Yoga is fast becoming an alternative for athletes who want to be more flexible and as a result, improve their sports performance...
Yoga is fast becoming an alternative for athletes who want to be more flexible and as a result, improve their sports performance
The Origins of Yoga
Yoga postures, commonly referred to as asanas, originated with ancient Hindu Rishis who wanted to sit straight and for long periods of time in meditation.
Some yogis claim this wisdom is over 2,000 years old. In developing the asanas, they created a way to release tension from the body and just as important, turbulence from the mind
Yoga and the Fascia Connection
In 2007 researchers along with practitioners looking into the fascia system of the body initiated the Fascia Research Congress based in New Jersey where world-wide health practitioners share new discoveries.
What they now believe is that what we have learned about our muscles in the past is wrong: muscles don’t attach to the bone, fascia does. This distinction is important in understanding how to best release tension from the body and achieve maximum flexibility.
This Congress describes fascia as “a live, biological fabric that directs forces around your body,” some think similar to what the Chinese refer to as Chi flowing through your neural network. It is now believed that the fascia network corresponds to the network of acupuncture meridians in the body.
When fascia becomes tight or hardened, it loses flexibility sometimes because of age or injury, stress, and even emotional trauma. Proponents believe that this disruption could very likely be the source of chronic pain issues like migraines and fibromyalgia.
