Written By: Prerna Mittra | Updated : March 31, 2025 8:16 PM IST
Medically Verified By: Himalayan Siddha Akshar
Physical, Mental, Emotional Well-Being: How Yoga Empowers You To Make Informed Choices About Your Body (Photo: Freepik)
The health benefits of yoga are plenty -- from taking care of the body by boosting its immunity to protecting and promoting mental health. When practised daily, yoga is known to keep a person pleasantly engaged, happy, energetic, and productive. Yoga experts say that as part of its holistic health approach, it is known to make a person feel peaceful and fulfilled. It offers a natural and comprehensive approach to well-being. When the whole world is looking for ways to achieve health and fitness goals, yoga becomes a powerful tool that can heal the body from inside-out. According to Himalayan Siddhaa Akshar, an author, columnist, and the founder of Akshar Yoga Kendra, while unorganised, unsystematic and chaotic activities can harm the health, yoga -- being a scientific process -- can help one to achieve wellness, leading to profound improvements in overall well-being.
"Yoga and holistic health are deeply interconnected, based on observation and evidence. While its origin is ancient, its principles and practices align with modern scientific research. It bridges the gap between ancient tradition and contemporary science, making it a powerful tool for holistic health," the expert says.
Akshar explains that since it is a practice that goes beyond physical exercise, yoga offers a unique opportunity to explore and understand the internal ecosystem of the body.
"Our internal ecosystem consists of muscles, tissues and cellular structure. It also consists of the digestive system, the respiratory system and the neurological system. In yoga, you can understand how to treat or use these various systems of the body. Yoga not only provides information about the anatomy, it also helps you to train and give power to each and every part of your system. It develops and trains the physical as well as the mental body," the yoga expert says.
According to the expert, yoga provides training for the whole body through asanas, pranayama and meditation. "If you are strong physically, but mentally you are weak, or spiritually in a negative space, you cannot enjoy your life. Yoga helps you with meditative practices so that you can understand, train and strengthen the physical, mental and spiritual dimensions of the body."
It is no secret that yoga asanas are great for the body as well as the mind, and in fact, they operate on a dual level. Some asanas can improve posture, muscle strength, flexibility and joint mobility. They can alleviate chronic pain, stimulate blood flow and support digestive health, while also detoxifying the body.
Then, with the help of some yogic breathing techniques one can calm the nervous system and reduce their stress. "Meditation and concentration practices improve focus and clarity. They help with the release of emotions; individuals are able to cope with life's challenges in a better manner. Yoga encourages self-awareness and fosters a deeper connection with one's true self."
The yoga expert concludes by saying that the practice of yoga can definitely empower one to make informed choices about their overall well-being. "Akin to a vehicle that requires fuel to run efficiently, yoga is fuel for our body. It is structured and defined, and if used in the correct manner, yoga can offer wonderful results over time."
