YOGA TO OVERCOME LETHARGY Lethargy is characterised by feeling of sluggishness, drowsiness, moodiness, fatigue, lack of energy and decreased alertness. The underlying cause may be physical such as thyroid disorders, dehydration, poor nutrition, sleep disorders, stress, overexertion, depression etc. A change in lifestyle is recommended to overcome lethargy which includes good nutrition, proper sleep and regular exercise. Yoga is one of the best ways to reset your energies and gain back health and vitality. Importance of physical activity Power Yoga Classes Often mental lethargy demotivates a person from being physically active. The mind tends to find excuses. Due importance should be given to practicing yoga postures or exercising regularly in order to make both the body and mind active and energetic. Yoga postures work on multiple levels including the organs and endocrine glands of the body thus maintaining robust endocrine levels. Yoga also elevates mood, makes you feel relaxed and aware as it naturally influences neurotransmitters (chemical messengers in the brain such as serotonin, endorphins, GABA, dopamine etc.). Alertness of the brain brings clarity to your thoughts, decisions, mental focus and energies. It also helps improve a sense of balance in your day to day life. Through regular practice, you can break the unhealthy patterns or habits in the body which lead to lethargy.
Both the body and the mind harbour tensions or knots. Every mental knot has a corresponding physical, muscular knot and vice versa. The aim of asana is to release these knots. Asanas release mental tensions by dealing with them on the physical level. A well-chosen set of asanas, combined with pranayama, meditation and yoga nidra (yogic sleep), is most effective in eliminating these knots, tackling them from both the mental and physical levels. The result is the release of dormant energy; the body becomes full of vitality and strength, the mind becomes light, creative, joyful and balanced.
Pranayama to revitalize the system Lifestyle has a profound impact on prana (life force or energy). Physical activities such as exercise, work, sleep, intake of food and sexual relations, all affect the distribution and flow of prana in the body. Faculties of the mind such as emotion, thought and imagination also affect the pranic body. Irregularities in lifestyle, dietary indiscretions and stress, deplete and obstruct the pranic flow. This results in what people experience as being ‘drained of energy’. The techniques of pranayama reverse this process, energizing and balancing the prana. Pranayama practices should be performed after asana in an integrated yoga program.