Yoga is more than meets the eye. It's about more than stretching and moving your body to make shapes. It is a mixture of meditation and exercise to simultaneously improve health, clear mind and enhance happiness. It is about doing a variation of different poses that will challenge your body whilst calming your mind. The word yoga originated from the Sanskrit where it literally means union.

Yoga is an ancient practice, originating from Northern-India around 5000 years ago. It was first mentioned in the Rig Veda, one of the oldest texts to exist but the most famous texts about Yoga is the Bhagavad-Gita which is believed to be written in around 500BCE. For centuries yoga was exercised primarily in the East, specifically in India where it first came from but in the late 20th century, as people in the West started to become more health-oriented and were introduced to yoga it quickly spread there too. Many credit the exposure to a Hindu monk, Swami Vivekananda who traveled around Europe in the 1890’s to share knowledge about Hindu-ism.

Yoga is part of different religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. All these religions have variations of how they execute this activity but the central principles stay the same. The main aim of yoga is to create balance in all areas of one’s life. Yoga is a physical activity in the sense that it strengthens your muscles and works your body but it is also a religious and spiritual activity in the sense that it allows you to clear your mind and stay calm and stress-free in our day to day busy lives.

Yoga has many benefits for all areas of your health. It influences your physical health, regular yoga can lead to weight-loss, diabetes management, better flexibility, enhanced athleticism and increased strength, bones and energy. Yoga is not only physical but it also benefits your mind. It can lead to effective anger management, calms stress and anxiety, boosts of focus, better communication skills, management of depression and an overall better mindset. Yoga benefits both your mental and physical health, improving both side by side to make you an overall calmer, healthier person.

Yoga is an ancient practice with many variations as time passed. Most classes taught in the West are Hatha yoga, this is the most common type and what most people think of when they think of yoga. This class displays the basic postures and is an introduction to the world of yoga. It will leave you feeling relaxed and calm. Other well-known types of yoga include hot yoga, ashtanga, anusara and iyengar. These all follow the same basic principles but have different difficulties, sequences, atmospheres and energy levels.

Yoga connects and calms your body, mind and spirit. This fits with the Ayurvedic principles. Together, Ayurveda, yoga and herbal tea contribute to living healthy in regards to your body and your mind.

If you want to calm your mind and focus your energy, meditation is an effective and time-tested practice dating as far back as 1500BC. Meditation disciplines the mind and gives the person inner peace through mindful concentration and silence.

Meditation is the practice of deep concentration and focus within the mind. Meditation does not have to be a religious activity but just as a way to relieve stress and anxiety in our day to day busy lives. Meditation brings our overflowing minds to a silent stop where we don’t think about the outside world but rather just focus on breathing. Meditation can be done in many different ways, sitting or lying down, with an instructor, with background music, the possibilities are endless but the core concept remains the same.

The roots of meditation date back to ancient times. Meditation is popular in multiple religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism. Meditation has spread from the East to the West through the centuries. In the mid-20th century, meditation gained awareness and was popularized in western society after researchers learned about it and its positive effects on the body and mind. Meditation may still be relatively new in the West, but in the East it has been around for centuries, in India it is a 5000 year old ritual. Meditation in the Buddhist community commenced at around 500 B.C and even now Buddha is still a significant face of meditation. The teachings and philosophies of Buddha started to spread fast across Asia and each country developed the idea of the meditation and personalized to make it their own. In the western world, Buddhist and Hindu meditation practices are still used and very well- known.

There are hundreds types of meditation in different religions and cultures but also based on what area of the mind you want to be targeted. Concentration meditation is arguably the most common and well-known type of meditation because it captures the fundamentals of meditation like staying still and focusing in on ourselves and our own breathing instead of the busy world around us. Other types of meditation include reflective, mindfulness, chakra, walking and creative. There are so many variations to meditation so there is definitely something that will suit every individual’s needs.

Meditation has many benefits if done regularly and well. It positively impacts different areas of your body. Meditation improves your emotional well-being, it lessens anxiety, worry, stress, and sadness whilst increasing self-esteem, awareness and relaxation. Meditation enhances your attitude towards life and your emotional intelligence. It also improves your mind power by increasing your reasoning skills and memory call-back. It has positive effects on your ability to concentrate, information processing and decision making. Another area of your body meditation impacts is your physical health. Meditation can strengthen your immune system, energy levels and heart rate. It also reduces your blood pressure over time whilst increasing your life-span.

Hand in hand with the Ayurvedic principles and herbal tea, meditation is an important part of the healthy lifestyle.