Yoga Exercises for Improved Physical Stamina and Endurance

Author: Randeep Singh / go to all articles on Yoga cure

Yoga for physical stamina:

Mental stamina is the strength to maintain positivity, confidence,

and resilience  in the face of adversity. It is the force to carry on, keep moving towards the goal without flinching for a moment.

Mental stamina is the ability to endure against odds. The raw material required to build mental stamina is concentration,

self-esteem, will power, perseverance,  and the ability to handle pressure  in adversity. A person who has a strong mental stamina doesn’t give up easily.  Though the term originated  within the context of sports, later it seeped into all the areas of life where one needs to make an effort to achieve something.

Mental stamina, though a subjective concept has at least six common qualities that have been attributed to it.  The first one being flexibility;  the ability to remain calm in the face of uncertainty with poise and being resourceful enough to generate alternative in case something hasn’t gone as expected.  

A flexible mind is not stagnant, it is always ready to refill itself with new information as per the demand of the situation.  Next persons with good mental stamina do not lose tract, or enthusiasm in a situation under pressure.  Their mind remains un wavered as they are continuously reading the threats, difficulties, and the options available in the environment they are in.  

Next is the strength of mind, means the mind doesn’t shake, or retract under adversities. The mind has the strength to handle all the pushes and pulls that come along one’s path to achieving the set goal.

Ethics feed the courage in the minds of people with string mental stamina.  Such people will never take a short cut to success, they are aware of the possible challenges and the obstacles in the path they have chosen but they want reach their by following the right path even if it is the tougher option to take. 

Strong minded individuals have resilience to bounce back from failures, and misdemeanors they have landed themselves into. They do not sit and cry over spilt milk, they immediately begin looking for solutions instead of pondering over why this problem?  Rather they are more focused on how to handle this problem.  Lastly they exhibit sportsmanship, ability to take failure, or any criticism in their stride, and not being affected by it.

Yoga to Increase physical Stamina

Physiologically mental stamina is governed by three chemicals in the body; catabolic hormones, anabolic hormones, and amines.  Their chemical counterparts in the body are adrenaline, noradrenaline, and dopamine respectively.  

Yoga for boosting physical stamina, Yoga and physical strength

Cortisol is one of the catabolic hormones as it provides energy  to the body for handling stressful situations by breaking down, or utilizing the nutrition available in the body. Thus one becomes bereft of nutrition  –  vital minerals and other nutrients from plants – as one handles stress for prolonged periods of time.  Anabolic hormones on the other hand build up the nutrition within the body,  opposite to what the catabolic hormones do.  

Testosterone, and the growth hormone construct  proteins for muscle mass and  bones  by utilizing amino acids and calcium ingested via food.

Another of the anabolic hormone present in the body id insulin like growth factor (IGF) which  is responsible for rejuvenating the cells of the body including the brain’s.   A healthy body is the one in which the amount of anabolic hormones is more than the catabolic hormones. 

The yoga asanas for increasing energy and stamina enhance the utilization of oxygen by the body.  Oxygen is used by the body to convert food into energy, thus better utilization of the available oxygen means better endurance or stamina.  The techniques of yoga which benefit the process of respiration also help improve physical stamina.  

Moreover physical stamina has to do with the strength of the muscles of the body.  Asanas and pranayama for strength and flexibility equally stretch all the fibers comprising a muscle which adds tome and strength to it. A strong muscle is able to sustain the physical activity longer than a weak muscle.  Focusing on lengthening the muscle and holding it for long is the trick to enhancing its strength.  

Yoga exercises for improves physical stamina include exercises for the core into its curriculum. Core is the root to all the four limbs of the body,  if the root or the point of their origin is strong the limbs can keep making movements for long than otherwise.

Yoga asanas  for stamina and health also teach one how to relax properly in order to conserve energy.  Yoga pranayamas help increase lungs capacity by improving the efficiency of the muscles of the respiratory system.  More air and strong lungs can keep the muscles of the body pumped with adequate amounts of oxygen preventing them from tiring easily.

Asanas and Pranayamas for Physical Stamina

Dhanurasana

Prithvi Mudra

Warrior Pose 1

Warrior Pose 2

Khechari Mudra

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