Basic Yoga Exercise

There are a numbers of contemporary physical culture systems.



All of them are designed to develop the muscles through mechanical movements and exercises. However, Yoga is different, inasmuch as, it considers the body a vehicle for the soul on its journey towards perfection.



Yoga’s physical exercises are specially developed to build up not just the body, they even broaden the practitioner’s mental faculties as well as spiritual capacities.

The Basic Yoga exercises are Surya Namaskar, spot jogging, rapid forward and backward bends, sideward bends, sideward twists, neck exercises, shoulder rotations, hip / waist twists and knee rotations. Then there are hundreds of Yoga poses called Asanas, a term that literally means steady pose.



This is due to the fact that the Yoga Asana (or pose) is supposed to be held for a while. Then again this is a rather advanced practice; to start with, the concern is just to enhance body flexibility.

Your body is as young as you keep it lithe and supple. Yoga exercises lay stress on the strength and fitness of the spine, its endurance and litheness and elasticity. The spinal column is home to the 2 important keys of the body: the nervous system and the telegraphic system. By maintaining the flexibility and strength of the spine through Yoga exercises, body circulation is enhanced and the nerves are guaranteed their supply of nutrients and oxygen.

Yoga Asanas also influence the working of the internal organs and the endocrine system. Conventional Yogis practice Surya Namaskar, the sun salutation, prior doing the Asanas. Even though there are literally thousands of Asanas (8,400,000 going by scriptures) the practice of the 12 - 20 basic postures is enough to deliver the essence as well as all major benefits of this wonderful system. The rest of the advanced benefits may be derived through the practice of breathing exercises (Pranayama).