Yoga has been around for thousands of years. It was to truly have a grasp on how to utilize the physical and subtle body to have a life that is optimal and good.
For the past decades, yoga has been a star all around the world. But it’s not the popularity of the practice that makes people love it, rather, it’s the benefits acquired from the flow. The key point of yoga is to be fit both in the inside and out. Gym workout lovers are those whose primary goal is to get in shape physically, but yogis actually fall in love with the practice for the ways it makes them feel good from the inside.
Yoga encourages connection with the inner being to have a life filled with self-awareness. It’s how each flow unifies the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual being.
On the other end of the spectrum, gym workouts are to help tone and sculpt the physical body. While it is very effective in increasing one’s strength and endurance, it does not offer inner healing and calmness as yoga does.
There is truly a huge sense of peace with yoga that helps us live optimal lives. With the chaos in the world today, setting a time for some peace and calm can help us get rid of life’s daily stress.
Yoga as an alternative or as the real thing?
Yoga practice is versatile. Yoga encourages stretches and poses that makes you one with your breath. It helps flush out toxins to keep your organs working their best and your weight maintained.
If you are all for a healthy body, consider making yoga a part of your daily routine. It can also aid in weight loss especially in Vinyasa flows like Surya Namaskar and Ashtanga Yoga. Yoga is more on the holistic approach to health rather just losing some inches off your waist.
Today, we have numerous practices to choose from depending on your needs and preferences. There are flows for times when you want some calmness, if you opt to strengthen the body, or flows to help your healing.
Since it addresses both what we feel on the inside and out, yoga is considered to be a therapy. It promotes an overall well-being to help you lead a life that is balanced and optimal.
Benefits of Yoga
- Takes away stress and keeps you motivated. With the calm and peace yoga brings, a quick session is enough to keep the negativities at bay. Take note, even a quick 30-minute session has lasting effects more than what an hour of gym workout can.
- Balance in everything. Yoga practices like asanas, pranayama, or meditation bring a feeling of balance in your life. It helps us improve our physical balance the same way it can promote balance in our day-to-day lives.
- Back in the day, yoga was practiced under a certified teacher’s guidance, thus, injuries were minimal. Today, with all the ways we can access the practice, yoga injuries have been significant. It is when we have to step back and remember that yoga is not a competition, it is the mind-body-breath connection that we should prioritize.
- Promotes a fit physique and a disease-free body.
- Aids in weight loss and even prevents weight gain when you stop for a while.
- Yoga does not need a lot of equipment, thus, unlike your usual gym workout, yoga can be practiced anywhere: be it indoors, outdoors, in studios and even in the comfort of your homes.
Which gives faster fitness results: Yoga or Gym?
Physically, the intensity of gym workouts usually give faster visible results. But, the effects of yoga are actually longer lasting.
Gym workout sessions provide instant and visible results within a short period of time. However, once a person stops, the weight creeps back in a lot easily. If you want instant results, gym is your way to go, but if you want longer lasting ones, you may want to practice yoga.
Last thoughts
With yoga in your life, you are setting yourself up to aging gracefully. It gives you a body that is equipped to fight off diseases and a body that promotes inner healing for holistic health. Yoga has no age limit and it is never too late to get into the flow.
If you love your gym workout sessions so much, not a problem! You can easily incorporate yoga into whatever exercise routine you have to reap its benefits. It can work as your warm-up or even your cooldown to ensure an injury-free session.
