In the last decades, yoga and many martial arts from the East have become extremely popular in the western world. People love them, but often they get obsessed with them as though they were the best remedy for the body and soul. Especially in the last years, yoga has become one of the most popular ways of exercising, and its fans continue to grow in numbers. Some people don’t like it at all, others like it a little or have a neutral opinion, and others love it!
The benefits
Yoga does help countless exercisers be fit and incorporate exercise into their everyday life in a milder and friendlier way. That is because yoga does not involve any high-impact exercises, a fact that many people love. The class usually includes lots of flexibility, strengthening, balance, and breathing exercises. Given that many people nowadays are pretty stressed due to their busy schedules and obligations, the flexibility and strength routines when married to body and mind relaxation seem to be a perfect match.
The risks
Yoga exercises are traditional movements and poses derived from some East countries’ culture, but few are not safe for the body. Today, we have some research that shows a few yoga risks, pointing to some exercises that are not recommended due to the injuries they may cause. However, not all yoga fans know that or don’t pay attention due to the program’s popularity.
A few yoga exercises do put stress on some joints. Be aware and always listen to your body when you perform a yoga exercise. Any discomfort in any joint should be an alarm that warns you that something is wrong, either with the exercise itself or the way you are doing it. One downside of yoga’s popularity is that the fitness facilities often form large groups for yoga classes to facilitate the growing number of people who love it. That way, the gyms increase their profits, but the yoga instructor cannot go through all the participants and see if they perform the poses correctly. That results in many wrong ways of doing the exercises, and thus many injuries are very likely to occur.
Yoga is not actually an exercise program but a meditation technique. Over the years, many of its poses have developed more and formed the program we see in fitness facilities today. If its poses are used for their physical health benefits, all is good (just be aware of the risky ones.) If its breathing techniques are used for relaxation, that helps as well. Suppose its meditation techniques are used as part of an exercise program. In that case, there might be a small problem: Many people, unaware of yoga’s spiritual primary use, start it as a good exercise program. However, in yoga classes, spirituality and exercise have not always easily noticeable boundaries. That’s why many exercisers indirectly are led to spiritual paths they would never think of walking under other circumstances.
Conclusion
Yoga is a popular exercise program that has many health benefits, combining exercises and relaxation techniques. You should be aware of some risky exercises to prevent injuries. Also, when yoga crosses the line and heads towards spiritual paths, it would be better not to be taught in fitness facilities. Instead, it should be better practiced in yoga studios where people consciously go for its spiritual and health benefits.
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