We are living in a time, which to say the least, is a rat race. While we can’t deny the importance of mental health, which is the keyword for a few years now and rightfully so, we also can’t deny that we need to set aside time for our physical health, since the two couldn’t be more inseparable. Being amidst the hectic rigmarole of a life that every other person is living today, trying to make it big, it is of prime importance to understand the holistic approach to well-being. This entails making physical activity a part of our daily routine and incorporating it in such a way that it does not seem like a chore. Why this is important is because, our brain is wired in such a way that everything other than work seems unimportant and a waste of our precious time.

While everyone is aware of the benefits of daily exercising, it is still observed that not a lot of people consciously take the time out for it. Even taking out a chunk of half an hour from 24 hours seems like a Herculean task, which most people fail at miserably. We often see thousands, rather millions of people make New Year resolutions at the start of every new year and what tops the list is to exercise more, but that resolution hardly sees the light of day after the first few days.

It is crucial to understand that the meaning of being healthy is not just the absence of disease; it means complete well-being, both mental and physical. It is only when we realize the value of holistic well-being, do we understand and work towards the areas that can help us achieve significant progress in our daily lives. In other words, we can only gain deeper knowledge of the components that go into contributing to our well-being when we have enough stimulation and internal motivation and drive to achieve a better life for ourselves.

Social media and its massive influence on people has them in the palm of its hand and be it Instagram or pinterest, they are all inundated with images of people with chiseled bodies that can only be made in gyms. This has us believe that health is synonymous with gym and there is no other way that we can gain a healthy and fit looking body without shelling out bucks. Yoga is a practice that totally negates this belief and rightfully so.

Yoga is an ancient practice originating in India that has been around for centuries but has gained a huge following across the globe in the past few decades. The word Yoga comes from the Sanskrit root ‘yuj’, which means ‘to bind’ or ‘to unite’. Yoga is not just a physical practice or exercise but a spiritual discipline which is based on the concept of uniting individual being with the Universal or higher being or consciousness. It is a holistic practice, since it is an essence of physical, spiritual and ethical principles. It encompasses postures or asanas, which cater to the physical aspect of exercise, breath-work which is pranayama and lastly, meditation which takes care of the mental and spiritual well-being. Yoga, therefore, is a complete exercise in and of itself. So for those out there who do not want to leave the comfort of their homes and go running for miles, or who do not want to sweat it out, both energy and money, in the gym, yoga comes in as a great option.

One of the best, if not the best, things about yoga is that it does not require any fancy equipment or gizmos or even for you to step out of your home. You just need a corner where you can tune in to your inner self and connect to the higher consciousness. One can always start with the breath-work, which is extremely easy and requires nothing but inhaling and exhaling slowly. You can read more about yoga at a fantastic online resource for all information about Yoga and health and wellness at Rest & Digest. You can click here to see the website for more. The benefits of yoga are vast, to say the least, and span over mental, physical and emotional well-being of a person. It is therefore, becoming vastly popular day by day. Since we are all affected by work-life imbalance, which is not just getting in the way of our health but also hampering our relationships and overall well-being, yoga helps you take baby steps towards repairing your body, be it physical, mental or emotional. Some of the many benefits of yoga are:

• Increasing flexibility: The postures or asanas that one practices in yoga, help in keeping not just the body fit but also increases its elasticity. Being flexible also has the added benefit of giving us the feel of youth. Losing flexibility comes naturally with aging but yoga helps slowdown that process, if not stop it.
• Stress control: In this world today, where people are not living but only existing, stress has seeped deep into everyone’s life, leading to a number of diseases, especially heart diseases. Yoga has been found to significantly reduce stress and anxiety, when done in a consistent manner.
• Respiratory benefits: Yoga is primarily based on breath-work and that is what pranayams mainly do. Taking deep and prolonged breaths helps take oxygen to the lungs in copious amount thereby increasing the flow of oxygen in the body and enhancing the efficiency of the lungs.
• Better sleep pattern: The kind of life we are leading today, our circadian rhythm has gone for a toss and sleep patterns are disrupted to say the least. This can be substantially improved with yoga and pranayams. Yoga helps in relaxing the body and regulating the sleep cycle, hence improving the quality of sleep, since quality matters over quantity.
• Mood regulation and enhancement: Yoga has been known to increase the production of serotonin in our bodies, which is also known as the ‘feel good hormone’.
• Yoga helps boost immunity: Yoga is known to boost the natural immunity of our body by strengthening it from inside and making it more capable of fighting with diseases.

In conclusion, yoga has benefits that span beyond just physical well-being. It is the true epitome of wholesome and holistic development. While research is still ongoing, there are enough results to support the contribution of yoga and its benefits in our overall health and development.