Yoga has become part and a way of life in our modern world especially in the realm of fitness and health. It is basically defined as a group of ancient spiritual practices that might have originated in India around 3300 BCE for the purpose of cultivating a steady mind. Yoga's etymologies include the rootword yuj meaning "to control", "to yoke", or "to unite". Other similar definitions are "joining" or "uniting".
One fundamental part of practicing yoga is the restorative yoga positions, or asanas which are believed to help relieve the effects of illness and chronic stress in many ways. They provide an environment for relaxation, abrogate the effects of gravity on blood and lymph fluid thus improving heart function as well as ameliorating the transmission of oxygen and waste products across cell membranes.
There are different styles of Yoga and one specific style is Purna Yoga. It takes the wisdom of the past and updates it for the future while providing tools for healthy living and thus bringing physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual awareness that can help the individual in its spiritual growth. Purna Yoga is also known as Integral yoga. This is a modern version of the traditional yoga. It also teaches the life philosophy that what you do everyday is important and so the law of karma also applies, that is what goes around, comes around. It also places its emphasis in the spiritual ideal of life on the foundation of an integrated world-view that takes into account the evolutionary and historical perspective of life.
Today, there are many schools focusing on the practice of Purna Yoga because of its multitude of benefits. Purna means "complete" so from the word itself practicing this form of yoga can restore you from top to bottom. The essential method of Purna yoga also known as Integral yoga, is a total and unreserved surrender of everything we are to the Divine and its primary focus is in the spiritual. Whenever we are linked to our spirituality, we can have balance. This surrender usually begins in the mind. Our motives of thought, feeling or action are all driven towards the Divine.
There are essentially four important benefits of Purna yoga. First, it improves both flexibility and strength. Due to the asanas positions, it stretches all aspects of the body. Since, it requires effort and a disciplined way of breathing, it can be a form of exercise thus it improves cardiovascular health. Other additional benefits are creating mental clarity and focus and creating emotional balance. To sum it all up, Yoga, specifically Purna yoga has its sets of benefits, not only it is safe for all ages and body types it is a great way to relax both body and soul.
