Yoga- A Healthy Mind Stays in A Healthy Body
Yoga without mindful awareness cannot be called as yoga. Mindfulness foster you to understand who you are and connect your body, mind and spirit through meditation. Yoga is considered more holistic as it promotes not only mental stability but also physical and spiritual stability.
Yoga is a form that originated during the ancient times in India. It was first mentioned in ancient sacred text called the Rig Veda. The Vedas are a set of four ancient sacred texts written in Sanskrit. Yoga was refined and developed by Rishis who documented their practices and beliefs in the Upanishads.
The aim of yoga is self-realization, to overcome all kinds of sufferings leading to ‘the state of liberation’ (moksha) or freedom. Living with freedom in all walks of life. Health and harmony is the main objective of yoga practice.
Credited to Swami Vivekananda, the first ever Indian monk to have visited the Western world. Vivekananda organized numerous world conferences on the subject by describing yoga as a science of the mind. As early as 1950, many associations and federations dedicated to yoga were born in all countries of the world making it globally accepted by the people by seeing the unmatched benefits specially in reducing depression, anxiety, stress.
In the past decade, yoga has become incredibly popular, and as yoga statistics show, the major reason for its popularity is its many physical and mental health benefits.
So let’s take a look at some of the surprising facts and statistics about yoga.
- The world’s oldest yoga teacher was Tao Porchon Lynch, who lived for 101 years.
- Only 12% of yoga practitioners claim to be advanced yogis.
- Yoga health statistics show that it can lower systolic blood pressure by 26 points.
- There are over 300 million yoga practitioners in the world.
- Over 37 million people in the United States practice yoga.
Yoga benefit stats show that practicing yoga can help relieve anxiety, depression, stress and several other symptoms of PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder). It also helps with weight loss, resulting in improving cardiovascular health. It reduces stress levels, promotes sleep, increase body awareness and makes a person more focused.