How Yoga Is More Holistic Than Other Stretches

You can use many kinds of stretches to loosen your muscles and your body. Typical, traditional stretches involve stretching muscles one at a time. This is often done before or after a work-out.

Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) is another type of stretching. When you practice a PNF stretch for a muscle, you use the help of other muscles to enable you to get a deeper stretch.

There are a few other styles of stretching, including assisted and partner stretches, but yoga may be the most holistic type.

Yoga Roots.

Yoga is an ancient art. It has been practiced for thousands of years, with origins in India. It was developed as a lifestyle practice to keep the body and mind flexible.

It was originally developed by upper-class citizens, which is why yogic names and expressions are in Sanskrit. It was developed as an elitist language, but traditions have not dropped it from modern-day yoga practice "for the common man".

Yoga was developed as a system, practiced for health and vitality. Because of its many health benefits, it is considered Ayurvedic medicine.

Ayurveda is the world's oldest system of medicine, dating back seven thousand years. It is practiced heavily in many Far Eastern countries. Health practitioners in the U.S. are new to understanding and practicing Ayurveda.

Health benefits of Yoga.

A yoga session is a kind of meditation. Throughout parts of the meditation, you may be focused on breathing. Other times you might be focused on clearing your mind, and filling your body with positive thoughts.

During most yoga sessions, the majority of your time is spent in a moving meditation.

You focus on a series of movements to stretch your muscles in different ways. You may pause and concentrate on the proper technique for an asana, or pose. Or you may keep movements more fluid, briefly pausing before moving to the next asana.

Some of the health benefits from regular yoga practice include:

Improved mood and energy

Reduced anxiety

Enhanced relaxation

Improved sleep

Increased blood flow

Loosening muscles

Physical tension relief

Reduced emotional stress

Many of these benefits are common to all types of exercise. But stretching does not provide the same benefits of cardiovascular or strength training, so it is important to include those in a well-rounded exercise program.

The holistic nature of yoga.

Yoga is a dynamic form of movement. First, unlike other types of stretching that isolate muscles, stretching one at a time, yoga is based on asanas. Asanas are poses, or postures. To perform most asanas, you need to focus on holding several muscles in a stretched and balanced position.

Yoga is also unique in that it involves multi-directional stretching. Stretches, exercises, and sports are more dynamic when they involve movement in multiple planes, or directions. Multi-directional exercise is beneficial because many everyday activities use movements that are multi-directional.

Furthermore, yoga loosens muscles with specific focus on tension areas. For example, "hip opener" asanas release tension in a way that allows great amounts of circulation and energy to flow from the upper body to the lower body. Around our shoulders, our thoracic outlet is an area that can get tense from overuse and typical poor posture. By stretching these "tension traps", we can release improve the flow of chi throughout the whole body, also called "releasing chakras".

Yoga is dynamic, using several muscles in multi-directional movement. Combined with its effect on improving circulation through tension areas, yoga may be a powerful holistic therapy.

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Nina Schnipper offers personal fitness training, spa services, and massage therapy in Basalt, Colorado at Higher Spa & Studio. One style she offers is Thai-Yoga massage, which is like having yoga applied to you. It is a truly refreshing therapy for both the client and the therapist.

Nina supervises support and coaching for: Pain Relief, Injury Recovery and Healthy Lifestyles.