Yoga for Sports People

Yoga as a system of physical exercise with coordinated breathing has been in existence for thousands of years in the east and is finding itself being rediscovered in our modern times. Yoga is now widely accepted as an alternative cure for a range of medical conditions and ailments and also as a stress reliever. For many, yoga is a way of life often enhancing a more spiritual side to people's lives; but yoga itself does not contain any religious rituals.
When it comes to Yoga, there are only two types of people viz
1. Those who know very little or nothing about Yoga
2. Those who have become total converts and have all the praise for the practice of yoga.
It is therefore no wonder that many athletes and sports people are increasingly turning to yoga to supplement their regular exercises to improve their body and mind. The competing athletes know the importance of the body mind balance for achieving peak performance.
One of the cornerstones of yoga is that the exercises are focused around coordination of body and mind with proper breathing techniques. Even though the proper breathing is emphasized in all forms of sports, it not generally followed by most. Proper breathing will result in greater alertness and attention of the mind to give a sportsman that "winning edge".
With regular practice comes increased flexibility. Many yoga exercises also can provide a healing touch to the muscles and joints after improper and strenuous workouts. The yoga system consists of many postures each one particularly good for a muscle group. By following a good system of yoga, a person can remove imbalances in any muscle group thereby healing the muscles and joints. Yoga movements can also be used as a warm up and warm down routines during sports.
Another great benefit of yoga is the improved mental capacity including concentration, good memory, endurance and perseverance, which are of priceless value to any aspiring sports person. People engaged in any competitive sport know very well that the winning and losing depends very much on the state of mind before and during the sporting event. This is another area where yoga is widely used. A yoga session just before the big event relaxes both the body and mind that enables heightened concentration and focus of mind.
And finally regular practise of yoga helps achieve good overall health and happiness - universal goal to most people.


Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

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