Which one is good for health asanas or exercises?
Today, we see people are crowding at Gym and put long hours of
workout. Are these people health conscious people? In a way yes, but I have my own
doubts, when I come across the report of religious Gym goers collapsed on the
street while in morning walk, while chasing the ball in the football ground or
while performing rigorous physical activity. No doubt, exercise is a component
of Yogic way of living, i.e., Aahar – our diet, Vihar – our activities and the
Nidra – our relaxation, (both in deep sleep at delta stage or in Savasana or in
Yoga Nidra).
Yoga asana is set of physical postures that are done in a systematic manner
to ensure good health with equilibrium of
the mind, body and the soul. Yoga asana should be performed following the
principles given by Maharishi Patanjali and following the techniques detailed
in Hatha Yoga literatures, Hatha Yoga Prdeepika by Swatmaram Suri
Asana deals with the spiritual, mental and physical aspects
of the human life that the person is healthy not only from outside but also from
inner self. Yoga asana involves slow and steady movements integrating organs
and mind with the smooth breath that will not make us exhausted. Instead we
feel refreshed and satisfied. The asana postures are classified into three
categories:
Meditative
asana: these are done during meditative practices.
Balancing
asana: these help us in achieving peace and balance to mind.
Strengthening asana: these help to enhance strength
of muscles & nerves thus physical power.
Ø Asana help in improving the balance, flexibility,
strength, agility, vitality, and longevity of a person.
Ø It helps in maintaining holistic health and managing
various disorders.
Ø Continuous practice of asana enables to
regulate our breathing process, thereby enable us to get maximum oxygen to our body
to enhance its vital energy, cleaning the Pranamaya kosha and making it
transparent and energized.
Ø Improved breathing helps in getting maximum
quantity of oxygenated blood, which enriches every cell of the body that every
tissue is repaired, every organ becomes strong and their functioning become
most efficient. Every gland secretes optimal hormone, most improved circulatory
system enable all the capillaries to carry blood smoothly and a unobstructed
network of nervous system communicate between brain and the rest of the parts
of the body.
The final outcome is the holistic health with improved physical strength, good memory, absolute calmness, wellness, alertness and achieves
a positive attitude.
Yogic practices are for everyone there is no
bar on age, sex, body condition, caste or religion. Yet, to perform an asana in
a traditional way we need a smooth, supple and flexible body. Our incorrect way
of living for years has amassed layers of flesh all over the body, corrupted
our mind and there is complete disjoint between living and supreme bodies that
spiritualism has reduced to rituals. To tune body to derive the maximum
benefits of Yoga Suryanamaskar and exercises are most desirable form of
activities.
Physical exercise is the activity of the body
that deals with the physical fitness and physical growth & development of
the body. This is done to develop muscles, improve physical skills, enhancing
immune system, managing body disorders like diabetes, cardiovascular problems,
and reducing the weight in obese individuals and managing the ideal body
weight.
There are three categories of exercise which enhance
the flexibility, strength and endurance of the body parts, these are as
follows:
Stretching exercise to improve flexibility and to tone
the muscles;
Aerobic exercise to improve the endurance of respiratory
and cardiovascular system
Strengthening exercise are Anaerobic and done
to improve muscle & nerve strength.
Thus regular exercise burns calories and fat, helps
in maintaining right weight, improving the bone densities and healthy
functioning of body parts.
To sum up, the Yoga asana are involved in
improving the health of the body internally as well as externally. Physical
exercise mostly does not involve the
internal organs of the body in exercise. Energy expenditure occurs while
performing physical exercise. In yoga, energy is not expended much while
performing the asana. Hence the person does not feel tired.
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