Yoga Fitness And Benefits

(February 19, 2009)

I am 18 years old male. My height is 5.6 inch and my weight is 60 kg. Then I am fit?

There is no way of telling whether or not you are fit just going by your height and weight. For all appearances, going by your height and weight you appear fit and healthy. But Yoga defines fitness and good health slightly differently. According to Yoga, a person is fit when all the internal organs of his body are functioning well, satisfactorily and in harmony with each other.

That being said, it would be in order to understand what Yoga is all about, what it sets out to achieve (for the practitioner) and how. To begin with, Yoga is a complete, holistic science and art of living; the only one known to man, that delivers complete and satisfactory health results – physical, mental and emotional. This is because Yoga also postulates the theory of Aadhi-Vyadhi (Cause and Effect). Yoga believes in the concept of mind (and heart) over matter and tells us that most of our physical ailments, shortcomings, weaknesses and debilities originate in our thoughts and emotions.

Let’s start with a simple example. Notice your breath when you are agitated, worried, anxious, apprehensive, nervous or troubled about anything. You will notice that your breath is, likewise, agitated, rapid and palpitated. Now take time to notice that same breath when you are (relatively) calm and composed. You will naturally find it a lot less agitated and rapid and hardly palpitated.

So Yoga goes one step further, to tell us that if the mind and heart, the thoughts and emotions can affect the body, we can work backwards too. This way we can reverse the vicious cycle. So, we start to breathe slowly – deliberately and consciously. Over a period of time you will notice your thoughts and emotions calm down. Particularly when you are agitated, anxious, worried, nervous, apprehensive or troubled about anything, this is the time to observe and slow down your breath. And watch what happens. You will automatically calm down a lot.

Likewise, with asanas (physical poses), pranayamas (breathing exercises), kriyas (cleansing techniques) and Yoga diet. They all have an on both the body as well as on the mind-heart syndrome. So, the best way to find out whether you are really fit or not, is to ask yourself whether your breath is calm or agitated, whether that taste at the base of your tongue is sweet or sour, whether there is a serenity or turmoil in your digestive system. If the answer to all three lies in the former, then you can safely say you are fit. If not, don’t worry - Yoga has a solution. Start practicing asanas (physical poses), pranayamas (breathing exercises), kriyas (cleansing techniques) and Yoga diet right away and see the difference they make to your life.

Submitted by A on February 19, 2009 at 04:53