This discipline, born in India about 5,000 years ago, aims to harmonize mind and body to provide health and inner balance.
The postures (“Asanas” in Sanskrit) constitute its physical part and have for objective a return to the balance and the fluidity of the body, by relieving it of the tensions, stretching and softening the spine and joints, as well as correcting posture. Their learning must be done slowly, smoothly, each according to his means. This is why this practice is accessible regardless of age. The state of health is not an obstacle either, as evidenced by Sophie, 55 years old: “Healed of breast cancer for a year, I keep a lot of pain and anxiety. I took up yoga and it does me a lot of good! When I leave the session, I feel light, relaxed, oxygenated, as if I had gone to the countryside. “
Breathing (“pranayama” in Sanskrit) represents the second pillar of the discipline, with specific exercises and the objective of focusing on one’s breath to synchronize it with movement. This helps to get rid of his anxieties, strengthens blood circulation and removes a number of disorders (digestive, nervous, endocrine) by purifying the tissues. “This mastery of breathing helps to regulate the nausea of pregnancy and prepares for the effort of childbirth, notes Élisabeth Raoul, midwife. Meditation allows you to modify your consciousness to manage the most intense contractions and welcome your baby. These last two pillars of yoga, relaxation and meditation, help calm the tumult of thoughts and find emotional balance.
How do I choose the variant that’s right for me?
There are dozens of different forms of yoga. From simple physical exercise (Ashtanga yoga or power yoga, for the more athletic) to deep meditation, it’s up to you to choose how far you want to share its spirit, inspired by Buddhism and Hinduism. The most common form in the West is hatha yoga. It emphasizes the benefits of breathing on our body and our mind, and awakens our body energy. But, at the beginning, these exercises were intended to serve a spiritual liberation, more present in other variants: mantra yoga, bhakti yoga, up to raja yoga, the highest degree of the practice, also including a discipline of spartan life.
Other versions, in fashion, are quite surprising, such as the fly yoga which is practiced in a hammock hanging on an iron beam, or Bikram yoga, whose classes take place in a room heated to 40 ° C, which would facilitate a deeper stretch of the body and faster elimination of toxins. But be careful, you don’t have to be cardiac.
Yoga and sexuality
Yoga can help early ejaculators. One study has shown that men who tend to ejaculate too fast only breathe once for seven movements. Hence the interest in learning to synchronize your breathing with back-and-forth movements. It would also prolong virility until old age.
