How is yoga different from stretching or other kind of fitness exercises?

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Paper : Yoga FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) for beginners | Platform : Yoga FAQs | Category : Health and Wellness FAQs

Other kinds of fitness exercises focus mainly on body movements but yoga on the other hand connects both body and mind. yoga helps us to direct our attention inward. yoga exercises oppose violent movement like in aerobics or Zumba, as this causes fatigue, muscle stiffness, and injury.

That’s why yoga can be done by people of all age groups.

Connecting the mind, body, and breath helps in directing our attention towards the inner self. Through this process of inward attention, we learn to identify our habitual thought patterns without labeling them, judging them, or trying to correct them. We become more aware of our experiences from moment to moment. The awareness that we inculcate is what makes yoga a practice, rather than a task or a goal to be completed. Our body will most likely become much more flexible in due course of time by doing yoga, and so will our mind.

Yoga is also proven beneficial in curing some chronic diseases if done under the guidance of a trained teacher.