class you can burn between 300-500 calories.