By Anran Shao
Today, there are a variety of exercises for people to relax and keep healthy. Yoga is just one of them. Compared to exercises that are intended to build muscles and physical strength, yoga works in a different fashion that harmonizes the body, breath and mind. This kind of exercise is necessary for college students who sit in desks for a long time and feel stress as part of school life. Yoga is beneficial for many different reasons:
- Improve your flexibility
Improving your flexibility may be the most obvious benefit of yoga. Students may experience tight hamstrings or back pain as a result of sitting in desk chairs for so long. Stretching is an important weapon to combat this type of discomfort. In the first yoga course you enroll in, it maybe hard to do some postures at the beginning. However, the more you practice, the more you’ll notice a gradual loosening and seemingly impossible postures become possible. Improved flexibility benefits your entire workout regime through limber muscles and a stronger core!
- Alleviate stress
As college students, we have to endure lots of pressure from study, friends and society. Yoga is a fantastic way to reduce the stress by practicing poses and medicating regularly. As opposed to cardio exercises that increase your heart rate, yoga works to lower your stress levels by reducing your heart rate and easing your respiration when you are doing postures on the mats. Having the opportunity to just take things slow amongst your busy day can allow you a moment of inner peace and relaxation. Consistent yoga practice can reduce depression as well as anxiety and improve mood.
- Make us better students
Yoga can greatly improve concentration. Improved concentration is immensely important for our success in college—it allows us to have the ability to make the most of our education! For some poses, you must engage with the meaning of the pose and concentrate in order to hold balance. We can take those skills from the mat and apply them to our attention in the lecture hall. Additionally, the breathing technique is also particularly helpful for aiding concentrating.
- Practice meditation
Some yoga practitioners used to meditate after doing yoga. Before meditating, you need to get the stress out of your physical body before you begin to work on your mind. Then, after the body is relaxed, you are more easily to sit still and relax your mind. Meditation takes only a few minutes. When you are busy and feel stressed or anxious for school life, you will be grateful to pause and enjoy refreshing few minutes of meditation each day after a stress-relieving yoga sesh.
The purpose of yoga is to create strength, awareness and harmony in both the mind and body. The above points are only a few of yoga’s benefits; you are bound to find even more benefits when you try it out for yourself!
Source of information
http://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/yoga-for-anxiety-and depression
http://www.yogicwayoflife.com/yoga-asanas-are-not-mere-exercises/
Healthy Aggies at UC Davis 