HOW YOGA WORKS. TRYING TO FIGURE IT OUT

You’ve heard a lot about yoga and https://www.julianalucky.com/post/mommy-and-me-yoga-benefits, and of course, mostly in the asana aspect, and you’re wondering how yoga works, what attracts millions of people around the world to it? To begin with, let’s define that yoga is not just asanas, but a whole system of self-development, in which asanas are only a small part. However, many people understand yoga as just asanas, and the whole yoga for them is reduced to physical exercises only. In reality, the path of yoga does not start with a mat. According to Patanjali’s ancient Yoga Sutras, asana is only the third step on the yoga path. And if we practice asanas, it is important for us to be able to connect our practice to all the ideas that reflect the true essence of yoga. In this article, we will look at what types of yoga exist, learn what the yoga path is and how yoga works.

How Yoga Works
In the physical aspect, yoga improves flexibility, posture, strength and endurance. The benefits of yoga for the body are undeniable: removing toxins from the lymph nodes, reducing stress hormone levels, keeping the immune system in a state that can withstand infections. Yoga helps to normalize blood pressure, ease the processes of various chronic diseases.

But the main purpose of yoga is still to control the mind. Because we are at the mercy of both our mind and our feelings, we have to learn to control both of them. And this is where yoga can help us the most.

We discipline our physical body by practicing Asana, which allows us to learn how to control it, how to release tension, and how to remove muscle blocks and clamps. Through the practice of Pranayama, we take control of the flow of vital energy (prana). The practice of Pratyahara helps us to curb our feelings, to abstract from our habitual emotional reactions and learn to observe them from the outside. These practices prepare our mind for concentration – dharana. The next step is meditation or contemplation – Dhyana, the practice of immersion into the object of observation and concentration, allowing us to go beyond the self (Ego). All of the above steps lead us to the final stage of yoga, Samadhi, when we move beyond the dual perception of the world. As a result, our consciousness is illuminated by the light of wisdom.

Yoga, as a practice of non-judgmental observation, leads us to the realization of the oneness of being. Yoga gives us peace, tranquility, and mindfulness, and teaches us to be in the present moment “here and now. Yoga brings harmony and awareness into our lives. Yoga not only gives us good health, a clear, pure mind, and emotional balance, it also frees us from obscurantism and ignorance, takes away suffering and pain, because on a deeper level we begin to discover how amazingly wise our life is, where everything is created by divine design for the benefit of all living beings.