Practicing yoga meditation after a yoga session allows you to enjoy the benefits of both practices simultaneously. (Image: Shutterstock)
Yoga facilitates emotional balance, psychophysiological health and daily stress management.
International Yoga Day is celebrated every year on June 21. Recognizes the profound impact of Yoga and meditation on physical, mental and spiritual well-being. Both forms of exercise can help clear the mind, provide a sense of calm, and improve focus and concentration. Furthermore, feeling at peace, relaxed and connected to the universe is the main objective of these practices. And this is achieved by performing pranayama or concentrating on breathing.
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Practicing yoga meditation after a yoga session allows you to enjoy the benefits of both practices simultaneously. The meditation done after performing all the yoga postures is known as Shavasana, which is the corpse pose. In this posture, a person lies on his back on the floor, face up, with his limbs extended outward and his eyes closed like a corpse.
Benefits of yoga and meditation
Improves flexibility
This is one of the first benefits of yoga. In your first yoga class, you may not be able to touch your feet or bend your back. But if you practice regularly, you will see the difference and, over time, impossible poses will become easy and possible. You will also notice that the body pain begins to disappear. Yoga poses like Cow Face Pose, Downward Facing Dog, Bhujangasana, Triangle Pose, Malasana, and Bridge Pose allow you to stretch your muscles, helping you move better and feel less rigid.
Perfect Posture
If you have spent many hours sitting in front of your laptop or have experienced neck pain from spending time in front of your phone, it is time to correct your posture. Our daily activities and body movements affect our posture and put pressure on our muscles and joints, which can sometimes lead to immense pain. Various yoga poses, such as mountain pose, shoulder opener, cat-cow stretch, and more, help increase body awareness and core strength.
Helps you sleep better
There is no better way to end the day than with some yoga poses. Your breathing plays an important role in relaxing your body in these postures. Practice abdominal breathing (abdominal breathing) or alternate nostril breathing (Nadi Sodhana Pranayama) 3 to 5 minutes before going to bed. Additionally, these postures will help reduce stress, stress-related anxiety, depressive symptoms, and inflammation.
Improve your mood
Yoga and meditation are great for improving self-awareness and self-compassion. They can help reduce heavy emotions. Regular practice can increase feel-good hormones such as oxytocin and serotonin, also known as “love” hormones, which help contribute to mental well-being and happiness.
Clear your mind
Practicing yoga and meditation regularly clears the mind, promotes calm, and improves concentration. While many people prefer evening classes, you can also stretch in the morning to gain clarity before starting your day. Not only this, it also helps eliminate negative thoughts that have been occupying your head.
