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Charleston Yoga

Yoga Seen as an Alternative Medicine

Yoga as a system in its whole has been around for more than 5,000 years and apart from introducing breathing exercises, meditation, and physical poses it has been perceived as a healing practice. It has helped, and still does, patients with health conditions, including hypertension, heart disease, back and muscle problems, asthma, as well as those suffering from emotional and mental stress.

While yoga is seen as a spiritual practice in Hindu religions, not the same can be said for the Western cultures which have adopted it only from its physical exercises point of view, being seen as a mean for staying healthy and fit.

In America of the 19th century, yoga was introduced by Swami Vivekananda who founded Vedanta Society. The founder of this society proclaimed the depth of the well being implied by the spirituality of yoga practices which outline the way of helping those who are too attached to the materialistic side of life. He was the one to define the fact that self realization can not be attained while being tied to the material things that a capitalist society encourages.

The introduction of these totally new concepts had a great and direct impact to the modernized cultures compared to other philosophical doctrines. The straightforwardness and accessibility of terms were the features that made yoga to be easier assimilated by the Western cultures. As such yoga was and is perceived as an open-minded and more tolerant disposition regarding the cultural reception.

Many people nowadays see yoga as a practice that has the gift to relax the tensions, bringing balances in the body, mind and spirit. Yoga practitioners state that certain ailment troubles and diseases are foiled as long as the energy crest are kept opened and the life energy prolific.

These practices are also known to reduce blood pressure, stress, to increase the power of coordination, concentration and flexibility along with elimination of the sleeping problems. Other severe conditions can be attended to together with other therapeutic remedies, such as cancer, AIDS, diabetes.

Due to these benefits yoga has been accepted as an alternative medicine that relieves one of the chronic stress that can be some cases the main cause of becoming sick. The yoga practices call for total relaxation with people moving their bodies in various positions that allow the body and especially the heart to be circulated with more blood and as such the organic functions can be improved. Thus the switching of oxygen and waste products at the cell membrane level can be as well improved.

Apart from these benefits yoga teaches that our body has various illuminated energies. Prana is the masculine energy that deals with heart rate and respiration control and Apana, the feminine energy that handles the functions of the abdominal organs. These two elements that exist in every single being have to be in perfect balance and this is what yoga practice does ultimately.