Recently, with increasing awareness among the general public related to the health issues that the majority of the public faces due to stress, improper nutrition, lack of physical exercise, and the list of endless. This has raised the importance of health practises while working on replacement of yoga with modern-day exercises.
India has reportedly seen so many cases of cardiac arrest among the youth than the older ones, which depicts the clear outlook about the health status of the general public. Reportingly, there were not enough beds in the hospital to treat patients.
Similarly, in late 2019, the breakdown of the pandemic due to COVID-19 which makes it even more important to look after our health.
COVID-19 tremendously affects the breathing system and makes it even weak, affecting overall physical and mental health.
In lockdown due to the pandemic, people worldwide became much more conscious of their health and prioritized it over other things. Due to this, there is a drastic change in the overall health survey, and it’s better than in later years.
Now the question that arises in everyone’s mind is whether modern-day exercise is better than yoga or the replacement for yoga.
From my perspective, it’s a debatable topic to start with whether exercise is a replacement for yoga. The main aim for everyone is to be the healthy version of themselves and improve their overall health.
In this article, we will provide you with a short description of both of them.
Modern-day exercise
Now the question that commonly arises in the minds of the individual is what these exercises comprise. These modern-day exercises include all those functional training and weightlifting exercises along with the cardio workout; simply, it’s like a gym workout. Are these exercises efficient enough to be called the replacement for yoga?
But it’s not necessarily done in the gym; one can do the same in the comfort of home but only with strong willpower. Modern-day exercises include all the latest trends like aerobics, Zumba, dance workout, or any physical exercise.
Benefits of modern-day exercise
- Exercise usually focuses on increasing muscle mass, due to which the muscle length shortens and flexibility decreases. When we exercise, we use a lot of energy.
- In exercise, the effect is the opposite of yoga as it puts a lot of strain on the muscles, which further increases the speed of blood circulation and blood pressure, which in turn increases the workload on the heart due to which it needs to pump harder.
- The constant movements in exercises increase the oxygen requirement in the muscle, which increases the speed of breathing, causing the lungs to work even harder.
- It boosts the immune system, which usually depends on the nature, intensity, and duration of the exercise.
- Exercise usually increases the cortisol levels in the body because it perceives it as stress.
- Exercise has been shown to improve mood and decrease depression and stress. It increases the brain’s sensitivity to the hormones serotonin and norepinephrine, which relieve depression. In fact, in a study of 24 women diagnosed with depression, exercise of any intensity significantly decreased feelings of depression.
- Exercise can help in weight loss. Recent studies show that inactivity is the main reason for obesity and weight gain. As we all know, our body spends energy in three ways – digesting, exercising, and maintaining bodily functions.
- Exercise is crucial to support a healthy metabolism and burn more calories per day, which helps maintain muscle mass and body weight.
After reading these points, we may consider that exercise can be a replacement for yoga.
Yoga
Yoga is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices that originated in ancient India and aims to control the mind and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness consciousness untouched by the mind ( Chitta ) and mundane suffering ( Dukhah). It’s practiced worldwide; earlier, it was practiced in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.
It’s a basic posture-based physical fitness, stress relief, and relaxation technique consisting largely of asanas. It differs from traditional yoga, which focuses on meditation and release from worldly attachments. Though we can say, there is no replacement for yoga due to the beliefs it holds.
Benefits
- Yoga improves balance and flexibility. Slow movements and deep breathing increase blood flow and warm up our muscles while holding a pose which can build strength.
- Yoga helps relieve back pain and cervical issues, but you must keep the limitations in mind.
It is better than basic stretching to ease that pain and improve mobility in people with lower back pain. Recent research shows that basic yoga can be the first-line treatment for lower chronic back pain.
- Yoga can ease arthritis symptoms. Gentle yoga seems to ease the discomfort of tender, swollen joints for people with arthritis.
- It benefits heart health. Regular yoga practice may reduce stress levels and body-wide inflammation, contributing to healthier hearts. Several factors contributing to heart disease, including high blood pressure and excess body weight, can also be addressed through yoga.
- Yoga relaxes you to help you sleep better. Research shows that consistent bedtime yoga can help you get in the right mindset and prepare your body to sleep better and fall asleep.
- Yoga can mean more energy and brighter moods. It helps you retrieve yourself, relieves that mental stress, and detaches from the outer world, which brightens your mood as it rejuvenates you.
- Yoga helps you manage stress better. Research studies show that including at least 30 minutes of yoga in your schedule can help you manage stress better and relieve the mind.
During COVID-19, when lockdown happens, the mental health of the general public deteriorated a lot when the doctors suggested including yoga and meditation in the daily routine and trying to keep engaging yourselves in what you truly want to do. Try to teach those things that improve your mental health. Thus there is no replacement for yoga.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I would conclude by stating my perspective regarding the same one should have the zest of both of these as it’s beneficial to some extent as yoga improves mental health and exercise improves physical health. Each one of them has its own values. Thus, there is a replacement for yoga or for exercises.
One should include how they want to achieve their desired result according to their desire. Both of them have recently been trending, wherein gym membership attracts the general public, but nowadays, yoga is also trending in southern parts of the world.
It should be kept in mind that along with physical activity, we should also look after our balanced diet and nutrition health.
It would be a great idea to include both 45-minute exercises and 15 minutes of meditation as it will cover up the whole body’s health.
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