The key difference between yoga and exercise is that yoga stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system and makes the body relax, whereas exercise stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, which makes the body tired.
Both yoga and exercise involve physical movements. In fact, we can describe yoga as a form of exercise. However, yoga does not require any equipment and can be practiced anywhere, anytime, with less space.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Yoga
3. What is Exercise
4. Yoga vs Exercise in Tabular Form
5. Summary – Yoga vs Exercise
What is Yoga?
Yoga is a mental, spiritual and physical practice that originated in India. Yoga began in the world thousands of years ago. A perfect example of this is the remains of fossils with figures performing yoga in the Indus Saraswati valley civilization in ancient India. It is also mentioned in Vedic and Upanishadic heritage, folk traditions, Buddhist and Jain traditions, and the epics of Mahabharat and Ramayanaya. The name Yoga was derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Yuj,’ which means to join or to unite.
It is believed that practicing yoga unites individual consciousness with universal consciousness and thereby creates harmony between the mind, body, nature, and man. Yoga is focused on the science of bringing harmony between the mind and body, and it is an art of healthy living. It is also the purpose of yoga to achieve self-realization, get rid of all the suffering, and live with freedom, health, and harmony. It also builds strength, balance, flexibility, and functional movement skills. It can relieve stress, normalize distressed breathing patterns, help people to manage medical treatments, and create positive connections with their bodies.
Yoga can be performed anywhere at any time since it needs less space. There are many yoga asanas, and there are many benefits of them. Out of them, some asanas are similar to exercise on certain levels. Some examples include Bikram, Vinyasa, Ashtanga, Kundalini, and Iyengar.
What is Exercise?
Exercise is an activity that improves and maintains physical fitness and makes a person more energized. It improves blood circulation of the body and makes you healthier. There are many advantages of exercise. It controls your weight, reduces the risk of heart disease, maintains blood sugar and insulin levels, strengthens bones and muscles, reduces the risk of some cancers, improves mental health and mood, improves your sleep, helps in sexual life, and aids a long life.
Therefore, it is important to exercise daily. You can make it interesting by watching TV while doing exercises or being active with friends and family since having partners make you enjoy it more. In addition, you can join social activities like hiking groups, dance classes, and sports clubs.
There are three types of exercises: aerobic, anaerobic, and flexibility exercises. Aerobic exercises use large muscle groups and make the body use more oxygen while resting. Anaerobic exercises are about strength and resistance training, while flexibility exercises are about stretching and lengthening muscles.
What is the Difference Between Yoga and Exercise?
The key difference between yoga and exercise is that yoga stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, which makes one relaxed, while exercise stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, which makes one tired. Moreover, yoga involves steady postures and relaxation of muscles, while exercise involves movement and stress on muscles.
The below infographic presents the differences between yoga and exercise in tabular form for side by side comparison.
Summary – Yoga vs Exercise
Yoga is a mental, spiritual and physical practice that originated in India. It is about the parasympathetic nervous system. It is more focused on internal development and improving self-awareness. Exercise, on the other hand, is a physical activity that improves and maintains fitness and makes the person more energized. It stimulates the sympathetic nervous system. It is externally focused, and there is no self-awareness involved in exercises. So, this is the summary of the difference between yoga and exercise.
Reference:
1. “Yoga.” Wikipedia. Wikipedia Foundation.
2. “Exercise.” Wikipedia. Wikipedia Foundation.
Image Courtesy:
1. “Woman-yoga-coast-exercise-fitness” (CC0) via Pixabay
2. “Exercise Treadmill Convey Motion” By Larry D. Moore (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia