Yoga is a complete workout of body and mind, and is a combination of stretching along with deep breathing and meditation. It is a way of keeping yourself fit without doing strenuous workouts and lifting heavy weights.

Ayurveda is the ancient Indian medical science, which treats an illness or a disease using natural ingredients. Ayurvedic treatment has been proven to be the most effective in cases of asthma, paralysis, joint pain, headache and gynecological issues. The following points emphasize the relation between Yoga and Ayurveda:

1. Aim at ensuring mental peace: Yoga and Ayurveda both are extremely powerful in treating medical issues as well as in delivering mental peace. Ayurveda uses diets, herbs, shrubs, meditation and pranayama for treating purpose. Both of them are interrelated branches of India's ancient knowledge.

2. Based on similar principles: The principles of Trigunas i.e. Sattva, Rajas and Tamas and the principles of panchamahabuthas i.e. fire, water, air, space and earth are the base of Yoga and Ayurveda. Both of them are based on the basic principles of the body, such as working procedures of the body and effects of food and medicine on our body.

3. Share common beliefs: Both Yoga and Ayurveda have a common belief regarding healthy body as the two believe that a healthy and balanced mind result in a healthy body. Both of them have the similar metaphysical anatomy and physiology that consist of 7 primary chakras (centers of energy), 5 bodily sheaths, 72,000 nadis (subtle channels) and the Kundalini Shakti (energy). Yoga and Ayurveda both believe that in order to fulfill the four aims of life it is necessary to keep your body healthy. The four aims are:
i. Dharma (duty)
ii. Artha (wealth)
iii. Kama (desire)
iv. Moksha (liberation)

4. Similar treatment measures: For the purpose of treatment, Yoga and Ayurveda, both use meditation and pranayama practices. For improving the mental and physical health, both of them use body purification procedures, herbs & natural ingredients and chanting of mantras. The body purification procedure is known as 'Shatkriyas' in Yoga and as 'Panchakarma' in Ayurveda.

Many Yoga practitioners add Ayurvedic remedies to your daily routines because Yoga and Ayurveda together are powerful mediums that maintain your body, breath, senses, mind and chakras. Together Yoga and Ayurveda work excellently and cure you naturally with no side effects.

Yoga and Ayurveda Connection

It is often said that Ayurveda is a science and Yoga is an implementation of that science. In treatment, both these connected branches speak for the consistent practice of breathing techniques and medication along with indulging in body purification processes, use of medicinal herbs, well regulated dieting as well as chanting of mantras for uplifting the mind and body. In Yoga, the physical purification processes are known as 'Satkriyas' whereas the same in Ayurveda is called as 'Panchakarma'.

Understanding Yoga and Ayurveda
Yoga and Ayurveda are two interrelated branches of Vedic knowledge that encircles the whole universe.

1. The formation of Ayurveda: Ayurveda is one of the four secondary Vedic teachings called the Upavedas that constitute Gandharva Veda, Dhanur Veda and Sthapatya Veda as well. Each of these Ayurvedas is directed towards specific walks and aims at the Vedic quest for liberation. Ayurveda is by far the most important of all four as it addresses all the disciplines of healing as well as holistic well-being of the mind and body.

2. The birth of Yoga: Ever since its formation through the Yoga, it has been widely accepted as one of the six branches of Vedic preaching. It advocates the authority of the Vedas and aims at systematizing the true meaning of the Vedic preaching.

In this classical Vedic system, Ayurveda is specifically developed for healing purposes and there is no other branch of the Vedic system that can offer such comprehensive healing benefits.

Integral relationship between Yoga and Ayurveda
The term Yoga means combining, harmonizing and above all uniting. Thus a Yogic approach is an inherently integrative approach that harmonizes the body, mind and senses, and is not involved in implementation of sideline techniques but incorporates a synthesis of all aspects of the healing processes. This is the reason why Yoga originally has an eight-fold path directed towards bettering the quality of lives. Otherwise, it is caught in similar variants of physical reductionism that are often addressed in modern medicinal therapies.

Asana is referred to as the internal medicine of Yoga as it brings the vital energy directly into the body. It is aimed at alleviating the nervous, respiratory and circulatory systems of the human body. It is crucial to integrate Ayurveda and Yoga for bringing out the total spiritual and healing potential of the human body as well as each of these vast branches of Vedic knowledge.

The Connection of Yoga and Ayurveda

Since ages, meditation has been placed on a pedestal for its far reaching benefits. While on one end, it is known to bridge the gap between one's outer and inner self, on the other hand it is believed to be a pathway to enlightenment. Meditation has been scientifically proven to affect one's health positively. For a balanced lifestyle and a sorted outlook in dire circumstances, you must make meditation a part and parcel of your daily life.
The benefits of meditation can be laid down as follows:

1. The way you respond to pain can be altered through meditation: meditation makes you stronger and perhaps, more tolerant to body pains and aches. It empowers you to somewhat control how your brain feels the actions and processes in your body. People who face conditions like fibromyalgia, migraine or osteoarthritis can fight against the discomfort for a longer span of time through regular meditation.

2. Meditation can improve your cardiovascular health: a healthy heart can make you enjoy more than a couple of advantages. Meditation is known to regulate blood pressure levels; while your heart rate decreases, the amount of blood circulated into your heart increases, thus ridding you of acute stress. A happy heart has more potential to exercise to further maintain its well-being.

3. It will shun away your fears: the threat of a fear or a phobia can resist you from delivering to the best of your abilities. Fears are crippling. Meditation dwells on the principle of maintaining equilibrium between one's mind and body. A person is therefore endowed with the ability to deal with his or her personal problems. Meditation enables you to keep your fears on a leash.

4. Creativity and determination can be your key features: a person who meditates regularly will have wider access to his or her talents. Meditation is known to hone your softer skills by making you more creative and innovative. It gives you clarity of thought and thus you will find yourself more focused on your goals.

5. It makes you relax more and worry less: meditation soothes the brain neurons. It prevents you from being anxious. Meditation makes you so very engrossed in the moment that fretting over the future will slip your attention altogether. You live a happier life if you meditate regularly.

5 Benefits of Meditation

Ayurveda literally translates into  the science of longevity.  It not just looks at treating the symptoms of the patient, but at getting to the root of the issue for a holistic treatment. In addition to various products, yoga is an integral part of maintaining overall health in Ayurveda.

Patrons of yoga would agree that yoga has multiple benefits, not just in treating diseases, but in maintaining the overall health. The following are some of the most obvious benefits of yoga.

Weight management: Yoga normalizes body weight by multiple ways including restoring hormonal balance, reducing cortisol levels, improving depression (which can lead to binge eating), etc. Do not worry about calories not being burned during yoga. Yoga is a very good stress reliever and people who are not stressed are rarely obese.
Pain control: Whether you have a headache or back pain, knee pain or muscle pain, try specific yogasanas. There are people who would vouch for the fact that they could completely stop their pain killers with effective yoga.
Strength: Yoga makes a person strong in addition to improving flexibility. In most forms of exercises, some may give strength, others may give flexibility. But yoga is one of the few approaches, which combines the two. Range of motion of the joints is improved, healing is quicker, and ligaments and muscles are more elastic with yoga.
Brain functioning: Yoga improves memory and cognitive functioning. Because meditation and focusing on oneself is such an integral part of yoga, it promotes brain function. It improves memory, clarity of thought, attention span, and helps in decision making.
Reduces stress: By improving overall well-being, yoga is one of the best methods for stress management. This in turn leads to reduction of a host of other diseases including hypertension, diabetes, stroke, sleep disorders, etc. There is also a heightened feeling of well-being, reduced depression, better self-esteem, improved motivation, and other effects which improve overall health and happiness quotient.
Anti-degenerative effects: The body is in a constant state of degeneration and with age, this is accelerated. What yoga does is to arrest degeneration   be it the muscle mass, the skin tone, or the joint flexibility. It has a whole lot of metabolic benefits including reducing glucose, sodium, total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL, VLDL, and catecholamines. Simultaneously, it helps by increasing HDL cholesterol, hematocrit, hemoglobin, lymphocyte count, white blood cell count, thyroxin, total serum protein, oxytocin, prolactin, and cholinesterase among others.
Restores function: For impaired body systems, whether it is nervous or digestive, musculoskeletal or neurologic, yoga does wonders.
There is no restriction on where to do yoga. Unlike gymming, swimming, or cycling, there is no definite set-up required. So, go embrace yoga and see the benefits for yourself.

