Guide to Start Yoga

You may hear of yoga and its benefits before, which is pretty normal when we consider how popular it has become these past few years. Maybe you wanted to start doing yoga but didn't know how to do it, or you didn't even try because you don't know the incredible benefits of it. No matter what, you are here on this page, and welcome. 

So what is yoga?

Yoga is an ancient exercise, which has a long history, that is based on Indian philosophy. We can define yoga as poses(asanas) using breathing techniques (pranayama). Well, of course, it has developed and reinvented itself; it continues to maintain its benefits for physical and mental health.

Benefits of Yoga

-Prevents and reduces stress and stress-induced disorders

-Takes a role in the treatment of depression

-Decreases body weight and prevents obesity or overweight

-Prevents hypertension and controls blood pressure

-Reduces the chance of having a heart disease

-Improves posture

-Provides flexibility and strength

How Can You Start

You will need three essential things to start your yoga journey

1. Yoga Mat

A yoga mat will already have been there if you go to a yoga class or gym. However, you can still bring your mat if you want to be more cynical, and maybe you could get another mat that is more suitable for doing yoga.

2. Comfortable Clothes

You won't need any fancy clothes to do yoga. I mostly wear fancy sports clothes because they motivate me to exercise and do yoga. But it's your choice anyway.

3. Yourself

Your determination, awareness, and patience will be the most significant part of your yoga journey. Poses you will do won't always be fun and easy. There will be times you slog on during poses or get bored. Thus, you should be sure that you have dedicated yourself to this journey, and no matter what happens, keep swimming :)

Make It a Habit

If you integrate yoga into your daily routine, you will see its impact on your everyday life more easily. So to turn yoga into a habit, you can check Yoga With Adriene's 30 Days of Yoga Challenge. Before introducing this program, I want to say that Adriene helped me a lot since the first year I started doing yoga, which was in 9th grade. Since then, I have always done her videos. Anyways, 30 days of yoga challenge includes videos for 30 minutes. After finishing the challenge, you will be shocked to see what 30 minutes of yoga did to your body and mind in a month.

So this was your guide to starting yoga. I hope you will enjoy the processes and results. See you in the following article. Namaste!

References:

https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781400839933-004/html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4067931/