Yoga in Daily Life

Doing yoga is not just about learning how to do different poses. It’s not just a physical routine or a form of fitness workout because yogic practice also has mental and spiritual elements that bring about positive changes to your overall well-being. Those who do yoga everyday, or have been doing so for a while now, know that yoga is more of a holistic lifestyle — with the aim of having inner calm and achieving harmony in your mind, body, and soul.

Yoga in Daily Life – How it Works

One of the most popular approaches to incorporate yoga into one’s daily life is the Swamiji system. This system was named after its founder, Swami Maheshwarananda or Mangilal Gargis, and is designed to help people integrate yoga in their daily lives. It is considered by many as a “complete” system — it is used in hospitals to aid in physical therapy, while also covering the traditional and philosophical aspects of the ancient practice of yoga.

This comprehensive, holistic system was developed with the help of therapists, psychologists, doctors, etc. so that it tackles not just the physical aspects of yoga, but also the elements relating to the mind and consciousness. If you want to do yoga for meditation and fitness purposes, the Swamiji system is a good way to integrate the philosophies, tradition, and paths of yoga into how you live your daily life.

Recommended Daily Yoga Poses

Whether you practice yoga in a studio or at home, there will be times when something will come up and disrupt your regular yoga exercise schedule. But just because you can’t stick to your regular full-length sessions doesn’t mean you can’t have yoga in daily life. If you have even just 5 or 10 minutes to spare, you can do yoga exercises to start or end your day with a positive outlook and a healthy mind and body.

Thunderbolt (or Vajrasana)

The Thunderbolt pose or Vajrasana is one of the best meditative poses to start any yoga session. It calms the body and mind so you can focus on your breathing and getting in touch with your inner self. To do this pose, sit on your yoga mat with legs underneath you so that your shins are pressed down on the floor and your buttocks are rested on the soles of your feet.

Let your shoulders drop, keep your neck relaxed, and sit with your back straight. Relax your arms, place your palms on your lap, and breathe deeply in and out. You should now be in a calm and relaxed position to clear your mind, get rid of internal and external distractions, and shut everything out to focus on yourself and your breathing.

The Sun Salutations is ideal for students of all levels, and is a series often used as part of the warm up yoga exercises to prepare for more fast-paced or rigorous styles of yogic practice. The Sun Salutation sequence is composed of 12 poses which should be done in a particular order in order. Doing the Sun Salutation is a good way to start your mornings because its origins lie in the ancient worship of the Hindu sun deity Surya.

On a physical aspect, it is also a good way to start the day because you get proper breathing exercise while doing bends and stretches. The Sun Salutation sequence starts and ends with the Mountain Pose, where you stand tall with your back straight, feet planted on the yoga mat, with hands together in front of you like in a prayer pose. Then you progress to doing backward stretch, the Standing Forward Bend (or Forward Fold), down to a lunge position, Plank Pose, Cobra Pose, and Downward Facing Dog.

From there you do the earlier poses in reverse order, so you go from Downward Dog back to the lunge position, then Forward Fold, and then roll back up and raise your arms and stretch backwards, and now you are back to the Mountain Pose. This full circle method gives good physical and mental exercise to start your day right.

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