Yoga - 7 Ways It Improves Your Health!

The way we sit, walk, bend or stand is hugely dependent on one very vital organ of the human body; the spine. The spinal column provides strength and support to your entire framework. It has nerves, muscles, bones and tendons; all of which enhance proper functioning of your body. The human brain sends signals to the nerves in your spinal cord, a mass of nerve fibers and tissues ensconced within the spine, which further prompts every single part of your body to perform minute and notable actions all the same. A spine injury can, thus impair your health; in many cases it can even turn out to be fatal. Care should be taken to avoid sources of spine shock or injury. If an injury has already been acquired, it should be treated either through exercising or through medical assistance. 

A few postures to reap the benefits of a fit spine:

1. Twist your spine either early in the morning or after a tiring day: Fold one leg while the other leg remains perched on the folded one. If the left leg is folded the left elbow should be rested on your perched right knee and the right palm should be placed on the yoga mat behind your right hip. This posture can be repeated by folding the right leg as well. It increases spine mobility by twisting it to the end of its range sideways. Muscular spine aches can be remedied by following this posture once each day.
  
2. Do not slouch but sit straight: Some people are in the habit of slouching when they sit or stand. This is an absolutely wrong thing to do if your spine health is of any concern to you. Stretch out your shoulder blades and remain erect while standing and the same should be followed while sitting. Bending one's spine, unless it is necessary, can be very harmful.  
    
3. Stretch your spine in three directions: This exercise is a good way to allay the tension your spine has to undergo every day. Sit with folded legs, intertwine your fingers and stretch your arms upward, in front and at the back to expand your spine to the full. 
  
4. The downward doggy posture can relieve back pain: In this yoga posture, one is expected to stretch his or her legs according to the width of the person's back and stoop forward by placing the palms on a yoga mat. Knees and elbows should not bend.

Postures for a Fit Spine

A number of health problems are rooted in mental instability. Frequent bouts of anger and frustration can lead to stress and related problems. One of the most efficient ways of dealing with this instability and stress is meditation.
Vipasana is an ancient meditative technique that promises to allow a person to see the true nature of things. In Buddhist tradition, it literally translates to insight to the true reality of nature namely impermanence, suffering and the realization of non self. It focuses on self observation and the connection between mind and body and aims to eradicate mental impurities.
Vipasana meditation can be broken down into four stages.
Discovering Vitakka and Vicara: The first stage of Vipasana explores the connection between body and mind. This is done by concentrating on inhaling and exhaling and the feeling of air passing over the skin in front of the nose. Vitakka and vicara refer to the concentration and thought required to feel the connection between mind and body.
Disappearance of Vitakka and Vicara: In the second stage, the connection between mind and body is felt effortlessly. Thus, in this stage both vitakka and vicara fade away. This is known as anapana meditation and helps develop control over the mind.
Happiness: When a person reaches the third stage of vipasana, he stops focusing on emotions like pity, sadness, exuberance and only feels happiness. This frees the mind of negativity and hence purifies it.
Equanimity: The fourth and final stage is characterized by mindfulness and leads to clarity. At this stage, a person feels the desire for freedom and understands nature to be ever changing.
Vipasana is taught at a ten day residential program. Here, participants must adhere to a code of discipline that includes absolute silence and abstaining from any form of communication, sexual activity and substance abuse. Participants are taught the basics of the meditation technique and how to practice it but to benefit fully from it, regular meditation is necessary. Advanced vipasana students may attend 20, 30, 45 and 60 day courses to practice vipasana. An introduction to vipasana is also given to children in the form of short 3 day courses.
Ultimately, vipasana enables the practitioner to experience peace and harmony within oneself and with the rest of the world. It frees the mind from craving and hence also helps people abstain from social evils like stealing and killing. Thus, vipasana has the capacity to change minds and character and helps practitioners lead fulfilling, healthy lives. 

Vipasana - See The True Nature Of Things

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